Actrix Newsletter April 2005

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

Helpful Capslock Tip (2)

Last month we featured a tip gratefully borrowed from the February 2005 Senior Net Newsletter: Surfin' the Web with John Cook. By holding your Num Lock key down for five seconds, you would be able to set your keyboard to make a sound each time you hit your Caps Lock key. This is a great feature for those of us who often turn Caps Lock on without realising it, which can lead to problems with passwords etc.

A number of people wrote in to say that either the feature didn't work for them, or that it ceased to work once they had re-booted, and they had to set it up anew each time they re-started their computer. It seems there is an alternative way to get this feature to work which may solve both problems.

Getting your keyboard to warn you when your Num Lock, Caps Lock or Scroll Lock keys are pressed is called using the "Toggle Keys." You can turn this feature on permanently by going through Accessibility Options in your Control Panel. The process is as follows:

That should sort things out. It's quite a useful feature to have on all the time, and it is surprising how many times during the day you will accidentally turn your Caps on, and hear that little sound.

Actrix Anti-Spam/Anti-Virus Update

Just a quick note about Actrix spam filtering. Our servers are set to remove e-mails to customers that appear to be spam. The filters use a set of complex and complicated rules as they decide, but they do not have the human ability to make value judgements. Therefore there will be occasional e-mails that sneak through unnoticed, and at times there will be legitimate e-mails filtered off to customers' spam folders by mistake.

If customers particularly want to send in incorrectly marked mail (either something that sneaked through or something that was incorrectly flagged), they can send them to spamtrap@actrix.co.nz. The spamtrap@actrix.co.nz address is not filtered, for obvious reasons. Messages sent here must be sent as attachments in order for us to be able to see the original headers. If they do not arrive as attachments, they cannot be acted upon. Where possible the subject line should be clearly marked SPAM or NOT SPAM. These e-mails will be used to better train the filters. However, we are not able to guarantee that it will prevent future problems with a particular e-mail. It will only improve the filters chances at recognising it. There's a little more information in this in last month's newsletter.

Readers' Forum

If you'd like to ask a question or request some help on any Actrix or Internet-related matter. Simply send me an e-mail with the word "Forum" in the subject line. I'll try and answer your question by return e-mail, and will also post the answer here for the benefit of others who may have a similar question or problem. By the same token, if you read something here and think you may have something to suggest, please feel more than free. Please also note that questions and answers may turn up under the Helpful Tips section on the Actrix home page (www.actrix.co.nz).

Mary writes: Hi, What do you think of https://findthedirt.com/? It seems people have been talking about us. Probably inaccurately as someone claimed to have a "professional" relationship and we have both been retired for quite a few years. I had a look at the FAQ and it all sounds rather nasty. Should we pursue it or ignore it?

Hi Mary, What an odd site and service! I think I remember receiving one of these about me a while ago, and decided it was one of those bizarre things the net throws up every now and then. I assumed they wanted me to log in so they could harvest some personal information or something, and I pretty much ignored them. I searched on my name today and couldn't find anything, so I still think it's all a bit surreptitious and below the belt.

I can't really work out what their game is, but I strongly doubt anyone has put anything in about you. It could be that they're just sending out this sort of spam to generate a bit of interest. Google didn't immediately throw up anything about them, so they can't be too well established as yet. My advice is to ignore it and not worry.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has had an experience with Find the Dirt.

Deane writes: Hi Rob, In Mike Cooper's reply to Leanne last month he talks about Microsoft's AntiSpyware. Is this something new from Microsoft? Does it come with Service Pack 2 or is it a stand alone program? Look forward to your reply. Regards, Deane.

Hi Deane, Yes, this is a new product from Microsoft. So far it is released as a beta which means it is stable enough to loose on the general public if they want it, but it isn't sure to be free of bugs etc. A beta product (and lots of software developers release them) is usually downloaded by the enthusiast who uses it for free, and in return reports any problems and suggestions he or she has so the developers can fix them before the official release. This one doesn't come with Service Pack 2, and at this stage it appears to be standalone. Perhaps they'll bundle it in the future. I'm not sure. You can read about it (including an FAQ), at the web site Mike mentioned. There is also a link to a free download there. http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx.

