Link to
 
Inside This Issue

E-Mail Scam
Watch Out For New PayPal Scam E-mail Messages

Webster-Calhoun Announcements
July Bill Insert And Microsoft Support

Ask The Help Desk
What Does "HTTP" Mean In Front Of Web Addresses?

Sites Of The Month
Great Sites To Check Out In July!

Short Tutorial
Organizing E-mail With Folders

  

Hi Webster-Calhoun Internet Subscribers!

Take a break from the heat and read the cool tips in this month's eNewsletter. Is your Inbox out of control? Learn how to organize e-mail with folders. Wondering what HTTP means? We'll spell it out for you. Want new ideas for weekend activities? Explore sites featuring a pirate movie, a baseball weekend, racing lawn mowers, volunteer opportunities, and silly summer holidays. All you need to add is the lemonade ...

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:

  1. Warnings on a recent virus or e-mail hoax that may affect you
  2. An update on new services and other local interests
  3. An answer to a frequently asked Internet related question
  4. Some fun, seasonal websites to check out
  5. 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 Webster-Calhoun Internet Team

E-Mail Scam - Watch Out For New PayPal Scam E-mail Messages

If you get an e-mail that appears to be from PayPal, take a very close look. A number of new PayPal scam e-mails have been circulating recently. These fraudulent messages typically use the salutation "Dear PayPal User" or "Dear PayPal Member" and tell you there's a problem with your PayPal account or the PayPal computer system. The scammers then ask you to download an attachment or software program and resubmit your personal account information.

Below is an actual PayPal scam e-mail message:

 


This kind of scam has been around for a long time and resurfaces periodically. Here's what you need to know to protect yourself:

  1. Never click on a link found in any PayPal e-mail. Instead, open a new web browser window (e.g., Internet Explorer or Firefox) and type in the following: www.paypal.com.
  2. Keep in mind that legitimate e-mail messages from PayPal will always address you by your first and last name. They do not use general salutations.
  3. PayPal will never request financial or account information via e-mail so any e-mail doing so should automatically be considered suspicious. PayPal will only ask for that kind of information after you have safely and securely logged in to your PayPal account.
  4. Never download an attachment or software program from a PayPal e-mail.
If you receive a PayPal scam e-mail, forward it to spoof@paypal.com. PayPal will immediately work to shut down the scam site. You can also forward the e-mail to spam@uce.gov. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will place your e-mail in a database and use the combined information to track down and prosecute the scammer/spammers.

For more information, visit https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/fraud-prevention-outside.

Back to Top

Webster-Calhoun Announcements - July Bill Insert And Microsoft Support

July Bill Insert
In case you missed the insert in the latest billing statement, check it out on-line at http://www.wccta.com/state-news/documents/July06newsletter.pdf. It tells what parades Webster-Calhoun will be in this summer, a featured calling feature, and how to cool off at the pool without missing important phone calls! Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Microsoft Stops Supporting Windows 98 In July 2006
Due to the large majority of PCs now running Windows XP, Microsoft has announced that it will end its extended support for all versions of the Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition operating systems (and their related components) effective July 11, 2006. This means no more technical support, no more incident support options, and no more security updates related to these operating systems.

If you still plan to use Windows 98 or Windows Me operating systems, existing web-based support documents will continue to be available at http://support.microsoft.com/ph/1139 for Windows 98 and http://support.microsoft.com/ph/6519 for Windows Me. However, please note that it will soon be more imperative than ever that you utilize virus-scanning software and update this software on a regular basis when using Windows 98 or Windows Me.

Back to Top

Ask The Help Desk - What Does "HTTP" Mean In Front Of Web Addresses?

Question: There is almost always an "http" in front of the "www" in Web addresses. What does the "http" mean?

Answer: The ubiquitous "http" that precedes nearly every web address is an acronym for HyperText Transfer Protocol. HTTP is the set of computing rules that governs how all data are transmitted and received on the World Wide Web. The "http://" you see before a web address lets your browser know to display the document in HTTP format and that the document is HTTP-compatible.

Every interaction among Web browser software and Web-hosting servers is governed by this protocol. In short, HyperText Transfer Protocol makes the Web, the Web.

Back to Top

Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Ahoy Mateys! Climb Aboard If Ye Dare!
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates -  If ye be seeking intrigue, special effects, and charming comedy, get ye to the theater soon. Opening this month is the epic tale Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the sequel to 2003's The Curse of the Black Pearl. This Walt Disney Pictures' film reunites Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley, and chronicles the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow. Hooked on pirate lore? Explore this site and try your hand at plundering the latest treasure. Rated PG-13.

America's "Grass Roots" Motorsport
http://www.letsmow.com -  Lawn mower racing, transported from Britain by the STA-BIL fuel stabilizer people as a tongue-in-cheek PR gimmick, is "spreading like untreated crabgrass," says Bruce Kaufman, president of the 700-member U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association (USLMRA). Racers remove the cutting blades from riding mowers and compete on soccer fields and baseball diamonds across the U.S. If you think you have what it takes to be a Turfinator or Lawn Ranger, visit this official site of the USLMRA. You'll find racing schedules, rules, and membership information. Go ahead -- the mow the merrier.

