News Common PC Linux Mac CUCUG
The August 21 gathering will be one of our split SIG meetings. For the Linux SIG, Kris Klindworth will show Apache web server 2.0. The Macintosh SIG will have Emil Cobb demoing a boot CD for OSX, plus the latest updates from Apple. In the PC SIG, Kevin Hisel will be pulling out all the little program gems he has been salting away in his utility "bag of tricks". As always, something interesting is happening at the meeting. Come and take a look.
We welcome any kind of input or feedback from members. Run across an interesting item or tidbit on the net? Just send the link to the editor. Have an article or review you'd like to submit? Send it in. Have a comment? Email any officer you like. Involvement is the driving force of any user group. Welcome to the group.
Apple Computer on Monday said that it started to ship two models of its Power Mac G5, with a dual-processor version of the desktop computer set to ship sometime this month.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company said it has received 100,000 orders for the high-end desktops, which were unveiled in June. Apple has started shipping 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz single-processor models; a dual-processor 2GHz model is expected to ship by the end of August, fulfilling the company's pledge to send out the machines this month.
Apple is counting on the new machines to improve Power Mac sales, which have lagged in recent quarters. Last quarter, the company sold just 156,000 Power Macs, down from a peak of more than 400,000 a quarter in early 1999, and down from 211,000 units sold a year earlier.
"Our Power Mac business has needed this kind of boost," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of hardware marketing. In addition to the 100,000 orders for the Power Mac G5, Apple has continued to sell a lower-cost version of the Power Mac G4. "We've been selling G4s in the meantime at $1299," he said. The Power Mac G5 starts at $1,999 for the 1.6GHZ version.
Sales of the Power Mac are critical for Apple because of their high profit margins and because they are used by graphics and music professionals, a key market for the Mac. Apple had warned that its overall profitability would be in jeopardy if the company didn't improve its Power Mac sales.
"If future unit sales of Power Macintosh systems fail to partially or fully recover, it will be difficult for the company to improve its overall profitability," Apple said in a December filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Joswiak said Apple has been unaffected by problems that IBM has been having with low yields from its East Fishkill, N.Y., chipmaking plant, where the G5 is produced.
"Our stuff has actually been going rather well," he said. "They've been doing a great job supplying us with G5s."
Although the Mac operating system remains a 32-bit OS, Apple said the machines are shipped with a new version designed to take advantage of some of the G5's 64-bit processing abilities. In particular, version 10.2.7 of Mac OS X has math and vector libraries that are optimized for the 64-bit chip, as well as the ability to address more than 4 gigabytes of physical memory, breaking through a limitation of 32-bit chips.
Application developers can recompile their programs to make further performance gains, Joswiak said. Adobe Systems' Photoshop is among the programs being tweaked to gain an additional speed boost from the G5.
Apple Computer announced a $19 million profit for its third fiscal quarter of 2003. The company shipped 771,000 Macs during the three-month period; that's 60,000 more than Apple sold in its previous fiscal quarter. While iMac and iBook sales increased a bit, both PowerBook and Power Macintosh sales dropped (the latter probably in expectation of the not-yet-shipping Power Mac G5 models and the rumored 15-inch aluminum PowerBook G4). Although international sales accounted for only 39 percent of the quarter's revenues and Apple's margin dropped to a still-healthy 27.7 percent, the company still has over $4.5 billion in cash and short term investments, and expects its fourth quarter will bring an increase in both revenue and earnings. [GD]
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/jul/16results.html
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07241
Following on AOL's $750 million settlement and technology agreement with Microsoft last month, AOL announced last week it was laying off 50 employees at its Netscape Communications subsidiary while simultaneously donating Mozilla trademarks, intellectual property, and some $2 million over the next two years to the Mozilla Foundation, a new non-profit organization coordinating the Mozilla open source project. AOL was quick to point out that its layoffs involved less than 10 percent of its Netscape subsidiary; they didn't mention that the terminated personnel constituted the entire Netscape development team. AOL plans to continue supporting the Netscape browser and portal site (and insists it is looking for ways to leverage the Netscape brand), but it's now all-but-certain that no updates, bug fixes, or development will take place on Netscape software - which may be of no great consequence, given the minimal market share owned by the Netscape browsers these days. Some former Netscape coders may find new homes at the Mozilla Foundation: perhaps that will bode well for its Mozilla and Firebird projects (and, by extension, the Camino browser for Mac OS X). [GD]
http://www.mozilla.org/
http://www.mozillafoundation.org/press/mozilla-foundation.html
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07196
Four months after announcing DVD Studio Pro 2 at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference, Apple has now shipped the professional DVD creation tool. DVD Studio Pro 2 is an extensive, ground-up rewrite of the original that incorporates technologies acquired when Apple purchased Spruce Technologies in 2001. The new version adds timeline-based track editing, a menu editor for customizing DVD menu systems, an improved MPEG-2 encoder, and plenty of design templates. The program's interface has been revamped as well, offering three different modes: Basic (similar to iDVD), Extended (more customization options), and Advanced (no pixel left unturned). DVD Studio Pro 2 integrates with Final Cut Pro 4, which was also announced at NAB and began shipping in June (see "Apple Ships Final Cut Pro 4" in TidBITS-684_). The full version of DVD Studio Pro 2 costs $500, and upgrades from DVD Studio Pro 1.5 cost $200 (those who purchased version 1.5 between 06-Apr-03 and 15-Aug-03 can upgrade for a $30 shipping fee through Apple's Up-To-Date program). You need a Mac with at least a PowerPC G4 processor running at 733 MHz or better and an AGP graphics card, Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later, and a DVD drive for installation; although a SuperDrive isn't required to use the program, it is needed to burn projects to DVD-R media. [JLC]
http://www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro/
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07229
http://www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro/uptodate.html
In a product release we missed a couple of weeks ago, Lemke Software has updated its venerable image editing application GraphicConverter to version 4.8. As with previous updates, it's a wonder that anyone at Lemke gets any sleep: GraphicConverter 4.8 rolls together numerous improvements and fixes. For example, a new unskew effect has been added, as has the capability to swap color channels. Palm support has been improved with the addition of importing support for Foto PDB files and Palm image streams. Also, support for reading images directly from digital cameras and detecting images generated from Canon and Kodak cameras has been improved. GraphicConverter 4.8 runs under Mac OS 8.6 or later, including Mac OS X, costs $35 shareware, and is a 4.3 MB download. [JLC]
