This newsletter has been produced
to help you get the most out of the Internet,
and to keep you, as an Actrix customer, informed of developments and services within the
company.
Past newsletters may be viewed at http://editor.actrix.co.nz/
Newsletters are now archived by article at http://editor.actrix.co.nz/byarticle/
Questions and comments about the newsletter can be e-mailed to editor@actrix.co.nz
Other inquiries should be e-mailed to support@actrix.co.nz
By Jeremy Fairbrass
Thank you Jeremy for this article on two common viruses at present. As this newsletter was getting ready for publication, another virus has just been discovered. It spreads in the same way as the two under discussion here, so it is expected that this third virus will become as widespread as quickly. I have already been sent it from three separate sources. Please see the footnote to this article. Ed.
There are a couple of viruses doing the
rounds at the moment. Both are quite widespread, and both are rather nasty. They are known
as the "Magistr" and the "Hybris" viruses. You have probably already
come across them. Some readers may well have been infected.
Magistr
The Magistr virus, officially called
"W32.Magistr@mm", has the nastiest payload of the two. When it infects a
computer, it scans that computer for as many email addresses as it can find, by searching
through the Address Book, and the email folders of Outlook or Netscape. It makes a list of
all it can find, and then it emails a copy of itself on to all those email addresses.
The email it sends to these addresses will have either one or two attachments to it.
Firstly it will have an EXE or an SCR file attached to it. This file has been taken from
the infected computer's hard drive, and has been infected with the virus itself. Also, the
virus will scan the infected computer for DOC or TXT files (Microsoft Word Document files
or Text files), and will grab some text at random from inside one of these files and use
that text to form the subject and message body of the email it sends out to the addresses
it found. This gives the email the appearance of being legitimately typed by the owner of
the infected computer, although the text used will usually not make much sense as it has
been taken at random from the middle of one of the DOC or TXT files. There is a 20% chance
that the virus will attach the actual DOC or TXT file to the email as well.
At Buyme we have a lot
to offer you, |
The virus will infect numerous EXE or SCR
files on the hard drive of the infected computer as well, and leave them there on the hard
drive. It also has the ability to scan any network drives for EXE or SCR files to infect.
What's more, the virus will configure Windows to always execute the virus each time
Windows is restarted, and can also configure any networked computers to activate the virus
upon restart. The worst damage that the virus can do (but doesn't always do) is attempt to
erase the computer's CMOS and BIOS (the part of the motherboard that allows the computer
to actually boot and work), and it may also attempt to delete or overwrite as many files
as it can on the hard drive.
The only way to easily clean this virus from an infected computer is to use antivirus
software to do a full scan of the infected hard drive. Some infected files may be able to
be successfully cleaned, and others may be permanently damaged and may need replacing.
If you receive an email from someone that contains an EXE or SCR file attachment, and
which has a message body that consists of text that doesn't seem to make much sense or
seems to be out of context or incomplete, then the email may contain the Magistr virus
(inside the EXE or SCR attachment). As such, you should delete the email from your Inbox,
and also delete it from your Deleted Items folder, and then send a note back to the sender
of the email to let them know that they may have the virus on their computer. As long as
you don't open or run the attachments, you will be okay. However I would highly recommend
that you have up-to-date antivirus software installed on your computer that can detect
such viruses as they arrive in your Inbox.
More info on the Magistr virus can be found at Symantec's website:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.magistr.24876@mm.html
and at McAfee's website:
http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=99040.
Hybris
As for the Hybris virus, officially known as "W95.Hybris.gen", this is a
"worm" that has a less-damaging payload than Magistr, but which is probably a
lot more offensive in nature. When it infects a computer it scans the internet connection,
over time, for any email addresses it can see. This includes email being sent and
received, as well as webpages that are viewed in the web browser. When it finds an email
address, it sends an email to that address. The email includes a file attachment that is
infected with a copy of the virus. The name of the file attachment varies - earlier
versions of the Hybris worm had a file attachment name of "dwarf4you.exe" or
"sexy virgin.scr", and the body of the email included a short "story"
about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the email itself had a fake "From"
address of hahaha@sexyfun.net. However, the Hybris virus also has the added ability to
update itself over the internet. It can connect to a particular newsgroup and download
plug-ins that have been left there for it. These plug-ins can give the virus the ability
to do various other things.
