VBOK Edition # 20 - VBOK Contests April 1, 1999 ______________________________________________________________________ WIN FREE PRIZES FROM VBOK!!! I'm giving away $200 worth of software. (This applies to both PC and MAC users.) See section 1 for details!! ------ March was a great month for VBOK! The Virtual Book Of Knowledge was listed on page 68 in the March edition of Yahoo! Internet Life magazine. That gave me a big head for a week or so. :^) The virus warning I sent out about Happy99/SKA was well received, and I got well over 100 e-mail back in response. It appears that the warning was definitely needed, as 87 of those 100 had been infected. See the new section entitled "Hoaxes, Viruses and Other Urban Legends" if you missed it. ------ If you're wondering what happened to the March edition, well, there wasn't one. Due to a heavy class load for college, final exams and working, there wasn't much time left to write. This months edition will be a culmination of the two. ______________________________________________________________________ TOC 1. VBOK Contests 2. Voting Booth and Other VBOK Stuff 3. Software Review 4. Cool Sites 5. Tips, Tricks, Do's and Don't Do's 6. That's the news! 7. Hoaxes, Viruses and Other Urban Legends **New Section** If the columns in the below articles appear misaligned, it's because you are using a non-fixed width font. If you would like to see them nice and straight, change your e-mail font to Times New Roman. ______________________________________________________________________ 1. VBOK Contests ------ In a deal with Blue Squirrel Software, VBOK will be hosting four contests over the next four months. One winner will be announced at the end of each month, and that winner will have their choice of one of three registered software packages; Web Whacker, Web Seeker, or ClipBook. Just go to the above URL, click on one of the three software packages to read more about it. If you like it, download it (evaluation version at bottom), and if you are the winner, you'll receive the registration number via e-mail. Depending on your e-mail client, the above URL may have wrapped. You need to make sure that you get everything between the <> to go to the special offer page. This might entail you having to cut and paste. Sorry, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. ** NOTE - There isn't a MAC version of WebSeeker, so your choices will be limited to either Web Whacker or ClipBook. WebSeeker - Pinpoint exactly what you're looking for on the Internet. WebSeeker 98 v3.4 runs your query through more than 100+ Internet search engines and narrows the search to the EXACT information you want. In Version 3.4 you can add your own search engines. WebWhacker - The ultimate off-line browser! This powerful tool allows you to save Web pages directly to your hard drive, so you can view them offline at highly accelerated speeds. ClickBook - An easy-to-use printing utility that transforms single-sided documents and web pages into professional booklets, brochures, greeting cards, and more. ------ The four contests and rules of engagement. 1. The first contest is a random drawing. A winner will be announced at the end of this section. 2. Are you graphically inclined? Come up with a graphical VBOK logo. - Resizes nicely and cleanly to 145x127 - Filesize must be less than 15KB - I would like it to be cartoony (No stick figures please!) :^) - I would like the text "Virtual Book Of Knowledge" to be somewhere in the image. - You grant VBOK the exclusive license to it for use in the VBOK site, letterhead etc. (You'll get complete credit for it though in the FAQ as well as the ALT tag.) If necessary, we can work something out with this, just e-mail me at . - Deadline and winner announcement 1 May 1999. 3. Subscriber drive - who can get the most subscribers signed up under their name. - No spamming. I'm adamant about this. - Subscribers must be real people and not alternate e-mail accounts. Cheating will get you disqualified. - Current rankings will be posted every other night at this page: - To get credit for a subscriber, they must have your name and e-mail address somewhere in the subscribe e-mail. - The address to subscribe is: - Deadline and winner announcement 1 Jun 1999. 4. Another random drawing for those of you who are not graphically inclined or have no friends to subscribe. :^) - Winner announcement 1 Jul 1999. ------ The winner of contest #1 Random Drawing is: Ben Brodie Winner decided by a psuedo-random number generator I wrote a long time ago when first learning C/C++ : void main() { srand(time(NULL)); printf("%d", 1 + rand() % 1276); } ______________________________________________________________________ ** A word from our sponsors ** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PERSONALIZE THE NET! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Now you can locate, select and distribute the information that is important to you! * WebSeeker - Utilize the power of over 100 search engines to perform advanced searches, and get valuable results. * WebWhacker - Take the Net on the road! Download parts of or entire websites for offline viewing. * ClickBook - Print any document or web page in a double-sided booklet or brochure. BLUE SQUIRREL: http://www.bluesquirrel.com/index.html?ASCID=192 ------ GET 1,000,000+ HITS TO YOUR WEBSITE DAILY! No kidding! Free 7-page report with step-by-step details on what you have to do - NOW! -- to build your traffic. mailto:webmaster@wealthnexus.com w/ "I want 1,000,000 HITS A DAY!" in the subject. ------ Want to see your advertisement here? Send mail to with the text 'Advertiser' in the SUBJECT line for more information. ______________________________________________________________________ 2. Voting Booth and Other VBOK Stuff ------ Last month's question was "What type of input device do you use most?". There were 66 voters and they voted a little something like this: Votes Percent Mouse 49 74 Trackball 9 14 Touchpad 3 5 Voice 0 0 Drawing Tablet 2 3 Direct Implant 3 5 This month's question is "How many times per day do you check e-mail?" Go here to vote: ------ Speaking of voting, click here to vote for VBOK as one of the best newsletters in the "E-zines Top Ten Poll"! It's just a click, no need to fill anything out. ------ Come visit the VBOK forum and live chat. You may discuss anything computer related and it's a good place to get help with any computer questions you may have. ______________________________________________________________________ 3. Software Review ------ Name: MagicSpell Genre: Text to Voice Platform: PC Win 95/98/NT Type/Cost: Shareware Size: 1,029KB (Additional D/L for Microsoft agent components) Homepage: Download Software: Thanks to Eli Allen for submitting this program. I haven't had this much fun with a piece of software in a long while. This is an add-on to the ICQ program which will read incoming messages to you. Since it uses the Microsoft Agent technology (the little paperclip animated character in MS Word is one of the more recognizable ones), you can choose from a plethora of animated personalities to suit your needs. In addition to reading incoming messages, it will also read from the clipboard, tell jokes and even sing. As with most text to speech programs, you may change the vocal attributes to sound male or female, younger or older, slower or faster or any combination thereof. ------ Name: UTalk v1.03 by UTalk Genre: Voice Chat Platform: PC Win95/98/NT Type/Cost: Shareware/$24.95 Size: Homepage: Download Software: This is another ICQ add on whose purpose is to add voice chat capability. Not only is it nice an unobtrusive, but the audio quality is great. No more making those costly long distance phone calls or those finger weary two hour chats with the mother-in-law. :^) ______________________________________________________________________ 4. Cool Sites ------ OneLook Dictionary Onelook is the dictionary of dictionaries. What WebCrawler, Momma, AskJeeves and others did for web browsing, Onelook did for dictionaries. You type in the word you wish to look up and it'll search through 475 on-line dictionaries, collate the results and give you the answers you need. ------ Em@ilFile !!! Recipient of the VBOK Wicked Web Site Award !!! There is just one word for this place; Awesome! What an innovative idea. We've all experienced slow connections during downloading of files. Some of the more advanced users have something like GetRight or GoZilla where you can queue it for later retrieval, but here's a place that'll get rid of your headaches and get that file for you. All you have to do is enter the full URL (either FTP or HTTP), your e-mail address, and Em@ilFile will download the file and e-mail it to you. Because the file is now located on a server at your ISP, you can download it at pretty much the maximum speed (provided that your ISP isn't bogged down during peak hours.) ** Note - Don't try it with those really huge files as it may exceed the limit of your POP3 mailbox capacity, not to mention that the current limit imposed by Em@ilFile is 3MB. ______________________________________________________________________ 5. Tips, Tricks, Do's and Don't Do's ------ Ever wanted to make an instant toolbar with access to the contents of a folder? Go ahead! All you need to do is drag a folder to any edge of your screen and let go. This tip will work with actual folders as well as shortcuts to folders. These toolbars are dynamic, so any changes you make to the actual folder are immediately reflected in the toolbar too. ** Note - If you are using the MS Office