KC News 4/99 April Fools Special
Vol.1, No.4
April Fools! This month we carry
on with tongue in cheek...
KC News is a free service of Kahl Consultants. Technology. Use it appropriately.
Put it in our hands. Visit us at http://www.kahl.net
To continue receiving: do nothing, you are on our list.
To add someone or to stop receiving: send email.
===
Y2K
===
As the Y2K bug continues to make headlines, we should take a moment
to consider the origin of the computer bug. The urban legend that is currently
making the rounds says that in 1943, Navy officer Grace Hopper found a
glitch in her computer. After investigating, she discovered the system
had a bug - a real one. Turns out a moth made its way into Hopper's computer.
Though the word "bug" has meant fault or defect since as far back as the
1870's, Hopper's story is credited with making it the synonym of choice
in the computer industry. In reality it was Thomas Edison who came up with
the term bug. Or so I've read...
Y2K Tip: don't plan on traveling on an airplane around midnight on December
31, 1999.
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Sites for Sore Eyes
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The Web Helps the EPA Help You
---------------------------------------
What comes out of your faucet? The Envirofacts website can tell you
that and more: just plug in your ZIP code and get information not only
on drinking water, but also on air pollution, toxic releases, hazardous
waste and such. All free care of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Here's the scoop:
http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/jumps/0,4270,393540,00.html
Here's the link:
http://www.epa.gov/enviro
RadiKahl SciFi Opens New Worlds
-----------------------------------------
What?? You can't take cold harsh facts about the way humans treat our
planet? Then try some science fiction! RadiKahl SciFi is a great gateway
to the online scifi world:
http://www.kahl.net/radikahl/scifi
Save on Calls with Calling Cards
-------------------------------------
Do you travel much? Then get the VoiceNet calling card! For example,
any domestic call from any phone in the USA for only 17.5 cents/min! No
more expensive calls! We've chosen to market these calling cards because
it's the best deal we could find! Check out this offer and many more that
your communications agent Alex Kahl provides you via GlobalCom:
http://www.kahl.net/global
KC TIP:
10 Steps to Nirvana
-----------------------
Follow my 10 Steps to Nirvana to be at one with your machine. If you
follow these steps I can guarantee you less hassles with your computer!
10) ONLY buy brand name products
from a reputable dealer (NO gray market stuff).
9) Get a good WARRANTY and SERVICE
PACKAGE with your equipment.
8) Keep ALL manuals and paperwork
for your hardware and software (got a shoe box?)
7) RTFM. Read the -@-#$%# manual!
Even if it's incomprehensible, READ IT!
6) Software Installation Rule
Of Thumb: the more programs, the MORE PROBLEMS!
5) Hardware Installation Rule
Of Thumb: the more hardware, the MORE PROBLEMS!
4) SAVE OFTEN! Save your files
while you are working, don't wait until you are done.
3) Regular Backups: get a backup
device (ZIP, CD-R, tape) and BACKUP ALL your files!
2) Back To School; take a class
in computers, windows, MacOS, internet, etc.
1) Find a friend who knows more
about computers than you do; be REALLY NICE to them.
=======
WinTips
=======
THE "OOPS" KEY
When you do something you didn't mean to do, most programs in windows
will let you UNDO it. The most common command for this is Control-Z. So
the next time you go "OOPS" remember to go CTRL-Z!
Keyboard Shortcut Du Jour
-------------------------
"Desktop on the Double"
This is no april fools joke, check it out!
Lets say you opened a lot of windows and you want to get to your desktop.
Don't touch that mouse! If your keyboard has a Windows key (next to the
space bar), simply press Windows-M to minimize all open windows. That's
Windows-M. Memorize it! This email will self-destruct in 10 seconds.
!!Hoax Alert!!
---------------
Info on internet and email warnings and hoaxes (real & fake) are
at:
http://www.kahl.net/hoax
Here at Kahl Consultants, we get such warnings all too often. For example,
last month we got received the "Get More Money" hoax, a message circulating
especially in German speaking countries.
Remember, Do NOT spread any warnings. Only pass them on to your computer
department. MOST NET WARNINGS ARE FAKE!
!!Trojan Alert!!
-----------------
Scenario: someone sends you an email and the next email is from the
same person and it contains an attachment called: HAPPY99.EXE.