http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/graphcon.htm
http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/graphdownld_en.htm
Apple has released Security Update 2003-07-14, fixing a potential security issue related to using a password when waking a Mac from a running Screen Effects screensaver. The update, which requires Mac OS X 10.2.6, fixes a situation where an unauthorized user could gain access to the computer when the password prompt was displayed. Apple has posted the update as a 1.7 MB stand-alone download, as well as made it available under Software Update. [JLC]
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=120232
Apple has released Security Update 2003-08-14 for Mac OS X, a 1.1 MB download available via Software Update. The release corrects an off-by-one programming error in a FreeBSD networking function which could potentially be exploited to give a remote user root-level access to a Mac OS X system. The problem was originally found in the wu-ftpd FTP server, and impacts FreeBSD Unix and other FreeBSD-derived operating systems, including Solaris and some flavors of Linux. As of this writing, Apple has not provided any substantive information about the update; however, there are no known instances of this potential problem having been exploited under Mac OS X or any other operating system. [GD]
http://www.info.apple.com/usen/security/security_updates.html
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CAN-2003-0466
http://www.info.apple.com/usen/security/index.html
After co-founding Apple Computer and teaching computer skills to fifth graders, what's next for Steve Wozniak? Last week Woz took the wraps off wOzNet, the project his new company, Wheels of Zeus (wOz), has been working on for the past 18 months. wOzNet is a wireless network composed of miniature tracking devices, intended for use in locating objects, pets, or people. The devices use GPS hardware to determine their position and low-power 900 MHz wireless networking circuitry for broadcasting that position to a nearby base station at a relaxed 20,000 bits per second, less than most modems. The tags will also be able to generate customizable alerts via phone or email. Multiple base stations will be able to pick up the signal from a tag, enabling neighborhood-wide tracking, but optional privacy controls should prevent it from getting creepy. The wOzNet technology is still being developed, but the company plans on releasing consumer products in 2004. The trick for wOzNet is to find a niche between the cheaper, but lower-powered RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags gaining popularity for inventory control, and the high-speed Wi-Fi networking gear that costs more and consumes more power. [JLC]
http://www.woz.org/
http://www.woz.com/about/
A variant of MSBlast spread on Monday, but the new worm has an odd twist: It applies a patch for the vulnerability that it and other MSBlast worms use to infect Windows systems.
The new worm, dubbed W32.Welchia, W32/Nachi and Worm_MSBlast.D, appears to properly download the patch for both Windows 2000 and Windows XP from Microsoft's Web site. Moreover, the variant will delete itself the first time an infected computer starts up in 2004.
That doesn't mean that such worms are a good idea, said Joe Hartmann, North American director for antivirus research at security software firm Trend Micro.
"This is just a regular worm like anything else," he said. "In the end, they are going to cause more trouble than they help."
Despite the apparent lack of malicious intent, the worm still sends a great deal of unwanted traffic, as it tries to spread to other computers. In addition, if several computers download the patch from Microsoft at the same time, it could slow network performance, Hartmann said.
"That's the way we found out about this--when our clients came to us complaining of slow network performance," he said.
The original variant of the MSBlast worm continued to spread over the weekend and has likely infected more than 570,000 computers, according to security firm Symantec. The company's data measures the number of Internet addresses that show signs of a worm infection. Because Internet addresses don't correspond to single computers, the number is a rough estimate of total infections. Moreover, it is uncertain what fraction of those compromised computers has been cleaned of the infection.
Oliver Friedrichs, senior manager for Symantec's security response center, agreed that worms aren't a good way to distribute patches.
"I don't necessarily think whenever you infect someone's systems, install software and reboot the computer that that is a good thing," he said. "It still tries to propagate; it is still attacking people over the Internet."
The patching worm doesn't install software on all computers. The latest variant of MSBlast only plugs the security holes on the English, Korean and Chinese versions of Windows XP and Windows 2000. And it doesn't remove infections that have already compromised a computer.
The latest variant of the worm comes three days after Microsoft managed to dodge a denial-of-service attack promised by the original worm. The attack, which would have leveled a flood of data at Microsoft's Windows Update site, was foiled when the software giant deleted the address the worm was targeting. The worm is expected to continue to spread despite the aborted attack.
Microsoft also announced on Friday that an e-mail hoax is circulating. The subject line of the e-mail is "updated," and the message appears to contain a critical update to patch systems against the MSBlast worm. In reality, clicking on the attached file will infect the recipient's computer with a Trojan horse program. Antivirus company Sophos dubbed the new program Graybird. Microsoft warned consumers that it never uses e-mail to distribute patches.
A fast-moving but poorly constructed worm took the Web by storm, exploiting a very common Windows flaw despite warnings and an available patch.
Named after the msblast.exe file that contains the program, the MSBlast Internet worm infected more than 300,000 computers since Monday. The CERT Coordination Center has found that as many as 1.4 million unique Internet addresses appear to be the sources of infections on the network.
However, computers connected to the Internet aren't the only target. Starting Friday, every computer infected with MSBlast is expected to start flooding Microsoft's Windows Update service with legitimate-looking connection requests. The denial-of-service attack could slow--and even halt--access to the primary way Microsoft customers receive updates for their computers.
The worm attacks Windows computers via a hole in the operating system, an issue about which Microsoft had warned. Since the announcement and the release of a patch in mid-July, security experts have been waiting for an online vandal to create a worm that takes advantage of the flaw.
MSBlast is a piecemeal compilation of programs that are cobbled together to do a single job: spread across the Internet. The combination is unoriginal but effective. The worm is successful, not because its creator was knowledgeable about programming, but because a great many people whose computers are connected to the Internet are still ignorant about security.
The ability of the MSBlast worm to spread has underscored the view that today's methods of patching security flaws, while necessary to lock down specific computers, is too time-consuming to react to critical vulnerabilities.
Linux in the ring
The SCO Group is keeping the heat on IBM by terminating a second IBM Unix System V license, one that covers a discontinued operating system IBM obtained through its acquisition of Sequent several years ago. Earlier this year, SCO filed a $3 billion lawsuit that claimed that IBM committed trade secret theft and breached its contract when it allegedly copied proprietary Unix source code into its Linux-based products.
