The Naked PC - http://www.TheNakedPC.com
What You Need to Know about All Things PC
Publisher:           Lee Hudspeth and T.J. Lee
Editor in Chief:     Dan Butler
Contributing Editor: Al Gordon
This issue is for Thursday, September 14, 2000 - Vol. 3 No. 19
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Table of Contents

** 01. Letter from the Publisher
** 02. Virus Attacks and How to Thwart Them When You Get One
       (by Lee Hudspeth)
** 03. What the Heck Is a Napster, Anyway? (by T.J. Lee)
** 04. Windows 2000 3rd Party Utilities (SystemWorks): Part 8
       (by Al Gordon)
** 05. Featured Web Site - Aquaria by Jim
** 06. Featured Book - Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's
       Guide to the Win32 API (by Dan Appleman)
** 07. Featured Product - Concordance
** 08. For Recent Subscribers
** 09. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and
       interesting stuff
** 10. We Get Mail


** 01. Letter from the Publisher

Krispy Kornflakes is happy to bring you another exciting
adventure of TNPC! Let's join those lovable computer guys from
next door as they try to answer the musical question, "If
raindrops keep falling on my head, why don't we just all go
inside?"

New feature on the TNPC site... the PRIME Update page has moved
and become the TNPC Newsworthy page. Now you can check for
current newsworthy bits whenever you want as we post things in
the computer press as they catch our eye. We'll continue to
include those of most interest here in the newsletter but if
you're impatient you can call up the Newsworthy page at your
convenience.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?newsworthy

If you've never visited the TNPC site it's worth a look. You can
access the current issue or read the articles in HTML format on
the site. TNPC gets emailed out every two weeks, usually
Wednesday night or early Thursday. The Web site is updated for
the current issue sometime over the following weekend. You can
also find on the site ALL previous issues going all the way back
to Volume 1, Issue 1. Not as valuable as say, Daredevil #1, but
still fairly interesting. You can also find all the articles in
HTML format along with Featured Products, FAQs, Web Sites, and
the like. Click on the Meet the Crew link and you can read the
biographies of those responsible and see them in their photogenic
splendor.

Drop by next chance you get and if you have any suggestions about
how the site can be made to better serve your needs drop a line
to Jim.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com

A colleague of ours, Todd Haefer, over at eBay magazine is
working on an article about repetitive strain injury (RSI) and
would like to interview anyone who has suffered from severe
carpal tunnel syndrome or who has developed vision problems
related to working on computers. If you'd like to share your
experience drop us a note with your contact information and we'll
put Todd in touch with you.
mailto:rsi@TheNakedPC.com

In this issue Lee shares his recent harrowing experience with a
very real computer virus, while Jim takes a look at the Napster
phenomenon. Al checks in with the latest utility release from
Symantec (runs under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, as well
as Windows 2000).

Meanwhile, Dan read this week's Featured Web Site and he
remembered the Netscape Fish Cam. Next time you are running
Netscape press Ctrl-Alt-F to go immediately to the Fish Cam.

As always, reader support is what keeps TNPC free, so PLEASE help
us and pass a copy of TNPC on to co-workers and friends (no spam
please!) and remember to always say "I saw it in TNPC!"

So now you know.


+++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++

WebSiteFactory.NET hosting only $9.95 per month. To register or
transfer your site is easy. With our fully automated online
account creation, your new account is set up within 30 Seconds.
FREE domain registration, transfer and parking - and much more!
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?sponsor1

RESELLERS, tap the booming web hosting industry. Become a full-
service hosting provider w/ the world's  most advanced operating
system and earn 50% commission every month w/our Powerful Agent
program!
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?sponsor1a

+++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++


** 02. Virus Attacks and How to Thwart Them When You Get One
       (by Lee Hudspeth)

In my entire personal and corporate PC-usage history I've never
been the victim of a virus attack. Until now. I've worked with
clients and friends who have been attacked, but until recently
(September 1, 2000, to be exact) had never had a PC under my
direct supervision be attacked by a live, in-the-wild virus. At
about 9:00 AM that morning I warm booted my primary PC (serves as
a DSL connection and ICS host to the LAN) and on booting up
Norton AntiVirus 2000 (NAV) reported C:\Windows\Notepad.exe to be
infected with W32.HLLW.Qaz.A.

