September 2002 EduNotes

EduCyber is pleased to present the September 2002 Edition of EduNotes. In this issue you’ll find out our new number, where to search for new news, what the recent software updates and patches are and what my favorite web sites are. This month’s newsletter ends with an excerpt of the President’s proclamation about Patriot Day. Enjoy and as always, send feedback to edunotes@educyber.com.
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New Number for EduCyber, Inc.
We’ve got a new phone number so please update your records. Our new number is (720) 275-4646.
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News Needs to be New
If you’ve ever done an Internet search for a recent event and got instead results about events from years ago then you are probably searching in the wrong spot. And Google has just the search engine for you. They now have a news search at http://news.google.com that gets feeds from many national and international sources and brings it all together for your searching convenience.
Google just keeps getting better. While testing the site out for this piece, my fat fingers typed “anthraz” instead of “anthrax.” Google quickly reported there were 0 results for anthraz but then delivered the 135 results it did have for anthrax. Within those results were several articles that had been on the wire about an hour.
Having the ability to search through different news organizations reports on the same story can be of benefit and a real eye-opener as you begin to see the various ideological stances through what stories are covered and how a specific story is covered from organization to organization.
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Update Time
Well it’s time for an update. Microsoft has just released Windows XP Service Pack 1 and they have also recently released Service Pack 3 for Windows 2000. For security needs alone it is worth making sure your Windows XP or Win2K computer has the latest service pack. From the user point of view, the only thing you might notice that is different is the Set Program Access Defaults button added to the Start Menu. And the reason for this new button is because of Microsoft’s agreement with the Justice department. Now you have more control over the programs on your computer.
But wait, there’s more. Office XP users can and should download and install Service Pack 2 but you first have to install Service Pack 1 if you haven’t already. If you have an Exchange server you’ll want Service Pack 3 (talk to your IT people about this). Internet Explorer users should have IE 6.0 Service Pack 1, or IE 5.5 Service Pack 2. Of course for all your Microsoft products you should regularly visit the Windows Update site and make sure that all Critical Updates are installed or use Microsoft’s automatic updating tool.
For reading pdf files, the latest version of Adobe’s Acrobat Reader is 5.05. Mac OS users should be running 10.1.5, or 9.2.2 or 8.6. And Mac users should also verify with the Apple web site that they have the latest security updates installed.
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My Favorite Web Sites
What are your favorite web sites and why? I’ve got a few that I’d like to share because I think they’re cool.
My.yahoo.com is the page I use for my portal or start page. I’ve got it customized with the news, stocks and sports that matter to me and I can check up on all the latest news. I’ve even got three of my favorite comics on the page so I don’t miss them when I don’t have time for the paper in the morning. I used to use my.netscape.com but they couldn’t seem to get the sports right and it just got too annoying. Of course the pop-under ads at my yahoo are also annoying but I can live with them. I used to use home.excite.com but that’s a whole other story.
And of course, though you’ve heard me say this repeatedly, google.com is a pretty cool site. They’ve got the best searches, up-to-date news and loads of other features. I’ve been using google since it was a college project and it seems as though most of the world uses it now. The only downside is that they’ve so brilliantly outdone the competition that they don’t really have any anymore. Hopefully this lack of competition won’t lead Google to rest on their laurels.
Buy.com has some of the best deals around and that makes their site a frequent visit for me. Their site is easy to use with quick menus to drill down to a specific area or a search menu that can quickly help you get to what you’re looking to buy. Though I use Buy almost exclusively for computer-related stuff, they also have books, magazines, games, and music.
And, for a local plug, you should check out applewoodbusiness.com. This is one of our newest sites and we’re quite proud of it. If you live in the west Denver area, you can find local businesses that would be happy to have you as their customer. It’s also a good place to locate your local government’s web site or to learn more about the Applewood area.
My last shameless plug is for educyber.com. If for no other reason, you should visit to browse through our newsletter archive with newsletters dating back to 1998. But you can also learn about our other services and educators can get a special treat. Our education links and our grants information page continue to get a lot of visitors.
Got a favorite site? Let us know about it and we’ll include it in a future newsletter.
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Excerpt from President Bush’s Patriot Day Proclamation
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2002, as Patriot Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services and candlelight vigils. I also call upon the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on Patriot Day. Further, I encourage all Americans to display the flag at half-staff from their homes on that day and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time, or another appropriate commemorative time, to honor the innocent victims who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-seventh.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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© 2002 EduCyber, Inc. This newsletter is brought to you by EduCyber, Inc. http://www.educyber.com Permission is hereby granted to redistribute all or part of this newsletter as long as this copyright message is included.
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For questions, or to be removed from this monthly newsletter distribution, email us at edunotes@educyber.com.