One such plug-in that seems to be common at the moment makes the virus send out an email,
to whatever email addresses it can find, that contains a rather unpleasant sentence or two
in the message body. The wording basically consists of a string of quite offensive,
pornography- or sex-related words that don't make any sense as a sentence. I'm not going
to repeat any here! The email also contains an attachment which is infected with the
virus. The attachment is usually an EXE file with a varying name. This variant of the
virus is also clever enough to use a fake "From" address in the emails it sends
out. The "From" address usually consists of a word like "celebrity",
"Xena", or "famous", followed by the domain name of the recipient's
ISP. There may be a few other words used also. So if the email was sent to an Actrix
customer, the email would appear as though it came "from" celebrity@actrix.co.nz
or Xena@actrix.co.nz or famous@actrix.co.nz. Of course these addresses are fake and don't
really exist. But they would give the wrong impression that the offensive email was sent
by another Actrix customer (in this example).
As with Magistr, the best way to remove the Hybris virus from an infected computer is to
use an up-to-date antivirus program. And if you receive such an email, the best thing to
do is delete it straight away, remembering to delete it from your Deleted Items folder
too. If you have antivirus software on your computer, it may detect an incoming email as
containing the virus, and it may be able to delete or remove the infected attachment, but
it probably wouldn't have the ability to stop the email itself, with its offensive message
body, from showing in your Inbox. To prevent this, you may need to set up a Message Rule
that will filter and delete the emails, based on key words in the body. This can be done
in Outlook Express by clicking on the Tools menu and selecting Message Rules. You can
contact our Help Desk for assistance with this, or consult a past newsletter article on
Outlook Express Message Rules here.
Note that the emails sent out by both of these viruses are invisible to the user of
the infected computer. The user will usually have little, if any, indication that their
computer is infected, if they aren't using any antivirus software, or if it has not been.
And, of course, we have to stress again, it is dangerous to click attachments you are unsure of. The incredibly high incidence of this virus suggests that waaaay too many people are unaware of this danger.
More info on the Hybris virus can be found at Symantec's website:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w95.hybris.gen.html
and at McAfee's website:
http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=98873.
**Stop Press** New Sircam Virus, discovered 17 July 2001:
The following is a brief summary of what can be found about this virus at the Symantec (Norton's anti-Virus) web site.
This worm arrives as an email message with the following content:
Subject: The subject of the
email will be random, and will be the same as the file name of the attachment in the
email.
Message: The message body will be semi-random, but will always contain
one of the following two lines (either English or Spanish) as the first and last sentences
of the message.
Spanish Version:
First line: Hola como estas ?
Last line: Nos vemos pronto, gracias.
English Version:
First line: Hi! How are you?
Last line: See you later. Thanks
Between these two, sentences, some of the following text may appear:
Spanish Version:
Te mando este archivo para que me des tu punto de vista
Espero me puedas ayudar con el archivo que te mando
Espero te guste este archivo que te mando
Este es el archivo con la informaci=n que me pediste
English Version:
I send you this file in order to have your advice
I hope you can help me with this file that I send
I hope you like the file that I send you
This is the file with the information that you ask for
When executed, the worm performs a few nasty actions
including possibly deleting all your files on October 16. As I've already stated, only a
few days after initial discovery, this virus is already prevalent in New Zealand. Make it
a general rule - delete any email you receive that has an attachment you didn't
ask for or don't recognise!
A Second Night at the Opera (Opera Browser 5.12)
by Rob Zorn
In the Jan/Feb 2001 Newsletter, we
reviewed Opera 4.02. You can find that newsletter here, or the review alone here. Opera is
a relatively new browser on the scene, but it is gaining pretty quickly in popularity. It
claims to be the "fastest browser on earth" and many have been impressed by the
speed (compared to Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) at which it zips around the
Internet.
In my review of version 4.02, however, I found it necessary to highlight some unfortunate problems with Opera, and I am pleased to see that these problems have been largely addressed in later versions. Opera used to struggle terribly with JavaScript (the computer scripts web designers use to achieve dynamic things on web sites such as mouseovers and other bells and whistles) and now it only struggles a little bit, so little that you'd hardly notice. Opera used to be unable to display transparent images, but it seems to handle them fine now. Opera used to fail to display "alt tags" (the little yellow windows with writing that pop up when you mouse over an image) and unfortunately, it still fails to do so. It used to be a little hard to find your way around in (Preferences, configuration, etc) but it's now as user-friendly as Explorer or Navigator, if not moreso. In short, the main theme of my last review was that Opera was certainly faster than the bigger browsers (in my own experience, it leaves Explorer for dead - no contest) but that it had enough quirks and hiccups to make it hard to recommend unequivocally.
