Greetings

In February, we not only celebrate Valentine's Day but it's also the time to recognize "Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month." Read this month's newsletter to find out more. Our newsletter also provides some helpful information on Internet blogs and an easy tutorial for turning off e-mail sound alerts when receiving incoming e-mail messages.

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, e-mail hoax, or security issue 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.

- The GWIS Team

E-Mail Scam - PayPal Class Action Lawsuit E-mail Scam

The Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center, recently warned the public of bogus e-mail messages that request recipients to update their PayPal credit card information. The message says that recipients are eligible to receive funds from a recent settlement of a PayPal class action lawsuit. Below is the partial text from a fraudulent PayPal e-mail message.

The above is a PHISHING SCAM. The message appears legitimate, doesn't it? The sender shows as coming from PayPal. A secure website is listed. A litigation case number is provided claiming to be from a United States District Court in California. However, the "PayPal" link takes the recipient to a scammer's web page, which looks to be one associated with PayPal. The fraudulent page requests the recipient's username and password, and thus provides the scammers with access to the recipient's PayPal account. Upon completing the form on the bogus web page and then clicking SUBMIT, the recipient is redirected to a legitimate PayPal web page.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center asks Internet users to be cautious of e-mail messages that request private information for the purposes of participating in or settlement of a class action lawsuit. These e-mail messages may be phishing scams attempting to gather personal and financial information.

New Client Tools Suite - Improve Your Web Surfing And Email Experience

Have you taken a look at the new Client Tools Suite from Golden West Internet Solutions? Many of our customers are enjoying faster web browsing, faster email and freedom from all the annoying ads and spyware that plagues the Internet these days. Client Tools works with both PC's and Mac's using either a dial-up or broadband connection. Client Tools is designed to significantly improve the quality of your web surfing and email experience.

With the new Client Tools Suite you get six significant features:

• Parental Controls that use a Black List/White List concept that allows you to build a "walled garden" on the Internet for your children.
• Anti-Spyware that discovers, blocks, and deletes all kinds of spyware, adware, and other rogue software that has been maliciously forced on you.
• Pop Up Blocker that stops annoying pop-ups and pup-unders in both your browser and in many popular applications such as Kazaa, Morpheus, iMesh, Gator, and others.
• Email Accelerator that works with both broadband and dial-up connections.
• Ad Blocker that you can use to stop the annoying flashing banners and unwanted animations.
• Accelerator that delivers more speed while browsing the Internet using either a broadband or dial-up connection.

The software suite has an optional Anti-Virus Command tool that can be bundled with the features above or purchased as a stand-alone product. Anti-Virus Command is software you download to your computer and is updated continuously through the Internet to defeat the latest virus threats. It is a webolutionary browsing tool that works in conjunction with email spam and virus filtering. Anti-Virus Command eliminates the need for expensive subscriptions to McAfee or Norton Anti-virus software. This product is certified by Microsoft, ICSA Labs, Virus Bulletin, and other organizations. Anti-Virus Command includes free technical support over email and phone.

If you would like to sign up for the Client Tools Suite, please visit our website at www.gwclienttools.com for more information.

Golden West Internet Solutions is confidant you will find the new Client Tools Suite a valuable asset that will enhance your Internet browsing and email experience.

Ask The Help Desk - What Is A Blog?

Question: I have heard a lot lately about the growing popularity of "blogs." What are they?

Answer: A blog (a shortened form of "web log") is essentially a frequently updated online journal. It is most commonly a text-only web page with writings by the blog's author posted in reverse chronological order. Many blogs also include pictures as well as links to other related stories around the Web. Some blogs even have links to audio and video clips.

Blogs first emerged in 1999 and have exploded in popularity over the past couple of years. Some estimates have shown that over 50 million Internet users are regular blog readers with literally tens of thousands of new blogs being created each week. Part of the appeal for blog writers is that they can create and update their blogs with little technical know-how, unlike a sophisticated website. Although many blogs are simply musings about the author's personal life intended for viewing by friends and family, the attraction to many bloggers is in creating a community beyond their current network of friends. With this in mind, most blogs consist of material on specific topics such as favorite hobbies, politics, favorite tv shows, favorite sports teams, current events, favorite movie stars, etc.

To get started learning more about blogs, check out these popular blog-hosting websites: www.blogger.com, www.blogwise.com, and www.typepad.com.

Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Celebrate "Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month"
http://tecsoc.org/pubs/history/2002/jun4.htm -  As everyone already knows, February is "Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month." So there's no better time to learn the history of the shopping cart. Did you know that customers initially proved reluctant to use the first shopping carts so the inventor hired fake shoppers to walk around using them? To learn more about the inventor and to see early versions of telescoping shopping carts from the Smithsonian Institution, check out the links on this site.

