Dear List Members: As much as I hate to do this, it seems that periodically I must post this type of message. First and foremost-- PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE ON THE LIST. Contact me PRIVATELY if you feel a reply is warranted. PLEASE DO NOT SEND VIRUS WARNINGS/ACTIVITY TO THE LIST. Contact me PRIVATELY and I will deal with the situation as is needed. FOR GOODNESS SAKE--please don't post to the list messages with the subject line of "I had a virus but its gone now" or the message " I opened an attachment and got a bug, so don't open it". That is much like telling someone you have a contagious disease AFTER they shake your hand. Anyone violating the above will be unsubscribed. There is a new strain of a virus that can APPEAR to be closely connected to a mailing list. It is called BadTrans.B and I as well as others have recieved many of these in the recent past. Please try to recognize these by the following: 1. The address could be any conceivable combination, there is no set pattern. It quite frequently will resemble any other legitimate address. IT ALSO MAY BE ONE YOU ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH. 2. The "subject line" is taken from a message you sent to either an individual or a mailing list. Therefore it will most likely appear to be of interest to you. 3. Most of these have NO VISIBLE CONTENT OR ATTACHMENT 4. There are some of these "attachments" that ARE NOT being caught by the virus scans, so it is up to YOU to be aware of what you are opening. Viruses at this time are not able to be passed through the mailing lists. But, they will APPEAR to have done so because the subject line is one you have sent to an individual or to a mailing list and it uses these lists as targets. Viruses are passed by using the addresses in that persons address book, which could be a frequent or casual contact of yours. As List Administrator I need to take whatever precautions I feel best protects the listmembers. Here is what will be done if anyone on our lists is found to be transmitting any viruses: 1. I will unsubscribe the address and block resubscription. 2. I will contact the infected subscriber to explain what has been done and why. 3. On reasonable assurance from the subscriber that the person's PC has been cleaned the can then resubscribe. Please be aware that these procedures are being done to protect everyone on the list and not to punish anyone. Remember, persons passing these along, most of the time are unaware of it and are just as much victims themselves. They are NOT bad people. They are only people who were unaware or caught off guard. That is why I am trying to warn everyone. Please DO NOT send names of persons who you suspect to the list. Rest assure, I am receiving exactly what most everyone is. I have assistance in trying to "catch" all these with as few getting by as possible. There is no need to unsub from any list, everything possible is being done for your protection. WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION. 1. Make certain that you have updated your virus protection software since November 25, 2001. 2. Make certain that you updated it frequently. 3. Stay current with new postings made to your virus source website. Please BE AWARE AND LEERY of opening attachments from ANYONE. These can appear in messages from your CLOSEST FRIEND, MOTHER, SISTER, BROTHER, anyone. I make it a policy to have a "core" group of persons I accept from and even then I ask that they notify me prior to sending any attachment. I am very leery of any mail received from even my closest contacts, if they NORMALLY don't send me attachments. I have some persons I have spoken to for years and never have had an attachment from, so in that case I would be very suspicious. Thank you for your time and attention Debbie Jennings List Administrator