With the latest release (Opera 5.12) I am now prepared to recommend the browser quite heartily. I wrote a lot in my first review about why it might be faster (I'm really not sure) so I won't repeat a lot of that this time. I will say however, that the good things I found about Opera have all remained. I'm especially grateful for the neat way in which it informs you of the speed and progress it's making while downloading the page. If you're thinking about trying Opera, you may want to read the earlier review. I've already indicated that I think you would do well to try it, so this time I'd like to spend time on how to go about getting and using it yourself.
It used to be that you had two choices with downloading Opera. You could pay $39 U.S. or you could download their free version which contained a small advertising box in the top right-hand corner. It seems that these days, they're only offering the free version with the advertising. This is not much of a problem. The advertising is generally unobtrusive, never offensive, and the browser remains considerably faster despite the fact that it is downloading ads to you every now and then. By the way, there is nothing to fear from these advertisements. They're downloaded to the ad section of the Opera browser only, and don't muck about with anything on your hard drive.
First of all, use your usual browser to surf over to www.opera.com and click on the
"Download Here" button pictured to the left of this paragraph. The Opera web
site will quickly analyse which is the best version of Opera for you, and present you with
its findings. You can probably stick with what it chooses for you, but there is a button
you can click if you'd like to do something different. Next, click a dot into the With
Java (EXE, 9.8MB) option, select the nearest location from the drop down list.
Bob's you uncle, click the "Download Now" button, and the download will
commence. I recommend saving it to your desktop.
Once you've downloaded the browser (the ten Megabytes will take a while), simply double-click it on your desktop to begin installation. It'll ask you a few questions as it installs. If you're not sure, simply click Yes each time. It knows what it's doing, but just like most software, it gives you the option to be the boss during installation if you wish.
Opera will add an icon to your desktop for you to doubleclick when you want to try it as a browser. If it doesn't, you'll be able to find it under Start/Programs...
Unfortunately, when you first run Opera, its default settings open three windows (three separate browser pages) that automatically link to and open Opera related pages. You can get rid of this easily by adjusting your settings. Click the File menu and then Preferences. Select "Start and Exit from the left hand column, and set the dot into the "Show single window with global homepage" option. You can set your homepage by clicking Navigation/Set Global Homepage. Just enter in the page you would like Opera to open when it starts up (e.g. http://www.actrix.co.nz/) and that should take care of that.
Other settings are as easy with Opera as they are with any other browser. Just click File then preferences to receive the list of options. Have a play with various settings and see how you go and what you like.
I don't bother with the Opera e-mail function. I'm more than happy with Outlook Express as my mail client (preferring it greatly over Microsoft Outlook) but Opera's E-mail client is easy to set up and use, and looks just about as functional as any other.
That'll probably do for now. Perhaps in future newsletters I can add a few tips about getting the most out of Opera. I do encourage you to give it a go, though. If you're new to computers and the Internet, and perhaps a little intimidated by the new and unfamiliar, Opera is probably a good program on which to cut your new downloading teeth. And if you'd like to e-mail me your thoughts on how the browser works for you, I'd love to hear from you!
| Actrix New Look
E-mail Statements As part of our ongoing improvements we have revamped our e-mail statements to make them easier for you to read and understand. Customers will now receive new e-mail statements in the form of a file attached to the email. The file will be an HTML file which means it will open into your default web browser (eg. Internet Explorer or Netscape) when you open or double-click the attachment. The e-mail itself is written in plain text, however, and therefore will be compatible with all older e-mail programs. The HTML code won't display in the body of the e-mail - it will only display when the attachment it opened. Please note that the statements are written in pure HTML
and do not contain scripts of any sort. As such, they are completely safe to open. |
U.S. Appeals Court Overturns Microsoft Ruling: The U.S. Court of Appeals Thursday overturned a lower court's ruling to breakup the Microsoft Corp. for violation of antitrust laws. The ruling now sends the case back to a lower court to decide what kind of penalty would be appropriate. The ruling also throws out the charge that Microsoft attempted to monopolise the browser market. In addition the ruling removes the case from the original trial judge because of his biased remarks toward the company. Click the link below for more.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/563498.asp
Change Your Life, Not Your Keyboard: Doubts surround the benefits of ergonomic keyboards in preventing repetitive strain injuries at work, writes BBC News Online's technology correspondent Mark Ward. Work is bad for you, for all kinds of reasons. Click the link below for more.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/in_depth/sci_tech/2000/dot_life/newsid_1402000/1402589.stm
Is Your TV Set Watching You? Are you watching your television set or is it watching you? The same technologies that are threatening privacy on the Internet, including consumer data collection, profiling and targeted advertising, are now being adopted by the U.S. television industry. Click the link below for more.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/592190.asp
Napster Signs Euro Indie Labels: Controversial song-swapping company will be able to include songs by stars such as Paul Oakenfold and Badly Drawn Boy on its forthcoming pay-to-listen MusicNet service. Napster today signalled the end of free music swapping on its service, with the announcement that it has signed up the European independent music industry to its MusicNet subscription-based service. Click the link below for more.