The company reported that it terminated Sequent's Unix contract for improper transfer of source code and development methods into Linux. IBM again denied that SCO's actions had merit. "IBM withdrew (the operating system) and the associated hardware long before the suit was filed," a representative said. "This seems to be another attempt by SCO to generate press coverage."
SCO also announced that it had won a paying customer from the Fortune 500 list of the world's biggest corporations, although SCO declined to reveal the company's identity or licensing specifics. SCO said the deal illustrates the merits of its case, but analysts said the undisclosed terms of the deal could mean that it offered a good price to try to build momentum for its plan.
Tech in court
A federal court in Chicago ruled that Microsoft must pay $521 million to a Web technology company and the University of California after finding that the software giant's Internet Explorer infringed on their patents. The company, called Eolas Technologies, originally filed suit against Microsoft in 1999, alleging that Microsoft infringed on its patents when it enabled Internet Explorer to use plug-ins and applets in the software.
An attorney who represents Eolas said the jury likely was swayed by internal documents from Microsoft. The specific patent from Eolas was not mentioned in the documents, but Microsoft executives had described the necessity for technology that conformed to the outlines of the patent. Microsoft said it will appeal.
The judgment against Microsoft has raised speculation over which company might be the next target of Microsoft's pursuer. Since applets and plug-ins are also a key feature of other Web browsers, the Eolas decision could affect Microsoft's competitors in the browser market such as Opera Software.
Other potential targets include companies that redistribute open-source browser software or base products on such programs. Red Hat, SuSE, Apple Computer and Hewlett-Packard are among the companies that fall into one or another of those categories.
PeopleSoft amended its lawsuit against Oracle, charging that its rival's unwelcome acquisition bid was mainly designed to disrupt its business. PeopleSoft expanded the suit to include "extensive new facts about Oracle management's ongoing acts of unfair trade practices, including its efforts to disrupt PeopleSoft's customer relationships."
The amended suit alleges that Oracle deliberately tried to mislead PeopleSoft customers about Oracle's plans to support PeopleSoft products and interfered with customers of J.D. Edwards, who are soon to become PeopleSoft customers though a pending acquisition.
Apple reached a tentative settlement in a class-action lawsuit that alleged the company had failed to fully support Mac OS X on some G3-based Macs. The Mac maker agreed to refund the $129 purchase price of Mac OS X for customers who bought it for use on certain G3 Macs and have never been able to fully take advantage of it.
The deal would settle a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in January 2002. The suit claimed that Apple had promised that OS X would be "fully optimized" to run on all G3 machines but charged that such optimization was not done.
Also of note
A new file-swapping network in the West Bank is openly flouting international copyright norms at a time when many older peer-to-peer companies are trying to establish themselves as legitimate technology companiesŠAOL Time Warner is considering dropping the "AOL" moniker from its corporate nameŠAn Internet company trade association sent a letter to the Recording Industry Association of America, asking for information and dialogue over issues related to the subpoenas being issued for file swappers' identities...A massive power outage in the Niagara Mohawk grid prompts Northeast wireless users to turn to landlines and major airports to halt flight departures.
Most spam is simply annoying - a waste of time, effort, and computer resources, to be sure, but not usually dangerous. However, a small but significant number of spammers go beyond being merely misleading or offensive by actively trying to defraud people. Their methods are increasingly sophisticated, both technically and socially, and many are now focusing their efforts on major ISPs, online retailers, telecommunications carriers, and, for my discussion here, the popular PayPal online payment service, which is owned by eBay.
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06260
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06862
Email fraud is nothing new. It follows naturally from the methods criminals use in mail, wire, and telephone fraud. The notorious "Nigerian banking" scams have even been traced back as far as the 1920s, when they were conducted through the mail and involved a fictitious Spanish prisoner instead. But the Nigerian banking scams are almost laughably obvious, whereas the new scams aimed at PayPal are really quite subtle.
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/nigeria.htm
Why PayPal?
PayPal is not to blame for the situation. Some people dislike the service for a variety of reasons, but PayPal's staff makes significant efforts to keep it both secure and easy to use, two goals that are sometimes at odds. So why are these scam artists targeting PayPal?
People trust PayPal with information about their bank accounts and credit cards. PayPal is widespread, with many of its users maintaining a significant balance of funds in their PayPal accounts. A large majority of eBay auctions accept PayPal, and many services outside the eBay community use it as well - including TidBITS's own PayBITS author-payment system. Put bluntly, PayPal is where the money is.
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06909
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05499
Also, it's simple for nearly anyone with Internet access to use PayPal. That means many PayPal users are unfamiliar with the details of how Internet email and online transactions work, even if they use those technologies every day. With a bit of effort, criminals can convince even fairly experienced Internet users that they are logging into the PayPal Web site, when in fact they are giving personal and financial information away to unknown parties.
In short, PayPal appeals to fraud artists for the same reason it appeals to users: it makes accessing and transferring money entirely online both easy and quick. So people also can be tricked into losing their money quickly, easily, and entirely online.
Why Me?
How do PayPal scammers get your email address? The same ways other spammers do, which include harvesting addresses posted in Usenet and on Web pages (perhaps especially if you have a PayPal payment link on your site, as I do), obtaining illegitimately compiled databases of addresses from unscrupulous companies with whom you might do business, crawling eBay's active auctions looking for usernames, and unleashing semi-random "dictionary" attacks on major email providers such as Hotmail, EarthLink, AOL, and Pobox.
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq/harvest/
http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57132,00.html
Since so many people use PayPal, even random spamming of millions of email addresses will turn up a fair number of people who have PayPal accounts, and therefore some who can be convinced that PayPal needs them to re-type some information.
Anatomy of a Scam
Like most varieties of spam email, every PayPal scam is slightly different. The goal of each one, though, is the same: to mislead victims into believing that they are communicating with PayPal, so that their trust in it, and thus their money, can be misappropriated.
Usually that attempt takes the form of an email forged to look like it comes from PayPal, claiming that the company is trying to verify its customer list, has had a database problem and needs some information re-entered, or has another apparently legitimate reason for you to log in with your user name, password, and maybe credit card information and ATM code. The email might include a link to a site that seems to be owned by PayPal, but is not, or the email might include an HTML form itself, as the one I received last week did:
http://www.penmachine.com/paypalscam/
Over time, the perpetrators of these scams have gotten tricker. Early versions were plain-text email messages with links that were obviously misleading. More recent attempts are HTML-formatted messages with genuine PayPal logos (sometimes linked directly from PayPal's site) and a layout similar to PayPal's genuine Web pages.