Bert writes: Hi Rob When I receive an e-mail from a friend of mine, this dialog box opens up telling me to install Chinese characters. I do not get this message in other e-mails. Any ideas as to why this is so? Regards, Bert

Hi Bert,

I am pretty sure I know why this is happening, and only with the one correspondent. It has to do with their settings, not yours. Your friend is set up to have Chinese characters displayed in their e-mail client, and these must be automatically being added to e-mails they send, perhaps as a signature file, an advertisement from their e-mail provider, or whatever.

This typically happens with a lot of spam e-mails as well that have been sent through Asian providers (the Asian equivalents of Yahoo, etc) where the provider tacks a little message about themselves on the bottom of every e-mail.

Anyway, when you receive the e-mail, your program doesn't have the plug-in to display the Chinese characters, so it is prompting you to install it. Normally you can get this little box to go away by ticking the Never install any language packs box. In so doing, you're telling your e-mail program not to get bothered by this any more, and to just display e-mails without the foreign language characters. I hope that helps.

Pefi writes: Kia ora, Rob: Is this kind of e-mail genuine? It feels like a scam. How then do they make money?

No, it's definitely not genuine. All that stuff about tracking the e-mails is utter rubbish. If it were at all possible it would be extremely difficult to do (and would be a criminal breach of most countries' privacy laws).

This one probably isn't done for money, and the sad dad is likely not to exist, or at least not to have anything to do with this appeal. Someone else has probably made up the story and just wants to enjoy the buzz of having lots of people believe him and to have his or her hoax spread all around the world. If only he or she would channel their talents into finding a real job.....

Actrix Tolls!

The new tolls service from Actrix is proving to be extremely popular, and several hundred Actrix customers are already enjoying excellent rates on toll calls. There are a number of good reasons why you might want to join if you haven't already:

CyberByte1 (with tolls): Just like our standard one cent per minute plan, but with no $2.00 monthly fee!
CyberByte60: Just like our CyberByte 30 plan ($9.95/month), but with twice as many free hours at no extra charge!
CyberByte Flatrate: Just like our CyberByte 150 plan ($19.95/month), but with unlimited hours at no extra charge!

Please don't think you need to be a heavy tolls user to qualify. Unlike some other providers, Actrix does not require you to have a minimum monthly tolls spend in order to get the service, the discounts or the improved plans.

For more information on Actrix Tolls, and to sign up (you know you want to!) please go to www.actrixtolls.co.nz.

The bad news that's always is small print is that JetStream customers will face an additional $10 monthly charge from Telecom if they don't also use Telecom for their toll calls. However, the good news is that this charge may well be off-set by savings in tolls charges.

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? Click here to e-mail and let me know and receive a free Norrie the Nerd chocolate bar courtesy of Actrix!

How Firefox Works
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/firefox.htm - There's been a lot of talk about Firefox lately, whether it's the answer to browsing security problems or an overblown flash-in-the-pan from independent software makers. This page present a reasonably unbiased rundown on Firefox. I've decided to include it this month, not so much in an effort to push Firefox, but more because it so succinctly covers the issues involved. It's written very much in layman's terms and nicely covers what the issues are with browsers, what the open source movement is and so forth. If you get bored with this article, try some of the links at the top of the page that go to other sections about how all sorts of other stuff works.

Top Corporate Hate Web Sites
www.forbes.com/2005/03/07/cx_cw_0308hate_print.html - Sometimes it seems that shoddy products and atrocious customer service go together like peanuts and chocolate. But while your average disgruntled consumer simply vents his or her anger by bellowing at a bewildered help desk worker, a few go farther... much much farther.

The Mystical Ball
www.mysticalball.com/ - The Mystical Ball will daze and amaze you. How does it read your mind and know what you're thinking? This page is heaps of mystifying fun until the penny drops and you figure out how it tricks you. Admittedly, it gets pretty boring after that.

