INews Newsletter - Mar 13, 1998
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* * * I N e w s * * *
A publication of Internet Nebraska, composed and distributed by
* * * manager@inetnebr.com * * *
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Volume 1, Number 7 March 13, 1998
Welcome to another issue of INews, Internet Nebraska's customer newsletter.
This biweekly newsletter communicates service bulletins, announcements and
other useful information to our customers. Please let us know what you think
of it.
In this issue: Valentine Upgrade
IE Remembers Even If You Don't
RedTeam Virus
Bad WWW Addresses
General Reminders
Home page Advertisement
*** Whoa, that's fast! ***
Valentine customers now enjoy full T1 connectivity to the Internet, and
bottlenecks at the Valentine POP are a thing of the past. It seems like only
yesterday when our Lincoln customer base had grown to the point where a 56K
frame-relay line could no longer handle the traffic, and we had to upgrade. Of
course, those were the dark ages -- all of 34 months ago -- when most people
had 14.4Kbs modems and many of those were used only for dumb terminal
connections. We could serve a lot more customers over a 56K line in those
days!
*** Speaking of History ***
The Internet Explorer remembers every website you visit, and stores each of
them in a list called the History file. You can use your History file to
return to recently visited web sites (or to check up on sites that others have
been visiting).
For example, let's say you stayed up all night surfing the web. This morning,
you have a dim memory of having found the ultimate stock-car racing/pie-tasting
recipe web site, but forgot to save it as a "favorite," and don't remember the
URL.
Don't fret. First, try retracing your footsteps using the Internet Explorer
History file. To view your History file, click Go/Open History File. This
will display a list of sites you've visited during the past 20 days. To
revisit a site in your History list, simply double-click on it. To see more
information about a site (such as the date and time it was last visited, and
when it is scheduled to "expire"), click View/Details.
To modify the length of time a site remains in your History list, click
View/Options/Navigation. The default setting is 20 days, but can be changed to
whatever you like.
In addition to "retracing your footsteps," there may be times when it is
prudent or even necessary to "cover your tracks." You can delete particular
items from the History list simply by highlighting them, then clicking
File/Delete. Or, you can remove the entire History file by clicking
View/Options/Navigation/Clear History.
Note that this info applies to IE-3.x, and that details vary for version 4. As
soon as we begin distributing CDs with that version (a matter of days, we
hope), INews will discuss its features extensively.
*** RedTeam For Real ***
Finally, an e-mail virus that really exists! People have been unnecessarily
alarmed for years over viruses that were supposed to have been spread through
e-mail, and we at the helpdesk have spent quite a lot of time putting these
rumors to rest. It appears there really is one out there now you should be
aware of called RedTeam. It arrives as an attachment to text which seeks to
convince you that the program is a "vaccine" and that you should open it.
Don't. Just delete it and everything will be fine. This shouldn't really be
news because none of you should _ever_ open anything executable that was mailed
to you by a stranger. What's remarkable about this is that it's a virus, but
any executable program might lurk inside an attachment and no one should be
doing anything on your system but you.
This, from the NASA Automated Systems Incident Response Capability (NASIRC):
> NASIRC-Priority: Medium
>
> PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
>
> NASIRC has received information regarding a new virus that reportedly can
> spread itself via the internet. The virus, called RedTeam and/or
> Win.RedTeam, infects Windows EXE files and propagates through Eudora email.
> This is the first known virus with the capability to infect Windows and
> spread over the Internet. For more detailed information please reference
> the Datafellows website at http://www.datafellows.com/v-descs/redteam.htm.
>
>
> RECOMMENDED ACTION
>
> Keep an eye out for email messages with the header "RedTeam" or "RedTeam
> Virus" and/or references to this effect in the text of the message. As for
> all viruses and virus hoaxes, be aware of email (and attachments) from
> unknown people. If you receive a message or file similar to the one
> mentioned above, delete it. Do not open, execute, or forward.
*** Return to Sender ***
You're dying to try out a great new site a friend told you about, and you rush
home and punch in the address, which was hastily written on a restaurant
napkin. Unfortunately, all you get is an error, and your great new site is
nowhere to be found. With a little help you can find out just what that error
means and apply a little "error correction" to find the site you're looking
for.
A web address (technically called a Uniform Resource Locator, or URL) is
composed of several parts. The first part specifies the type of connection to
make. Most URLs specify a HTTP (Hypertext Transport Protocol) connection, so
the first part is often "http://". Another protocol frequently used is FTP, or
File Transfer Protocol. A FTP connection includes "ftp://" at the beginning
of the URL. The protocol is sometimes left off of web site addresses. When
the protocol is missing, it is assumed to be http.