In this article I'll share with you the steps I took to deal with
the attack, organized so you can use those steps regardless of
the virus you get, should that unfortunate day ever come. This
article presumes you're already getting regular (remember, I do
this *daily* on all my PCs) automatic updates to your anti-virus
(AV) program's virus definition files and even the AV program
itself. At the time, the PC was fully up to date: NAV2000
v6.10.20 with the latest updates (8/28/00).

For more information on my NAV recommendations, see my article
"Optimal Norton AntiVirus 2000 Settings" in TNPC #3.03:
http://www.thenakedpc.com/articles/v03/03/0303-04.html

1. Start by staying calm and taking thorough notes in your system
   journal.

Note: for some reason--probably being in a hurry to resolve the
problem (so much for taking my own advice)--my notes aren't clear
if NAV initially recommended deletion or quarantine.

2. Let your AV program tell you what it thinks you should do, and
   do it.

I chose to quarantine the virus. NAV complained and then switched
the action to "delete." NAV reported it could not delete the file
and that the disk it is on may be write-protected. NAV prompted
me "do not open the file but leave the problem alone."

3. Immediately disconnect your PC from the LAN and notify your
   system administrator.

4. Use your AV program's built-in virus definitions to look up
   what it says about the virus.

For NAV the steps are: select Reports, "View the list of viruses
that Norton AntiVirus is protecting you against.", Open, Find,
type in the virus name, Info. For W32.HLLW.Qaz.A the Comments
section read, "This is a Win32 companion virus with ability to
spread over the network and also create a backdoor."

5. Go to your (or any other) AV program's Web site and look up
   the latest details on the virus, especially about removal.

NOTE: Your AV program may not do everything necessary to remove
the virus! You *must* read and manually follow the removal steps
for the virus you're dealing with in order to completely
eradicate it.

In the case of Symantec's NAV, I went to the AntiVirus Research
Center:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?av1

and did a search on the virus name which took me to:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?av2

This is a key step. Here you can (and should) carefully read
everything that is known about the virus, especially the Removal
section. Here's my paraphrasing of the technical description for
this piece of malware.

"W32.HLLW.Qaz.A is a Win32 companion virus with the ability to
spread over the network and also create a backdoor. When the
virus is launched it searches for a copy of notepad.exe and
renames it to note.com. It then copies itself (virus code) to the
computer as notepad.exe. Each time notepad.exe is executed it
runs the virus code and the original notepad (renamed to
note.com) to avoid being noticed. It also modifies the following
system registry key to execute itself every time the system is
started:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run as value
StartIE=notepad.exe.

[It] enumerates through the network neighborhood and finds a
computer to infect [, then] infects it by [making the same
modifications]... It does not require any mapped drives to infect
other computers. Once the computer is infected, the computer's IP
address is emailed to the hacker automatically. The backdoor
payload in the virus uses WinSock and awaits connection. This
lets a hacker connect to the infected computer and gain access to
the computer."

6. Follow the recommended removal instructions.

The removal section was short, and (fortunately) easy: scan and
delete any infected files, rename Note.com to Notepad.exe, remove
the trigger Registry value, scan other PCs on the LAN and
disinfect if needed. In my case, NAV itself had (as best as I can
tell) changed the infected notepad.exe to an empty, zero-byte
file. Note.com was 53,248 bytes, the exact byte size for an
ordinary copy of Notepad.exe. But since NAV had reported it could
not delete the file I manually scanned the entire Windows folder
and found it to be clean. I then manually scanned both Note.com
and Notepad.exe, clean. The infected PC's Registry did not
contain the StartIE=notepad.exe value, and there was no StartIE
value anywhere in the Registry.

Before doing anything else, I wanted to report this in-the-wild
attack to the SARC (Symantec AntiVirus Research Center). You can
use NAV's built-in Quarantine Console to submit to SARC, download
the Scan and Deliver tool to submit via the Internet (see link),
or submit via floppy.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?av3

7. Finish up by doing a full virus scan of all the PC's hard
   disks.

My PC was clean.

I exited Win98 SE to MS-DOS and manually deleted the zero-byte
Notepad.exe (Windows flagged it as in use so it couldn't be
deleted while in Windows). Then I rebooted into Win98 and used
System File Checker to recover Notepad.exe from the master CD:
Start, Run, "sfc.exe" (no quotes), select "Extract one file from
installation disk" and enter notepad.exe, Start, and follow the
instructions from there.

