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Editorial

I have received several reports from customers that the level of SPAM has been increasing. This is true, and is a direct result of the festive season approaching. Those little SPAMERS have been very busy registering new domain names and spoofing others, taking control of peoples mailboxes (HACKING) etc. etc. just to get that piece of, generally unintelligible, mail to you mailbox.

All mailboxes on my servers have spam assassin installed and this does control significant amounts of spam, but it takes time for NEW spam addresses to become registered in the database.

One way to control SPAM is at server level with programs like MailWasher Pro. There was an article on managing your mail in a previous newsletter.

Let's hope they go away for and after Christmas...

Bruce Beresford, Manager & Editor

In this Issue:

• Featured Site - Travellers Cars
• YouTube
• $5.5m fine for spam
• War of words over Vista security
• Vista flexes its power
• Watchdog warns on broadband
• Quotes of the day

Featured Site  

Travellers Cars

Travellers Cars is a Backpackers Car Market - Travellers Cars has been designed by backpackers for backpackers and is a free service for travellers only.

This website is the only place you need to visit in order to make your self driven adventure easy and hassle free.

Whether you are buying, selling or renting a car you will find all the necessary information on this site.

Take a few moments to browse through the useful information on our top tip pages. This will assist you in making the right decision about how to buy, sell or rent a vehicle in Australia or New Zealand.

Visit the Travellers Cars website...

YouTube  

Have you checked out YouTube yet?

YouTube is a popular free video sharing web site which lets users upload, view, and share video clips.

Founded in February 2005 by three employees of PayPal, the San Bruno-based service utilizes Adobe Flash technology to display video. The wide variety of site content includes movie and TV clips and music videos, as well as amateur content such as videoblogging.

It is staffed by 67 employees. In October 2006, Google, Inc., announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the company for $USD1.65 billion in Google's stock. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006. Worth a look...

$5.5m fine for spam  

A PERTH-based company has been fined $5.5 million for sending millions of unsolicited emails, with a judge labelling the spam annoying, costly to combat, and a threat to the internet.

It is the first time an Australian company has been fined under the federal Government's spam laws, introduced in April 2004.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) last year launched the Federal Court action against business seminar advertiser Clarity1 Pty Ltd and director Wayne Robert Mansfield.

It is believed Clarity1 clogged inboxes with as many as 75 million emails between April 2004 and April 2006. Earlier this year, the court found Clarity1, which also trades as Business Seminars Australia and Maverick Partnership, had contravened the Spam Act, 2003. AustralianIT >>> more

War of words over Vista security  

MICROSOFT says security software firm McAfee's criticism of its provision of security information on the new Vista operating system is "inaccurate and inflammatory".

McAfee is one of several software security firms that has been concerned that Microsoft would wait too long to give information they need to protect customers using Microsoft's new Windows 64-bit Vista.

Microsoft last week promised the European Commission, with which it is embroiled in a long-running legal battle, that it would provide necessary information to security firms.

McAfee's lawyer in Brussels said earlier that Microsoft had failed to live up to "hollow assurances" to carry out the promises.

Microsoft reacted strongly. "It's unfortunate that McAfee's lawyers are making these kinds of inaccurate and inflammatory statements," said Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of Microsoft's security technology unit.

He said Microsoft was being even-handed in developing the needed software, which would happen "in the months ahead". AustralianIT >>> more

Vista flexes its power  

Companies have long known the benefits of making sure their workers get a good night's sleep--and they would be wise to let their PCs do the same, Microsoft says.

With Windows Vista, Microsoft plans to put machines to sleep after an hour of inactivity. While businesses and consumers can change that setting, the software maker said that they would be smart to let their computers nod off.

Microsoft estimates that allowing a PC to go to sleep during off hours, as compared with leaving it on all the time, saves anywhere from $55 a year to $70 annually, depending on the type of monitor.

"This is energy (consumed) when you are not even using the PC," said Dean DeWhitt, a director in the Windows kernel team at Microsoft. "It truly is a waste." TechRepublic >>> more

Watchdog warns on broadband  

AUSTRALIA'S competition watchdog has warned telcos racing to offer high-speed internet access not to mislead consumers with false claims about service speeds.

The head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Graeme Samuel issued the warning after an address at a business lunch in Melbourne.

"We are just saying to all the telecommunications companies just be careful, you may be overstepping the mark in terms of misleading and deceptive conduct," Mr Samuel said.

He highlighted companies offering ADSL internet access with potential speeds of 24Mbps, to warn that these speeds are largely unachievable.

He said companies should make it clear the speeds were "up to" 24Mbps, depending on distance from the exchange and line congestion.

"It's when consumers turn around and say 'Hey, look, that's not what we expected. We expected something much better than that. We expected higher quality service', and they believe they have been misled. AustralianIT >>> more

Quotes of the Day  

I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. Charles De Gaulle (1890 - 1970)

It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis. Margaret Bonnano

The point of quotations is that one can use another's words to be insulting. Amanda Cross (1926 - )

I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays. Henny Youngman (1906 - 1998)

Brought to you by The Quotations Page

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