Table Manners Around the World
http://fekids.com/img/kln/flash/DontGrossOutTheWorld.swf - Why can't you ask for tomato sauce in France? Because it's like saying "The food is awful". Why can't you eat with your left hand in Arab countries? Because that's your hand for other delicate activities. This flash quiz presents table manners from around the world that may seem crazy to us, but probably make good sense in their own cultural context. This would be a cool one for the kids.

Name Voyager
http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/ - So, there's a new baby on the way? And what are you going to name the new little nipper or nipperess? Parents-to-be now have a new tool in their arsenal: NameVoyager, an interactive chart that allows you to track the trendiness of thousands of names over the last century. Start by typing one letter, and the chart's many hues divide to illustrate the rise and fall in popularity of names starting with that letter. Then add more letters, and watch the chart narrow its focus.

911: Debunking The Myths
www.popularmechanics.com/science/defense/1227842.html - Popular Mechanics examines the evidence and consults the experts to refute the most persistent conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks. Maybe it wasn't a missile pod and there were no explosives. Perhaps the jet fuel didn't liquefy steel and there was no passport found. One by one the conspiracies are vapourised by apparent sanity.

Are You an Alien Abductee?
www.anw.com/aliens/52questions.htm - This page lists 58 common indicators that you have had UFO encounters or been abducted by alien beings. If none of these indicators ring a bell, it probably just means your memory was erased after you were abducted. Of course it does.

The Uncyclopedia
http://mrpalmguru.com/uncyclopedia/index.php?title=Main_Page - Last month we included here the wikipedia, an online collaborative effort. The Uncyclopedia takes its cue from that site, I think, but there's a difference. A self-professed collection of lies and disinformation, the Uncyclopedia depends upon its readers for its goofy entries. Is it funny? Yes, in places. A lot of the material here reads like watered-down Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but if you feel you can do better, by all means contribute - just be sure to be funny!

Elvis Aaron Presley JR
http://elvisjr.com/ - "During the early 1960's Elvis Presley had a private liaison with a young star in the entertainment business. This actress in-turn carried in her womb the child of the King himself, where by putting herself as well as Elvis in the eye of public scrutiny. Elvis at this time was at the height of his fame..."

Rent a German
www.rentagerman.de/ - "Rentagerman.de offers a wide range of Germans for your personal and social needs. You can select the German of your choice for an exclusive lifetime experience: Imagine to appear with your German at parties, family events, or just hang out with them at the local shopping center. No matter which occasion you choose, you will surely impress your environment by presenting an original German." Thanks Jessica Campbell for suggesting this intriguing site. Chocolate for you, and loads more for anyone who rents one and reports back on how it went!

Tricks of the Trade
www.tradetricks.org/ - Professional secrets from those in the know. Click the links to the archives over to the left of the page. The site features hundreds of little practical tips from all sorts of specialists ranging from how to get your kids to go to bed to how not to have your blueberries sink in your uncooked muffin mix. As you read, you'll often be wondering, "Why didn't I think of that?" You're encouraged to submit tips of your own if you have them.

Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie
http://zapatopi.net/afdb.html - "This cheap and unobtrusive form of mind control protection offers real security to the masses. Not only do they protect against incoming signals, but they also block most forms of brain scanning and mind reading, keeping the secrets in your head truly secret. AFDBs are safe and operate automatically. All you do is make it and wear it and you're good to go! Plus, AFDBs are stylish and comfortable. What are you waiting for? Make one today!"

Cyberspace News Snippets

New Zealand

Restaurant fined for out-of-date website: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning that a computer virus is being spread via e-mails that purport to be from the FBI. Click here for more.

Anti-spam bill a mix of offshore laws: The Government has adopted a "pick-and-mix" approach to cracking down on spam while trying to minimise the regulatory impact on business... Click here for more.

TelstraClear pulls internet plug: The auction website TradeMe could lead a backlash against TelstraClear's decision to disconnect from the Wellington internet-peering exchange WIX. Click here for more.

Tinkering with the internet model is not a smart move: Changes in the wholesale market mean the company can now go after the home customer. Then it goes and spoils it all by doing something stupid like de-peering. Click here for more.