There are still signs that give away the real nature of these messages. Every one I have seen has errors in design or language that are unlikely in correspondence from a legitimate company. The writers might misspell words or use them sloppily (such as writing "e-mail" in one place and "email" in another), use slightly inconsistent font sizes, or have spaces missing between words. Often the phrasing that isn't stolen directly from PayPal's own pages is off-kilter and strange, obviously not written by professionals. Another giveaway is URLs that point at IP numbers or other domains rather than the paypal.com domain. With HTML email, though, you must view the source of the message and scan it carefully to find these telltale signs.
Yet for someone who isn't a technical writer and editor like me, those mistakes are easy to miss. The scam email I received last week is even set up to redirect you to the real PayPal site after it has harvested your personal information, so unsuspecting victims may never know they had been duped until the money started disappearing from their PayPal account (a good reason to check your account activity every so often too).
Consequences and Precautions
Crooks who manage to obtain your name, email address, password, and banking information are in a position to drain your PayPal account of all its funds, at the very least. They could also launch fraudulent auctions in your name, launder money, or (in the extreme) use the information they have as the basis for identity theft. These are not misdemeanors, but serious crimes.
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/22.82.html#subj11
So, if you use PayPal, you should be cautious. Fortunately, that's easy to do. First of all, PayPal never sends email messages requesting your password. Any transaction requiring you to log in goes through the paypal.com Web site and uses a secure (https), encrypted connection (so make sure you see https at the beginning of the URL in your Web browser's address field and paypal.com as the URL's domain name). Be careful, though, since some scammers are using unusual URLs that use the paypal.com domain as a username for another site, whose domain is hidden later on in the URL (after an @ character). So if you see something like the following URL, your browser is actually going to example.com, not paypal.com.
https://www.paypal.com:abc%123@example.com/
PayPal itself maintains a repository of useful anti-fraud information in its Security Center:
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/security-main-outside
If someone attempts to defraud you with a PayPal scam - even if you don't respond and suffer no loss - the "Report a Problem" link on PayPal's Security Center page lets you tell the company about it so that it can try to track down and prosecute the offenders. The company also encourages you to forward any scam email messages purporting to involve PayPal (including all headers) to spoof@paypal.com.
PayPal remains profoundly useful. We must learn to recognise those people who are trying to degrade that usefulness and steal our money, just as we recognize suspicious activities in other areas of our lives. One simple way to avoid any problems is to log into PayPal only when you type its URL into your browser yourself.
The situation reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where Calvin brings a note to school, written in big lettering using a pencil on lined paper: "Please let Calvin off from school today as his genius is needed on a matter of vital national importance. Signed, The President. P.S. Really." With a bit of scrutiny, you too can learn to spot fraudulent messages.
[Derek K. Miller is a writer, editor, drummer, and stay-at-home dad in Vancouver, Canada. He maintains a disturbingly extensive weblog journal on his Web site.]
PayBITS: If Derek's warning helped you or someone you know
being scammed, why not send him a few bucks via PayBITS?
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dkmiller%40pobox.com
Read more about PayBITS: http://www.tidbits.com/paybits/
[Editor's Note: For you old Amiga hands, you'll recognize Dave Haynie as the engineer at Commodore that made good things happen. For those of you to whom the name is unfamiliar, Dave was and is a highly respected figure in the Amiga Community. This is a message from the Team Amiga mailing list.]
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 10:48:04 -0500, Donald Feldbruegge (dhfeldbr@chorus.net) jammed all night, and by sunrise was heard saying:
> Much thanks to all of you who alerted me to the blaster worm, and to the
> resources needed to fix the problem(s). Yup, both W2K computers were
> infected. Both are now cleaned up and working, after several hours of work.
I had the blaster worm on one system here, too. The only way I knew about it was the simple fact it's so bugging, it brought down the RPC server on Win2K all the time... not, far as I can tell, an intended effect (eg, in order to assure maximum propagation, and thus a maximized attack on Microsoft next week, it should be as invisible as possible).
> I have no idea where we got it, especially as we have done almost no web
> surfing these past days, and have had no email attachments that we know of.
That's the beauty of this worm -- it's a push-worm, not the usual pull-worm. The worm doesn't intentionally mess with your machine, it seeks to infect others. It picks a random Internet address (well, something like a 40% change of being random, a 60% chance of it going for "the next address" after it's chosen the initial one at random), and looks for a Win2K/XP machine on the other end. When it finds one, it uses this recently discovered exploit to copy itself over to that machine. Thus, all you have to do "wrong" is have a weak firewall....
... which I did on this machine. I used to use BlackICE, but last year started using a NAT application that could intelligently use two modems as one, and it included its own firewall. So I had to turn off most of the BlackICE features to get along with this. Earlier this year, I got frustrated with the lack of support, and some general Really Bad Ideas in this NAT application, and dumped it. But, oops, forget to reset BlackICE.
If you're NOT using a firewall of some kind, get one TODAY. Microsoft will not protect you from this kind of thing. Fortunately, this one really did me a service, ultimately... any exploit that can launch its own code could just as easily have started deleting things.
> Yes, yes, yes I know some of you are thinking (hello, Odd! :-)) "why didn't
> he apply the patch before this happened?" Well, doggone it, I have a life
> other than just downloading security patches.
Right... not everyone can keep up with the bazillion latest Microsoft patches, much less sort through them to isolate the "patch for me" from the "patch for Microsoft". And woe to the fool who lets MS do this automatically... you never know what kind of problems they'll install for you. The chance of an exploit like this one is rare; the chance of MS screwing you over to further their aspirations is a certainty.
> just is no way with everything else in my life. When I now checked I found
> there was another security patch from June that I hadn't installed. Doggone
> it, I just don't think any person should be expected to have to keep track
> of and continually fix problems.
I suspect MS has their own team, hard at work on new worm, virus, and similar annoyances. After all, if your fear of The Net exceeded your fear of MS's Evil Ambitions, you'd probably just check the "auto update" box, and get all of their new stuff pushed to you automatically.
