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Editorial

If you use your web-site to market your business, then you really want to be on the first or second page of a search engine's search results. You can carry out the site submissions yourself or we can help you, but it has now become necessary to carry out submissions once a month without fail.

You can also give yourself a leg up by swapping links with other web-sites. Of course you need site synergy and you wouldn't try and share a link with a competitor, or would you?

Think about it; you are in the same business but your customer base is geographically separated. Maybe you can successfully exchange links. Let's say you run a Bed and Breakfast, wouldn't it be great to capture a customers business as they travel around the country.

As well as monthly submissions, linking is a good way to get your site elevated in a search engine's ranking.

Done correctly, marketing your business with your web-site has to be the cheapest form of advertising. Some of my customers achieve over 50% of their business through their web-site.

Bruce Beresford, Manager & Editor

In this Issue:

• Featured Site
• Virus Watch
• Security & Wireless Networks
• Web Browser mozilla FireFox Ver 0.9
• Microsoft patches three critical browser flaws
• Troubleshooting Windows XP
• Windows XP Service Pack 2 released
• Search Engine Ratings
• Quotes of the day

Featured Site  

This month's featured site is Thornton Country Retreat.

Warren, Judith and Harry welcome you to historic Thornton Country Retreat B&B, (formerly known as Denbigh Farm).

Thornton Country Retreat is the original Thornton State School which was built in 1889.

It is a unique building and is very much a part of the history of the area, however the old school doors sadly closed in 1965.

The building remains, shrouded in a aura of bygone days and memories still intact in the minds of many local residents who attended school here.

Our 14 acres nestle peacefully and snugly along Laidley Creek, between the Great Dividing the Liverpool Ranges. We are only one and a half hours from Brisbane and the Gold Coast and only forty-five minutes from Toowoomba.

Check out Warren & Judith's site, and visit their Bed & Breakfast for a relaxing time in the beautiful Lockyer Valley.

Virus Watch  

Latest Threats - from Symantec

18-08-04 Trivial.818

17-08-04 W32.Beagle.AP@mm

Security & Wireless Networks  

There are a lot of wireless products on the market now and it's real easy to set up a wireless network for your work or home.

It is so easy that most users select all the defaults while carrying out the installation process. Without getting too technical, this means that you neighbour can access your computer files and also surf the internet on your ISP account.

As a minimum you must setup WEP, Wired Equivalent Privacy. This is where you can set up 128 bit key encryption at your wireless hub and also your wireless PC adaptor.

Some relevant reading:

Making the Most of Wireless Security

Securing your Wireless Network

I setup my wireless network recently and I'm in a quiet residential area. Guess what! I found two neighbours with wireless networks, one secure and the other open, with access to the internet via their hub and also access to their system. I took a walk around and found the neighbour with the unsecured wireless network and made the appropriate suggestions.

So, you never know who's watching...

Web Browser mozilla FireFox Ver 0.9  

Want a simple web browser, void of bells and whistles, fast loading and free? Then have a look at mozilla Firefox 0.9.

Review: PC Magazine

If you merely want to browse the Web quickly without any bells and whistles, Mozilla Firefox 0.9 is worth the free download. (Version 0.9 is a public-preview release; the 1.0 launch is planned for later this year.) This modular browser is built on Mozilla's Gecko engine and relies on extensions (think plug-ins) to provide additional functions. It loads pages faster than IE, and the default download combined with Macromedia Flash and Adobe Reader will let you speedily browse much of the content available on the Web.

The company's Extensions Manager facilitates downloading of additional functions, such as more precise pop-up blocking, text zooming, or faster text searching. And Mozilla's new e-mail client, Thunderbird, is available as a separate free download. Or you can opt for the full suite, Mozilla 1.7 (also free), to get the browser, e-mail client, HTML editor, and more.

Installation of Firefox is simple, with a wizard that guides you through transferring bookmarks, settings, cookies, history, and saved passwords from your current browser. At first launch, a new streamlined interface makes it clear that this is a no-nonsense browser. Simplified buttons, navigation, and search bars complement a large, open browsing area. If you don't like this look, fire up the Theme Manager from the Tools menu and customize away.

A number of features make finding information easier with Firefox than in IE. Smart Keywords is a very cool feature that lets you easily get additional information—including definitions, stock quotes, weather—right from the location bar. For example, typing "dict baseball" in the location bar will get you the Dictionary.com entry for baseball. You can launch a Web search by right-clicking on highlighted text within the main window, and keep reading the original page while the search loads in a background tab.

