Training Opportunities

Each Monday from 3:00 – 4:00 in the Middle School lab I will be available for personalized training.  Please email me in advance your question or topic.

         londa.posvistak@smes.org        

Tech Tips: Spam Mail

E-Mail Computer Offers

Attention All School Staff, Students and Personnel:

You Must Respond By 5 P.M. Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Through a special arrangement, Avtech Direct is offering a limited allotment of BRAND NEW, top of-the-line, name-brand desktop computers at more than 50% off MSRP to all School Staff and Personnel who respond to this message before 5 P.M., Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Does this sound familiar? Not long ago, almost everybody on campus was inundated with mail from a company promising to deliver a great computer at less than 50% off the MSRP price.

While this is a legitimate business (though barely, in my opinion), you should know that SMES does not generate, promote or condone any of these mail offers. We have our own computer purchase plan which is offered and promoted in the fall of every school year. If you are tempted by one of these spam-mail computer offers, just remember: Buyer beware. You get what you pay for!
 

Email Requests for Help to Claim Lots of $

While I've got your attention about spam mail, here's another one we all received. It's from some pathetic Republic of a Backwater Underdeveloped Country asking for your financial help. It reads something like this:

REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP.  FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND TOP SECRET.

Besides the utterly abysmal grammar and spelling, this type of spam mail is a scam - it's sole purpose is to strip you of your money. Blocking spam on a network is difficult (as I'm finding out) so I'm sure some of these outrageous emails will continue to find their way into our Inboxes. There are several things you can do:

1. Forward the offending piece of mail to the Helpline.
2. Be quick and unforgiving with your "delete" button.
3. Report the email to the Federal Trade Commission.
    There is an official FTC "Consumer Complaint Form on the FTC website that can be used to report gripes
    about companies or organizations. The form asks for details about you and the outfit you are
    complaining about but also says, "If you have a specific complaint about unsolicited commercial e-mail
    (spam), use the form below. You can forward spam directly to the Commission at UCE@FTC.GOV
    without using the complaint form."
    Click here to see the form.

If you want to arm yourself with more ways to fight spam on your home computer, look over the Microsoft website at
http://www.microsoft.com/security/articles/spam.asp for some really helpful tips.

Did You Know?:

The Origin of the Word: Spam

The "official" term for "spam" is "unsolicited commercial e- mail" or "UCE" but most of us know spam as unwanted, unsolicited bulk e-mail. Did you know, however, how the word "spam" became associated with UCE?

While there's some debate about the source of the term, the generally accepted version is that it comes from the Monty Python song, "Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam…" Like the song, spam is an endless repetition of worthless text.

Another school of thought maintains that it comes from the computer group lab at the University of Southern California who gave it the name because it has many of the same characteristics as the lunchmeat Spam:

     • Nobody wants it or ever asks for it.
     • No one ever eats it; it is the first item to be pushed to the side when eating the entree.
     • Sometimes it is actually tasty, like 1% of junk mail that is really useful to some people.

(www.webopedia.com)
 

Word: Sorting Data

Have you ever found yourself wishing that the list you just typed into MS Word was alphabetized? It's very easy to sort data in MS Word! Here's all you have to do.

The first thing would be to get the list into Word. So type away.

**A quick note here: If you want the list double spaced, then set the paragraph to be double spaced. Do not simply hit the enter button twice! It will become an editing nightmare and when the sorting is finished, it will put all of the blank spaces at the top of the list, leaving the data single spaced anyway..

Once the typing is finished, here's how you begin the sort (alphabetizing).

• Highlight the entire list.
• Then, go to the Table menu, choose the Sort option. The Sort Text window will pop up:

  

The default is set up to Sort by Paragraphs, type of Text, Ascending. This will make your list alphabetical A to Z. (Descending will reverse the list to Z to A.)

At the bottom of the window there is an option of telling the program that your list has a header row (or title). You would use this option to prevent the program from sorting your highlighted title into the list. (In other words, the first row stays in place regardless of its first letter.)

• Click OK.

You will be returned to the document and you should see that the list is now in order.

www.worldstart.com

Announcements

A new SMES web page has been posted to the Resources Page for MS/US students, faculty/staff, and parents. It’s called the “Emotional Guidance and Support Page” and has information about various ways anyone in the SMES community (students, parents, staff) can seek help and/or guidance on our campus. You can click on a link and send concerns or questions to:

• Dr. Musurlian and Dr. Want, campus psychologists
• Mrs. Warren, M.F.C.C. and counseling associate
• Campus Chaplains (Mother Lark, Father Rob, Father Reggie, Father Keith)
• Nurses (Mrs. Keith, Mrs. Canright)
• Peer Counselors – hand-picked and trained US students

There are also links to off-campus organizations that may be able to provide valuable information and/or answer questions.

http://www.smes.org/resources2/CoreTeamSupport.htm

Technology Assistance
If you need help with technology, call the helpline at ext. 697 or email help@smes.org .
               Provide as detailed description of the problem as you can, and include the best times for someone to come by.