World's Largest Ball Of Paint
http://ballofpaint.freehosting.net -  Some people collect baseball cards as a hobby. Others knit or do crossword puzzles. Mike Carmichael and his wife, Glenda, from Alexandria, Indiana, have been applying coats of paint to a single baseball since 1977. What started out as a nine-inch circumference baseball weighing less than one pound is now 119 inches around, has been coated with over 19,000 layers of paint, and weighs over 1,800 pounds. If you are in the Alexandria area, stop by the Ball of Paint Pavilion located on the Carmichael's property to apply a coat of paint yourself. Admission is free.

Celebrate February With Chocolate
http://candyusa.org -  Lots of chocolate is purchased in February in celebration of Valentine's Day. The big question, however, is how do you tell what's in the center of those pieces of boxed candy without biting each piece in half? (Answer: Each candy manufacturer has its own code. For one manufacturer, one swirl with one loop may mean caramel; for another, one swirl with one loop may mean butter cream.) For answers to everything related to chocolate plus some great recipe ideas, head over to this site.

Curious George Animated Film Released In February
http://CuriousGeorgeMovie.com -  As a child, you probably enjoyed the adventures of George, the mischievous chimpanzee, in the many Curious George books written by the husband and wife team of H.A. and Margret Rey. Over thirty million books have been sold since the original story was published in 1941. This month marks the worldwide release of the animated cartoon movie entitled, Curious George. Will Ferrell provides the voiceover for Ted, known to many as "The Man in the Yellow Hat." Drew Barrymore and Dick Van Dyke also have voice parts in the film. So grab your kids or your grandkids sometime this month and make it a date at the nearest movie theater to enjoy Curious George.

U.S. Takes On World In 2006 World Baseball Classic
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/wbc/index.jsp -  The world will soon take on the likes of Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and 55 other big leaguers as the U.S. competes in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Sixteen international teams including rosters from Cuba, Japan, China, and South Korea will participate in this much-anticipated event. For roster information on each competing country as well as the latest news, the MLB.com site is your place to start.

Short Tutorial - Turn Off E-mail Sound Alerts When Receiving Incoming E-mail

Most e-mail software programs are set as a default to check for incoming e-mail messages every ten minutes. If a message or messages have been received, an e-mail sound alert notifies the computer user that a message or messages are available for him/her to read. However, it can become somewhat annoying to hear these e-mail sound alerts going off every ten minutes. To turn off the audio on these e-mail sound alerts, follow the steps below.

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts In Outlook Express When Using Windows XP:

1. With Outlook Express open, go to the "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options." The "Options" window will appear.
2. Click your cursor arrow on the "General" tab.
3. Look for "Send/Receive Messages" and uncheck the box next to "Play sound when new messages arrive."
4. Click "OK."

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts In Thunderbird 1.0.7 When Using Windows XP:

1. With Thunderbird open, go to the "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options." The "Options" window will appear.
2. Click your cursor arrow on the "General" icon.
3. Find the settings for "When new messages arrive" and uncheck the box next to "Play a sound."
4. Click "OK."

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts In Netscape 7.2 When Using Windows XP:

1. With Netscape Navigator open, go to the "Edit" menu and drop down to "Preferences." The "Preferences" window will appear.
2. Under "Category," click your cursor arrow on "Mail & Newsgroups."
3. Click on "Notifications."
4. Uncheck the box under "When new messages arrive."
5. Click "OK."

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts in Mail.app 2.0 When Using Macintosh OS X:

1. With mail.app open, go to the "Mail" menu and drop down to "Preferences." The "Preferences" window will appear.
2. Click your cursor arrow on the "General" icon on the toolbar.
3. Look for "New mail sound:" and select "None" from the pop-up menu.
4. Close the window by clicking on the red dot in the upper left-hand corner.

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts In Thunderbird 1.5 When Using Macintosh OS X:

1. With Thunderbird open, go to the "Thunderbird" menu and drop down to "Preferences." The preferences window will appear.
2. Click your cursor arrow on the "General" icon.
3. Find the settings for "When new messages arrive" and uncheck the box next to "Play a sound."
4. Click "OK."

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts In Netscape 7.2 When Using Macintosh OS X:

1. With Netscape Navigator open, go to the "Netscape" menu and drop down to "Preferences." The "Preferences" window will appear.
2. Under "Category," click your cursor arrow on "Mail & Newsgroups."
3. Click on "Notifications."
4. Uncheck the box under "When new messages arrive."
5. Click "OK."

We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the happenings here.

Thanks for your business!