The browser isn't perfect, however. Firefox does not render nonstandard DHTML properly, nor does the Mozilla Organization have any intention of releasing a browser that does. While this isn't really Firefox's fault—it's because some sites don't follow W3C standards—the reality is that you may not be able to view everything on the Web with Firefox. That said, all of the pages that we regularly access loaded rapidly and accurately.

All told, Firefox is clean and fast. If you want a browser that respects your PC intelligence and helps you get things done, Firefox is a good place to start.

I am not endorsing this product, however It's worth a look, I have installed it on my laptop and it works fine, its simple and fast and has great pop-up add blocking facilities. It may not resolve all web-sites perfectly. ed.

Want it free to try and keep? visit mozilla FireFox

Microsoft patches three critical browser flaws  

Microsoft, on Friday 30 July 2004, released a patch for Internet Explorer designed to close three critical holes in the browser, including one that paved the way for the Download.Ject Trojan horse.

The software maker offered a work-around earlier that month and had promised in recent days that a comprehensive fix would be coming soon. Microsoft has also worked with law enforcement to shut down the Russian server that had been the source of malicious code. >>>More, CNET Article

The patch is available from the Microsoft Update site and if you haven't already done so, I recommend that you patch your browser.

This is a good opportunity to remind you that you should be carrying out your critical updates on a regular basis. Review my article in the May 2004 Newsletter.

Troubleshooting Windows XP  

For those of you with a technical bent, I have found an excellent Windows XP Troubleshooting site. Got a problem with your Windows XP? Well I reckon you will find the answer here, there is a wealth of information including a site search routine.

Have a look at Kellys-Korner-XP if you don't know what your doing, get an expert...

Windows XP Service Pack 2 released  

Some are calling Windows XP Service Pack 2 a Security Pack because of the vulnerabilities addressed in SP2, which was released to developers and IT pros this week.

But not everyone is rushing to install the update. IBM, in fact, issued a memo telling employees to hold off on installing SP2 until Big Blue can fully test and customize the release.

According to Microsoft, more than 200 million PCs are now running XP.

TechRepublic's Service Pack 2 Resource Center can help you decide when to install SP2 and guide you through the pros and cons of the decision... Builder.Com

You can get XP Service Pack 2 now from Microsoft, however I recommend you hold off for the moment. From reports I have read, 1 in 10 users will experience problems with this service pack. As stated above this is more of a security pack and as such will now turn some things off by default. If you currently run a network you could also experience problems.

Windows update will soon have this service pack available as an online install, but for those of you with a dial-up connection this software will soon be available on the "bonus CD" that comes with most computer magazines.

Be informed, here is some reading for you on the subject.

News

• SP2 Network Installation Package released
• CIO jury: Wait-and-see on Windows XP SP2

Installation

• SP2 Network Installation Package
• SP2 is big step forward in security--but it can break things

Discussion

• What are your plans for installing SP2?

Premium products

• Windows XP Professional Resource Guide
• Tech Tips for Windows XP Professional
• IT Security Survival Guide, Second Edition

My advice; wait for a settling period and give the experts time to iron out the bugs. I will keep a watch on progress.

Stop Press... Microsoft is delaying distribution of Windows XP Service Pack 2 via its Automatic Update service by at least nine days in order to give corporate customers more time to temporarily block automatic downloading of SP2 by their employees.

Here are a couple of links you will find helpful...

Some programs seem to stop working after you install Windows XP Service Pack 2

Programs that may behave differently in Windows XP Service Pack 2

Flaws are already being found in Microsoft's latest major update for Windows XP. More>>>

Search Engine Ratings  

So, who's on top and who's not in the world of search engines?

comScore Media Metrix Search Engine Ratings

The comScore Media Metrix qSearch service measures search-specific traffic on the internet. qSearch data is gathered by monitoring the web activities of 1.5 million English-speakers worldwide (1 million in the United States) via proxy metering.

Proxy metering allows comScore to see exactly how those within its panel have surfed the web. From this data, the company then extracts activity that's considered to be specifically search-related.

Right are figures about searching from qSearch figures provided to Search Engine Watch.

Read the article from SearchEngineWatch...

Quotes of the Day  

"I could prove God statistically."
George Gallup (1901 - 1984)

"The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office."
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

"Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties."
Doug Larson

"Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple."
Barry Switzer (1937 - )

Brought to you by The Quotations Page

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