The best way to search this page is to click on "Edit" at the top of Internet Explorer and click on "Find on this page", a dialogue box will popup and you can enter the subject you want to find. Some of the very old links might not work, sorry, email me if it's something important.

Roundup of the year

2005 was a year dominated by natural disasters, it opened in the immediete aftermath of the tsunami and saw floods, famines and earthquakes of near biblical proportion. The only bright spot in all tragedy was the response of people all over the world, who raised record amounts of money to help those affected. In the past such tragedies have passed this website by but this year the collection of money became far more significant with the wider promotion of the DECs website, that collects on behalf of a large group of charities. You can visit the website by clicking here.

In our little community the big story was the Scottish Executive's vision of bringing broadband to every community in the country by the end of the year. The contract to enable the 384 small exchanges was won by BT and much to the surprise of the sceptics (me) they succeeded in meeting the target date.

At least they did for most. Even amongst on NAIDC  islands there are significant numbers of people who can't get broadband yet, some are out of reach, the whole of Iona needs its microwave link to the Bunessan exchange upgraded and as far as I know, no one on the Aros exchange has managed to sign up with an ISP and no one seems to know why. If there's that many here, there must be a lot more in the rest of Scotland.

Then there's the issue of "Exchange Activate", a system originally intended to help communities raise money to get very small exchanges enabled. There seems no reason to insist on the same restrictions on ISP choice now that there is no need to raise money but for 147 exchanges there is a very limited selection available. Why this has happened and exactly how it works is one of the stories that will carry on long into 2006.

In the wider virtual world, viruses, trojans and spyware were always in the news. No longer the hobby of disaffected teenagers, the new threats are almost all commercial in nature. New laws aimed at reducing spam have inspired its senders to hijack the computers of home users and now 85% originates from that source. The spam was often more threatening too, with "phishing" becoming more common. People would recieve an email that looked exactly like an official one sent out by, say, a bank or Paypal, click on its links and unwittingly give away their bank and credit card details. Another method of aquiring financial information are "keylogger" programs, again they often arrive in spam and once they've got onto a system, they monitor every keystroke, sending the information back to the creator. As ever it was those who failed to keep up their antivirus subscritptions that were by far the most common victims.

The need for security was also behind the rise of Firefox, the easy to use alternative to Internet Explorer. Although it's still very small fry in comparrison to IE, about 25% of our regular visitors use it, a proportion consistent with other computer related websites.

Other stories included the numbers of people still downloading XP Service Pack 2 in the spring, long after it was released in 2004, DACS boxs continued and continues to plague the community and of course the hacking of the forum, that saw us lose so many messages. In comparrison with what was happening in the wider world it is hardly worth mentioning but again it was the response that brought some light. Thanks to the efforts of forum members and its readers sending in the bits and pieces that they'd saved and the very helpful Internet Archive, we were able to restore much that was lost. Thanks to all those people and everyone else who has contributed news, tips, opinions and questions throughout the year. Keep them coming in, the website wouldn't exist without you!

December

(29.12.05) Security warning: Microsoft is no nearer to fixing the "zero day" exploit that emerged last month. It's called "zero day" because there is no lag between the problem being found and it exploited by hackers, so anti-virus companies have no time to come up with definitions to protect against it.

The exploit allows code to be imbedded in .wmf files, which are a very common form of image file and used by all windows computers. What's worrying is that these files can be downloaded without you knowing via the Google toolbar, which automatically indexes a vast amount of information and for other search bars probably do the same sort of thing. At present infected files have only been used to install spyware but I would advice disabling any search bar if you have them installed and avoid dodgy websites for the time being. Read more here.

(28.12.05) More forum news: I've been rearranging the sections, deleting "Questions from non-members" and redistributing it's posts around the other sections. I've also changed the name of "Questions about our old computers" to "Questions about other types of computer" and rewritten the thread about alternatives to Internet Explorer that introduces people to the Firefox and Opera browsers, you can read it here.

(27.12.05) The forum has been given a makeover but I have to admit it wasn't entirely intentional. I was attempting to add some festive cheer by making visitors cursors do flashy things and I lost control of the code that dictates the colour scheme etc. As I'd lost the backup code too, I had to start from scratch. I hope you like the new scheme!

