This is what I sent to the QUEBEC-L. I am the Administrator. I have to give credit to Ann who is the Administrator or the METIS-L and co-Administrator of the METISGEN-L. She put together a note and I thought it was a good idea. **************************************************************************** * Hi Everyone Another year gone by and the Christmas season is upon us once again. It is again time to remind everyone about a few things that happen this time of year. Many newbies will be getting computers for Christmas and we will be most likely be seeing new subscribers that are not familiar with the lists and many that are just getting the basics mastered on the new computer. I'd like to remind everyone to please be patient with those that are new to the lists, genealogy and computers. They will be feeling that same excitement we all felt when we took our first tour of the net and started our search for family. The excitement of wanting to find anything about my family most likely drove everyone else crazy, until I learned that this was not going to fall in my lap in a few days. It is a very good feeling. <VBG> That was a good few years ago. Now the excitement comes with finding the proof! That can elude us for years. I remember the first Virus hoax that my sister received. She sent it to everyone until someone told her kindly that she needed to check things out before sending the hoaxes on to others. It is also the season for many virus/worms to turn up. I am not sure if the people that program these virus/worms feel the need to work overtime or we get a lot of new people just getting online for the first time with their new computers and they are not aware of the virus/worm problems and how bad it can get until they get the hang of what they need to do to protect their computers. Soooo, I am once again asking everyone to take the time to update their anti-virus programs and keep them updated as often as possible for the next few weeks, the best education we can give the new folks is by example. I am also asking everyone that does not have an anti-virus program to please get one and install it. There is a good variety of programs that can be downloaded and used right away. There are some that require a fee, others are free and some you can log onto and run while online. Please remember the online scans are great for checking to see if there is a problem, they DO NOT protect your computer after you log off. There have been a few times where virus management got to be a real problem the , please remember the list is not the place to discuss the virus problem. I am always available to help if you think you have a virus or someone has possibly sent you one. Please contact me personally if you need help. I will work privately with everyone. My e-mail address is [email protected] Sending names and e-mail addresses of infected users to the list is not allowed --- it does nothing to help the problem it just creates hard feelings and embarrassment. Remember that most infected users have no idea that they are infected so don't send them harassing or obnoxious e-mails. It only shows that you know very little because most viruses today use subterfuge --- the infected file rarely comes from the Sender listed in the heading. Many of you have read these messages before and I thank you for your continued help and patience with this ongoing problem, for the new list members I will try to give you accurate links to some of the programs that are available if you need one. For Virus Protection: Fee programs Norton www.Symantec.com McAfee www.mcafee.com Free programs lists http://www.thefreesite.com/Free_Software/Anti_virus_freeware/ http://www.freebyte.com/antivirus/ Thanks again for your help, patience and for being the greatest group of people on the Net and around the world.

To add to Gary's suggestions, which are very good ones, may I suggest that everyone contact their Internet Service Provider, i.e., AOL, Earthlink, etc., and see if they have, or are going to have, Virus Protection built into their system. I have been using AT&T as my ISP for many years and they have recently installed the Norton www.Symantec.com virus protection program into their system. This means that they catch & delete the virus BEFORE it gets to my system. All that I see is a message that they have caught the virus. They are VERY competitive in their pricing plans, especially if you have AT&T as your local or long distance phone provider, then you can get unlimited Internet access for $16.95 per month. Their website for downloading ordering their software is: http://help.att.net/care/ccforums/newusers/order-software.html I am NOT promoting AT&T, simply offering them as an option. Les ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Boivin" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 23, 2002 10:27 PM Subject: [ILSTANNE] Ginny mentioned > This is what I sent to the QUEBEC-L. I am the Administrator. > I have to give credit to Ann who is the Administrator or the METIS-L and > co-Administrator of the METISGEN-L. She put together a note and I thought it > was a good idea. > **************************************************************************** > * > > Hi Everyone > > Another year gone by and the Christmas season is upon us once again. > > It is again time to remind everyone about a few things that happen this time > of year. > > Many newbies will be getting computers for Christmas and we will be most > likely be seeing new subscribers that are not familiar with the lists > and many that are just getting the basics mastered on the new computer. I'd > like to remind everyone to please be patient with those that are new to the > lists, genealogy and computers. They will be feeling that same excitement we > all felt when we took our first tour of the net and started our search for > family. The excitement of wanting to find anything about my family most > likely drove everyone else crazy, until I learned that this was not going to > fall in my lap in a few days. It is a very good feeling. > <VBG> > That was a good few years ago. Now the excitement comes with finding the > proof! That can elude us for years. > > I remember the first Virus hoax that my sister received. She sent it to > everyone until someone told her kindly that she needed to check things out > before sending the hoaxes on to others. > > It is also the season for many virus/worms to turn up. I am not sure if the > people that program these virus/worms feel the need to work overtime or we > get a lot of new people just getting online for the first time with their > new computers and they are not aware of the virus/worm problems and how bad > it can get until they get the hang of what they need to do to protect their > computers. > > Soooo, I am once again asking everyone to take the time to update their > anti-virus programs and keep them updated as often as possible for the next > few weeks, the best education we can give the new folks is by example. > > I am also asking everyone that does not have an anti-virus program to please > get one and install it. There is a good variety of programs that can be > downloaded and used right away. There are some that require a fee, others > are free and some you can log onto and run while online. Please remember the > online scans are great for checking to see if there is a problem, they DO > NOT protect your computer after you log off. > > There have been a few times where virus management got to be a real problem > the , please remember the list is not the place to discuss the virus > problem. I am always available to help if you think you have a virus or > someone has possibly sent you one. Please contact me personally if you need > help. I will work privately with everyone. My e-mail address is > [email protected] > > Sending names and e-mail addresses of infected users to the list is not > allowed --- it does nothing to help the problem it just creates hard > feelings and embarrassment. Remember that most infected users have no idea > that they are infected so don't send them harassing or obnoxious e-mails. It > only shows that you know very little because most viruses today use > subterfuge --- the infected file rarely comes from the Sender listed in the > heading. > > Many of you have read these messages before and I thank you for your > continued help and patience with this ongoing problem, for the new list > members I will try to give you accurate links to some of the programs that > are available if you need one. > > For Virus Protection: > > Fee programs > Norton www.Symantec.com > McAfee www.mcafee.com > > Free programs lists > http://www.thefreesite.com/Free_Software/Anti_virus_freeware/ > http://www.freebyte.com/antivirus/ > > Thanks again for your help, patience and for being the greatest group of > people on the Net and around the world. > > > > ==== ILSTANNE Mailing List ==== > Courtesy is the key to list relationships. Please send thanks ON the list to those who have helped you. Our listers are so smart and generous - it's nice to see them thanked publicly. > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >