E-Mail Virus - The Atak Mass-Mailing Worm Adds A New Twist

The recent discovery of the "Atak" e-mail worm has some anti-virus companies on the alert regarding the release of similar deviant malware. The Atak worm, although not considered a high risk mass-mailing worm at this time, does put a new wrinkle into the virus/worm detection business of anti-virus software companies.

Most developers of e-mail worms incorporate layers of "armoring" or encryption within their worms' code. The intent is to make it very complicated for anti-virus software companies to write detection and repair software programs for computers which have been infected. The Atak worm goes beyond the typical armoring techniques. It actively attempts to detect whether anti-virus software is scanning for its presence within an infected machine. In fact, if the Atak worm determines that it is being analyzed by anti-virus software, it stops running and automatically shuts itself down. In other words, it attempts to go into a "stealth mode."

Thankfully, all of the major anti-virus software companies quickly discovered and developed remedies for the Atak worm. However, anti-virus software is only as good as its most recent updated version. If you have not purchased an anti-virus software program, we highly recommend that you do so right away -- especially if your computer is Windows-based. Secondly, computer users must be vigilant about downloading the most recent anti-virus scanning updates. New variants of e-mail viruses and worms are discovered daily. Regular anti-virus software updates (never go more than a week without an update) are imperative for the protection of your computer and its contents.

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Travel Plans? - Stay Connected With An 800 Number From Scatter Creek InfoNet

Scatter Creek InfoNet offers toll free numbers giving you Internet access while you are away from home. 800 numbers are available for $1.50 per month and 15 cents per minute. For more information, call 673-2975 in Cowlitz County and 264-6300 in Thurston County.

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Ask The Help Desk - What Is Desktop Wallpaper?

Question: A friend of mine said something about his desktop wallpaper. What is he talking about?

Answer: Desktop wallpaper is the image that appears on your computer screen behind all of your icons and windows. Every computer comes with some choices built in, but most any picture will work. Desktop wallpaper can be created by using scanned pictures, downloading images from your digital camera, or even using pictures you download from the Web.

Desktop wallpaper is not the same thing as a screensaver. A screensaver activates after a computer is left idle for a period of time. It covers the entire desktop (including icons and menu bars) with movable images or other screen effects. The moving images prevent any stationary images located on your desktop display (like icons or menu bars) from appearing on the screen too long and thus causing "burn-in." Burn-in can be a problem on CRT and plasma monitor displays. You know your screen has burn-in when you can still see the menu bar or icons when your computer screen is black.

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Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Origins Of Common Expressions
http://idiomsite.com/ -  An idiom is a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a particular language or region. We use them all the time but most of us don't know their origins. Some common idiom expressions include "living high on the hog," "put a sock in it," "under the weather," "skin of your teeth," "mum's the word," and "sleep tight." Find out the origins of these and many more idioms at this enlightening site. So "go the extra mile," pour yourself a "cup of Joe" and have a "field day" browsing this website "'til the cows come home."

Please Pass Me The Pickles
http://ilovepickles.org -  Pickling is one of the oldest forms of food preservation. It was first discovered thousands of years ago by the Mesopotamians. North Americans now consume over 2.5 billion pounds of pickles each year! Are you looking for some creative ways to add "pickling" to your next salad, appetizer, bread, entree, or even dessert? (Sauerkraut chocolate cake anyone?) This site, developed by a trade association for the pickled vegetable industry (called Pickle Packers International, Inc.), includes recipes, fun activities for kids, and, of course, some pickle trivia that should come in pretty handy at your next dinner party.

Name Your Baby
http://BabyNameGuide.com/  -  August has historically been the most popular month of the year for babies to be born. If you or a friend or family member are expecting soon, this could be a valuable site to check out. BabyNameGuide.com is a great resource when it comes to naming children. If you are looking to go with the masses when it comes to name selection, "Jacob" has been the most popular name for boys since 1999. (Michael held the top spot from 1964 - 1998.) "Emily" has been the most popular girl's name since 1996 replacing "Jessica" which held the top position the previous seven years. How about your own name? Did it make the top 100 list?

Play Fun Dr. Seuss Games
http://seussville.com/ -  Here's a fun game site for the younger kids in your family. (You can play the games too when the kids are out of the room and you get your turn on the computer!) Click on the "Playground" link of the site for access to five easy click-and-play games with a Dr. Seuss theme. (You'll need the Flash program installed onto your computer to play the games.) Also, the "Biography" section of this site provides an interesting look into the eventful life and imaginative mind of Theodor Geisel -- Dr. Seuss.

Major League Baseball Races Are Heating Up
http://mlb.com -  August is a great time of the year to watch the boys of summer play some ball as the pennant races really begin to heat up. Major League Baseball's official website provides up-to-the-minute scores and stats, links to every team's official club site, schedules, stadium seating charts and online ticket sales, autographed auctions, photo galleries, and a fun section for kids.

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Short Tutorial - Saving Web Images As Your Desktop Wallpaper

Have you seen a Web image you really like? Did you know there's a really nifty way you can save it as your desktop wallpaper? For PC Internet Explorer users, simply right-click on the image and choose "Set As Background." If you are on a PC and using Netscape for your browser, right-click on the image and choose "Set As Wallpaper." The background of your computer screen will now be the new saved image.

If you get tired of using this image, right-click on the desktop and choose "Properties." With the "Desktop" tab selected, choose the wallpaper you want from the list that appears. Click "Apply" and then click "OK."

If you want your Web-based wallpaper back again, right-click on the desktop, choose "Properties," and then click on the "Desktop" tab. There will be a list of pictures for you to choose from under a picture of the monitor with the current background selection. Now choose "Internet Explorer Wallpaper" or "Netscape 7.1 Wallpaper" from the list. You'll note that these selections won't appear until you set a Web graphic as your wallpaper. Windows stores just one image under this selection, so if you choose a new wallpaper image from the Web, Windows deletes the previous one. Make sure your selected image is big enough and proportioned correctly. If it isn't, it will look blurry or distorted.

If you are using a Macintosh running OS X, right-click or option-click on the image and select "Download Image To Disk." Then, under the Apple menu, drop down to and select "System Preferences..." Click on the Desktop icon and then, where it says "Collection," click on "Desktop." The picture you downloaded to disk should be there. Click on it to select it and then close the window.

Note: Many online images have copyrights associated with them, so you'll need to first get permission from those site owners to copy an image from their site. Not to worry ... there are many free images available online.

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Best regards,

All of Us at Scatter Creek InfoNet

©2004 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.

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