Find the Perfect Place to Volunteer
http://www.volunteermatch.org -  Have some free time on your hands this summer? This site puts hundreds of volunteer opportunities at your fingertips. VolunteerMatch is the largest online network of participating nonprofits, designed to match groups that need help with people who want to help. Search by location, interest, or skill and get a list of volunteer opportunities in your area. You can even find virtual volunteer positions that let you work from your home computer. Be sure to check out the Volunteer Spotlight page for inspiring stories from around the country.

Silly Summer Celebrations
http://www.brownielocks.com/month2.html -  Sure, we all know July 4th is Independence Day. But did you know July 24th is Cousins Day, July 27th is Take Your Houseplant For A Walk Day, and July 28th is National Milk Chocolate Day? Time to mark your calendar with the help of this fun little site, dedicated to listing bizarre, crazy, silly, and unknown holidays. Wondering how to celebrate these occasions? Perhaps with a barbeque, since July is National Grilling Month.

A Home Run of Fun - Hall of Fame Weekend
http://baseballhalloffame.org -  On July 30th, the 2006 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will honor Bruce Sutter and 17 players and executives from the Negro leagues and pre-Negro leagues. Open to the public and free of charge, this event is the highlight of an action-packed weekend for baseball fans in Cooperstown, NY. Attend a free baseball game, compete in a trivia contest, even sign your kids up for a skills clinic with Major League Baseball players. Hit this site for all the details, including a look at the newly renovated museum featuring interactive exhibits that test your baseball knowledge.

Back to Top

Short Tutorial - Organizing E-mail With Folders

Remember when managing your e-mail was simple? You only received a few messages each day so you could just delete the ones you didn't want and drag the rest into one "Save" folder. But times have changed — now you may be getting dozens of e-mail messages daily from friends, family, co-workers, online subscriptions, and, unfortunately, spammers. The solution is to create new folders to save e-mail messages in an organized way, and create message rules that will automatically sort e-mail into these folders. Here's how to do it:

Outlook Express Users

Creating a New E-mail Folder in Outlook Express

  1. With Outlook Express open, click on your Inbox.
  2. Click on "File" in the menu bar. Select "Folder" and then "New" from the drop-down menu.
  3. In the Create Folder window, type in a name for your folder. If you want to clean up your Inbox by removing old messages, you could name it "Old E-mail."
  4. Click and highlight the name of the folder in which you want to create your new folder. To make a new top-level folder (a folder outside your Inbox, Outbox, etc.), click on "Local Folders."
  5. Click the "OK" button to close the Create Folder window.
Manually Sorting Old E-mail into Folders in Outlook Express
  1. With Outlook Express open, click on your Inbox.
  2. Click on the message you want to move, and then drag it onto the folder where you want it to be stored. To move multiple messages at one time, press and hold the Control (CTRL) key while you click on each message. Then click and drag them to the folder.
Sorting New E-mail into Folders Using Rules in Outlook Express
  1. Click "Tools" in the menu bar. Then select "Message Rules" and "Mail."
  2. Check the conditions by which you wish to sort your messages.
  3. Check the "Move it to the specified folder" action.
  4. Click the "contains specific words," "contains people," or the "specified account" link in the "Rule Description" box.
  5. Type in the name, words, or e-mail address you are using to sort e-mail and then click the "Add" button. Click "OK."
  6. Click the "Move it to the specified folder" link.
  7. Select the folder into which you want to sort messages. (You can create a new folder by clicking the "New Folder" button.) Click "OK."
  8. Enter the name of the rule and then click "OK."
  9. Click the "New" button in the "Message Rules" window to create more rules; otherwise click the "OK" button.
Thunderbird Users

Creating a New E-mail Folder in Thunderbird for the Macintosh and PC
  1. With Thunderbird open, click on your Inbox.
  2. Click on "File" in the menu bar. Select "New" and then "New Folder" from the drop-down menu.
  3. In the Create Folder window, type in a name for your folder. If you want to clean up your Inbox by removing old messages, you could name it "Old E-mail."
  4. Click in the "Create as a subfolder of:" field and select the name of the folder into which you want to create your new folder. To make a new top-level folder (a folder outside your Inbox, Outbox, etc.), click on "Local Folders."
  5. Click the "OK" button to close the Create Folder window.
Manually Sorting Old E-mail into Folders in Thunderbird for the Macintosh and PC
  1. With Outlook Express open, click on your Inbox.
  2. Click on the message you want to move, and then drag it onto the folder where you want it to be stored. To move multiple messages at one time, press and hold the Control (CTRL) key on a PC and the Command key on a Macintosh while you click on each message. Then click and drag them to the folder.
Sorting New E-mail into Folders Using Rules in Thunderbird for the Macintosh and PC
  1. Click "Tools" in the menu bar. Then select "Message Filters."
  2. When the "Message Filters" window opens, click on the "New..." button.
  3. When the next window opens, type the name of your rule in the "Filter name:" field.
  4. Click on the radio button either next to "Match all of the following" or "Match any of the following."
  5. Choose the parameters of the filter by clicking the button of the name of the e-mail header field like "Subject," "From," etc. and then click the button "contains," "doesn't contain," "is," "isn't," etc. You can also add or subtract parameters using the "More" and "Fewer" buttons.
  6. Click the check box next to "Move to folder:" and then click on the button next to it to pick the "Old E-mail" folder you just created. Click "OK."
  7. Close the "Message Filters" 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,

WCCTA.net
A product of Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association




Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association
1106 Beek Street, PO Box 475
Gowrie, IA  50543-0475

Phone: 515-352-3151



(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.