|
Valentine's aftermath
16/02/2001 15:44 - (SA)
Louis Nel
The roses have faded, the chocolates have been eaten, the hangover and the heartburn is over. Valentines Day has come and gone. But beware - the worms are still out there to get you (no, I'm not referring to the fickle lovers and chancers).
But be not dismayed - all is not gloom. Come with me and I'll show you a better way to surf. All you need is a personality. What? You're telling me there is a problem?! Oh, well, it's nothing a good shrink can't sort out.
Cool sites
Tell me more about yourself and I'll tell you what websites you'd probably like. Easier still: pick from a list of personalities the one that most closely matches yours.
That's the simple idea behind a site that takes (some) of the guesswork out of surfing. At Backwash you pick a surfer whose tastes most closely match your own and then you can check back regularly to see his/her recommendations for the best sites, articles, MP3's, streaming video, games, downloads and more. Then you can join a community of like-minded surfers through message boards and chat rooms, if you like. If you can't find anyone who shares your tastes, then add your own personality make-up to the site with links you like (with a short review of each). You could even win a prize in doing so.
"She sells seashells on the seashore." I'm sure you all know (and had fun!) with tongue-twisters like this. But if you think the couple of well-known ones from your childhood are the only ones around, think again. There's a whole lot more (1 846 in 77 languages, to be exact) to be discovered and enjoyed by children of all ages - yep, count me in ;- . Visit the site and see for yourself.
Wired News magazine described it as "a waste of electrons"; Humorist Dave Barry calls it "a very useful site"; and
Netscape founder Marc Andreesen says it's "One of the best sites on the Web". It's The Useless Pages site, where's you'll find tons of ... well ... useless information. But you know what? I've often found information of the so-called "useless" variety a lot more fun and informative than some of the supposedly serious stuff. Not interested? Try and resist the following: The Cabbage Creator
that will instantly transform you into a cabbage; the Official Al Gore Simulator; Squirrel Fishing; Reading Toes; and how to pass any urine test.
Hot software
This week, I'll give you one link - but it's to the collection of the twenty most popular software downloads of last year, as compiled by ZDNet.
Latest updates
ExcelRecovery 2.1.56 for Win95/98/NT. (Recover corrupt Excel files.)
Website Extractor 7.01 for Win95/98/NT. (Website download manager.)
Active Registry Monitor 1.0 for Win95/98/NT. (Keeps track of registry changes).
Bug and virus watch
Valentine's Day may have come and gone, but the Valentine worms are still out there to get you.
VBS/Valentine.A.Worm (also known as VBS.Valentin.A and VBS/Valentin@MM) spreads via Outlook
and IRC (Internet Relay Chat) systems. It arrives inside an HTML message as embedded, encrypted Visual Basic Script code.
There's no subject line and the body of the message only contain the words: "Que cosa mas tonta"
Infected files have to be deleted.
VBS/Valentine.B.Worm (also known as San.A, VBS.San.A, and VBS/San@M)
spreads via Outlook Express 5.0. It also arrives inside an HTML message as embedded Visual Basic
Script code.
It doesn't come in a specific message and can infect any message by attaching itself as an auto-
signature.
The AnnaKournikova virus (VBS/SST@MM) seems to be pretty rife at the moment. I received a whole string of infected messages from one big company. It is spread via e-mail using Outlook.
It arrives in a message with the subject:
Subject: Here you have, ;o)
and "Hi: Check This!" in the body of the message.
The message has an attachment named AnnaKournikova.jpg.vbs.
If you open the attachment, it infects your system and sends a copy of itself to everyone in your address book.
A Dutch virus writer known as OnTheFly admitted to writing the Anna Kournikova virus. He used a readily available virus-writing tool
known as the Vbs Worm Generator.
Microsoft have warned about a possible exploitation of Windows Media Player 7 skins.
"If a Windows Media Player skin (.WMZ) file were downloaded from a malicious website it could potentially be used to run Java code to read and browse files on a local machine," according to the company.
A patch for the problem is available. Read the Security Bulletin for information on obtaining this patch.
Tip of the Week
We all have certain programmes that we use much more often than others. Well, if you have Windows 98 (and probably Windows Me as well, I don't know) there's a way to make those programmes more quickly accessible. Go to Start, select Programs/Accessories/System Tools and then select Disk Defragmenter. Click on the Settings button and select the option "Rearrange program files so my programs start faster". Click OK twice to begin defragmentation. The Disk Defragmenter will move the files you use most often to the faster parts of your hard disk.
Enjoy the surf ;-)
Louis
For more great sites to surf, read my weekly Internet column in Rapport's business section every Sunday.
Louis is the author of Pretgids tot Rekenaars en die Internet - Afrikaanse vertalings en verklarings. It can be ordered directly from the publisher for R49,95 (P&P included) by E-mail (lapa@atkv.org.za) or phone (012-3252100).
- News24
|
