 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Carol Daniels cad@melbpc.org.au |
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If you glance at the author's names in this issue of PC Update you will see quite a few articles written by non-members of Melb PC. That on its own isn't a bad sign. The cause is multifaceted. A bottleneck in the supply of review software, broadly focused articles on subjects so universal it would be silly to ask our own members to re-invent the wheel just to have a home grown article.
Then there are the one-of-a-kind articles, such as "Gene Ziegler is a prisoner in ...The Digital Clocktower". If you have been active (or just lurking) in technical newsgroups or mailing lists for any length of time the subject (or its imposter) will be familiar to you. Rarely has such a serious message been delivered with such humour.
However, this is Melb PC's magazine, and I'd like to see more submissions from members. So come on. Start writing!
The electronic umbilical cord
One of the more frequently asked "Frequently Asked Questions" in melbpc.general is "How can I keep in touch, electronically, while I'm away from Melbourne on holiday?".
Like so many questions in the world of computing, the answer is "It depends".
The best answer for you will depend on a variety of factors, from the volume of mail you receive, to the duration and location of your sojourn, the type of computer access you are likely to have and what you plan to do with your mail while away. Some are dead simple, others moderately elaborate. Some cost nothing more than the charge for a local phone call, others can be quite pricey. I've been told that there are folks who go on holiday without worrying at all about e-mail access. Go figure? The simplest solution is to use one of the many free Web-based e-mail services that has a facility to retrieve POP mail.
If, like Murray Fallon, President of the Web Enthusiasts Association of Victoria, an Internet focused user group in Victoria, BC, Canada, you are running an Internet business, abstaining from e-mail contact for a couple of days, let alone a couple of weeks, is not on. Murray's article, "Staying in touch" gives you a taste of his experience and what he does now to ensure that he always stays in touch, no matter where he goes.
Serendipity?
No, a (not so) happy coincidence
While waiting for permission to reprint the detailed information and instruction piece about the Ska virus, I found myself in receipt of an e-mail message, with the self-same virus attached! Just as Chris Stubbs writes, the sender (a knowledgeable and experienced Internaut) had no idea he had been infected.
However, being the cautious sort, I don't go in for automatic launching of executable files. In fact I delete most attachments unless I know what they are, or can see what they are, without executing the file.
If you're not so cautious, you will find Chris' instructions for recognising and dealing with a Ska virus infection very easy to follow. He includes instructions for checking to see if you are infected, and for checking to see if you have been successful in your decontamination efforts. You will also find a link to a technical discussion of the distinctions between a virus, a worm and a trojan. At the web site, Chris also provides screen captures from the registry-edit process on an exposed system. This can be comforting for those who are uneasy working with the registry.
Ash Nallawalla has written a companion piece including instructions for preventive tactics members using Outlook can use to find and delete infected messages before they do any harm.
These two articles are must reads for every member of Melb PC.
Back to Gene Ziegler
You may have noticed that PC Update doesn't publish material "circulating" on the Internet (you know those amusing computer related stories, poems, jokes, etc) unless I can identify the original author and obtain the author's permission to reprint the material.
Some readers may think (rightly so) that I have a "thing" about getting authors' permissions to reprint, and that I often (some might say too often) use these pages to debunk myths about copyright and fair use in the electronic age, and especially on the Internet.
A warning for those that believe I harp on the issue, I'm doing it again. Well, actually I'm not, someone far more articulate.
The thing is, Gene Ziegler's tale is so entertaining it would be worth reading just for the humour and for the satisfaction of knowing the identity of something you may well have seen already.
My real motive however is to give PC Update readers a name and face
(if you visit his web site), and the truth behind the original, along with the author's delightful commentary
on the myth
...that information on the Internet, mailing lists, newsgroups, etc, is free for the taking, otherwise
people wouldn't put it there for everyone to see...
so that readers will think twice, then ask permission (nicely) before using something they find on the
Internet.
PS
Although his material has been pinched by many, I'm not the only one to have asked. In his gracious message in which he grants permission to reprint his material, Gene Ziegler also writes that in the four years since the poem was originally published he has received more than 500 fan e-mails. And that's not all, it has been set to music three times, the latest, a Gilbert and Sullivan type production, was performed by a music college in Bangkok and was recited recently on a TV show in Vancouver, Canada.
Reprinted from the April 1999 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
