This newsletter has been designed to maintain links with customers and provide an information service for internet users generally.

Please visit us at http://www.engadineweb.com.au and signup for this monthly newsletter.

Editorial

How many infections would you say constitutes a badly infected computer? Well I guess with a bad virus maybe one!

I was working on a 'badly infected' computer a last month; just a simple case of cleaning out the Trojans and Viruses...

Well, the removal of the infections turned out to be a mammoth project. The computer had Vet virus protection installed and was recently connected to a broadband account.

Vet was just not up to the task, so that was the first of the removal process. Next I Installed Spyware Doctor in an effort to remove as many infections as possible. This process revealed an astounding 6,562 infections which were promptly removed. The next step was to install Norton Internet Security and try and remove all of the viruses. All but two were removed successfully, one being w32.Spybot and Hacktool.Rootkit. These are two viruses you just don't want to get.

During the removal process it was interesting to find just how many so called FREE virus removal programs there are on the NET. Of course very little is ever free, you will find that their SCAN process is free and once the virus has been identified they want payment before you can proceed. Don't be caught by these deceptive practices.

So to remove these viruses I carried out a Google search for the virus in question and found the Symantec website had the removal instructions for both of the viruses.

For both of these viruses its a long drawn out process to remove them, especially the w32.Spybot virus which sets itself up as a service in XP. To totally eradicate any traces of these viruses it is best to reformat your hard drive and start again.

The next step was to update the operating system via Microsoft Update and then I installed Norton Firewall.

My reason for using Norton is only that I have used this software for many years and feel comfortable in its operation and setup. There are plenty of other virus protection applications on the market, some better than others.

My analogy for a computer with poor or no protection against infection, especially when connected using broadband, is like leaving the keys in your car with a sign on the window "please take me!".

Bruce Beresford, Manager & Editor

In this Issue:

• Featured Site
• Virus Watch
• eBay buys Skype for AU$5.3bn
• Skype users bemoan sale
• Katrina warning
• The Sale of Telstra will proceed
• Quotes of the day

Featured Site  

C-FAB Products

Maker of the original Render-strip^TM. We provide innovative product designs and manufacture for the building industry in general and the home handyman.

Our innovative product range enables major cost savings by the reduction of labour intensive processes.

Our Render-Strip^TM takes the hassle out of rendering around windows by minimising clean-up whilst protecting your windows from damage during the rendering process.

Our Frame Mounting & Render Guide Bracket is the latest product from C-FAB Products providing you with an alternative way of preparing openings and a method of installing timber, and some aluminium frames in masonry constructions.

The new C-FAB barrow is a neat folded edge wheelbarrow, designed for bricklayers, renders and builders.

We have an innovative Trolley range and also our Masonry Block Chairs enables labour saving positioning during the construction process.

Visit the C-FAB Products website today and see their innovative designs...

Virus Watch  

Latest Threats - from Symantec

20-09-05 W32.Ahker.N@mm

20-09-05 Trojan.Tooso.Q

eBay buys Skype for AU$5.3bn  

EBAY has agreed to buy internet phone-calling phenomenon Skype for up to $US4.1 billion ($5.3 billion), positioning itself to compete with companies such as Google to local phone providers.

EBay said it would pay $US1.3 billion in cash and $US1.3 billion in stock for explosively growing Skype, which will allow eBay to add free web telephone calls to its online auctions. It will make a further payout of up to $US1.5 billion if certain financial targets are met.
The deal will cut eBay's earnings by about a one US cent per share until the end of 2006 before beginning to boost eBay's profitability, chief financial officer Rajiv Dutta said. Its shares rose US 0.45 cents, or 1.17 per cent, to $US39.07 on Nasdaq.

EBay is renowned for its internet auction house linking more than 150 million buyers and sellers, who currently exchange about 5 million emails per day. It hopes that offering free Skype calls within eBay will smooth the way for more deals to go through, and let the company charge merchants for calls that lead to sales.

Skype already leads the booming voice-over-internet (VoIP) market, which is seen as a threat to traditional phone companies and is being aggressively targeted by online powerhouses such as Time Warner?s AOL unit Yahoo and Google. AustralianIT >>> more

Skype users bemoan sale  

EBAY'S acquisition of Skype is getting mixed reviews from Skype's fervent supporters.

It was the hard-core Skype fans whose word-of-mouth advertising helped it become the world's largest voice over internet protocol (VoIP) provider without spending anything on marketing. It has some 54 million registered users and usually has more than 3.5 million people online.

But the sale to eBay could signal the end of the evangelical user zeal that drove Skype's rapid growth. Its software - which offers free computer-to-computer calls between Skype users - has spread in classic viral fashion, as each new user convinces friends and family to sign up.

In a poll on the forums (http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=34932), 69 per cent of users said the acquisition is not a good thing, compared with 23 per cent in favour of the deal. AustralianIT >>> more

Did you know that Skype is locked out of China?

Katrina warning  

FBI warns on Katrina phishing scams...

MANY of the 4,000 web sites advertising relief services for Hurricane Katrina could be fake, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned.

