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Universal Service
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Warning!
Beware Of Fake E-cards This Season
PRTC Announcements
Ask The Help Desk
Seeing Holiday Graphics Within E-mail Message Pane?
Sites Of The Month
Great Sites To Check Out In December!
Short Tutorial
How To See Graphics Within Incoming Holiday E-mail
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December 2006
Just 4
PRTC Internet Subscribers
Our best wishes for a healthy and happy holiday! In keeping with the
season, December's eNewsletter contains gifts for you. There's the gift
of information about potentially damaging fake e-cards. There's the gift
of learning with the tutorial on getting images to appear within
incoming e-mail messages. And finally, there's the gift of fresh ideas.
Look around the Great Sites for inspiration on what to do (and see) this
month for fun, how to save money by regifting, and where to get free
clipart for holiday projects.
The goal of each of our monthly eNewsletters is to keep our subscribers
informed regarding their Internet connection and to improve their
Internet experience. To meet this goal, each monthly newsletter will
usually contain information related to:
- Warnings on a recent virus, e-mail hoax or security issue that
may affect you
- An update on new services and other local interests
- An answer to a frequently asked Internet related question
- Some fun, seasonal websites to check out
- A short, step-by-step tutorial on an e-mail or browser related
task
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, click
HERE.
To see what's inside this issue, take a look at the index to the left
and thanks for reading!
- The Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative Team
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Warning!
- Beware Of Fake E-cards This Season
Although most
e-cards are from legitimate sources, the holidays create a prime opportunity for
hackers and spammers to take advantage of your festive spirit. 'Tis the season
to be especially vigilant for fraudulent and potentially damaging e-cards. A
wholesome-looking holiday greeting, once clicked or downloaded, might actually
be:
- Spam or a spyware installer that displays pornography or other unwanted
images on your desktop, or barrages you with pop-up ads.
- A computer virus that scans your e-mail addresses and then sends a bogus
e-card to your personal and professional contacts without your knowledge.
The fake e-card and virus may even appear to be from you.
You don't have to let fake e-cards turn you into a Scrooge, however. To help
avoid troubles, just apply the same caution you would use with any e-mail you
receive:
- Never download or click on anything from any unknown source.
- Use and frequently update your anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
- Use a firewall.
- Don't accept an end-user agreement without reading the fine print first;
you might inadvertently agree to install spyware or something else you don't
want.
If you're sending e-cards, you may want to stick to well-known and reputable
sites such as bluemountain.com,
hallmark.com,
egreetings.com, and
americangreetings.com.
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PRTC Announcements
-
SIGN UP FOR DIGITAL TV - Be Entered Into a Drawing
to Win a TV!
Sign up for PRTC's new digital tier cable TV package and get free installation
and be entered to win a drawing for a new TV.
Call PRTC to sign up at 287-7101
Help PRTC Help Our Community - Donate to
your Local Food Bank
Stop by your LOCAL PRTC office and donate $5 or more to your local Jackson
County Food Bank or the Owsley County Food Pantry and receive a free PRTC
t-shirt and PRTC will match all donations.
The Gift That Goes 'Round the World -
DSL@PRTC
Put the world of the Internet under your tree this Christmas — sign up for DSL
and receive the first three months of service at the dial up rate — only $19.95
per month. Call PRTC at 287-7101 to sign up!
Christmas Time Wireless Specials - Great
Gift Idea
The freedom of wireless makes a great holiday gift,
and with these special offers, you can't go wrong!
Get a Samsung Phone or a Motorola W315 free with a 2-year agreement
or the Motorola V323 will be $29.99 for the first one get the second one free
with a 2-year agreement
Activation fee applies & Offer Ends Dec 31st
Kids! E-mail Your Wish List to Santa
Hey kids! Santa will be checking his e-mail, so let him know what you want this
year by sending your list to
santa@prtcnet.org
(a service of PRTC)
Back to Top
Ask The Help Desk - Seeing
Holiday Graphics Within E-mail Message Pane?
Question: Why
can't I see graphics on incoming holiday e-mail messages like I could last year?
I get holiday cards from friends and relatives that include family photos and
holiday graphics but I am unable to view them this year. I have not changed my
computer or updated my e-mail software since last year. I use Microsoft's
Windows XP Home Edition and I use Outlook Express for my e-mail software.
Answer: Microsoft Corp. developed and released something called Service
Pack 2 (SP2) in the fall of 2004 for Windows XP users. The purpose was to "patch
holes" in some of Microsoft's software programs to help reduce the threat of
e-mail viruses, e-mail worms, and hacker attacks. SP2 most specifically
eliminated many of the vulnerabilities within its Internet Explorer browser and
Outlook Express/Outlook software programs. Most Windows XP users have since
downloaded SP2 onto their computers — sometimes whether they have really
realized it or not.
One of SP2's protective measures for Outlook Express and Outlook is to block
images from being displayed within incoming e-mail messages as a default
setting. Microsoft had discovered that some virus/worm threats arose from
malicious code within the graphics of e-mail messages. Microsoft's solution was
to prevent users from seeing any graphics within e-mail messages. This is
probably the reason you are no longer able to see graphics within your e-mail
messages.
Luckily, Microsoft provides an easy option to allow images to appear within
messages, either on a per e-mail basis or for all e-mail messages. For more
information on how to see images and graphics within the message pane of
incoming e-mail messages when using Outlook Express or Outlook, see the Tutorial
Section toward the bottom of our newsletter below.