>This sort of thing doesn't happen with
> cars, TVs, VCRs, microwaves or any other piece of equipment.
Actually, I think Toyota can upgrade the software in my car, if necessary, at the dealer... obviously, you need to be on the net to make it automatic, or to worry about hacks. And while all you say is true, you'll also note that cars, TVs, VCRs, etc. don't usually get software upgrades/fixes, either. Often they're not complex enough to need them. But take a look at DVD players. There are many on the market that don't play DVD-R/DVD+R, and more still that don't play DVD-RW/+RW. In nearly every case, the reason they don't is a "simple matter of software"... some bug that prevents the player from behaving properly. Your recourse is usually limited to "buy a new one".
> But in those cases we have choices -- here we don't.
You ALWAYS have a choice. Choices here include "don't put the Windows machine [directly] on the net", "run another OS", "buy a Mac/Amiga/etc", or "stop using computers". Perhaps for various reasons these are all unacceptable choices, but choices they remain.
> For those of you haven't had this little bugger, it can be very nasty.
In what ways?
> Wouldn't let us disconnect from our ISP, and then wouldn't allow us to do a
> normal shutdown from the start menu -- instead doing a reboot so the only
> possibility was to kill the power.
That was, apparently, just an unintended consequence of it crashing the RCP server... Windows is so dependent on that, not much happens when it's gone. A reboot on a properly configured WInXP or Win2K machine is really no big deal. Especially considering what the worm could have done; could have spread on the home LAN, deleted or corrupted any files it liked, copied out stuff (credit card numbers, etc).
--
Dave Haynie | dhaynie@jersey.net | Finally NTSC-Free with HDTV!
Chief Toady | Frog Pond Media | Audio/Video/Hardware/Software Consulting
"The Deathbed Vigil" on DVD, now!! http://www.jersey.net/~dhaynie/dbv
Mr. Hopkins, our prolific newsletter editor, asked me to detail a process I use to record radio programs using my PC.
I like to listen to the Roe & Garry show on WLS-AM radio but the show is on while I'm at work. I use my PC to record the show so I can listen to it when I get home and the experience is actually much better than listening "live".
The primary utility I use to do this is a program called Total Recorder (http://www.highcriteria.com/). Total Recorder is shareware, but it's pretty darn cheap, only $11.95 for the standard version which is the one I use.
WLS-AM has one of the most popular and reliable online streams in the country. In fact, the Roe & Garry Show is the most popular online radio show on the entire Internet. Streams are available in Real, Windows Media and MP3 formats. I find that the best quality can be had by using the MP3 stream.
The way I record the show is to first set up a scheduled task in Windows to launch Winamp (or your favorite MP3 player) at 2:00pm and aim it at the exact URL where the WLS stream is hosted:
C:\PROGRA~1\Winamp\winamp.exe http://abcrad.sc.llnwd.net:12015/listen.pls
Once the scheduling is set up properly, the PC will open Winamp and play the WLS Stream every weekday at 2:00pm. You can also tell Task Scheduler to close the program four hours later, when the show gets over. Task Scheduler can be found in the Control Panel listed as "Scheduled Tasks".
The second step I took was to install and run Total Recorder. The program was easy to set up and I just followed the included instructions. The third step is the most critical and that is to set up a scheduled recording session in Total Recorder. This was pretty easy, too. I chose the Options/Schedule menu entry and clicked "New" to set-up a new schedule. In the schedule option window, I chose "Record", the option for Weekly/Weekdays recording and set the start and stop times. In the "Recording Source" section I clicked the "Software" option and "Mpeg Layer 3" (MP3) 56/kbit Mono (good for voice) as the "recording parameter". I allow Total Recorder to generate its own filenames which ensures that a new name (using the date and time) is always chosen. After that, I just clicked OK twice and my recording session was scheduled.
After all that, I closed Total Recorder and a small program called TotalRecSched.exe ran in the background to facilitate the scheduled recording sessions. This program now runs (in the background) every time I start Windows and takes almost no memory or other resources.
Now every weekday when I come home, I have a 112-megabyte, four-hour MP3 file with the recorded program in it. One of the really great things about recording the show rather than listening live is that I can usually listen to the whole four-hour program in about two hours. The secret is to skip over the commercials (actually just filler music on the net stream) and to use Windows Media Player 9's time-compression function when playing back the file. In WMP9, you can set the playback speed of most audio files without changing the pitch (so the announcers do not sound like chipmunks). I usually set the playing speed at 1.4 which speeds up playback by 40%. I can still clearly hear the content but it goes by much faster.
There are other recording solutions out there I am sure but I find Total Recorder to be very reliable and easy to use.
Like most of you, I have found myself with quite a nice, little DVD collection. I've always worried that since DVDs cannot be easily backed-up what would happen if I scratched or broke one of my DVDs. CDs can be easily backed up and until recently only true hackers and rocket scientists could backup their DVDs.
Enter 321 Studios' DVD X Copy and the companion product DVD X Copy Xpress (http://www.321studios.com/). The two applications are sold separately and allow you to backup DVDs you own if you have a DVD burner and blank media. DVD X Copy allows you to backup all the contents of your DVDs including additional audio tracks and bonus materials. I purchased the "Xpress" version which allows backup of only the movie portion with one language.
Most commercial DVDs use the "DVD9" format which is also referred to as dual-layer. Two distinct layers of recording surface are pressed onto the disk extending its capacity to approximately 9 gigabytes. These disks are difficult to backup since blank media is limited to one layer and about 5 gigabytes ("DVD5"). DVD X Copy usually requires two blanks to backup a DVD- -but you get all the content in its original quality. DVD X Copy Xpress uses only one blank but only copies the movie and one soundtrack.
DVD X Copy Xpress is easy to use. There are only three configuration options and backing up a DVD is a one-button operation. You put the original disk in your DVD reader and click "Start". When it's done reading you put a blank in your burner and the program records the data to the disk. The whole operation takes about 40 minutes with 2.4X media on my P4 3GHz system. You definitely need about 10 gigs of free space on your hard drive to use this program and of course, the faster your processor, the better.
Your 4.7-Gig DVD recordable blanks can hold about two hours of DVD video. If the movie you are backing up is longer than about 2 hours, DVD X Copy Xpress will compress the video information just enough so that it will fit on one disk. I've backed up some long movies and the compression can be just barely seen on the computer monitor and is imperceptible on a regular TV set.
