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Welcome
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Welcome
all of our new Internet subscribers.
This newsletter is sent out the first of
each month. Scroll down for some
tips and tricks along with links to some
useful, informative, and entertaining
websites. Your comments are
always welcome. netnews@meltel.net
If you prefer not to receive
this newsletter each month,
you may be taken off the mailing list
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| Editors
Comments |
Happy
Easter & Happy
St. Patrick's Day!
In this issue of 'NetlineNews you will find an article that might help you
resolve your virus fear. It tells you how to protect your computer and gives you some
security tips for your computer. There are some links for home improvement ideas and a site where you can find 1000's of great house plans.
Easter is here early so I have added a
link with lots of fun activities to plan
for it. If you are a music nut you will
find a great link for music downloading.
Plus many more entertaining and helpful
sites. Start exploring the web!
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Scroll
down and discover the World Web! |
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Have a site you think should be
highlighted: Drop me an email and I will
take a look at it! netnews@meltel.net
Editor-Shanna
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| In
This Month's Issue |
<> Your
Local Help Desk
<> Tech
Tips & Tricks
<> Places
to visit
<> Humor
is Good Medicine
<> Unsubscribe
information
NetlineNews
Archives |
<> Check it Out
<> Internet
Classes
<> This
Month's Chronicles
<> Quote
for Thought
<> Points to Ponder |
| Your
Local Help Desk |
When
calling your local help desk and you
receive no answer or you get the voice
mail, it would be wise to leave a
message. The technicians check the
voice mail throughout the day and if
there is a message asking them to call
them back, they will! So, when the
voice mail kicks in, please leave a
message. They will get back to
you!
Help desk hours are:
Mon - Fri 8am to 9pm & Saturday 10am
to 2pm
256-8324
764-8324
597-8324
Or e-mail to: support@meltel.net
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| Tech
Tips & Tricks |
LoveLetter,
Melissa, MyParty, Nimda, Goner, FreeTrip,
Ghost, & BigBug
What
do all these names have in common? Are
they cryptic pseudonyms for online chat
participants, a list of favorite teenage
jargon, or dangerous computer viruses?
If
you answered computer viruses, you are
right and possibly have been
"bitten" by one or more of
these viruses.
There
are more than 50,000 computer viruses
known today, and the rate of infection
has been doubling every year since 1997.
With
the popular adoption of electronic mail,
computer viruses are being developed to
abuse the immediacy of this
communication vehicle by passing
themselves off as interesting file
attachments. When the unassuming
receiver opens the attachment, the virus
delivers its payload to the recipient's
computer and, if of the "worm"
variant, will spread functional copies
of itself to other computer systems via
network connections or e-mail
attachments.
Some worm viruses propagate by sending
copies to all e-mail addresses in the
new host computer's electronic address
book, thereby continuing the infection
cycle.
How do protect your computer and/or
network:
1.
Install and update anti-virus
software.
Anti-virus
software that checks incoming e-mails
and scans any and all selected computer
files is available for purchase from a
number of vendors. Two of the more
popular versions are available from
Symantec (http://www.symantec.com) or
McAfee (http://www.mcafee.com). Trend
Micro offers a free online virus scan
(http://housecall.antivirus.com) that
will check your hard drive, and any
additional drives you specify, for the
latest computer viruses. While this
online scan will check the files already
on your computer, it does not prevent
viruses that are attached to e-mails or
are imbedded in floppy disks that are
shared by users.
2.
Install a firewall.
Firewalls
are electronic gatekeepers. They are one
way businesses protect their network
from known and unknown Internet threats,
intruders, hackers and data thieves.
Easy to install software versions are
also available for the home user. One of
the better firewalls is available free
for personal use from ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com).
Anti-virus software can't detect hacker
intrusions and a firewall can't stop
viruses from infecting your network, so
use both.
3.
Check your system against
hackers.
Gibson
Research Corporation (http://grc.com)
offers a free check of your computer's
security to the Internet. The
"Shields Up" test can probe
your computer's ports and IP addresses
and report on how easy it would be for
hackers to penetrate your security.
More
computer security tips:
-Make
regular backups of critical data.
-Use
secure passwords.
-Shut
down your computer when finished for the
day.
-Beware of unknown e-mail attachments.
-Update software by downloading security
patches.
-Notify authorities of hacker attacks
and Internet scams.
The preceding information is provided
courtesy of diversiCOM Melrose Telephone
Company and Minnesota Telephone
Association
Arm yourself with the information needed
to defend yourself from computer
viruses.
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| Places
to Visit |
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Fill the holes on
your resume with impressive work
experience. Search listings here and
land an internship.
Calculate,
visualize, and get advice on home
improvement plans with the tools found at
this reliable resource.
http://www.improvenet.com
Easter
is right around the corner. This site
gives you lots of fun and entertaining
links to celebrate Easter! It has
crafts, fun pages, and tells you what the
"real" meaning of Easter is!
http://www.chenowith.k12.or.us/tech/subject/fun/easter.html
Are
you planning on building a house this
spring. Browse through more than 1,000
home plans to find that perfect design.
http://www.designbasics.com/home.asp
Whether
you're a seasoned granny or a novice
granddad, you'll benefit from these
tidbits. Don't miss "Soup."
http://www.grandparentworld.com/
April 15th, the day you
dread or the day you wait for. Here is a
site that illustrates
how to be generous, without letting the
IRS taking a big chunk.
http://www.money.com/money/depts/taxes/
Speaking tips are no
help if you don't know the language. Thank
heaven for online translators. You
can paste in text and have it
converted from on language to another, or
you can paste in a URL and have an entire
website translated. Now you can truly have
the world at your fingertips.
http://www.FreeTranslation.com
This site is for
teens. if you are having problems and you
don't want to share it with anyone. Check
out this much talked about site.