Firefox 1.5 was released a few weeks ago and at the time I advised people to wait a bit before downloading it, so the extensions had time to be updated too. Now most have, including the important ones like spellchecker (you have to completely uninstall/reinstall it though) and the one that reloads all the tabs you had open when you last closed the browser. So I heartily recommend that everyone upgrades, the new version runs much faster and has some great new features built in as standard, such as the ability to drag and drop tabs, click here to download.

OnSpeed: I've had reply from their helpdesk, which, in the holiday period, deserves credit but it seems that there's nothing that can be done about the Yahoo toolbar pop-up. They say that they are promoting it at the moment and it just can't be disabled nor was there any response to my enquiery about whether OnSpeed was now configuring Firefox's proxy settings, which made it check Internet History before looking for webpages on the Internet. So, until the pop-up disappears, I suggest that users right click on the OnSpeed icon in the bottom right of the screen and then left click on "Exit". I have to say that I don't like the idea that the OnSpeed service can send advertising to me without me being able to stop it.

(23.12.05) Pipex & EA: My modem arrived today but its never going to be used, despite the email I received last night from my neighbour, who had already connected with them at over 2mb. Because when he attempted to connect today there was no service available. Why? Because in the meantime BT had managed to configure the exchange to block ISPs haven't signed up with the EA scheme.

What does this prove? That the speed and choice restrictions are purely artificial and an unnecessary restriction on choice and service. Up until now, the official line has been that this was down to the "module" - untrue, that it was because of the backhaul - untrue and that it was the "best use of public money" - untrue. How can it be in our best interests to pay for unnecessary software, contracts and restriction of choice? Read the full details here. 

(22.12.05) OnSpeed: I've received a some complaints about a pop-up ad that appears everytime the program starts, it advertises a new pluggin for the web accelerator, the Yahoo toolbar. The toolbar is much the same as it's Google and MSN equivalents, sitting in your browser and allowing you to search the web and access various services. It claims to run much faster than other toolbar because it works in harmony with the OnSpeed cache, so most of time a search of the wider web is unnecessary.

But there seems to be no way of stopping the ad appearing if you're not interested in the toolbar. I've tried the OnSpeed help section and spent ages trying to speak to an online assistant with no success, so now I'm hoping I can find out how to get rid of the pop-up via email. I'll post a solution as soon as I have one. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the toolbar itself, if you want it, get it, I'm sure it works very well.

(21.12.05) Broadband Dictionary: I thought it was time to write a glossary of the broadband terms  used on the website and forum, so people can be clearer about this complicated subject. I've tried to keep everything simple and define things as they relate to our situation. This means that some things could do with more technical detail, so I've included a link to further information. Click here to read it and if you have any comments, corrections or definitions to add, post a message or send in an email!

Pipex progress: The good news is that my line should be enabled on the 28th and they believe they will be able to supply me with a 1mb connection, which would make me the first person to obtain a service from an ISP other than BT and Scotnet on an EA exchange. However, I'll only know for sure on the 28th when BT switch on the line and if the experience of a neighbour connected to the same exchange is anything to go by, I'm only going to get 512k.

In his case, Pipex tested the line succesfully at 2mb but BT's tests only produced 512k, which baffled the Pipex engineers he talked to. They said this is the first time that BT and Pipex results have differed and as Pipex is the 5th largest ISP in the UK, that's after a lot of results. This confirms the statements from the engineers installing the equipment in the exchanges that they are quite capable of supporting higher speeds (see below) and our suspicions that the limit is purely artificial. Read more detail here.

(20.12.05) Every NAIDC exchange now has broadband! BT has to be congratulated for completing the work ahead of schedule despite the problems encountered, such as with the Bunessan/Tiree microwave connection. There are still areas that have no service due to the distance from an exchange, namely the Calgary/Kilninian peninsula and customers connected to some exchanges that should be able to supply it, can't, namely Ulva Ferry and Iona. Despite a lot of effort on the part of the latter two areas, no progress has been made yet.

Not only have BT beaten their completion dates but many of the exchanges slated for activation, and restricted 512k connection that goes with it, have been fully converted, which means that a 2mb connection is available to many more people. This is significant because services such as TV over the Internet are possible at the higher speed and the choice of ISP is much greater. For a list of exchanges and the service available on them, click here.

(19.12.05) Scotnet: A contact has written to me extolling the virtues of Scotnet broadband and complaining that our campaign for greater choice is ignoring a local company with an excellent reputation. While the right to choose an ISP is a matter of principle, I have to agree with them that Scotnet is an excellent broadband provider, I know lots of people who have signed up with them and I'm yet to come across anyone disatisfied with the service. Nor should our call for greater choice be taken as criticism of BTs broadband services, which are no doubt very good, it is as I say, a matter of principle.