DVD X Copy Xpress backed-up all of the DVDs in my collection except Spinal Tap. It was confused by that disk since the bonus out-take material is longer than the movie itself. I suspect it uses length to determine which stream is the actual movie. This can be overcome by downloading configuration files from the 321 Studios web site for the few DVDs where this kind of problem crops up.
DVD X Copy Xpress is sold for $69.99 but I bought my copy from Tiger Direct (http://www.tigerdirect.com/) which was offering it in a very attractive, money-saving bundle with blank media. My final price for the program was about $30 which is a very good value for the program. DVD X Copy Xpress uses product activation.
A recent downloadable update (v3.0.1) of the program now allows you to copy an entire DVD including bonus materials and menus--even DVD9-format disks--to just one blank. It does this by using more aggressive compression for the video content. This makes for a noticeably degraded video image but it's nice to have this option especially for episodic (Sopranos, Simpsons, etc.) DVDs that--up until this latest update--did not normally work with Xpress.
Obviously, the movie industry is not at all pleased that there is now an easy-to-use copy program for DVDs on the market. 321 Studios is currently in court trying to get a ruling that the software falls under the "Fair Use" doctrine of US copyright laws. They have also built in a few anti- piracy features including a warning screen and the inability to make a copy of a copy. If they are unsuccessful in getting this ruling, software such as this could be ruled illegal and may become unavailable. This fact weighed heavily in my mind and motivated me to buy the product now rather than wait.
So, net-net, DVD X Copy Xpress is a super easy-to-use backup solution for your valuable DVD collection. Instead of letting the kids destroy your $20 copy of Shrek, make a backup and give that to them to play with while the original stays safe and sound.
Three weeks ago Microsoft released a security update via their Windows Update website now located at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.c om/ and security bulletin MS03-026 addressing a discovered vulnerability in Windows NT/2K/XP. A new worm which takes advantage of this vulnerability started making the rounds late last week and many people have been infected. The "Blaster" worm gets into your computer through an unsecured port--you don't have to download it or open a virus- laden e-mail to get it.
A number of my friends got the worm just because their non-updated computers were connected to the Internet. The worm has a nasty payload that causes many PCs to reboot randomly and is programmed to attack Microsoft's WindowsUpdate.com web site. Apparently having virus software running did not prevent the worm from entering the systems I saw. This is a somewhat new mode of entry that most virus software has not apparently contemplated.
Users of Windows XP or Windows 2000 need to update their computers with the latest patches if they have not yet done so. For more information, you are encouraged to visit the Microsoft info page at: http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.asp . Links to removal tools and the needed patch as well as additional information can be found there.
This latest outbreak should be a boon for firewall software companies. Running a good firewall (or just running your machines behind a router) would have greatly reduced the chances that thousands of people would have been infected. Two good FREE firewalls for Windows are Sygate Personal Firewall (http://smb.sygate.com/buy /download_buy.htm) and ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_li st_za.jsp?lid=nav_za).
[Editor's Note: Here are a few more tidbits gleaned from the stories on this worm:
Starting Saturday, August 16, each computer infected by the "MSBlaster" or "LoveSAN" Internet worm will begin sending packets of data several times per second to the Microsoft site in an attempt to knock it offline.
The targeted Web site is windowsupdate.microsoft.com, the site Microsoft uses to distribute updates of its Windows operating system that runs an overwhelming majority of the world's computers.
With such a coordinated volley of data timed to deluge a single site, it leaves the overall Internet susceptible to slowdowns, though many security professionals were playing down that scenario Wednesday (8/13).
Blaster has been spreading across the Internet since Monday (8/11). Security experts in Europe Wednesday reported that the worm, which targets computers running on Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT and Server 2003 software, was still infecting machines, though at a slower rate.
The infection was dubbed "LovSan because of a love note left behind on infected computers: "I just want to say LOVE YOU SAN!" Researchers also discovered another message hidden inside the infection that appeared to taunt Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates: "billy gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!" ]
The legal war over Linux escalated as the SCO Group found itself on the receiving end of lawsuits and as SCO outlined its plans to license the operating system--all this against the backdrop of the LinuxWorld conference.
Red Hat got things moving at the conference with the announcement that it had filed a seven-count suit against SCO, which seeks, among other things, a declaratory judgment that Red Hat has not violated SCO's copyrights or trade secrets. During a CNET News.com roundtable, CEO Matt Szulik outlined his reasons for taking legal action at this time.
"We have asked the courts to declare that no violation of intellectual property and trade secrets have occurred," the Red Hat chief said. "We've been patient, we've listened. But when our customers and the whole open-source community are threatened with innuendo and rumor, it's time to act."
IBM followed Red Hat a few days later by filing counterclaims against SCO, arguing that because SCO distributed a version of Linux under the open-source General Public License (GPL), it can't claim that Linux software is proprietary. IBM also argues that SCO software violates four IBM patents and that the company interfered with IBM's business by saying it had terminated IBM's right to ship a Unix product, AIX.
IBM is seeking unspecified monetary damages and an injunction to stop SCO from shipping its software. The counterclaims came as part of Big Blue's answer to SCO's $3 billion suit against IBM, which alleges that Big Blue moved proprietary Unix code into Linux and breached the terms of its Unix license with SCO.
For SCO, it was business as usual as the company revealed steep licensing prices for Linux users who want to continue using Linux with SCO's blessing. The new license gives customers the right to use any SCO-controlled Unix code allegedly incorporated in Linux, starting with the 2.4 version of the Linux kernel.
Prices are steep for a free operating system. Introductory prices include $199 to run Linux on a desktop PC, and $699 to run it on a server with a single CPU. The server price jumps to $1,399 after the introductory period ends on Oct. 15. By comparison, Red Hat's standard version of desktop Linux sells for $39.
Penguin power
Not all the news from LinuxWorld was delivered in the form a lawsuit. There were plenty of developments to keep developers and IT managers optimistic.
Software seller SuSE Linux and server maker IBM obtained a crucial security certification that will make the Linux operating system an option for demanding military and government customers. The Common Criteria certification ensures that software meets several security requirements. It also ensures that companies supporting the software meet requirements for documenting security features, handling vulnerabilities and testing products.
