To use the links in this newsletter, you must be connected to the Internet.  PC Eudora users: to see this and other html mail properly you must check the box "Use Microsoft's Viewer" in the "Viewing Mail" options.

A serious bug was discovered some time back in Outlook and Outlook Express that makes it possible for someone to crash your Windows system or run commands on your system merely by sending you an email message that you download with Outlook or Outlook Express.  The significant thing about this bug is that you don't have to open the message or any attachments to the message; the bad event happens as soon as you connect to your server and download email, even before you get a chance to look at it.  As far as WebSkulker knows there are no email messages being sent that take advantage of this bug, but someone could write one and distribute it widely at any moment.  Microsoft was hoping that this would remain secret until they had a chance to distribute fixes for it, but it got out to the public.

The following two web pages describe the problem and what you can do about it.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms00-043.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-043.asp

You don't have to read those unless you want the details.  The bottom line is that you should immediately download and install the latest version of Internet Explorer, 5.5, because it also fixes the Outlook and Outlook Express problem.  Do this from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

But if you are running Windows 2000, then you need to do it differently.  For some reason, the Internet Explorer 5.5 update, when installed on a Windows 2000 system, doesn't update the email system files.  But there is another way:  if you haven't yet installed 5.5, go to the WindowsUpdate page and you will be offered Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 1 as well as 5.5.  Install the 5.01 service pack and it will fix the email problem.  Then install 5.5 if you want the latest browser.  The other possibility is to wait a week or two for Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 which should fix the problem, and Microsoft is promising a simple patch shortly that won't require downloading a new browser version.

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Jr. skulkers living in Pacific Bell territory in California may have noticed that they no longer get busy signals, and perhaps this is going on with other telephone companies as well.  Pacific Bell is changing over to an automated type of repeat dialing.  When you dial a number that is busy, you will hear one single beep of the busy tone, then a recording telling you that the number is busy and inviting you to press 3 to invoke the repeat dialing feature.  The recording warns that there will be a 95 cent charge, unless you pay a monthly fee to subscribe to unlimited use of the repeat dialing feature.  Before this change, you would get a busy signal if a number was busy, then if you wanted to use the repeat dialing feature, you would hang up, get a new dial tone, and press *66.

The new method is being placed on all lines by default unless the line is known to have a TTY communications device for the deaf on it.  If you want the old-fashioned busy signals, perhaps because you have a modem that can detect busy lines automatically (that's the reason for the exception for TTY lines), then you can call the business office and request this new "feature" be removed.

http://www.onlinenewspapers.com

This site has links to almost every newspaper with an online edition in every country of the world, even the most obscure papers and countries.  This means that you can read the news about events in another country directly from their own news media.  For you American jr. skulkers who refuse to learn foreign languages, many non-English speaking countries have at least one newspaper with an English web site, so even you can use this great news resource. 

WebSkulker learned about this from the Scout Report.

http://www.mydeardiary.com

This site is great on two levels.  First of all, it gives you a place to write a personal diary online where it will be safe from skulkers who might find a paper diary hidden in your room.  Second, the online diaries are all open to the public and anyone going to the site can read them.  Isn't this a contradiction, wanting your diary to be private, yet this site is open to the public?  No, because the diary writers are anonymous as long as they are careful that none of the entries identifies them.

Warning (and this is the kind of warning that will probably make you go to the site more rather than less):  many, probably most, of the diary entries seem to be about sexual encounters, wishes, and fantasies.

http://www.neuticles.com

Responsible pet owners will usually "fix" their pets, which in the case of a male will usually mean castration.  (Jr. Skulker Randy Solton observed years ago that the word "fix" is incorrect.  The animal was working fine before, and the vet broke it.)  Imagine how depressed your poor little puttie tat or doggie will feel when it comes home from the vet and finds a certain two parts missing.  But if you tell the vet about this site, then there is hope...

Submitted by Jr. Skulker Chantt107

Friendship

When you are sad...
I will get you drunk and help you plot revenge against the scum sucking bitch/bastard who made you sad. 

When you are scared...
I will laugh at you and tease you about it every chance I get. 

When you are worried...
I will tell you how much worse it could be and to quit complaining. 

When you are confused...
I will use little words to explain it to your dumb ass. 

When you are sick...
I will hold your hair while you pay homage to the porcelain god. 

When you fall...
I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass. 

This is my oath... I pledge till the end.
Why you may ask?...... Because you are my friend.

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