Next I checked all other PCs on the LAN and they were all clean.

I don't yet know how the virus got into my system. My research is
ongoing (I'm running the personal firewall ZoneAlarm v2.1.25),
including a careful review of the ZoneAlarm log. Perhaps I'll get
an Internet connection router with a hardware firewall, but
that's an article for another day.

The results of the SARC investigation were not surprising. Since
NAV had crippled the virus by setting Notepad.exe to an empty
file, and since Note.com was just a renamed copy of the original
Notepad.exe, SARC reported both files as virus-free. Perhaps if I
had chosen to let NAV ignore the problem I could have submitted
the live virus, but where's the value in that? I do NOT recommend
you ever try to "catch" a live virus just so you can submit it to
a lab for analysis. If you get a virus, disinfect your system
thoroughly, submit any remnant files for analysis (only as a
distant secondary priority, and only if you're really curious),
then get rid of them, and then get on with your life.

Do you feel your AV software should go further? For starters, how
about live links directly to the suspected virus' page in the AV
vendor's virus encyclopedia? Drop me a note, I'm listening.

For some extracurricular information (like screen shots, McAfee
links, and more) see:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?av4

You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
mailto:leehudspeth@TheNakedPC.com


+++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++

Ever Wish You Had A Dollar Every Time Someone Asks You About
Computers?

Find out how you can start getting paid for giving technology
advice in your community. Internet sales are exploding; from
$35 billion this year to $170 billion in 2003!
Handtech.com gives you the tools you need to profit from this
explosion. Join my team of Independent Consultants getting paid
for doing what we love. Visit
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?sponsor2
or email
mailto:chesb@allnyte.com
or call (800)246-8761

+++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++


** 03. What the Heck Is a Napster, Anyway? (by T.J. Lee)

If you're like me you probably thought a Napster was one of your
kids kicking and fussing as you put them down for nap they didn't
want, but that you desperately needed. Silly me.

Okay, Napster is a Web site that on first blush looks like a
Tower Records with the lights on, the door open, and all the
employees gone for the day. There's a song you like? No problem,
just help yourself.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?nap1

How this works is: you go to the Napster site and download the
Napster application. Small download, easy install, and you're
ready to, ahem, rock and roll. You run it and the simple-as-pie
Napster application interface lets you start searching for songs.
Title, artist, you just type in whatever you want and click on
the Find It! button.

You get a listing of titles, hopefully including the one you want
(depending on how exact your search criteria were), and you can
download the songs as MP3 music files with the click of the
mouse. These files can be played with most CD player software
right from your computer and/or you can burn them onto audio CDs
if you have a CD-RW drive and recording software like Adaptec
Easy-CD.

What? Shades of a five-finger discount! How can this Napster site
be giving away copyrighted music for anyone who wants it? Well,
it gets interesting and murky from here on out. First of all,
Napster does not give anything away, except the Napster
application. All the files you find when searching are files on
other people's computers. Napster is a file sharing service, they
don't have any music on their servers as far as I can tell.
Napster just makes it possible for you to see what files are
residing on other people's computers. When you download a music
file your computer joins the vast sharing pool and others can
download a copy from your computer.

If I want a copy of "Haunted House" by Sam the Sham for a
Halloween CD for the kids, I just download it, not from Napster,
but from, for example, "snootlips" direct from the snoot's hard
disk. I don't get access to snoot's PC or even see their IP
address, all communication is handled through the Napster server.

When Napster displays a list of files in response to a search it
shows you the "handle" of the person whose PC actually stores the
file being "shared." It also shows you that person's connection
speed so if you're running DSL, you might want to skip
"burgerboy" who only has a 56k connection, and download from
"snootlips" who has a T1 line. MP3 files run 1 to 6 megabytes for
typical songs depending on how long the recording is.

Now the big question. Is it stealing? Well, it sure feels like
it. I don't pay for the single "Haunted House," and not a single
farthing finds its way to old Sam the Sham for the use of same.
So it seems to me I just picked Sam's pocket. Who's responsible
for this crime, assuming it is a crime--trying to figure out the
legal copyright issues can give you a nosebleed--is it Napster?
They provide a service that lets people share files. Granted it's
only optimized to share a very specific type of file, namely MP3
compressed music formatted files. Is Napster an ISP protected by
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that lets ISPs off the hook
for any nefarious actions of mere users? This is the type of hair
splitting that lawyers live for.

Is "snootlips" the criminal here? Me because for the purposes of
this article I actually downloaded that novelty cut by Sam the
Sham? Probably. Depends on how you look at it. There's one theory
that the US Home Recordings Act (HRA) protects such sharing. But
there's the other side that holds the HRA protects only a CD
owner who may want to copy and share with family and friends,
with the provision that no one makes any money on the deal. I'll
admit gladly that "snootlips" is neither family nor friend. In
fact, I don't know the snoot at all. But what if you record a
song off the radio to a cassette or to your computer. Then you
give the recording to a friend, or an acquaintance, or a complete
stranger on the Internet. What then?

The music industry sees the issue as more black and white and is
out for Napster's blood. The US Government, as embodied by
attorneys for the U.S. Copyright Office and U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office, has weighed in on the side of the music
industry (I think because the music industry makes a lot of
political contributions, but I digress). A judge agreed and an
order was promptly issued to shut the Napster site down last
month. But an appeals court was less sure and ordered everything
halted until a review sometime in early October.

As you might surmise the number of people using Napster has gone
through the roof in case they do get shut down. I guess a lot of
people want to create that perfect Halloween CD . It's a brave
new world and copyright laws are having a devil of a time dealing
with the new technology.

Hmmm, should I send Sam two bits or what?

You can reach T.J. Lee at:
mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com


** 04. Windows 2000 3rd Party Utilities (SystemWorks): Part 8
       (by Al Gordon)

(Note: SystemWorks runs under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT,
as well as Windows 2000 -- Ed.)

After several months of looking at Windows utilities wannabes, I
found myself with a new appreciation of Norton Utilities (and
Symantec's larger package, SystemWorks, which includes Norton
AntiVirus 2000 and other items).

A lot of the Windows 2000 utilities I have tested, as reported in
these pages, have been enterprise products that were adapted for
individual use. It turns out that understanding consumer software
needs isn't as easy as it looks. Even Symantec sometimes has its
own learning curve, as its Internet Security product manager
admitted. But Norton Utilities have been out there for a long,
long time and they pretty much have got the hang of it by now.

For SystemWorks 2001, Symantec has tidied up its interface into a
more unified package. As the program has evolved, there was a
tendency to keep adding the company's latest acquisition (e.g.,
Cleansweep) or latest tool (WinDoctor) without focusing much on
integrating them. The interface for 2001 is the cleanest in many
years. The opening screen now directs the user in more logical
ways to the tools at hand.

Of course, for Windows 9x/Me the traditional paradox remains:
Norton provides you with the tools to fight Windows problems, but
if you have them all running, you have so many background apps
going that your system will be less stable. As noted here before,
the trick installation is to choose, counter-intuitively, the
"complete" installation option, which is also the custom
installation mode. You then have SystemWorks install everything
(assuming, of course, you have the disk space), but reject all
the options to run things automatically except for antivirus.
That way, the tools all are there for you to use when you need
them, and they are not running when you don't.

Windows 2000 users now get SystemWorks also, but it is an
abbreviated set of utilities. Still, Symantec has provided the
core Norton Utilities such as Speed Disk, Disk Doctor, and System
Information, while adding Win Doctor (which checks your Registry,
shortcuts, and such for errors) plus Cleansweep.

New to the party this year, WinFax Pro has been added to the
SystemWorks "Pro" bundle, which previously was only found in the
regular SystemsWorks plus the Ghost imaging utility. Since last
year's Pro included a Y2K utility, Symantec needed to sweeten the
deal for 2001.