Toolbar, then you will be unable to create a new toolbar on the same screen edge that it is located. ------ Want to get to your BIOS information without rebooting? Open regedit.exe (Click the Start button, select Run and type in regedit.exe), then navigate down to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Enum\Root\*PNP0C01\0000 It'll have your BIOS name, version, date and a few other odds and ends. If you've never looked around in your registry, then by all means take a gander. You'll be surprised at what information you can find. Just be very careful not to delete anything or to make changes. ** Warning - If you ever do decide to make changes in the registry, make sure that you create a backup first. A mistake in regedit land could cause you immeasurable grief. ------ For those who either want to learn more about iMac or just can't get enough iMac in their day, then join IMAC-L. IMAC-L is a discussion list in which you can talk with other iMac owners or just "lurk" in the background and see what all the talk is about. You can subscribe to the the IMAC-L list by sending e-mail to: ------ Have you ever gotten a "Missing xxxx.DLL" message when running a program? Here's a place to go to find that missing guy. Touted as the most comprehensive collection of .DLL files on the net, you're sure to find the cure for what ails ya! ______________________________________________________________________ 6. That's the news! ------ Were you paranoid when you found out about browser cookies? How about the ability to track you by your CPUID which is unique to every Pentium III? Intel says that once CPUID is disabled, that it can only be turned back on after a hard reboot. Try again Intel! ------ Legos for hackers??? As if we didn't have enough toys! I can't believe I just said that. You can never have enough toys! ------ A little something to get the MAC subscribers out there off of my back . iCab has released a preview version of it's browser. Requiring a little less than 2MB of hard drive real estate and 4MB of RAM during runtime make this svelte browser a real contender. ______________________________________________________________________ 7. Hoaxes, Viruses and Other Urban Legends **New Section** ------ I've decided to add a new section that discusses and/or warns of new hoaxes, viruses and other urban legends. Before we begin, let me define these for you: Viruses: These will be *real* warnings about new viruses. If I'm warning you of a virus, then you can take it to the bank that I've fully checked it's validity first. Hoaxes: The most memorable in all your minds was the Good Times Virus hoax. These are warnings about some new fangled virus that will wreck your life. The difference between this and other virus warnings is that they aren't for real. Their entire purpose is to scare people and bog down mail servers with all the forwarding going on. The reason I'll be telling you about them is so that you'll be in the know and won't forward them to your entire address book. Urban Legends: These are stories that will be computer related, but aren't necessarily virus related. A warning/story moves out of the hoaxes category when it keeps making a comeback. An example of an urban legend would be the one about the FCC allowing phone companies to charge for local access to the ISP in which the cost would be passed onto us as users. ------ Name: Melissa Category: Worm If you haven't heard by now, you haven't been watching the news. Melissa is a new worm that is sweeping the world. What it does: Melissa is actually a MS Word macro, that once run via the opening of a document named list1.doc (or some variant thereof) will send a copy of itself to the first 50 addresses in your Outlook or Outlook Express addressbook. The worm does no malicious damage per say, but due to it's exponential growth capability, it can bog down mail servers to a standstill. Melissa also carries an Easter Egg (A hidden "surprise" that is invoked only by performing some very specific action or by some very specific circumstance.) If the day and the minute are the same value i.e. day 01 and minute 01 then it displays a quote from The Simpsons. Furthermore, Melissa checks other registry keys to see what the security settings in Word are, and can disable options in your menu bar. What to look for: - If you receive an e-mail with the subject of "Important Message From [someone's name]" and has a MS Word document attached, then you need to delete the message. Do not open the attachment. - The message body states "Here is that document you asked for ... don't show anyone else :-)" - In the registry, look for this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\"Melissa" = "...by Kwyjibo" Network Associates A.V.E.R.T. recommend that if the key does exist, to