User group Newsletter Editors: Utilize this content in your newsletter -- PLEASE ... reference The User Group Network _ / _ UG Network Channel _ / _ NEWS_/ _ Info Manager The Info Manager is looking for your rumors and tidbits... give him a post! ...or subscribe... see subscription notes below Info Manager - 05/05/Y2K Soft DSL?; Philips & 1394; AppleWorks update; ILOVEYOU **** I LOVE YOU As I write this (on 5/4) a new Word Visual Basic virus is attacking e-mail systems all over Europe and starting to hit the US. (The subject line is "ILOVEYOUE".) One person reported getting it via Dow Jones Interactive. It works when the attachment is opened. So it isn't as easily spread as Melissa that hit us last year. However apparently people aren't watching what they open and it is spreading. The good news for us Mac users is that it has no effect on our machine. However it would be possible to send it back out as an attachment to a PC users, so we need to be aware of what we are doing.(BTW - the lack of viri on the Mac is one reason supporting its use. There are something like 10K PC viri to each 1 on the Mac.) Most of the Mac viri are too old to work against the currenty OS. I believe there are less than 10 active ones unless you are runnint OS 6.0.8 or earlier.) [Editor: maybe the I Love You virus is causing problems, but it has had one good side effect: this morning's mail box was completely without spam. It's the first time since I can remember being online that there haven't been at least a dozen spams in the UGN mailbox. The only mail we got this morning was from Mac users. **** Soft DSL On April 21, Motorola announced it will implement a new DSL modem primarily in software. It says this idea could save PC OEMs 30 to 40 percent over a using a hardware modem. The new technology will be presented this month at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in New Orleans. The product should be available to manufactures later this year and should show up in PCs by the first quarter of next year. Gee, a soft modem. Seems like Apple did that with their GEOPort and then Windows followed up with WinModems. Hopefully this product will work better than either of those. But then again, maybe Apple should be talking to Moto about doing a similar product for Macs. **** Philips & 1394 Philips Semiconductor recently demonstrated using IEEE 1394 (a.k.a. Firewire)wireless product from Wi-Lan for home networking. The demo took place at Microsoft's WinHEC conference in New Orleans. They ran three simultaneous channels of streaming MPEG3 files at 2.4 GHz. This shows how multimedia connections can easily be made in the home. Looks like Apple once again developed good technology. And once again, they will have trouble collecting any profits from it. Sounds like PARC Labs doesn't it. **** PC Pitstop Fred Showker of the UGN recently reported that Sue Nail, the user group contact at CE Software is also involved in an Internet startup called PCPitstop.com. It provides PC users running Internet Explorer with a complete diagnostic of their system for free. If you are running a PC, you really should check it out. __ Also, you should check out CE Software while you are at it. They of course have Quickeys and QuickMail for both Macs and PCs. Quickeys is the best macro program available for Macs, (I don't have anything else to compare it with on the PC, as QK is the only one I have used there). QuickMail is a great LAN e-mail service. They are available as 30 day demos at the web site. But are listed as updates. They work as demos without a serial number or activiation key. Web site: <http://www.cesoft.com/index.html> **** AppleWorks Anyone that has used AppleWorks 6 realizes its short comings. The major one being its lack of translation capabilities. Apple just release an update to 6.0.3 of the software. The new version is suppose to improve the performance, compatibility and stability of the application. It also adds RTF translation, which is a minimum translation feature. However one would still have to purchase MacLink translators to do a translation from Excel and Word formats directly. You can get the update at: <http://asu.info.apple.com/swupdates.nsf/artnum/n11671> **** Quote of the Week: "The most important thing to do in solving a problem is to begin." -----Frank Tyger **** Web site of the Week: Two sites this week. For those wanting a good laugh or a good cry, try www.techtales.com If you have ever done any support work, you will sympathize with this tales. If you haven't perhaps you will be a little more understanding when the tech asks a question that you think should have been obvious. __ The other if for all those Mac users who aren't using the latest and greatest machine: www.lowendmac.com This site will help you keep your Mac going and going and going. For example, do you know it is possible to surf the net using a Mac Plus? Well it is. It isn't too satisfactory, given the 9600 baud limit of the serial port and the monochrome screen but it can be done. Of course, it makes a good e-mail machine as long as you are dealing in text messages and not html ones. Any way I would think that if you have any machine more than 3 years old, you will greatly benefit from this web site. (I have a 7100, so it is good to me). As a bonus, check out the new Apple advertisement (actually it isn't a real commercial, but it sure looks like one. . A special note, I will be on vacation next week. I will even get to visit my friends at TUMS (Tulsa Users of Macintosh Society), where this column began. Very much looking forward to sharing some burgers and dogs at their annual BBQ. Therefore, there won't be a column next week. You will just have to get through Mom's day without me. Be back the following week with news from Apple's World Wide Developer Conference. pau **** Don't forget For User Group Newsletter Editors there's a TEXT version of this file available for use in your newletter. Any suggestions for topics and reports of rumors are always welcome. Please me know at the address below. Thanks ... the Info Manager invites you to use all or part of his column in your user group newsletter. Please let him know at rumormangr@aol.com and if possible send an electronic copy for the old scrapbook. 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