Greater choice of ISP means that you are more likely to find a deal that suits the way that you use the Internet and being able to balance price and time or download allowances means that people who might not be able to afford broadband at BT's prices, for example, will be able to do so. Getting people connected is the point of a digital community afterall.

The lack of choice isn't down to some dark plot by BT, as some of us suspected, it's caused by three things. Technology prevents a few ISPs offering a service, some don't because of speed issues but from what I can tell, the vast majority that refuse, do so because their availability checker doesn't recognise exchange activated exchanges. If you come across one of these, give their helpline a ring and ask them to check using the BT avialability checker and when they find that your exchange has been activated, ask them to find why they aren't offering you a service. It worked with Pipex and there's no reason why it shouldn't with other ISPs. Let me know who you've tried and what they said, the more people who do this, the more likely it is that things will change! 

(17.12.05) Pipex updates: I was incorrect yesterday when I said that NTL telecom customers would have to switch back to BT before signing up with Pipex. You would only have to switch telephone service supplier if you want to take up their 500 minutes of free calls offer, which is not integral to their Internet packages. If you choose use them as a telecom, the switch would be handled by Pipex and happen without you noticing.  This means that you can join them using your NTL line and once broadband has been enabled for you, join their telephone service if you wish.

Also their availability checker is now telling me that a 1mb connection is possible through the Tiroran exchange (2mb via Pennyghael!) and so I've signed up for an unlimited download package at that speed. I'm now waiting for the results of a BT test on the line to find out if I can get it. I suspect I won't and that in the end a 512 is the best I can hope for. I say "hope" because I still have only one report of someone signing up with anyone other than BT or Scotnet through an EA exchange. 

Tesco update: I'm sorry to say that Tesco.net won't supply EA exchanges afterall. As sgegreen pointed out on the forum, their Internet service requires a technology (called datastream) not available on EAs; NTL, Bulldog, Tiscali amongst others won't supply for the same reason. I think the reason they appeared to be offering me a service yesterday was that, as an existing dialup customer, I went through the "upgrade account" route. I assumed that because they responded with an offer to upgrade when I used the availability checker, that they had checked my exchange but evidently they hadn't. I'm sorry for the confusion and I'd advise any Tesco dialup customers to not to use their own but to use another local number when checking for availability in their area. 

(16.12.05) Good news people! Pipex will supply “exchange activated” broadband (BB) exchanges!

Not only that but you can sign up with them online (click here) AND some (well, I've only checked Pennyghael so far) are reporting that a 2mb connection might be possible. Lismore, for reasons that escape me, can be supplied but only at 512kb.

The fact that another ISP can be added to the list of those available is not the only good news. Admittedly Pipex has a great reputation for customer service but all it took to rectify the problem with their online availability checker (AC) was a single phone call to their normal helpline.

And if the Pipex AC was detecting an “unknown device” on the line, one can only assume that other ISPs will do the same, even if they don't say so. So, if you want to sign up to an ISP that doesn't recognise that your exchange has been activated when it has been, get them to check the availability using the BT AC (I didn’t have to ask Pipex, they just did it) and then ask them to find out why they can’t supply a service.

Not only that but we now know that not all EA exchanges appear to be restricted to 512k and I've learnt from Pipex that several things can stop a line or EA exchange, from appearing to be broadband activated. These include; ISDN, another BB supplier, an NTL (or other) switcher at the exchange (not a box in the home), one of those help alarms that work via the phone, as well as an activated exchange.
 
If your exchange only supports a 512 speed, you can only sign up for the Pipex basic service at £14.99 pm with a 1Gb cap. However, excess is charged at £2.70 for 3GB, so for £20.40 you get up to 7Gb downloads, which is comparable with other ISPs and 7Gb is a lot of data, it would fill more than a third of a NAIDC computer. And you get 500 minutes of telephone calls included in the deal. NTL customers, like me, will have to switch back to BT first apparently (curses!).

(15.12.05) The Tiroran exchange has gone live 3 weeks ahead of schedule! Now those of us connected to it are now free to struggle through the process of choosing an ISP from the apparently limited list of those available.

Because its been "exchange activated", rather than fully converted, not many ISPs offer a service. Having tested several today, in addition to BT and Scotnet, it seems that (click on the names) Virgin, Onetel, Clara and Tesco appear willing. In addition, Pipex, which came top in a recent Which customer satisfaction survey, might do so too, I'll let you know when they get back to me.

