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

Are you backing up your valuable data? I have had a number of problems over the years with the most recent one a few days ago. I installed a new serial port expansion card which caused havoc to my system. As I carry out a full image backup, all I had to do was save my most recent data and then carry out a full image restore. I was away and working within an hour. Without that type of insurance, I could have spent days reinstalling applications and recovering data. The software I use is called Acronis True Image. So again, are you backing up your valuable data?

I read the manual and reinstalled the serial card without a problem after that...

Bruce Beresford, Manager & Editor

In this Issue:

• Featured Site - Flowers by Shondell
• Virus Watch
• Broadband nears 2.6m
• Net speeds off the pace
• Most spam still coming from the US
• Quotes of the day

Featured Site  

Flowers by Shondell

Macarthur's Florist of Choice - Wedding Specialist.

We provide exceptional service and quality designs for Special Occasions, Weddings, Functions as well as offering custom designs for your Home or Office.

Beautiful flowers and plants, stunning long lasting arrangements and gorgeous bouquets is what you will find at Flowers by Shondell.

Visit the Flowers by Shondell website...

Virus Watch  

Latest Threats - from Symantec

19-02-06 Linux.Plupii.C

18-02-06 W32.Beagle.DU

Broadband nears 2.6m  

Broadband nears 2.6m

BROADBAND take-up in Australia nearly doubled in the 12 months to September 2005, reaching nearly 2.6 million connections.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the rate of adoption was due to improved competition in the telecommunications market.

"This outcome continues the growth of broadband take-up that was stimulated by a more competitive broadband market that emerged during 2004-2005," ACCC commissioner Ed Willett said.

Growth in adoption of broadband only showed a marginal improvement in the September quarter compared to the June quarter, increasing from 18.4 per cent to 19 per cent.

ADSL continued to be the most widely adopted form of broadband. ADSL currently accounts for around 73 per cent, or 1.9 million, broadband connections the, ACCC said.

However, Mr Willett said take-up of satellite broadband services was picking up "steadily". Australian IT

Net speeds off the pace  

BROADBAND internet connections in homes and small businesses have doubled in the past 12 months, but critics warn that Australians are being lumbered with a snail's-pace service, compared with the rest of the advanced world.

More than 1.2million new customers signed up for high-speed internet services last year, with a 20 per cent increase in the September quarter, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reports in a survey released yesterday.

Australia's market penetration for broadband is improving by international standards but is well below the leaders. And just as Australia sheds its reputation as a laggard in adopting high-speed internet services, experts now say the broadband we have is too slow, far behind accepted speeds in the rest of the developed world.

Industry consultant Paul Budde says while many advance nations regard broadband as a data transfer speed of 4 megabits per second, Australia defines speeds as slow as 256 kilobits -- 16 times slower -- as broadband.

"What is happening in other countries is a move to much faster broadband speeds and that's where we are now lagging behind," he said. "While the rest of the world is now enjoying internet telephony and TV, we are still to make that leap to higher speeds." James Riley AustralianIT >>> more

Most spam still coming from the US  

Almost a quarter of the world's spam in the last three months of 2005 was sent from computers in the United States, according to UK antivirus company Sophos.

The US is closely followed by China, with 22.3 percent. South Korea rounds out the top three with 9.7 percent, according to Sophos, which said the level of non-English language spam is rising. The company bases its numbers on a scan of all junk mail caught by its spam traps.

While the US still tops the chart, the latest figures mark the first time the country accounts for less than one quarter of all spam relayed, Sophos said. The decrease is a continuing trend. Last October, 26.3 percent of all spam sent from April through September last year was sent from the US, a significant drop from 41.5 percent a year earlier, Sophos said. Joris Evers, Special to ZDNet >>> more

Quotes of the Day  

The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself. Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

That's the secret to life... replace one worry with another.... Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000), Charlie Brown

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth. Umberto Eco (1932 - )

Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place. Billy Crystal (1947 - )

Brought to you by The Quotations Page

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...