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,s2089994,00.html
Napster Use Profoundly Diminished: Napster has become so effective in blocking the trade of copyrighted material that the sharing of songs on the service has virtually ground to a halt, research firm Webnoize said. Webnoize said users of Napster's latest software, which incorporates file identification technology, had an average of 1.5 song files to share at any given time... down from a peak of 220 songs in February. Click the link below for more.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-06-27-napster-use.htm
US to Lose Tech Dominance: The US will not dominate the Internet and tech sector by 2025, according to tech-savvy consumers polled in 19 countries by Euro RSCG Worldwide. Only 25 percent of those polled believed the US would continue to dominate the sector. Thirty-seven percent believed Asia-Pacific would be the leading region, while 17 percent favoured Europe. Click the link below for more.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=VS&art_id=905356914&rel=true
Internet Reaches 92% of Children: Most children access the internet, with
schools a crucial access point for children from lower income families. But despite 92 per
cent of children using the internet, the amount of time spent on the net falls behind most
other activities such as watching television, playing sport and listening to music or the
radio. Click the link below for more.
http://australianit.news.com.au/common/storyPage/0,3811,2216892^442,00.html
The Boss Is Watching: Workplace Monitoring on the Rise: Internet users are becoming increasingly aware of measures they can take to ensure their privacy when using their home computers for e-mailing, Web surfing and shopping. But the privacy landscape changes drastically when people use technology on company time. Click the link below for more.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/11634.html
Rise of e-Women 'Obscures Sexism': The increasing numbers of women
internet entrepreneurs turning into has obscured the persistence of sexism in technology
circles. The paper says that while women are often high-profile, public faces in high
technology start-ups, men are still seen as the deal-makers. Click the link below for
more.
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=
FT3NTJEGHOC&live=true&tagid=FTDDMJNIFEC&Collid=FTDMBQ131FC
Porn Sneaks Past Search Filters: Search companies are increasingly
turning to censorware to court G-rated customers such as corporations, schools and
parents, but they're still showing too much skin. The shortcomings of porn filters were on
display last week when Google launched a test version of a search engine for images with
an optional filter for what it terms "inappropriate adult content." Click the
link below for more.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6416982.html?tag=tp_pr
Password Reveals The Real Inner You:
Your password can reveal a lot about yourself, according to research for CentralNic. It's
found four different categories - Family (47%) who use names of partners, kids or pets for
their login, Fans (32%) who pick names of sports stars or movie stars, Fantasists (11%)
described as self-obsessed who love passwords like "sexy" and super stud,"
and the Cryptists (9%) who create intricate "cryptic" passwords.
Russian hitman advertised on Net: Moscow police have arrested a contract killer who
advertised his services via the internet, in the first such detention in Russia. The
Moscow police department for fighting high-technology crimes spotted the advertisement in
May, department chief Dmitry Chepchugov was quoted as saying. Click the link below for
more.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/sci_tech/story_15302.asp
Possible to Grow Computer Chips: Computer chips that grow like living
things, television screens you can fold and put in your pocket, and lightbulbs that
produce light, not heat, are just some items people can expect in the future, predict four
Nobel laureates. Professors Zhores Alferov, Horst Stormer and Alan Heeger, as well as Dr
Georg Bednorz, who are here for a conference, said such items will be possible because of
a revolution in the materials that will be produced and the ways in which existing ones
will be used. Click the link below for more.
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/cybernews/story/0,1870,55078,00.html?
Teachers Fight Web Plagiarism: Before her students write term papers, Melanie Hazen makes sure they understand one small thing: You can't put your name on someone else's work. Still, they don't see the harm in borrowing from a Web site. "Taking something straight off the Internet and using it as their own, they don't seem to think that's stealing at all," said Hazen, an English teacher at Montgomery Central High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. Click the link below for more.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/07/05/internet.plagiarism.ap/index.html
Americans Want More Online Rules, Survey Says: Americans want more rules
to tame behaviour on the Internet but are conflicted about handing over too much control
to the government. The study, conducted by the nonprofit Merkle Foundation, found
Americans expressing a host of often-contradictory opinions about life in cyberspace.