They offer counselors that are your age
and can be talked to .
http://www.teenadvice.org/
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| Humor
Is Good Medicine |
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When
having problems with technology do you
sometimes find yourself wondering whether
the problem is “on the desk or in the
chair?” Perhaps you are suffering from
IDS – Intelligence Deficit Syndrome
See if any of these
“technologies” have given you IDS:
Having
to use over 20 numbers to make a long
distance telephone call.
The number string for me to dial out from
a hotel using my credit card looks
something like this:
9-1-800-228-8288-507-555-1234-863-037-7459-4339
I count
thirty-six numbers I have to remember.
Having
a stove with burners set in a rectangular
pattern and knobs set in a row.
I have to look at the little diagram
beside the knob every time I light
a burner.
Having
one car with the wiper lever on the left
side of the column and one car with the
wiper level on the right side of the
column. I wipe
when I want to dim, and I still haven’t
quite got the wash to work on a consistent
basis.
Pushing
a glass door when you should have pulled
on the door.
Scorching
yourself because you don’t know if
counterclockwise makes the water in the
shower hotter or colder. This
is a common vacation trauma for me.
Knowing
what fewer than 50% of the buttons do on
the VCR’s remote control.
And I never remember how to get out of the
on-screen menu. At least my deck doesn’t
blink 12:00, although I haven’t changed
the time to accommodate for daylight
savings time. Let’s see, is that fall
back or fall forward.
Worrying
that dragging the little disk icon on your
Mac to the trashcan icon will erase the
files on the disk. For
some users I’ve made an alias of the
trash icon and gave it a symbol that looks
like an arrow. Eases the fear.
I
think we all might have suffered from IDS
at one point in our life!
http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/ids.html
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Check it out
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Is your Long Distance
Provider hitting you with
added fees and high rates?
It's time for a change to
• NO Monthly or hidden fees
• Billed in 6 second increments
• Same rate every day, all day
• One telephone bill
• Local customer service
• No service charge
• Volume discounts
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Change is Quick N' Easy!
Call us today:
256-7471
764-7600
597-3333
548-3200
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| Internet
Special |
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Pay for 12 months of Internet
and receive the 13 month FREE!
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SAVE
MONEY |
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| Community Webpages
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Free
Internet Classes
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Beginner Internet
Melrose High School :
Mar. 26.......7:00pm to 9:30 pm
Beginner
Internet
Eden Valley High School
Mar.11......7:00pm to 9:30pm
April 8.......7:00pm to 9:30pm
To register or for more info:
Call the main office
Melrose Telephone Company
256-7471
764-7600
597-3333
548-3200
Intermediate Internet
Sauk Centre High School
Call Mainstreet Communitcations
to register and for more info:
320-351-1460
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| This
Month's Chronicles |
|
Flower: Daffodil or
Jonquil
Birthstone: Aqua
Marine
| Calendar |
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| March.......... |
National
Craft
National Nutrition
Music in our Schools
Women's History |
|
March 2....... |
Dr.
Seuss' B-day |
| March
3....... |
Alexander
Graham Bell's Birthday |
| March
10..... |
US
Paper Money Issued: Anniversary |
| March
17..... |
St.
Patrick's Day |
| March
20..... |
Spring
Begins |
| March
24..... |
Harry
Houdini's B-day |
| March
27..... |
Passover |
| March
30..... |
National
Kite Month |
| March
31..... |
Easter |
This Day
in History
http://www.scopesys.com/anyday
Horoscope
http://www.easyscopes.com/
Pisces...........2-19 to 3-20
Aries.............3-21 to 4-19
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| Quotes
for Thought |
|
"Experience
is what allows us to repeat our mistakes,
only with more finesse!"
-- Derwood Fincher
"The
more sand that has escaped from the
hourglass of our life, the clearer we
should see through it."
-- Jean Paul
"For
every minute you remain angry, you give up
sixty seconds of peace of mind."
-- Ralph Waldo
Emerson
"Courage
is contagious. When a brave man takes a
stand, the spines of others are
stiffened."
-- Billy Graham
"It
is good to dream, but it is better to
dream and work. Faith is mighty, but
action with faith is mightier. Desiring is
helpful, but work and desire are
invincible."
-- Thomas Robert
Gaines
"If there is anything we wish to
change in the child, we should first
examine it and see whether it is not
something that could better be changed in
ourselves."
-- Carl Gustav Jung
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Points
to Ponder
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Drive
Though Banks or ATM's
Why
do they put Braille on the drive-through
bank machines?
If
you try to fail, and succeed, which have you
done?
Why
is abbreviated such a long word?
Why indeed?
Why
is it when driving down an unfamiliar street
looking for a house number, you turn the
radio down? Has
anyone else found themselves doing this, or
can offer an explanation?
If
the police arrest a mime, do they tell him
he has the right to remain silent?
What
hair color do they put on the driver's
licenses of bald men?
Why
do they sterilize the needles for lethal
injections?
How
come there aren't B batteries?
Do
cemetery workers prefer the graveyard shift?
http://www.forwardgarden.com
Email
me with your points you have often
pondered!! netnews@meltel.net
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| Disclaimer |
| We do not have
financial interest in, or endorse, any of
the sites, or products offered by the sites,
listed in this customer newsletter. No
opinions expressed on these sites should be
considered to be the opinion of diversiCOM
Melrose Telephone Company or it's employees.
This is a free service of diversiCOM Melrose
Telephone Company to enhance your Internet surfing experience. It is
our policy to not share your e-mail address
with any third party for any reason. |
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