I've been usingthis website to compare most of the ISPs I'm interested in and this one for reviews of those it doesn't cover. Sadly, Tesco doesn't come out well, despite offering very good packages.

(14.12.05) New look: I hope you like the seasonal logo and new colours, the logo in particular took a rediculously long time to create. Unfortunately for me the change seems to have had an odd affect on the editing process and not in a good way either. I'm just hoping that this doesn't become evident on the website as you see it and that I can sort it out before the new year.

Christmas: I thought it was good time to remind anyone thinking of creating a calendar to give to friends and family that the Print Shop (it's not called that anymore but you know where I mean) does an excellent job of binding them and even add a clear page to the front. If this has inspired you to have a go, there are a couple of simple ways of doing so on your computer already. Both Word and Picture It! have "wizards" to guide you through the process but if you'd like a step by step guide email me, including the name of the program you'd like to use, and I'll write one.

Scams: I should have mentioned in my Christmas shopping tips the other day that this is a favourite time for conmen to send out emails offering cheap goods. Don't be tempted just because you desperately need to get someone something and be extra careful with email purporting to come from ebay, Amazon etc. My advice is to go to websites in the normal way and never to use links in an email.

(13.12.05) Tiscali Slowdown: I received my first query about an apparent slowdown in connection speed from a broadband user today. They'd just signed up with Tiscali from a Tobermory address and wondered why their new service didn't seem much faster than the old dial up one. It turned out that there was network wide problem with the ISP, the result of a link failing and all customers were suffering the same drop in speed.

That said, people rarely get the advertised speed, especially at busy times and Tiscali is marketed on price rather than reliabilty, with lots of people complaining that they get a slower than expected connection. In my opinion this happens for exactly the same reason as the Freeserve slowdown back in 2003 did, Tiscali aggresively advertise for customers and only once they've got them, do they invest in the equipment needed to serve them. The Tiscali service status page can be found here.

(12.12.05) Christmas Shopping online: It's that time of year again, a couple of weeks until the big day and you wonder if you can find a suitable present online. In fact today, the last but one Monday before Christmas, is the biggest of the year for online retailers, so I thought a few tips might be in order.

Is it in stock?: Online retailers have a habit of listing things that they don't actually have yet, this applies to "hot" items such as Xboxes in particular, so check that they do have the item. Most will give a delivery estimate and say whether it's instock or not, email them to check if they don't.

Delivery charges: If you live on an island, unless it shares a postcode with an onshore town, there's a good chance that there will be surcharge on the postage. Click on the retailers "Help" page to find out what they are because they can add a lot to the cost of an item.

Compare prices: Use a website like "pricerunner" (click here) to compare prices. Also check Amazon, which is particularly good because it doesn't charge extra for offshore addresses and they give clear dates for when you can expext delivery. Check that local shops don't have the item in stock, Tesco, Argos, WH Smith, the Print Shop etc have a huge range of goods - you'll save postage and it will be easier to return it if something goes wrong.

Only deal with companies you trust: Make sure that the website address of the payment page starts with "https" rather than just "http" (the s stands for secure) and that there is small padlock visible either at the end of the address bar or in the bottom right of the browser.

Ebay: It's not the best time to start buying on ebay and even an experienced user should be aware that this is a favourite time of year for scammers. You can still pick up bargains but be extra careful to check out the sellers before committing to buy. Click here for a rough guide to ebay.

Happy shopping!

(11.12.03) Microsoft is claiming a big victory against software piracy after the successful prosecution of the Manchester based Zoobon. This news would normally appear on the Anorak page but what's interesting about Zoobon is that they did a lot of their business on ebay. Their membership and auctions have long been removed from the website but click here and you can see the sort of thing they used to offer. It's only the phrase "You get the CD(s) with the software in a jewel case and label" that gives a clue that all is not as should be but take note of how many happy customers they had.

That's because buying pirated software is one of those crimes that even the most law abiding seem happy to indulge in. Partly it's because Microsoft is viewed as such a vast and profitable company and partly because software is quite expensive. But other software companies aren't in the shape that MS is and if you use a program regularly, isn't it worth the cost? Also, you never really know what you're getting with fakes. Read more about the Zoobon case here and my guide to ebay here.

