PressEnter Newsletter Archives   
> January, 2006

Hello PressEnter Subscribers!

This month's eNewsletter includes information on how to lose those
recently obtained holiday pounds, how to set a Guinness World Record,
and how to prevent your computer from being infected by the latest Sober
e-mail worm.  Read and follow the advice below and you'll have a healthier
and safer 2006.  Happy New Year!

We think you'll find the information contained in this newsletter to
be a valuable tool for enhancing your Internet experience. If, however,
you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, please
Reply to this message and put "REMOVE" in the subject line. Please e-mail
any questions or comments to newsletter@pressenter.com. If you have any technical questions, please e-mail helpdesk@pressenter.com.

Here's what's inside our January 2006 Newsletter:

A. E-Mail Worm - Warning: More Variants Of Sober E-mail Worm Expected
B. PressEnter News  - Updating Your Web Browser
C. Ask The Help Desk - Can I Get More Results To Appear On Google Search Page?
D. Great Sites To Check Out In January
E. Short Tutorial - Backing Up Your Browser's Favorites/Bookmarks

The PressEnter Newsletter Team

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A. E-Mail Worm - Warning: More Variants Of Sober E-mail Worm Expected

Apparently, an e-mail message appearing to be from either the CIA or the FBI is an effective technique for spreading e-mail worms. In late November 2005, an e-mail from the "Sober" variant of e-mail worms (specifically referred to as either W32.Sober.X@mm or W32/Sober@MM!M681) spread like wildfire across the globe. Hundreds of millions of messages were sent by unsuspecting e-mail recipients after opening e-mail attachments that appeared to be from the CIA, FBI, or the German BKA police agency. The attachments contained an e-mail worm which then sent the same mass-mailing worm to e-mail addresses found within the compromised computer again spoofing the "from" address in many cases to appear like the message was coming from the CIA, FBI, or BKA. (As with previous versions of the Sober worm, only Windows-based computers were/are infected by the Sober worm.)

The November 2005 Sober worm variant was sent with either German or
English text thereby suggesting once again that each of the 30 Sober
worm variants dating back to October 2003 were likely written by a German
author or a group of German authors.

Although the "from" address, the subject line text, and the body text
of this worm vary widely, below is an example of the W32.Sober.X@mm Worm.

   From: mail@fbi.gov
   Subject: You_visit_illegal_websites

   Dear Sir/Madam,
   We have logged your IP address on more than 30 illegal websites.

   Important: Please answer our questions!

   The list of questions are attached.

   Yours faithfully,
   Steven Allison

   Federal Bureau of Investigation -FBI-
   935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 3220
   Washington, DC 20535
   Phone: (202)324-3000

Many security experts are speculating that since November's Sober worm
variant had a built-in expiration date, the author of the worm is probably
working on the creation of improved versions of the worm. In other words,
there's more to come.

If you receive an e-mail like the one described above, delete it
immediately and do NOT open the e-mail message's attachment. We
strongly encourage each and every one of our Internet customers to
protect their computers with anti-virus software. Of course, it is
also vitally important to regularly update your computer's anti-virus
software. New viruses and worms are discovered daily. Be sure to scan
all file attachments of incoming e-mail messages, even messages from
people you trust. Many viruses and worms are spread over networks,
through attachments, and by sharing storage media such as diskettes,
Zip disks, and CDs. You have the ultimate responsibility for protecting
your computer against these threats.


B. PressEnter News - Keep your web browsing working smoothly by updating

Each new year we get reminders to do things like change the batteries
in our smoke detectors and make sure our fire extinguishers are fully
charged, the stuff that you really ought to do at least once a year. Your
computer is no exception to that. As a part of your computer's annual
check-up you should make sure that your web browsing software is up
to date. If your browser's version is not fairly recent you may have
trouble viewing web pages correctly or your browser may not be able to
connect to secure sites for activities like on-line banking.  You can
check your web browser's version by opening it and clicking on the
"Help" menu and then choosing the "About" menu item.  The browser's
version information should be clearly visible. It may look like a very
long number, such as in Internet Explorer where the version number looks
like this: 6.0.2900.218.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519 You'll be interested in
just the first part of the number, so in the example this corresponds
to Internet Explorer version 6.0. If you use Internet Explorer under
Microsoft Windows version 6.0 is the most current version (except for
Windows 95, where the last version to be made available is IE 5.5). If
you find that your copy of IE is not the most current one available,
you can download updates for it (as well as the rest of Windows) by
visiting http://www.windowsupdate.com . Once there you'll be able to
choose from all the updates that are available for your operating system,
including IE updates.