Back to Top
Great Sites To Check Out This Month
Charlotte's
Web On The Web
http://charlotteswebmovie.com -
When E.B. White spun his tale called Charlotte's Web, families everywhere
fell in love with the book about loyalty, trust, and sacrifice at Zuckerman
Farm. This month, a live-action adaptation from Paramount opens in theaters. The
all-star cast features Julia Roberts as the voice of Charlotte and Dakota
Fanning as Fern, and also includes Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey,
Kathy Bates, Reba McEntire, Robert Redford, and Beau Bridges. Children will
especially love the movie's site where they can meet the animals in the barn and
be called by name! You can also download games, iron-ons, and bookmarks, or send
a Charlotte's Web e-card to a friend.
Goodbye To Stains When The Party's Over
http://fabriclink.com/Stains/Holidaystain.cfm - A friend spills coffee
on your beige carpet. Your 3-year-old smears chocolate on your new sofa. Let's
face it — stains often show up uninvited at holiday parties. When it happens, go
quickly to this site for professional tips on stain removal from carpets,
upholstery, and clothing. You'll find step-by-step advice for getting rid of
everything on the stain "menu" from eggnog to salad dressing. That way, the only
thing left after your parties are over will be the memories.
Christmas In New York City
http://nyctourist.com/xmas_in_nyc.htm - There's something magical
about Christmas in New York that draws scores of visitors each year. If you
can't be there in person, enjoy the next best thing by visiting this site. Take
an online stroll down Fifth Avenue and see the hustle and bustle of
shopper-filled streets. Peek into the holiday window displays at Macy's, Lord &
Taylor, and Saks. Gaze at the giant tree at Rockefeller Center. The Big Apple is
bursting with holiday spirit and you can get a taste of it here.
Holiday Help For Any Elf
http://xmasfun.com - Are you scurrying
around trying to finish last-minute holiday projects? This site is as stuffed as
a Christmas stocking with helpful resources including lyrics to carols, festive
recipes, and lots of fun games. We particularly liked the collection of free
holiday clipart images you can download and use for e-greetings, gift tags, or
invitations. To download an image, simply right click on it and select "Save
Picture."
Reviewing Regifting
http://regiftable.com - Regifting
(giving as a gift something one previously received as a gift) has gained in
popularity since comedian Jerry Seinfeld first coined the term a decade ago. In
fact, more than half of adults in a recent survey found regifting acceptable.
After all, it does save time and money. If you're new to the concept, learn when
and how to properly regift in the section called Regifting 101. You can also
chuckle through real-life regifting stories, like the woman who received a
fondue set with chocolate and marshmallows packages enclosed that had expired
two years ago. Oops!
Back to Top
Short Tutorial - How
To See Graphics Within Incoming Holiday E-mail
One of the
scam-protection features of Outlook Express for those Windows XP users who have
installed Service Pack 2 (SP2) is the ability to block the display of images
within incoming e-mail. However, what's the fun of receiving e-mail messages
from friends or sources you trust unless you can look at the photos and
graphics?
To see the images within selected e-mail in Outlook Express, do the
following with your Preview Pane open:
(Please note before you follow the steps below to make sure you've downloaded
the latest security patches from Microsoft at
http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx. Also, your anti-virus and
anti-spyware software should be up-to-date. Remember to frequently update your
anti-virus and anti-spyware software.)
- Click your cursor arrow on the gray bar located just below the subject
line of the message. It will say, "Some pictures have been blocked to help
prevent the sender from identifying your computer. Click here to download
pictures." If you click anywhere on that gray bar, the pictures for that
particular e-mail will appear for as long as you have that e-mail open.
- If you go to a different e-mail and then come back to this message, you
will need to click on that bar again to see the images within the message.
Note: If you don't see the gray bar, open the message in it's own window and
follow steps one and two above. Otherwise, click your cursor arrow on the "View"
menu and drop down to "Layout." When the "Window Layout Properties" window
appears, make sure "Show preview pane header" is checked.
If you want to be able to see all pictures on all incoming e-mail messages that
contain images in Outlook Express, you can disable this blocking feature.
Here's how:
- Go to the Outlook Express "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options."
- When the "Options" window appears, click on the "Security" tab. About
half way down the window, you'll see an item titled "Download images." You
will see a checkbox next to the words "Block images and other external
content in HTML e-mail." If you uncheck this box, it will allow images to be
viewed again just like you could prior to your SP2 update.
- Click "Apply" and then "OK" to save your new settings and close the
window.
To disable the graphics-blocking feature in Outlook 2003 so you can see
pictures and graphics within all incoming e-mail messages, follow these steps:
(Please note before you follow the steps below to make sure you've downloaded
the latest security patches from Microsoft at
http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx. Also, your anti-virus and
anti-spyware software should be up-to-date. Remember to frequently update your
anti-virus and anti-spyware software.)
- Go to the Outlook "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options."
- When the "Options" window appears, click on the "Security" tab. About
half way down the window you'll see an item titled "Download Pictures."
Click on the button that says "Change Automatic Download Settings." The
"Automatic Picture Download Settings" window will appear.
- Uncheck the box next to "Don't download pictures or other content
automatically in HMTL e-mail."
- If you don't want a warning every time you open HTML e-mail, uncheck the
box next to "Warn me before downloading content when editing, forwarding, or
replying to e-mail."
- Click "OK."
- Click "OK" again to close the "Options" window.
Back to Top
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,
Peoples Rural Telephone
Cooperative
Peoples Rural Telephone
Hwy 421 South
McKee, KY 40447
606-287-7101
(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.)
©2006
Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.
Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this eNewsletter are trade
names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
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