Norton SystemWorks 2001 Standard Edition 4.0
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?util1

Norton SystemWorks 2001 Professional Edition 4.0
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?util2

You can reach Al Gordon at:
mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com


+++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++

                      PHOTON-MICRO LIGHTS!
Photon Micro-Lights are the BRIGHTEST lights for their size in
the WORLD! These little key chain lights offer reliable,
incredibly bright light for any situation. Comes in your choice
of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, Blue, and White. The
battery in the Red, Orange, & Yellow Photons are good for 120
hours of continuous use. The superbright Green, Turquoise, Blue,
and White Photons will run for 12-14 hours on a single battery.
http://www.thenakedpc.com/t/319/tr.cgi?sponsor3

+++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++


** 05. Featured Web Site - Aquaria by Jim

Every once in a while you stumble onto something on the Web
that's purely entertaining, and pure quality to boot. So it is
with the "Aquaria by Jim" site. Seems Jim has a penchant for
turning old Macs and PCs into... fish tanks. Jim calls 'em as he
sees 'em. His genuine, down-to-earth sense of humor provoked some
real guffaws here. A quick example (yes, I really did think this
was funny), "Next, I built a 12 gallon tank into the case of an
Apple Monochrome Two-Page Display. Utilizing the original
tilt/swivel monitor stand, this aquarium can still be (gently)
turned to face any direction. I went shopping for a rock to add
to this tank and discovered cool rocks cost as much as pumps,
heaters, and lights! So I collected my own rocks and built a
cave." Or this, "In a (very) minor fit of creativity one day I
found a good way to recycle an old IBM PC." He turned it into a
cat litter box! :-) Jim's site is full of absolutely first-rate
photos, too. I encourage you to peruse this site, relax, and
enjoy.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?fsite


** 06. Featured Book - Dan Appleman's Visual Basic Programmer's
       Guide to the Win32 API (by Dan Appleman)

If you're into Visual Basic and need to use the Windows API, this
book rocks. Appleman wrote the book to give Visual Basic
programmers the same level of documentation on the Windows API as
was already available to C and C++ programmers. In his own words,
"I designed this edition for programmers who are acquainted with
Visual Basic but do not necessarily have any Windows API
knowledge. As such it contains a fairly thorough windows primer
that is based on the knowledge that you already have about Visual
Basic. No knowledge of C or C++ is assumed--all of the code in
the book is written in Visual Basic." He organized his book very
intelligently. It is *not* a set of knee-jerk techniques and code
samples. It is laid out so you'll get a good understanding of
each self-contained subject area: an introduction, one or two
sample programs, and a related Function Reference. The book
includes a CD with the full text of the book, sample code,
additional information, articles, and other items Appleman felt
would be of interest to the reader. This is a classic.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?fbook


** 07. Featured Product - Concordance

When you need to build a glossary of all the key words in a
document you need to start, in the lexicon of linguistics, with a
word list (sometimes spelled wordlist), a listing of all the
unique words in a document. Even better would be a concordance, a
list of the words in a document with index-like references to the
passages in which they occur. A great, albeit expensive, software
tool for doing this type of linguistic analysis is called
Concordance, written by R.J.C. Watt, a Senior Lecturer in English
at the University of Dundee.

Here's a quick example of what a concordance's entries would look
like for some of the occurrences of the word "adapter":

Context...               Word      ...Context           Line
----------------------   -------   -------------------  ----
FCC ID inquiry...        adapter   card with an ID...   1861
If you have devices...   adapter   card via the         4519
it's a terminal          adapter   ; no digital-to-...  5344

Concordance has a powerful user interface and a rich set of ways
in which you can view and interact with a concordance. Picture
being able to click on any line in this list and see, in a
floating secondary window, all of the host paragraph's text so
you can make contextual sense of the word. This makes it very
easy for you to identify those missing glossary terms that always
seem to get overlooked and find the place(s) in the book where
you've defined them. Concordance is fast, too. According to the
Web site, it can pick 5,000 occurrences of a word from a one
megabyte document in less than six seconds (on a Pentium II/266).

Other compelling features include the ability to build a
concordance on any size document (up to your PC's disk and memory
limits); user-definable reference systems; various word search,
sort, and select options; statistics; word length charting;
conversion from Unix to PC formats; and a Web Concordance feature
that turns a concordance into a set of linked HTML files. An
unregistered "personal evaluation" version is freely available
for download. After 30 days the evaluation version expires and
the fee to register is $99. This makes it an expensive utility as
utilities go, but if you need this specialized type of tool for a
large document project it may be well worth the cost.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?fprod


+++-----------------------------------------------------------+++
                 WANT TO GET YOUR WORD OUT?
Classified ads in The Naked PC can be yours for ridiculously low
prices. Get your message out to over 57,000 TNPC subscribers.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html?v3i19

+++-----------------------------------------------------------+++


** 08. For Recent TNPC Subscribers

TNPC has been adding nearly 1,000 new subscribers to our
readership list every issue, so a lot of our current readers may
not be aware of some of the articles that have appeared in past
issues of our newsletter. Here is a quick recap of some past
articles that you may find interesting if you missed them the
first time around.