not delete it as Melissa will think you are not infected and if you get reinfected, the first 50 people in your addressbook will get another copy from you (sure to make you lot's of friends :^) ) As a preventative measure, A.V.E.R.T. also says you can create this key to prevent infection. How to fix it: - Check the web site of whichever anti-virus software you use. For more details: ------ Name: Papa Category: Worm True to form in the virus community, copycats are out. What it does: Papa is a variant of the Melissa macro worm, but it is instead carried by an Excel attachment. It essentially does the same thing as Melissa, except it sends a copy of itself to the first 60 addressbook entries, and it does this *each* time the macro is run. In addition, Papa also pings two IP addresses in a Denial Of Service (DOS) attack. What to look for: The message subject is "Fwd: Workbook from all.net and Fred Cohen", has an Excel attachment named pass.xls, and instructions on not disabling the macros when opening the attachment. How to fix it: Check the web site of whichever anti-virus software you use. For more details: ------ Name: Happy99/SKA Category: Worm What it does: A non-destructive self replicating program that modifies the infected computer's WSOCK32.DLL. This modification allows SKA to attach itself to outgoing e-mail messages and newsgroup posts in an attempt to further replicate itself. What to look for: 1. If you ran a program (most likely called Happy99.exe, but it could have been named anything) and you were presented with a cheesy fireworks display with the window title of "Happy New Year 1999!!", then you were most likely infected. 2. If recipients of e-mail from you say that they are receiving two copies of your messages and one of them has an attachment called "Happy99.exe", then you are definitely infected. 3. McAfee VirusScan and Norton AntiVirus both now detect the SKA worm. 4. Navigate to your Windows/System directory and look for any file named SKA. In particular SKA.EXE and WSOCK32.SKA. How to fix it: 1. Print these steps first. 2. Reboot into DOS mode. 3. Type CD\Windows\System 4. Type DIR SKA.* You should a file called SKA.EXE 5. Type DEL SKA.* 6. Type DIR WSOCK32.* You should see two files; WSOCK32.DLL and WSOCK32.SKA. If you do *not* see WSOCK32.SKA, then skip to step 12. 7. Type REN WSOCK32.DLL SKAWSOCK32.DLL 8. Type REN WSOCK32.SKA WSOCK32.DLL 9. Try to connect to the Internet, send yourself an e-mail. If everything seems to work fine then: 10. Type DEL SKAWSOCK32.DLL 11. You are all done. 12. Something isn't quite right. You should probably reload the file WSOCK32.DLL from a reliable source. One such reliable source would be . Note - You will need an unZIP program such as WINZIP or PKUNZIP to uncompress the file first. 13. Do step 7 and come back to here. 14. Unzip the WSOCK32.ZIP file which will contain the file called WSOCK32.DLL into your Windows\System directory. 15. Try to connect to the Internet, send yourself an e-mail. If everything seems to work fine, then do step 10 and 11. If everything is not fine, then continue to step 16. 16. Type DEL WSOCK32.DLL 17. Type REN SKAWSOCK32.DLL WSOCK32.DLL 18. Your system is now still using the modified WSOCK32.DLL. Send me an e-mail and I'll try to help you further. Hopefully you didn't have to do step 12 as it was more work, and I really hope you didn't have to do 16 - 18 as that is going to be a headache. Other than that, you are now SKA free!!! ______________________________________________________________________ Well, that concludes this issue. Have fun. Leif Gregory Copyright © 1997-99 by Leif Gregory. All rights reserved. You may share this copy of the VBOK newsletter with others as long as it is reprinted/resent in it's entirety to include this copyright notice. If you've received this edition of the VBOK newsletter from a friend or colleague and wish to start receiving your own copies, then click the below link and send the generated e-mail message. I have made every attempt to ensure that all information contained in this newsletter is accurate to the best of my ability. Due to the myriad of possible configurations in the PC platform, information and software discussed here may not always work with your particular configuration. That being said, Leif Gregory and the VBOK newsletter can not be held liable for any damages you may incur either directly or indirectly from the use of anything contained herein. VBOK does not endorse any of the products or services provided by advertisers in this newsletter. As with anything in life, please check the credibility of the advertiser as well as to use common sense. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Virtual Book Of Knowledge (VBOK) VBOK Editor VBOK Homepage Unsubscribe Back-Edition Titles