"It certainly raises the viability and increases the trust level of Linux in government contracts," IDC analyst Chris Christiansen said. Though commercial buyers don't usually give Common Criteria certification much more than passing notice, "the government market is very large," he said.
RealNetworks also gave Linux a boost by announcing plans to release the source code of its audio and video player to run on Linux. With the source code, developers can build tailored versions of Real's audio-video player to run on Linux and Solaris systems.
The code release complements Real's strategy to promote its multiformat system over proprietary systems, such as Microsoft's Windows Media. Real has taken this approach to try to recoup market share in the media software business that Microsoft has gained in recent years.
Silicon Graphics plans to bump the computing muscle in its large Linux system up to 128 processors. SGI, which sells a 64-processor Altix 3000 computer based on the open-source operating system, will release a 128-processor version in spring 2004.
And at Novell, even as management stresses its continued support for NetWare, questions linger about the future of its flagship product, given the company's new Linux focus. Chris Stone, Novell's vice chairman, talked with CNET News.com about what customers need to be aware of.
Wi-Fi unleashed
A loose association of security experts has created a robot to wheel around on its own detecting and reporting the security problems of Wi-Fi wireless networks. The prototype robot, which has not been named, may be the first creature designed for this purpose. The creators hope to sell custom versions of the unit to government agencies and businesses that are worried about the security of their own wireless networks or that hope to break into someone else's.
In its prototype version, the robot weighs about 40 pounds, can reach a speed equal to that of a fast walk and can roll around for three hours at a stretch before using up its power supply. It uses one 802.11b card to eavesdrop on a wireless network and a second card as a control channel to communicate with its owner.
The robot may have plenty of work ahead of it as Wi-Fi networks explode in popularity. Verizon Wireless announced Wi-Fi service for its customers in hundreds of hot spot locations throughout the United States.
Verizon said the new service will expand and speed up its wireless data-service coverage in high-traffic spots that attract travelers, such as hotels and airports. The company is charging $7 to use the service for 24 hours. Unlimited monthly access costs $35.
Go go gadget
Gateway released its first portable music player in a continued effort to expand into consumer electronics. The Gateway Digital Music Player combines three functions in one: It can play MP3 files, it can be used as a portable storage device for shuttling data between two PCs, and it can also function as a digital voice recorder.
Like Sony, Hewlett-Packard and to a lesser degree Apple Computer, Gateway plans to come out with a wide variety of branded household gizmos that can be used, and sold, with its PCs. Overall, Gateway plans to release 50 products fitting into 15 different product categories this year. Internally, the company has formed groups to devise products for the audio, photography, video and home-networking markets.
Sony got into the act with a new plasma TV with built-in broadband networking that is linked to a Web-padlike remote control by wireless LAN technology. The plasma display's networking features allow it to be used for Web browsing, or as part of an intelligent home network, according to a statement from Sony.
The remote control unit can operate independently as a Web pad, or with the main display as a secondary TV screen. It has a small 6-by-3.5-inch display with an 800-by-480-pixel resolution--about the same image size and quality as large handheld computer.
Also of note
European regulators said they have reached a preliminary decision to force Microsoft to give greater technical information to server rivals and to loosen the ties between its media player and the Windows operating system...Merrill Lynch will ban access to outside e-mail services from popular sites such as America Online, Yahoo and MSN, in response to regulatory requirements and to protect its network from viruses...Hackers--including some from federal agencies--are learning about defending networks by breaking into computers...Microsoft's MSN portal said it signed CareerBuilder.com to a five-year deal under which CareerBuilder will replace Monster.com as the portal's exclusive job listings service. The announcement comes a day after AOL Time Warner's AOL unit jettisoned its exclusive arrangement with Monster and signed with CareerBuilder.
A few weeks ago, Apple released iDVD 3.0.1 Update, an apparently minor patch that provides, in Apple's brief description, "improved performance and stability for encoding, burning, and managing your iDVD projects." (The updater is a 4.1 MB download.)
http://www.apple.com/idvd/download/
What Apple didn't mention at the time, but recently revealed in a Knowledge Base article, is that the update makes it possible to run iDVD 3 on _any_ Macintosh with a PowerPC G4 or G5 processor - not just Macs with a built-in SuperDrive, as previously required. Of course, you won't be able to burn the final DVD disc on a non-SuperDrive Mac, but you can build projects and encode them in preparation for burning on another machine.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93274
Unfortunately, you can't purchase a copy of iLife and install it on your Mac; the installer won't install iDVD 3 without a SuperDrive present. (I wasn't able to test to see if a recent boxed copy of iLife includes iDVD 3.0.1, and whether that would install on any Mac; since its introduction, the iLife package has been updated to include iTunes 4. However, I doubt that copies with iDVD 3.0.1 would have made it into the retail channel yet.) Instead, you must copy the iDVD 3 application folder from another SuperDrive-equipped Mac, then run the iDVD 3.0.1 update to make it work.
July 17, 2003 - The meeting started at 7:13 PM with Vice President Emil Cobb chairing the meeting. There were 20 members in attendance with 9 laptops. Emil began with the traditional introduction of officers. (President Richard Rollins came in later.) It was announced that the PC SIG would be investigation VNC, Virtual Network Computing, this evening. The Mac SIG would be looking at the program Synergy and the iTunes Music Store.
Mark Zinzow was selling some surplus CD wallets he had for a $1 to $1.50 this evening.
During some general discussion about software updates it was revealed that by using Windows Updates \catalog you can download a stand alone version of any of Microsoft's updates.
George Krumins talked about his new Sony DVD RW drive. He said each disk holds about 4.4 GB of data, taking about 10 to 15 minutes to write a disk. He said he is using them like great big floppies.
Laptops outsold desktops, in dollars, for the first time this last month.
Tulip is going to start selling Commodore brand name computers again, George Krumins reported.
Ed Hadley brought up the news that Apple G5 computers are coming out soon.
Emil Cobb talked a little about about iChatAV.
Kevin Hisel reported that TweakUI version 2 was released today.
Anthony reported that the Opteron, AMD's 64-bit processor, is to be released on September 22.
The Mac SIG began with 7 members in attendance. Matt Skaj wanted to start out by showing iChatAV, but the battery died on his camera. His was a Canan Optura PI digital video camera, but any digital video camera will work, he said (as long as it has power). He spoke a little bit about the iSight camera.