*-* An FTP Primer (TNPC 1.06.02)
In computing, like pop music, there are "oldies but goodies." One
of the older and better is "ftp" -- "file transfer protocol" --
an Internet technology that's been in use for so many years that
people have begun to forget it's there.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?recent1

*-* Annoyances Alley - Outlook's Rules Wizard (TNPC 2.02.05)
If you're not filtering your incoming email in Outlook you're
working too hard. The Rules Wizard makes it a snap to consign
spam and other unwanted emails to oblivion or folders of your
choice as soon as they hit your inbox.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?recent2

*-* Beam Me the $10 Bucks, Scotty! (TNPC 3.02.03)
Actually, that should be $5 bucks since the free cash offer has
been cut in half since we first went to press with this article
on the hottest way to make micro-payments on the Web: PayPal. If
you're not using PayPal check out what Dan has to say in this
article.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?recent3


** 09. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and
       interesting stuff

*-* The United Kingdom government passed the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act 2000 last month, which gives the
government broad powers to spy on e-mail and other encrypted
Internet communications. The law goes into effect on October 5.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?news1

*-* Looking for something different in real time strategy games?
Check out the review of Submarine Titans on Intelligamer.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?news2

*-* Cringely took a look at PayPal in his column last week. He
thinks PayPal is well on its way to becoming the de facto
Internet payment standard.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?news3

*-* According to eWeek the improvements in Office 10 will not be
significant enough to convince sites running Office 2000 to
undertake the upgrade. Instead, Office 10 makes a more compelling
upgrade for organizations that stuck with Office 97.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?news4

*-* An interesting concept from American Express may change the
way credit card transactions are handled on the Web. Cardholders
do not give out their actual credit card number, rather they use
a series of randomly generated numbers. Each random credit card
number can be used for only one transaction after which it
becomes invalid thereby eliminating the possibility of fraudulent
future use. Other credit card companies are expected to come out
with similar products.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?news5

*-* As television moves towards going totally digital be aware
that Hollywood plans to prevent your being able to record
telecasts to CD or VHS. They have the technology and have pushed
the FCC to remove any legal roadblocks.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?news6

Hey! Have you come across something newsworthy? Drop us a line:
mailto:hottips@TheNakedPC.com


** 10. We Get Mail

*-* TNPCer Jeffery E. checked in with what he thinks is the
better solution to the problem with pop-up browser windows
(discussed last issue). "Webwasher beats most other solutions
that only activate AFTER the window has popped up. Webwasher
prevents them from ever appearing."
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?mail1

*-* TNPCer Barbara D. was curious about the Photon Micro-Lights
that were the Featured Product back in TNPC #3.16. Says Barbara,
"Those Photon Micro-Lights you featured last month are totally
cool. I ordered a few off their web site and when they arrived I
was amazed. These lights are so small and so lightweight that
it's incredible how much light they produce. I'm trying to figure
out how to incorporate the red Micro-Light into a spooky
Halloween costume." If you missed our mention of Micro-lights
check out Dan's review:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?mail2

*-* A number of TNPCers like Cheryl M. read our articles on ICS
and sharing a single DSL connection between multiple PCs (TNPC
#2.15.04) but have asked about sharing a cable modem connection.
The definitive FAQ on sharing DSL or cable connections is on the
Practically Networked site (formerly timhiggins.com) that was a
Featured Site in TNPC #2.20. From networking your computer to
connecting your broadband connection to your network interface
card, this site walks you through it all.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?mail3

Be sure to stop by the Letters to the Editor page for more:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/letters/index.html


       **PLEASE SUPPORT TNPC BY VISITING OUR ADVERTISERS**
+++----------------------- classifieds -----------------------+++

             **NEED INK?  SAVE 40-70% OVER RETAIL!**
  High Quality Inkjet Printer Cartridges, JetPaks, Refill Kits
      Super Prices! Your Satisfaction Is Guaranteed
      * FREE 3 Day / 2 Night Vacation Certificate! *
                   MaxPatch Ink Supplies
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?class1

+++-----------------------------------------------------------+++

>>  ********** FIND OUT ANYTHING ABOUT ANYBODY **********
Background Investigations, Criminal Records, Vehicle Ownership,
Military Records, Business Directories, Adoption Resources
If you're looking to find them or find out about them this is the
tool you can't do without!
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?class2

+++-----------------------------------------------------------+++

>> GET YOUR DOG TO LISTEN TO YOU, ANYWHERE YOU GO!