The next part of the address is the host name. The host name specifies
the machine on which the information you're looking for is stored, and is
often in the form "www.domain.com". If there is a slash "/" in the address,
the hostname ends at the slash. If no slash is present, then the hostname
is the entire address after the protocol.
The final part of the address is the document name or file name of the
information you're looking for. It comes after the hostname, separated
by a single slash. For example, in "http://www.inetnebr.com/access.html",
"access.html" is the document name. The document name can contain slashes
as well, so in the case of "http://www.inetnebr.com/help/webpage/index.html",
"help/webpage/index.html" is the name of the document. The slashes
signify directory or folder names, and help group related web pages in a
hierarchal fashion within a web site.
One of the most common errors is "File Not Found" or "Document Not Found".
What this usually means is that the document name is incorrect. Check the
spelling of the document name, remembering that web addresses are
case-sensitive: "INDEX.HTML" is different from "index.html".
If the spelling seems correct, and there's a ".htm" or ".html" on the end of
the address, try dropping or adding that last "l", as sometimes people will say
html when they mean htm, and vice versa.
If you're still not getting the page, try removing the part of the document
name from the last slash to the end of the address. For example, if the URL
you have written down is "http://www.inetnebr.com/help/wwwpage", and it's not
working, try it as "http://www.inetnebr.com/help", and you'll likely find a
link to the page you're looking for.
Or, if you know what's on the page you're trying to get to, try going to the
home page for that site (eg. http://www.inetnebr.com in the above example) and
finding it from there. Many sites have a search function that can help you
locate your page in no time.
If your browser says "Site Not Found" or "Server does not have a DNS entry,"
there's probably an error in the hostname portion. Check your spelling in this
section. Make sure you've got all the "dots" in the right places. Sometimes
people confuse ".com" and ".net". Try replacing one with the other.
If your browser complains that the protocol is not valid or the URL is not
recognized, it's possible that there's an error in the protocol portion of the
address. Make sure the address specified "http://" or "ftp://", as
appropriate.
It's also possible that you're typing the address in correctly, but the site is
not running properly at the present time. This is likely the case if you
receive error messages such as "Connection Refused by Server" or "TCP Error".
There is little you can do in these cases except wait for the server to become
operational. Perhaps try again in a few minutes or hours.
With these techniques, you should be able to figure out nearly any slightly
incorrect URL given to you. If you have any other tips for finding URLs, let
us know!
*** General Reminders ***
We've had a lot of favorable reaction to the AOL instant messaging program, and
so we thought we might reprise part of the original article here.
A lot of people have friends on AOL who love the instant messaging feature
available there. You can enjoy instant messaging your friends there, too, and
you can do it without giving a single penny to Steve Case. Check out
http://register.oscar.aol.com/cgi-bin/crabi.pl and you'll find a sign-up form
as well as a link to the software you'll need to download.
Also, please don't forget to put that username (login) on check payments. It
helps us tremendously. And thanks to all who have been doing this. We really
appreciate it.
*** Advertise on Our Home Pages ***
What better way to advertise your business than on a Web page that is seen tens
of thousands of time every month? None, if you're paying as little as we
charge for it! Give us a call at our office, 434-8680, and ask how you can
reserve banner spots on some of the hottest URL's in the state, including our
new search, kids, news, and restaurant pages. The following businesses did,
and we recommend them highly.
Computer Renaissance of Lincoln
Computer Renaissance. The new store
with the used computer equipment.
Quality, brand name computer
equipment at prices lower than you'll
find anywhere. Computer Renaissance
is where you can buy a computer, sell
your used one or upgrade to a computer
that's more your speed.
-- http://www.crlincoln.com/
MicroAge Lincoln
MicroAge Lincoln is a full service computer
partner to the Lincoln, Nebraska area.
We offer business clients a full range of
services, including: software training,
network design and support, hardware repair,
and product sales. Whether you are
interested in computer training for yourself,
or you are a business that needs a network,
team up with MicroAge. We are committed to
your success.
-- http://www.microagelnk.com/index2.html
The Capital Soccer Association
Capital Soccer Association specializes in
teaching soccer. However we recognize that
soccer, or any other youth sport is merely
one tool in the development of a young
child. Teamwork and sportsmanship through
knowledge and proficiency of the game are
our main goals.
-- http://www.capitalsoccer.com/
Internet Nebraska System Manager - manager@inetnebr.com