EMAIL TIP

Have you ever gotten an e-mail warning you that the "Goodtimes" virus will erase your hard drive? Or how about one that cautions you "Don't read any message with the subject 'penpal greetings'"?

The Internet and electronic discussion groups are constantly flooded with information about computer viruses. However, interspersed among real virus notices are computer virus hoaxes. How can you tell which is real and which is a hoax? Fortunately, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) at the U.S. Department of Energy and Computer Virus Myths website have loads of information to help you sort out which is which. And if you think your computer has a real virus, try Dr. Solomon's Don't Panic for help.

The bottom line is, please don't forward to others any unconfirmed warnings about computer viruses. If you receive a warning, don't pass it to all your friends and colleagues--don't become infected with the Gullibility Virus, which makes people believe anything they read on the Internet!

INTERNET TIP

Do you use Netscape as your WWW browser? If so, did you know that any time you want to go directly to a website with ".com" in it's URL, all you need to type into the "netsite" or "location" box is the "middle" of the URL. For example, if the URL is http://www.whatever.com all you need to type in is whatever, and Netscape fills in the "http://" and the ".com" parts of the URL for you.

WINDOWS 95 TIP

Did you write a memo last year, forget what filename you gave it, and now need to look it up again? Or have you recently visited a website you want to return to, but you didn't bookmark it? Luckily Windows 95 allows you to locate any file on your computer or any website stored in your browser's cache. You can search for a document based on a key word or text, the document's file name or portion of a file name, or even by date. It can find any incidence of a keyword in a cached web site, a word processing document, and can even search through your computer's recycle bin.

Take a look at Windweaver's Windows 95 Manual Finding Files: Basic Searching and Finding Files: Advanced Searching for the full scoop on tracking down those misplaced web sites and memos.

And if you're trying to find your sunglasses, your car keys, or even the meaning of life, let the UltimateMegaSuperExcellentSearcher help you!

USEFUL URL O' THE MONTH

Here's a good site to bookmark if you have genealogists who need to track down birth, marital, and death records: Vital Records Information (framed version) or non-framed version. This website contains information about where to obtain vital records from each state, territory and county of the United States. It also includes a handy set of important guidelines to follow when writing for county records and documents, and information on fees.

FUN URL O' THE MONTH

Tired of the same old on-screen computer error messages like "404 not found" and "abort/retry/fail?" Check out the winners of Salon Magazine's Haiku error messages contest. Here's a sample by Suzie Wagner:

Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.