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.

http://www.grc.com/default.htm

Jr. Skulker Dan Dunkel suggested this site.  Click on the "Shields Up" link to have their server probe your PC and tell you how vulnerable your machine is to several types of attacks across the Internet.  This is especially important to know if you are using a cable modem or DSL line so that your machine is always connected (when it is turned on, of course) and you have a static ip address.

When you get to the Shields Up page, you will see a green box with information and a blue box with a "Test My Shields" button.  Most users can just press that button and continue from there, but if you are connected to the Internet through AOL or any other method that involves a proxy server, then you need to follow the instructions in the green box first.  The site has a huge amount of text that explains everything in detail.  If it finds the most common security problem, it will offer you a free program to download that will fix it.

http://www.internetcallmanager.com

http://www.callwave.com

Web TV boxes have a feature that seems simple and obvious and WebSkulker is surprised that no other dial-up Internet access can do the same thing.  If you connect a Web TV box to your only phone and go online so your phone is busy, the Web TV modem will listen for a call-wait tone.  If it hears one, it will remember exactly where you are on the Internet and hang up the line to free it up so you can take the call.  When done talking, Web TV connects back to the Internet and puts you back where you were.  Regular modems and ISP connections just don't do this.

In the 9/22/99 issue we wrote about a system called Pagoo that lets you receive voice messages from your callers while your phone is busy on the Internet.  Please read that article and a minor correction in the 9/23/99 issue before you continue.

The first link above is for a system that is very similar to Pagoo and also charges money.  You can sign up and get the first month free to see if you like it before paying.  The second link is another system that is similar, but not so many features.  However this one is completely free with no complicated registration, so you should certainly experiment with it and you might find it useful.  All three of these systems want you to order the Busy Call Forwarding feature from the phone company, but you can experiment with them by using regular call forwarding if you have it.  Just forward your modem line to the number they give you, dial into the Internet, and unforward your calls when you are done.

http://www.tinfoil.com

http://www.tinfoil.com/archive.htm

This site is a tribute to the wax cylinder, the first practical method for recording and playing back sounds.  These early machines were completely mechanical -- they didn't use electricity in any way, and they certainly didn't use any electronics because there was no such thing at that time.  Read about the history, see pictures, and hear transcriptions taken directly from the original cylinder recordings.  They sell CD's and cassettes of the recordings so generally only let you hear a short sample, but they have a complete Cylinder of the Month and the second link leads to their archive of past months, so there are actually quite a few songs that you can hear full-length.

WebSkulker's favorite thing about many of these is the announcer at the beginning yelling into the machine the name of the song and band!

http://www.logicware.com/keyVcar

Every time WebSkulker publishes an anti-iMac article, he gets hate email that never, ever, addresses the issues that we actually raised.  Well finally we ran across a web site that agrees with us that the only thing an iMac is good for is......  well, click on the link and watch the video to see for yourself.  This requires the QuickTime plug-in which you can get at:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download

Submitted by Jr. Skulker Ms. 1133:

A blonde guy gets home early from work and hears strange noises coming from the bedroom. He rushes upstairs to find his wife naked on the bed, sweating and panting.  "What's up?" he says.  "I'm having a heart attack," cries the woman.

He rushes downstairs to grab the phone, but just as he's dialing, his 4-year-old son comes up and says, "Daddy! Daddy! Uncle Ted's hiding in your closet and he's got no clothes on!"  The guy slams the phone down and storms upstairs into the bedroom, past his screaming wife, and rips open the wardrobe door.  Sure enough, there is his brother, totally naked, cowering on the closet floor.

"You rotten bastard," says the husband, "my wife's having a heart attack and you're running around naked scaring the kids!"

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