Click the link below for more.
http://digitalmass.boston.com/news/2001/07/11/rules.html
Prince Charles Urges Kids to Ditch Computer Games for Books: Prince Charles has called for more cash to be spent on books and the arts to drag children away from computer games. Speaking yesterday at the British Museum, Charles said there was a need to "expand the minds and fire the imagination" of Britain's youngsters. Click them link below for more:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/50/20306.html
Dope Virus Smoking up a Storm: A harmless but irritating virus extolling the virtues of marijuana and calling for its legalisation is starting to spread across the Web. Designed no doubt to drum up support for the movement, being a virus it is having the opposite effect, and one web site in particular is receiving floods of hate mail. Click the link below for more.
http://cooltech.iafrica.com/technews/509448.htm
ICANN Facing Top-Level Challenge: For nearly three years, the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has attempted no small feat: to set policies
and procedures governing how the Internet will grow. At no time has that role gained so
much scrutiny as in the past year. Click the link below for more.
http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2780130,00.html
Email Vulnerability in ActiveX Control: Microsoft has warned of a flaw in
ActiveX that allows an attacker to run malicious code on a victim's computer. The
vulnerability involves a feature called Outlook View Control that allows a user to view
mail or calendar information through the web. The flaw affects Outlook 98, 2000 and 2002.
Click the link below for more.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1123992
Jury Finds Half of NZ Hacker's Charges Proven: A jury returned a split
verdict yesterday in the long-running trial of computer hacker Andrew Garrett. It found
him guilty on five charges but was undecided on five others. Garrett was found guilty on
four counts of reproducing a document with intent to defraud and one count of threatening
to damage property. Click below for the full story.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?story
ID=200725&thesection=technology&thesubsection=general
Court: Napster Can go Back Online: A federal appeals court on Wednesday
gave embattled song-swap service Napster Inc. the green light to resume business over the
Internet. Overruling a lower court judge who had demanded more assurances on copyright
protection. The decision by the court?s three judge panel overruled an earlier ruling by
federal Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, who on July 11 instructed Napster to stay offline until
it could show it had done everything in its power to make its new song-filtering system
100 percent effective. Click the link below for more.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/602174.asp
Snaps, Crackles Aim to Stop CD Piracy: For the last several months,
consumers in ordinary record stores around the world have unwittingly been buying CDs that
include technology designed to discourage them from making copies on their PCs. Click the
link below for more.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5094340,00.html?chkpt=zdhpnews01
Dialup Networking Error #4 Error:
650
by John Kontopos
Error 650: The Remote Access server is not responding
The causes for this error can vary. Here are some common ways in which one may resolve this problem.
POSSIBLE CAUSES:
POSSIBLE RESOLUTIONS:
To learn how to check you network settings and reinstall
them follow this link.
http://www.terrigal.net.au/support/info/error_msgs/error650/error650.htm
If you require any help for any of these steps or require a extra setting for your type of
modem, call the Actrix helpdesk for assistance (0800-228749).
Interesting Sites (Click the picture links to access the sites)
Please note: Actrix supplies links to these sites for your interest and possible use. We
cannot endorse or take any responsibility for their contents. Got a site you think
would be neat to share with other readers? Let me know and receive a free Norrie the Nerd
chocolate bar courtesy of Actrix! Last month the following either suggested a site, or
correctly used the Quoteland site to identify Isaac Asimov as the man who said, "I do
not fear computers. I fear lack of them."
Kris Bieringa, Colin Bellett, Danella Webb , Jennifer Castle, Murray Hall, Diane Wills, Stephen Young, Bob Di, Antony Purcell, Amelia Carson, PF & K Benson, Abby Crowl, Nicky Bourgeois, Alistair Powell, Bev Hamilton, Barbara Murray, Raewyn Leckie, Wendy Stirling, Mary Curtin, Trevor Adair, Graeme Smith.
 Who's
Your Inner Rock Star?www.emode.com/tests/rockstar/ - Deep down you're a rock god. You were born for lights, limos, glamour, and don't forget the babes. Discover your inner rock star and start living the rock'n'roll lifestyle. We can already hear your screaming fans. If you enjoy this test, why not try some of their many others? |
 AirsideTV.Comhttp://airside.paradise.net.nz/ - "If your passion, business or lifestyle is aviation, this channel is created especially for you. Airsidetv.com is a multi-layered, highly resourced, web based ‘hub’ for 360 degree access to the dynamic industry, culture and personalities of aviation and it’s related industries." The site is worth visiting for the design alone, let alone the international airport webcams, graphics and a whole lot of other neat stuff. |
 World Wide Wordswww.worldwidewords.org/ - More than 400 pages on the history, origins, evolution and idiosyncrasies of English. New words and words in the news are regularly featured. If you're an English student, writer, speaker or if you have any interest at all in philology or etymology, this site will really rock your contrafibularities! Try the links to the left, especially "Surprise Me." |
 Air Guitar!!!http://mirrorimage.com/air/page02.html - This site is pretty funny. "As any performing air guitarist will tell you, there's no such thing as becoming an "overnight sensation." It takes hours, sometimes days, of honing your chops, waiting for your break to arrive. But mastering your instrument isn't enough. You've for to have stage presence, charisma, ATTITUDE... By acquiring this Philson Stratoblaster Air Guitar, you've already proven you have what it takes to rock and roll in the big leagues. All you need is a little polish... |
 Kodak Magazinewww.kodak.com/US/en/corp/magazine/ - If you love photography or would like to improve your skills, surf on over and turn some digital pages at the Kodak eMagazine. The site includes feature stories on great photographers, galleries and tips from experts. |
 2001:
Destination Spacewww.thetech.org/2001ds/ - Behind all good science fiction is science fact. And the fact-packed exhibit 2001 Destination Space from The Tech Museum of Innovation offers a multimedia demonstration of where those two sides meet. Try the links, wait for the Flash animations to load and you'll be well rewarded. Check out the artwork by Robert McCall, too! |
 Mensa Workouthttp://mensa.org/workout.html - All right, so you think you're pretty smart? Try the Mensa Workout - a series of questions that takes a half hour and will determine just how smart you are. This is not an IQ test, just a series of brain teasers best approached by those who excel at mental gymnastics. Sample: If it takes two typists to type two pages in two minutes, how many typists does it take to type 16 pages in 6 minutes? |
 Security Spacewww.securityspace.com/sspace/index.html - If the hacking and security world is like a big house, this site is the kitchen sink. Security space offers a variety of useful tools including live network monitors, security audits, vulnerability tests, Web bug reports, Web probes for server type, response time and site history, and links to the World-Wide WHOIS for tracking down the owner of a domain or its IP address. Top news headlines from the security world, Usenet archives and more, all here. |
 Genealogy.Com www.genealogy.com/index_n.html - We've mentioned this site before, but there's been an update. The site now features the Web edition of the program "Family Tree Maker" and is designed to help Web surfers easily create a family tree. For those who find their own family trees a little on the boring side, the site also lets you check out celebrity family trees! |
 Toilets of the World http://www.cromwell-intl.com/toilet/ - As the site emphasises, the focus here is historical and scientific rather than voyeuristic. Whether you're fascinated by toilets or not, this site has plenty to hold the interest of anyone enthused by travel, geography, history or the Bible. There are some great photos and some real horror stories, but nothing really offensive. |
 Legal Informationhttp://www.findlaw.co.nz/ - This page is for legal professionals, students, businesses and consumers in New Zealand. It contains topical articles, recent cases, legislation, law schools, law firms, links to other legal sites and much more. |
 Kids
Domainwww.kidsdomain.com - A great site for kids that enhances rather than insults their intelligence. Tech articles are included at childrens' level, and there are puzzles, contests, games and even stuff for adults. |
So there's another newsletter done. I hope
there was something here for you.
I need to make a couple of points. Firstly, I'm off to America for a bit of a working holiday for a couple of weeks. I probably won't be responding to too much e-mail, and the time off may mean that next month's newsletter is more on the light side in terms of content. We'll see.
Secondly, I need to remind that I don't work for Actrix directly anymore. It is great to hear from you all, but inquiries and requests for support are better directed at the Actrix help desk. You can call them on 0800-228749, or email them at support@actrix.co.nz.
Lastly, I want to stress again that viruses are rampant at the moment. Just a couple of clicks while you're not thinking, and you can find yourself infected and infecting others. Any strange attachment to an e-mail should be ignored. Delete the e-mail permanently!!
Take care through August,
Rob Zorn
Actrix Newsletter editor
editor@actrix.co.nz