(10.12.05) Steve Green, Lismore's NAIDC engineer, has written to BT's General Manager of Scotland in the hope of resolving the limited ISP issue that has been reported here over the last couple of weeks. Much to his credit, the GM replied by the end of the day, saying that he would investigate the matter and get back. Hopefully this will lead to something actually being done about the problem and not in another list of excuses why it can't be resolved. Thanks to Steve for keeping me informed.

(07.12.05) Lismore residents continue to be frustrated by the limited range of ISPs available. The list of those who will supply a service has lengthened slightly over the last few days, with NTL amongst recognising the exchange has been converted.

As of today, the list of those that will supply broadband is BT, Scotnet, Onetel, UKonline, Virgin and NTL (even though their website doesn't recognise think so). Not every other ISP has been checked but those that don't include the locally popular Tesco and Wanadoo (Freeserve), as well as AOL, Demon, Lineone/Tiscali and NDO.

It's welcome that more ISPs are available but people thinking about signing up to one, are wondering if more ISPs are going to emerge in the coming weeks and if they should sign up to one of those available now or should they wait for a better deal. For instance NTL wrote to one resident telling them a service was available and yet the NTL website says it isn't. All this is very confusing and having a choice of ISP is important with broadband because packages vary so much, if you have a wide choice you will find one that better fits the way that you use the Internet and telephone and without such choice you'll end paying more for an inferior service. Thanks to Steve Green for the ISP infomation.

Ulva Ferry residents are in an even worse situation. Their exhange was fully converted sometime ago and yet, to date, not one person has managed to actually get a broadband connection. BT has offered a variety of excuses, mostly concerning the expense of replacing DACS boxes, sometimes on lines there is none. Now the residents have decided to write to the Scottish Executive in the hope of getting the matter resolved.

There's no news about the Iona situation by the way. They still can't get connected and there is no prospect of this changing anytime soon.  

(06.12.05) I had an interesting conversation with an engineer involved in the "Exchange Activation" scheme in Oban today. You'll recall that, according to BT and the Scottish Executive, activated exchanges can only supply users with a 512k connection, due to the fact that the backhaul (that's the connection from the exchange back to the wider telephone/Internet network) is not upgraded when the "activation module" is installed in the exchange.

Well, it turns out that the "module" is actually a mini DSLAM unit, in other words its the same type of device used in any other exchange getting broadband, except it's smaller and cheaper. He also told me that when he's gone through the testing process, he has got a 2mb connection on every exchange he's worked on and that's quite a few (he hadn't tested a multiple microwave link such as Tiroran's at that point though). So why does BT claim that only a 512k is possible?

Not only that but he told me that from an ISPs point of view, there was no technical difference between a line coming from an activated and a fully converted exchange. Even if there was a speed difference it would make no difference to most ISPs, they only offer connections speeds up to a certain amount, they don't guarantee anything.

So what is going on?

Virus alert. Infected emails carrying the Trogan.Danmec have been arriving in my inbox for several days and it's not one of the common "hijack and send spam" virus either. Rather, it tracks keystrokes and reports them back to the viruses creator, in other words everything typed into the infected computer is available to them, passwords, ebay, paypal and credit card details. 

The three (not a lot but this is serious for someone) I've received so far have all had a religous connection, so if you know someone who might have such contacts, let them know that it might be good idea to check their anti-virus program and send me copies of any email you receive if possible. Thanks (The virus appeared at the beginning of November, so if you have an up to date anti-virus subscription there's nothing to worry about).

(05.12.05) BT send out letters to customers as the broadband conversion of their local exchange draws near, this much I've reported before. Today I recieved just such a BT letter and two things struck me. Firstly, the letter claims that my exchange has been activated and I can get broadband. It hasn't and I can't.

Secondly and more importantly, the attractive offer of cheap broadband, at only £14.99 p.m., is not as attractive as it first appears. Further down you'll find that the price reverts to the normal monthly charge of £17.99 after three monthes and examine the letter more closely and you'll see very small numbers dotted around it.

These refer to the terms and conditions printed on the back, a fact not mentioned on the front, so you only find them if you happen to turn it over. Even then, they are printed at the bottom of the page, an unusal place to start text and are printed in a very small, light grey, font. They aren't very long and they wouldn't have taken up the full page if they'd printed in the same sized text on the front, so one can only wonder why BT are deliberately making them hard to read. Edited 10.12.05 to correct errors. 