Some people choose to browse the web using the Netscape web browser. If your version of Netscape is older than 7.0 (again, you can check the version by opening the program, clicking on it's "Help" menu and choosing the "about" option) it's time to upgrade. The successor to the Netscape browser is named Firefox, and it has many new and exciting features (including pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing). If you'd like
to download the latest version of Firefox (version 1.5) it's available at:

    http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-1.5&os=win&lang=en-US

and works with Windows 95 through XP

Mac users may have been using Microsoft Internet Explorer for Macintosh,
unfortunately Microsoft has discontinued this browser and no new versions
will be released. The good news is that Apple has provided their Safari web browser for use with Mac OS version 10.2 and up. Updates to the Safari browser are available through the apple system update application. A good reference on using the Apple Update function is here:

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106704


For Macintosh users that want to use a browser from the Netscape family
we again recommend the Firefox browser. The latest (version 1.5) Firefox
is available here:

   http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-1.0.7&os=osx&lang=af-ZA

for Mac OS X

Happy browsing in the New Year!


C. Ask The Help Desk - Can I Get More Results To Appear On Google Search Page?

Question: I usually go to google.com when doing a search on the Web. When
typing in a word or phrase into Google's search box, the resulting page gives me only ten listed Web pages to review. Is there a way to get more than ten listings?

Answer: Yes. On difficult searches it is sometimes necessary to go deeper
than the first ten listings provided on a search results page. Google
allows you to change the preferences on its site to show 10, 20, 30,
50, or even the top 100 search results all on one page. To adjust your
settings, click on the "Preferences" link to the right of Google's
search box. Scroll down to the "Number of Results" area and choose the
number of pages you'd like displayed on your results page. Next, click
"Save Preferences" located at the bottom right corner of the page and
then click "OK" on the resulting pop-up window.


D. Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Get Help With Your Weight Loss Resolution
=========================================
http://home.howstuffworks.com/diet.htm

   Have you made your annual resolution to lose those extra pounds? This
   site provides great insight on how our bodies work when it comes
   to consuming and burning calories. Did you know that a gallon of
   gasoline contains about 31,000 calories and that if humans could
   drink gasoline instead of eating pizza and burgers for calories,
   we could run more than 300 miles on just one gallon of gasoline? Our
   bodies are the ultimate hybrid engines! It's this efficiency that can
   sometimes make it difficult to peel off pounds. However, knowledge
   is power. To learn more about how our body reacts to calorie intake,
   diet, and exercise, head to this site.

Visit The St. Paul Winter Carnival This Month
=============================================
http://Winter-Carnival.com

   The St. Paul Winter Carnival is like a large state fair, except that
   it takes place in the middle of the winter. Held annually since 1886,
   it is billed as the largest and oldest winter festival in the United
   States. Each year organizers build a huge, elaborate ice palace. (The
   tallest palace was built in 1992 and was fifteen stories high.) The
   festival includes ice carving competitions, car racing on ice, frozen
   5K and 1/2 marathon races, ice fishing contests, fireworks, parades,
   snow sculpture displays, and more. This year's event runs January
   27th through February 5th. See this site for schedules, history,
   pictures, and more.