Enum trial to link phone, internet addresses: Enum, a new means of identifying devices that are connected to the internet, is about to arrive in New Zealand. Click here for more.

ISP draft code of practice released: Non-profit Internet society InternetNZ has released a draft of its revamped code-of-practice for Internet service providers, putting it out for public comment. Click here for more.

General

The price paid for blogging Iran: Web logs have become a popular forum for dissent. And the Iranian government has responded by arresting dozens of bloggers. Click here for more.

Firefox gains market share at slower pace: After an initial surge in market share gains that followed the release of Firefox 1.0 in November, the pace at which the open-source web browser is winning market share has slowed down, new research shows. Click here for more.

New Browsers, Same Unwanted Ads: For internet users seeking to avoid exposure to spyware and intrusive ads, the prevailing wisdom among net security experts has long been that a good first step is to switch from Microsoft's Internet Explorer... Click here for more.

Drug sales soar on the internet: "They are really taking the place of traditional drug traffickers," INCB president Hamid Ghodse said. "It is very much increasing rapidly..." Click here for more.

Schoolyard bullies get nastier online: When Joanne had a row with a longtime friend last year, she had no idea it would spill into cyberspace. Click here for more.

Getting the net off the ground: Early attention to security issues might have given us a better internet today - or the project might never have taken off at all, says Robert Kahn. Click here for more.

Next big step for the Web--or a detour?: ...the Semantic Web [will] give birth to vastly more powerful ways of gleaning information from the world's computer network. Click here for more.

Australian government to outlaw suicide websites: ...but Justice Minister Chris Ellison said on Tuesday the laws were not a bid to spark a euthanasia debate. Click here for more.

Hatred of corporations spreads across the internet: They belong to a part of the net born of dark experiences, even darker humour and a whole lot of anger - they're corporate hate websites. Click here for more.

If the world was run like eBay: The launch of an eBay-style banking website this week, where users lend to and borrow from each other, is the latest step in what is being seen as a quiet consumer revolution. Click here for more.

Beyond the Dating Database: These days, if you're single and have internet access, you're about as likely to have an online personal as not. Click here for more.

It pays to think twice before pressing 'send': Like faxes, letters and phone calls, email communications can go drastically wrong. However, the electronic nature of email means the consequences of email error is far-reaching. And it's no good taking it out on your computer - user error is always the cause. Click here for more.

British ISPs told to grass on pirates: The High Court move gives legal backing to the British Phonographic Industry’s moves against file sharing pirates. More than 31 individuals' details will be given to the BPI under the current court order. Click here for more.

Aussie web scam slugs sellers of thousands: The ANZ Bank has alerted Australian Federal Police to a new internet scam preying on people who place classified advertisements on websites. Click here for more.

Internet on the power line: Few people realise that if you have a mains power line to your home or business - and who doesn't? - fast internet access connections of up to two megabits per second can be delivered over it. Click here for more.

Police monitor net for anti-royalty sites: Police officers are monitoring anti-monarchy websites as part of an unprecedented security operation to prevent the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles being disrupted by demonstrators. Click here for more.

Viruses

Security warning over 'FBI virus': Tony's Vineyard Restaurant in Henderson, Waitakere, has been fined $3000 for advertising out of date prices and dishes on its website. Click here for more.

Bagle variants served up with spam: Spamming tactics are being used to distribute multiple variants of a new Trojan horse malware package. The Trojans are similar to the Bagle email worm except for the absence of email spreading functionality. Click here for more.

Policing the virus writers: Good news?: A recent spate of high-profile arrests of malware writers is no cause for comfort, say computer crime experts. Click here for more.

Virus writers wreak havoc by the hour: Kaspersky Labs recently found itself in a 12-hour battle against the creator of the Bagle worm, as virus writers up their game. Click here for more.

Mytob e-mail worm proliferating quickly: With eight new variants surfacing in the last week alone, and over a dozen reported since the beginning of March, the Mytob mass-mailing worm appears to be evolving rapidly. Click here for more.