Senior FBI and Justice Department officials warned Americans who want to donate money to the relief effort to be cautious to avoid fraudulent charities, including those that pretend to be major organizations like the Red Cross.

The US federal law enforcement agency said that about 60 per cent of the sites come from overseas - a sign they may be bogus.

"Just like these natural disasters bring out the best in people, they also bring out some of the worst elements of the criminal element out there who are willing to take advantage of those who are willing to give and those who so desperately need the relief," Chris Swecker, chief of the FBI's criminal investigative division said.

Mr Swecker said the FBI is investigating sites of fraudulent charities. He said there are about 4,000 sites advertising Katrina relief services, and about 60 per cent of them are coming from overseas.

"That is not a reason unto itself to conclude that that's a scam web site, but it is a reason to be cautious," he said.

US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said some of the bogus sites had been shut down but would not give details on the number or how many investigations had been launched.

"We must ensure that those offering a helping hand do not become victims themselves and that those found preying on the compassion of our citizens are punished," he said.

The Red Cross' general counsel, Mary Elcano, said the organisation had hired a security company to scan the internet for emails designed to trick people into giving their credit card numbers and personal details to counterfeit Red Cross web sites.

"If the companies don't go away ... the Department of Justice will prosecute and, if necessary, the Red Cross will file a civil action to seek restitution," she said.

Officials urged people who want to donate money not to click on links but to directly type in the web address of the charity in order to donate. Reuters

The Sale of Telstra will proceed  

14 September 2005 - The sale of Telstra gets the green light by the Senate and we already have rumors at hand stating 10,000 staff to be axed. Great news for pending shareholders real bad news for current and future stakeholders.

If you are a bigpond customer like me, would you like to see 10,000 staff working on faults and downtime?

The statement that 'market forces' will decide the future of Telstra, in my opinion, is false, as they are a monopoly and I am confident they will use their monopoly to please their shareholders. The Government will keep them in check; maybe, but the damage is always done by the time the government bureaucracy gets involved.

'Can we fix it?' asks ACCC

THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission believes it is still possible to police the operational separation of Telstra, despite the government bulldozing sale legislation through Parliament last night without the ACCC's recommended amendments.

ACCC telecoms commissioner Ed Willett said the regulator had not given up hope of enforcing a separation regime, either through amending the existing sale legislation or by means of the separation plan that Telstra will have to present to Communications Minister Helen Coonan as part of the sale process.

"It's much too early to say the horse has bolted," Mr Willett said.

Mr Willett said the ACCC had presented the government with five concerns at the cursory one-day Senate inquiry conducted into the sale last Friday. This was the first time the concerns had been presented, he said.

Worries for the ACCC included the operational separation plan to be developed by Telstra, and how breaches of the plan would be policed, Mr Willett said. AustralianIT >>> more

Watchdog wary of T3 plan

LAWS to promote competition against Telstra are unenforceable and may undermine the Trade Practices Act, according to a confidential letter from competition regulator Graeme Samuel to Communications Minister Helen Coonan.

The letter, however, expresses grave concern about the proposed separation of Telstra's wholesale and retail businesses and proposes eight amendments to the sale legislation.

Mr Samuel says the law leaves it up to Telstra to draw up the operational separation plan. He urges the minister not to accept any plan until the ACCC was satisfied it would be effective in improving transparency.

Mr Samuel says it is unsatisfactory that complying with the operational separation plan is not made a condition of Telstra's licence.

He says, in a letter read to The Australian, that the legislation should be amended to expressly require Telstra comply with an approved plan.

The ACCC's biggest concern involves a clause that says that if ever the commission is considering taking action against Telstra because of competition breaches under the Trade Practices Act, it should "have regard" for the operational separation.

"This creates potential for inconsistency and conflict between the ACCC's current enforcement tools in the Trade Practices Act and the Operational Separation Plan, and therefore the efficacy and effectiveness of its overall regulatory approach, and these provisions should be removed," Mr Samuel wrote.

Senator Coonan yesterday confirmed she had received advice from Mr Samuel but refused to release it. "My understanding of Mr Samuel's reaction to the operational separation model is that he said he thought that it was a workable model," she said.

The legislation, introduced and passed yesterday, did not include any of the eight amendments proposed by Mr Samuel. AustralianIT >>> more

Quotes of the Day  

When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, 'Did you sleep good?' I said 'No, I made a few mistakes.' Steven Wright (1955 - )

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. H. P. Lovecraft (1890 - 1937), "The Call of Cthulhu", first line

I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it. Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964)

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. Lord Acton, Letter to Mary Gladstone, 1881

Brought to you by The Quotations Page

Here is a nice one I heard the other day while watching the movie, 'Coach Carter' staring Samuel L. Jackson:

'What is your deepest fear?'

'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.'

by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3

Have any questions relating to the internet or your computer? Let me know and I will research an answer and use this for future entries in our newsletter. Pass on your questions via the Enquiry Form on our Web-Site or send me an email.

If you have a friend or associate that you feel would benefit from receiving this newsletter please forward it to them for their review...

You have received this newsletter as you are an Engadine Web Services Customer or you have subscribed via our web-site.

To Unsubscribe from this newsletter 'click' the link and send an empty email...