Break A World Record In 2006
============================
http://GuinnessWorldRecords.com

   It's a new year so why not make this the time to do something
   that'll make you famous -- well, sort of famous. The world record
   for balancing on one foot is 76 hours and 40 minutes. You could go
   for 77 hours. Another person has a record for balancing 88 pounds of
   milk cartons on his head for 11.23 seconds. Why not go for twelve
   seconds? The longest time for continuously spinning a basketball
   on one finger is three hours and 59 minutes. Come on, what's four
   hours? Before you start your balancing endeavors, however, head
   to this site to find out the official rules and regulations and to
   register your record attempt. It's the only way to get the official
   recognition you'll so richly deserve!

American Idol Returns For Fifth Season
======================================
http://IdolOnFox.com

   Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson return this month for
   their fifth season as judges on the hit show American Idol. The Fox
   channel plans to air approximately 43 hours of Idol competition
   through this May compared to 38.5 hours last season. The format
   will remain the same. The first three weeks will be local audition
   episodes followed by two weeks in Hollywood where semi-finalists are
   chosen. Voting by viewers starts in late February. Do you want to
   relive season four? The site contains links to thousands of photos
   and videos from last year's auditions.

The XX Olympic Winter Games Are Coming Soon To Torino
=====================================================
http://torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/home/index.html

   It's not too late to make your plans and book a trip to Italy for next
   month's XX Olympic Winter Games. For information on everything from
   the opening ceremonies, to parking information, to accommodations,
   to ticket information, this is your source for the latest news. There
   are also links to lots of great action photos, stories about many
   of the athletes who will compete, as well as updates on the Olympic
   Torch Relay, which will have visited over 600 communities by the time
   the games begin on February 10, 2006.


E. Short Tutorial - Backing Up Your Browser's Favorites/Bookmarks

January is a good time to clean-up your computer and back-up important
files. One easy but important item to back-up periodically is your
browser's "Favorites" (when using Internet Explorer) or "Bookmarks"
(when using Firefox, Safari, or Netscape). Here's how to export and save
these files:

Exporting Favorites From Your Internet Explorer 6.0 Browser When Using Windows XP Home Edition

1. With Internet Explorer open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to "Import and Export." The Import/Export Wizard will start.
2. Click on the "Next" button.
3. Choose "Export Favorites" from the list of actions to perform and click "Next."
4. Select the "Favorites" folder for exporting and click "Next."
5. Choose a destination for your exported favorites by clicking on the
"Browse" button. Give the exported favorites file a name and select a destination for it.
6. Click the "Save" button and then click on the "Next" button.
7. Now click on the "Finish" button.

Exporting Bookmarks From Your Firefox 1.0 Browser When Using Windows XP Home Edition Or Macintosh OS X
1. With Firefox open, click your cursor arrow on the Bookmarks menu and drop down to "Manage Bookmarks." The "Bookmarks Manager" window will appear.
2. Click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to "Export." The "Export bookmark file:" dialog box will appear.
3. Give your file a name and select a destination for it.
4. Click the "Save" button. Close the "Bookmarks Manager" window.

Exporting Bookmarks From Your Safari 2.0 Browser When Using Mac OS X

1. With Safari open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to "Export Bookmarks." The "Export Bookmarks" dialog box will appear.
2. Give your file a name and select a destination for it.
3. Click the "Save" button.

Exporting Favorites From Your Netscape 7.2 Browser When Using Windows XP Home Edition Or Macintosh OS X

1. With Netscape Navigator open, click your cursor arrow on the "Bookmarks" menu and drop down to "Manage Bookmarks." The "Bookmark Manager" window will appear.
2. Click on the "Tools" menu and drop down to "Export..." The "Export Bookmark File" dialog box will appear.
3. Give your file a name and select a destination for it.
4. Click the "Save" button and then close the "Bookmark Manager" window.

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We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of
keeping you posted on the happenings at our office. If, however, you'd
prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, send us an
e-mail at newsletter@pressenter.com and type "REMOVE" in the subject line.

Thanks for your business!


Best regards,

The PressEnter Newsletter Team
PressEnter! Internet

Web:    www.pressenter.com
E-mail: <newsletter@pressenter.com>

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(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information
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(c)2006 Press Enter LLP
(c)2006 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.

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