Even If He's Distracted By Food, Cats Or A Tennis Ball!
Now you can learn the Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.
Click below, now!
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?class3

+++-----------------------------------------------------------+++

                      ARBRITRATION and YOU
Contract and agreements that you sign in your day-to-day life
have arbitration clauses. Find out the frightening things that
happen inside a private arbitration from a nationally recognized
arbitration analyst.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/319/tr.cgi?class3

+++-----------------------------------------------------------+++


DISCLAIMER
Personal computers are individual machines with performance that
can vary with components, software, and operator ability. The
Naked PC is not responsible for the manner in which the
information presented is used or interpreted. Also, although we
work hard to provide you with accurate Internet links in The
Naked PC, we are not responsible for Internet links herein that
represent sites owned and operated by third parties. We are not
responsible for the content, accuracy, performance, or
availability of any such third-party sites. Warranty does not
extend to acts of foreign governments, overlong third acts, or
acting out in class.

REDISTRIBUTION POLICY
We encourage you to forward this newsletter to your friends,
associates, and colleagues for their review and enjoyment.
However, please do so only by sending it in full, thereby keeping
the copyright and subscription information intact. We do request
that, once they've reviewed an issue or two, they subscribe
independently rather than continue to receive issues from you.
This helps TNPC grow and prosper, thereby funding its continued
publication.

Also, if you wish to post this newsletter to a newsgroup or
electronic discussion group, you may do so if you preserve the
copyright and subscription information. Thanks.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
To subscribe or unsubscribe, surf on over to:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/subscribe.html

To make comments or suggestions, surf on over to:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpfeedback.html
or send email directly to:
mailto:tnpc@TheNakedPC.com

Get back issues from our Mailbot by sending email to:
mailto:mailbot@TheNakedPC.com

WEB BULLETIN BOARD
Check out our 24x7 Web bulletin board. If you've got a technical
question about PC issues, or suggestions of your own, this is the
place to hang out:
http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/annoyanceboard/

ADVERTISING
To advertise in TNPC go to:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html

Mail services provided by Blue Horizon Enterprises, one of the
very few "Mom and Pop" operations left on the Web:
http://www.bhorizon.com

Copyright (c) 2000, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler.
All Rights Reserved. The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME
Consulting Group, Inc.
ISSN: 1522-4422















TNPC Hot Tips:



  

    
Email out of control? Spam filling your inbox? People trying to steal your identity? Same here - until I applied these tips. You can too in a new multimedia e-book. Tame Your Email. 

  

    
DO YOU MAKE THESE MONEY MISTAKES?
Do you know that trying to pay off your high interest rate debts first 
and/or paying extra on more than one debt is the SLOWEST way
to get out of debt? Don't make these same mistakes. Learn more at 
by clicking here...
  

	

































 
      

---

TNPC Hot Tips:

• Email out of control? Spam filling your inbox? People trying to steal your identity? Same here - until I applied these tips. You can too in a new multimedia e-book. Tame Your Email.

• DO YOU MAKE THESE MONEY MISTAKES? Do you know that trying to pay off your high interest rate debts first and/or paying extra on more than one debt is the SLOWEST way to get out of debt? Don't make these same mistakes. Learn more at by clicking here...

---

TNPC Hot Tips:

• Email out of control? Spam filling your inbox? People trying to steal your identity? Same here - until I applied these tips. You can too in a new multimedia e-book. Tame Your Email.

• DO YOU MAKE THESE MONEY MISTAKES? Do you know that trying to pay off your high interest rate debts first and/or paying extra on more than one debt is the SLOWEST way to get out of debt? Don't make these same mistakes. Learn more at by clicking here...