Security and Safety

Internet banking under scrutiny after hacker accesses accounts: Police, a consumer-watchdog and two major banks are warning people to be extra cautious in using the internet for banking. Click here for more.

Westpac says internet banking systems secure: New Zealand internet banking systems were secure and had never been infiltrated by hackers, a Westpac spokesman said yesterday. Click here for more.

More chance of getting hit by car than internet fraud - BNZ: ...compared to credit card, cheque and cash fraud the number of people hit affected by Internet banking fraud was small. Click here for more.

Alternative browser spyware infects IE: ...surfers looking for Neil Diamond lyrics (of all things) are served with a variety of adware and spyware packages including Internet Optimizer... Click here for more.

Have hackers recruited your PC?: More than one million computers on the net have been hijacked to attack websites and pump out spam and viruses. Click here for more.

Banks fess up on online fraud: New Zealand banks were hit by about 200 Internet banking frauds last year, an informal poll conducted by NZ InfoTech has found. Click here for more.

Microsoft to tighten security: report: The new versions of Windows operating system and the Internet Explorer Web browser from Microsoft will put a new emphasis on security for Web users, according to a published report. Click here for more.

Phishing attacks rose slightly in February, says group: The number of phishing attacks grew slightly during February, and there was also increased malicious software use, a group that monitors attempts at online identity theft said yesterday. Click here for more.

Spam, Eggs, Baked Beans, Spam, Spam and Spam

A slice of internet lowlife before the one-finger salute: In a certain week every year I select 100 consecutive spam mails and read them - a subjective forensic analysis for trends and oddities. Click here for more.

Massive web trawl nets spammers: According to recent estimates, spam accounts for more than seven in ten of all emails sent via the net. Which is not nice. Click here for more.

Mainly Microsoft

Bill Gates to receive honorary UK knighthood: Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates will be awarded an honorary knighthood by Britain's Queen Elizabeth for his outstanding contribution to enterprise. Click here for more.

Gates up to old tricks over intellectual property rights: Gates’ greatest achievement has never been the software he created - some is good, some is terrible, a lot is a knock-off of someone else’s stuff - but the way he was able to get people to pay for it. Click here for more.

Mac News

Creator of first Apple Mac dies: Mr Raskin was one of the first employees at Apple and made many of the design decisions that made the Mac so distinctive when it was first released. Click here for more.

Torvalds switches to Apple: Linux creator Linus Torvalds is now running an Apple Macintosh as his main desktop, largely for work reasons but also because he's not one to pass up a bargain. Click here for more.

Why Viruses Have Trouble Penetrating the Mac: It may or may not surprise you, but there are no OS X viruses (or worms or trojans), partly due to the implementation of OS X and its almost-inaccessible Root. Click here for more.

Unix/Linux Line

Rex finds living is easy with Linux: Markus Rex has been living with Linux since 1992, seven years before joining SUSE as an engineer. Back then, he says, it was still a bit of a play toy. Click here for more.

The Weird, Weird Web

Net used to rat out principal: A student who photographed his principal smoking outside a school building was allowed to return to class after initially being suspended for posting the photos on the Internet. Click here for more.

A Little Levity

Bringing It All Back Home

Thanks again for reading the Actrix newsletter. Feedback can be sent to me via the e-mail address listed below. Please limit this to comments/suggestions regarding the newsletter. Requests for support should go to the Actrix Help Desk (support@actrix.co.nz) or to the Accounts Department (accounts@actrix.co.nz).

	February 2005
Emails scanned:	4,489,126
Viruses found:	127,050
Spam found:	2,599,689
Percentage of emails containing viruses:	2.83
Percentage of emails containing Spam:	57.91
Top 10 Viruses for January 2005
Worm.SomeFool.P	35,833
Worm.SomeFool.Gen-1	17,841
Trojan.Downloader.Small-165	15,231
Worm.SomeFool.Z	8,915
HTML.Phishing.Bank-1	8,239
Worm.SomeFool.Gen-2	5,190
Worm.Lovgate.X	5,066
Worm.Zafi.B	3,396
HTML.Phishing.Bank-93	2,655
Worm.Zafi.D	1,641