He also had some problems connecting with his buddy in Rhode Island just to chat because of ITC's firewall, so Emil set up an iChat entry and they talked across the room.
Matt moved on to the iTunes Music Store. To connect with the store, just click on the label in the Source Panel of iTunes and off you go. You have to have iTunes to access the iTunes Music Store. Because of this Mac exclusivity, someone asked if there are others copying the iTunes Store concept? Matt said "Yes". However, Apple is also working on a PC version for release later this year.
The available songs are in AAC MPEG 4 format. The iPod only thing that'll play them portably.
You can register up to 3 machines for a given tune.
New songs are being added to those available constantly, particularly on what Emil calls "New music Tuesday".
When asked about what happens if a download gets interrupted, Matt said that downloads must be verified before you get charged.
You songs go into a Purchased Music folder which appears as a label in your playlists.
The download process imbeds your Apple ID into the song itself.
When discussing the cost of a given album, Matt said said an album of 14 songs or more is $11.99. It's $9.99 for 14 songs or less.
Turning to Synergy, Matt explained it is a Preference pane and operates a menu bar as a control for iTunes.
Synergy is a $5 shareware program. He paid for copy through PayPal.
Matt talked about Synergy's floater information window.
You can check out the program at http://synergy.wincent.com
You can access all your iTunes playlists through Synergy. Matt showed version 0.9.9i2.
After the official demonstration, discussion turn to a nifty little hard drive that Emil had. It was an Other World Computing 40 GB Firewire hard drive in a Mercury On The Go acrylic case, available for about $199.
Discussion drifted back to purchased music from the iTunes Store Matt said you can only burn a given playlist 10 times before you have to change the order. That's just with purchased music.
Matt had a couple of other little programs running on his machine that drew people's attention. One was WeatherPop ($8) for checking the weather, and DeskTop Calendar (free) which is exactly what it sounds like. He was running version 0.47a of this translucent desktop calendar.
The July meeting of the CUCUG executive board took place on Tuesday, July 22, 2003, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing to attend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number are both in the book). Present at the meeting were: Richard Rollins, Emil Cobb, Kris Klindworth, Kevin Hopkins, and Kevin Hisel.
Richard Rollins: Richard informed us that we have one more month at ITC then we will lose it as our meeting site. He is looking into his church, the First Baptist Church of Champaign in Savoy (at the corner of Prospect and Burwash, right across from the Windsor of Savoy), where he is in charge of their AV department. He reported that our expenses will increase: $60 for their big room and $30 for the small room, but access to the Internet and certain AV equipment make the increase less of a blow than it might at first appear. We will have to sign a contract, but this would be a mutually protective agreement. On down side is that church functions would take precedent to our meetings, but Thursday nights present a negligible chance of a conflict. For a preview, you can check out their website at http://www.fbc-cs.org. Members coming to CUCUG meetings would enter the new edition to the church - through the double doors - on the south east side of the building.
Speaking of last month's meeting, Richard said he enjoyed the VNC demonstration. He said he had learned some new features in it to try.
Kris Klindworth: Kris reported that, for the Linux SIG, Mark Zinzow had shown resizing NTFS Partition. He also showed Part Image, which is kind of like Ghost (a drive imager program). Next month, Kris will show Apache web server 2.0.
Emil Cobb: Emil reported that we had had a demo of Synergy at the last Mac SIG by Matt Skaj. Matt had also shown the iTunes Music Store (although he was having trouble with the Internet connection). iChat AV was shown too. It was pretty good demo.
Emil reported that we had pretty good attendance at the last meeting: 20 members were there. Next month, Emil said he will demo a boot CD for OSX, plus the latest updates from Apple.
Kevin Hopkins: Kevin had no new business.
Kevin Hisel: Kevin was enthusiastic about a new program he had just gotten, DVD X Copy XPress, for $30. He said it does just exactly what it says it will do. It'll copy a DVD in 45 minutes. He said it is pretty idiot proof; you really don't have to set anything. Just load it and go. You will need 10 GB of hard drive storage for the transfer.
While discussing the use of DVDs as backup media, Kevin said he doesn't really use them for that. He Backs up his main hard drive with Mr. Mirror to another machine on his network.
For next month's PC SIG, Kevin offered to show some of the many utilities he has collected for his "toolbox": ZMover, Adaware, DiscKeeperLite, NeoTrace, MP3 Info Extension, Net Stumbler, Password Agent, TweakUI, Karen's WhoIs, Task Manager, WinSize, and BelArc Advisor.
Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Illinois Technology Center. The Center is located at 7101 Tomaras Ave in Savoy. To get to the Illinois Technology Center from Champaign or Urbana, take Neil Street (Rt 45) south. Setting the trip meter in your car to zero at the McDonalds on the corner of Kirby/Florida and Neil in Champaign, you only go 2.4 miles south. Windsor will be at the one mile mark. Curtis will be at the two mile mark. Go past the Paradise Inn/Best Western motel to the next street, Tomaras Ave. on the west (right) side. Tomaras is at the 2.4 mile mark. Turn west (right) on Tomaras Ave. The parking lot entrance is immediately on the south (left) side of Tomaras Ave. Enter the building by the front door under the three flags facing Rt 45. A map can be found on the CUCUG website at http://www.cucug.org/meeting.html . The Illinois Technology Center is also on the web at www.IL-Tech-Ctr.com .
Membership dues for individuals are $20 annually; prorated to $10 at mid year.
Our monthly newsletter, the Status Register, is delivered by email. All recent editions are available on our WWW site. To initiate a user group exchange, just send us your newsletter or contact our editor via email. As a matter of CUCUG policy, an exchange partner will be dropped after three months of no contact.
For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, or contact one of our officers (all at area code 217):
President/WinSIG: Richard Rollins 469-2616 Vice-President: Emil Cobb 398-0149 e-cobb@uiuc.edu Secretary/Editor: Kevin Hopkins 356-5026 kh2@uiuc.edu Treasurer: Richard Hall 344-8687 rjhall1@uiuc.edu Corp.Agent/Web.Mr: Kevin Hisel 406-948-1999 Mac SIG Chairman: John Melby 352-3638 jbmelby@johnmelby.com Linux SIG Chairman: Kris Klindworth 239-0097 kris.klindworth@Carle.com
Visit our web site at http://www.cucug.org/, or join in our online forums at http://www.cucug.org/starship/index.php .