DO NOT OPEN OR EXECUTE IT!!
If you do you will see fireworks going off ... on your screen. Real
nice, right? Wrong! Because then the trouble starts ... this little "Trojan"
program (also referred to as a WORM or VIRUS) launches files that keeps
track of who you email and sends them a second message with the HAPPY99.EXE
file attached.
Bingo! The person who opens your email and executes happy99.exe has
the same thing happen! It is propagated by attaching itself to newsgroup
and e-mail messages. You cannot get infected with this virus just
by reading a newsgroup or e-mail message. You have to execute the
attachment (i.e., run the program). Almost always, the person who
sends it does not know that they are sending it out. This virus does
not affect Macs, DOS, Windows 3.x, NT, S/2, Linux or WebTV (so far). Are
you infected? Relax, you can erase it and you will be fine.
Use one of these sites to get rid of happy99:
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/happy99.worm.html
http://www.e-musicbox.com/happy99virus.htm
http://www.pspl.com/trojan_info/win32/happy99.htm
Bottom Line: DO NOT OPEN any unsolicited *.exe files sent by mail. Remember
that the sender may not be aware of being infected and needs to be stopped.
If he/she is aware of sending your the trojan then they can also change
the name of the program to anything they please. But it will always be
an executable file, i.e. one that ends in the *.exe extension.
AMAZON.COM
------------------
Amazon.com is one of the most successful sites on the net. We are proud
to announce that Kahl Consultants in association with amazon.com is offering
you discounted books and music. Get some cheap CDs! Please use this
link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/kahlconsultants
We offer you discounted books
and music in association with amazon.com.
=======
NetTips
=======
Does HTML Ring a Bell?
-----------------------------
Even internet beginners have come across that common acronym HTML.
Well, what the hell is HTML? HyperText Markup Language is way to cumbersome,
so some web geek came up with HTML to describe the language of the web.
Mac fans will quickly point out that HyperText is a Mac invention going
waaaay back to the computer jurassic age. It simply means a kind of text
that is linked to something somewhere else. So everything you see on the
web is based on HTML. Even if it is written in some even geekier language
like Java it still has to live and breathe HTML to exist on the net.
QUICK! LOOK! Your shoelace is untied!!
April Fools! Thanks to all who wrote in their comments.
Cheers,
Alex
Kahl Consultants
http://www.kahl.net
THE LAST PLUG
=============
How has your small business or organization been performing lately?
Do you have enough clients? Do you want enhance your presence on the net?
Our latest clients include:
Car$ourceT - Car buying made easy
http://www.carsource1.com
CarQT - A consumer oriented car buying magazine
http://www.carq.com
PERCC - Physical Education Resource Center for Children, K-6
http://www.percc.com
Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. Kahl Consultants
are at http://www.kahl.net
THE PUNCH LINE
==============
Windows 2000 is coming! Woo woo! Maybe even in 1999. The Microsoft
Windows 2000 team set a goal for shipping the final version: Oct. 6., 1999.
Don't hold your breath.
The Windows 2000 operating system, formerly known as Windows NT 5.0,
is top priority at Microsoft this year. As more transactions, commerce
and communications take place over company networks and the Internet, the
software of the next decade will increasingly run on huge, data crunching
systems, as well as on televisions, phones and handheld computers - not
on PCs. Microsoft needs to translate its PC desktop stronghold into success
in both larger and smaller machines. Windows 2000 also promises to compete
with UNIX to be able to run the Web's largest sites, such as Amazon.com.
Windows 98: The Return
The timeline to release a consumer version of Windows 2000 as the successor
to Windows 98 has been pushed back indefinitely. Instead, Windows 98 will
get a "second edition" release later this year, with bug fixes and the
just released Internet Explorer 5.0 bundled with it. Care to guess if it
will be free?
For more news like this, turn to The Industry Standard, the newsmagazine
of the internet economy:
http://www.thestandard.com/
==============
The Fine Print
==============
* CTRL: Control Key (there are 2 of these on your
pretty little
keyboard)
* Home & End Keys: found next to the Page Up and
Page Down keys, to the right of the alphanumeric portion of your keyboard
(even on laptops)
* Keyboard combinations: hold down the first key,
then press second key shortly |
