Happy New Year! - Time To Change Your Passwords

The start of a new year is a good time to change your passwords, making sure you create strong ones that will be less vulnerable to hackers. Why bother? Because a stolen password leads to identity theft, the fastest growing crime in the U.S. and the top complaint filed with the FTC for the past seven years. A hacker could open new accounts and max out your credit limit, change your mailing address and have items (and bills) sent to them, or take out a loan in your name.

Given the importance of passwords, it makes sense to spend a little extra time on their development:

• Make it lengthy. Each character added to your password increases the protection. It should be at least 8 characters in length; 14 characters or longer is ideal.
• Combine letters, numbers, and symbols. The greater variety of characters, the harder it is to guess.
• Use a sentence as the starting point. Think of a memorable sentence, take the first letter of each word, then mix up lower case and upper case, and replace some letters with numbers and symbols.
• Avoid sequences or repeated characters.
• Don't use dictionary words.

Once you've created a new password, find out just how strong it is by visiting Microsoft Corp.'s Password Checker: www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx

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Customers Help To Brighten The Holidays - And Take Home Prizes To Boot!

Thank you to everyone who brought in donations during our annual food and toy drive. Every customer who donated was given a goodie bag of treats and entered into a drawing for a gift basket filled with holiday treasures. Congratulations to Trudy Sweet and Betty Tretheway, winners of the holiday baskets.

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Ask The Help Desk - How Do I Delete Many E-mail Messages At The Same Time?

Question: Some time ago I found out how to use keys to select a number of e-mails to remove them all at once instead of one at a time. Now I don't remember how this is done. Can you remind me? I have Outlook Express 6 and use Windows XP Home Edition for my operating system.

Answer: If you want to delete groups of e-mail messages that are listed all together, click on the first message in the group of e-mail messages you want to delete to highlight it. Now hold down the "Shift" key and select the last message in the group that is to be deleted. All messages between and including the first and last messages selected will be highlighted. Then simply hit the "Delete" button on the Outlook Express toolbar. All of the highlighted messages will be deleted.

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Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Idol Thoughts
http://americanidol.com -  Season seven of American Idol begins this month and television viewers are singing a happy tune. With dramas and comedies in reruns due to the writers' strike, fresh episodes of the popular competition will be music to many ears. Visit this site to see audition preview videos, get a behind-the-scenes look at the show, and sign up to receive the American Idol newsletter. You can also look back at some favorite "Idol" moments from past seasons including unforgettable comments from the judges.

Update for Travelers
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html -  All U.S. travelers returning from Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean by air have had to carry passports since January 23, 2007. Beginning January 31, 2008, adult travelers re-entering the U.S. by land or via ferry or small boat must carry a passport or a government-issued photo ID (such as a driver's license) plus proof of citizenship (such as a birth certificate). Children 18 and younger need only proof of citizenship. The requirements are part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative launched after 9/11. More details are available on this site so go here before you make travel plans to go out of the country.

Deal or No Deal
http://www.nbc.com/Deal_or_No_Deal -  Here's the deal — if you're looking for entertainment alone, watch the game show Deal or No Deal with Howie Mandel on TV. If you'd like a chance at winning up to $100,000, play the Lucky Case Game online during Deal or No Deal broadcasts. The online promotion runs through March 31, 2008, so you still have time to try your luck at the loot.

Record-breaking Resource
http://guinnessworldrecords.com -  Could this be your year to set a record? Find out what it takes from the experts at Guinness World Records. Click on the Break a World Record link to get information on making a claim. Or just browse through the Video Vault for a look at the fastest, strongest, largest, and most incredible things on the planet. From the largest disco ball to the heaviest car balanced on the head, there's enough here to keep you amazed for hours. Search by category: human body, amazing feats, natural world, science & tech, arts & media, modern society, travel & transport, and sports & games.

New Year's Resolutions
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml -  This time of year, everybody is talking about New Year's resolutions — even the U.S. government is ready to give you advice. This site contains tips for most of the top resolutions including: lose weight, pay off debt, save money, get a better job, eat right, and get fit. For help with the last one, for example, you'll be directed to the website of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. But you'll still have to do the exercises yourself.

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Short Tutorial - Finding What Version Of Browser You're Using

People often refer to the version number of the Web browser they are using. For example, some talk about Internet Explorer 7 while others mention Firefox 2. To discover what version of Web browser you are using to surf the Internet, follow the steps below. Note that different steps are required to discover whether you are using Internet Explorer 6 (or older versions) or Internet Explorer 7.

Discover Your Browser's Version Number When Using Internet Explorer 6 Or Older With Windows XP Home Edition

1. Launch your Internet Explorer browser.
2. Go to the menu bar at the top of your screen and select "Help."
3. Click on "About Internet Explorer" from the resulting submenu. The "About Internet Explorer" window will appear listing the exact version of Internet Explorer.

Discover Your Browser's Version Number When Using Internet Explorer 7 With Windows XP Home Edition Or Windows Vista

1. Launch your Internet Explorer browser.
2. Note that Internet Explorer 7 does not have a menu bar by default. Click your cursor arrow instead on the two right-pointing arrows located to the far right of the icons on the browser's toolbar. (The arrows will be found on the very far right of your screen.)
3. Click on "Help" from the resulting menu screen and then "About Internet Explorer" from the submenu. The "About Internet Explorer" window will appear listing the exact version of Internet Explorer.

Discover Your Browser's Version Number When Using Firefox With Windows XP Home Edition Or Windows Vista

1. Launch your Firefox browser.
2. Go to the menu bar at the top of your screen and select "Help."
3. Select "About Mozilla Firefox" from the resulting menu screen. A small window will appear listing the exact version of Firefox.

Discover Your Browser's Version Number When Using Safari With Macintosh OS X

1. Launch your Safari browser.
2. Click your cursor arrow on "Safari" located on the menu bar at the top of your screen.
3. Click on "About Safari" from the resulting menu screen. A small window will appear listing the exact version of Safari.

Discover Your Browser's Version Number When Using Firefox With Macintosh OS X

1. Launch your Firefox browser.
2. Click your cursor arrow on "Firefox" located on the menu bar at the top of your screen.
3. Click on "About Mozilla Firefox" from the resulting menu screen. A small window will appear listing the exact version of Firefox.

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We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the happenings here. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

All of Us at Scatter Creek InfoNet





Scatter Creek InfoNet
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Tenino, WA  98589

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Kalama, WA  98625

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(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

©2008 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.

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