Lismore has a couple of more ISPs available, Onetel and Virgin, to add to the usual BT and Scotnet. The islanders seem to be in a no mans land between a fully converted and an activated exchange and most ISPs don't seem to have noticed that they've been fully converted yet. Thanks to sgegreen for the update. 

(04.12.05) Poetry Archive: An archive of poets reading their work was launched this by the poet laureate Andrew Motion. Recordings go all the way back to Tennyson, who died 1892, who can be just heard throught the crackles reading The Charge of the Light Brigade. The player on the website, which requires no downloading, is exceptionaly fast, even on a dial up connection and the whole thing is well laid out and easy to use, there's even a section devoted to poetry for children. Click here to visit the archive.

(03.12.05) Broadband arrives on Lismore on the 7th of December, almost a month ahead of schedule, according to the BT availability checker. Frustratingly for the islanders, the checker still says that only a 512kb connection and a limited range of ISPs will be available, despite them being told that the exchange has been converted, rather than just "activated". Hopefully this is a mistake and a full 2mb will on offer to those close enought to the exchange to get it. Thanks to sgegreen for the tip.

The Scotsman newspaper has made every issue, from the very first published back in 1817, available online in a fully searchable archive. You search by word, phrase or date and for articles or images. Until December the 7th it's can be accessed for no charge and it's well worth taking up the oppurtunity to look at the wealth of information on offer. Click here to see for yourself and my thanks to local historian Christine Leach for the tip.

(01.12.05) Seasonal Greetings: I usually write a guide around this time to downloading seasonal fonts and clip art for adding to greetings cards, letters and email. This year I've been upstaged by a question on the forum and an answer full of useful links. If you'd like to add a bit of Christmas cheer to your communications click here to find out how.

Xbox is officially available in the UK from midnight tonight but there are already stories off short supply and retailers claiming to have it when they don't actually have it in stock or have sold out with pre-orders. If you can get hold of one I'm sure who ever receives it will be more that grateful but if you can't, here are a couple of excellent excuses for not buying one: "I checked on the Internet and there are teething problems with the early boxes, we'll get you one when they're sorted out" (see anorak news) or you could try; "the next PlayStation comes out next year and it'll make the Xbox obsolete".

November

(30.11.05) BT's Friends & Family service has a critical flaw that allows anyone to easily alter someone else's set of numbers. Not only that but they will be told what the existing numbers are. The implications of this are very serious. A change in the numbers could cost you a lot of money, especially if the number changed went abroad and you'd have no idea it was costing more than it should unless you checked your phone bill carefully. More seriously, it enables people to get hold of a number you might be trying to keep from them, say your daughter has broken up with a boyfriend she doesn't wish to speak to, all he would have to do is access your F&F numbers and work through them. Not only that but it with a little research and patience, it would be possible to get anybody's home phone number.

I recommend that everyone checks their list of numbers on regular basis ( 0800 443 311 ) until the problem is sorted out. Oddly, BT recognise that the numbers need to be secure on their website, where they only be changed after logging into your password protected account. Thanks to my anonymous  tipster and congratulations to them for discovering something that I'm sure will receive a lot of media coverage.

Firefox 1.5, the new version of the popular web browser, is out and it promises much, not least to solve the problems that have caused recent versions to load slowly. New features include drag and drop tab organisation, so you can group similar webpages, a speech facility that will read pages for you and an improved pop-up stopper.

But I wouldn't advise anyone to download and install it just yet, especially if they've installed a lot of extensions. They probably won't work, none of mine did and I lost most of my search engines. It will take a week or so for the extension makers to catch up with the new version and I'll let you know when they do. In the meantime you can read more about Ff 1.5 here.

(29.11.05) Engineers, Fujitsu engineers to be precise, have been installing Bb equipment in the Tiroran exchange, weeks ahead of schedule. They'll now test the connection for a couple of days and then BT will check that it's stable for a week or so and then it's ready to go. Whether this means the exchange will be Bb active before Dec. 31st is yet to be seen but it's good to know that work is getting done early.

Pricerunner: I'm grateful to forum member bearsarus for pointing out that the link at the top of the forum wasn't working. It turned out that they'd changed the affilitation program and I had to re-apply. Thankfully that didn't take long and the link is now working as it should. Sorry for the inconvenience, I don't know what I'd do without the members telling me what was going on. 

(28.11.05) New Guide: The "Recovery Console" is very useful utility but it's not straight forward to install on a computer which has XP SP2 installed, which hopefully all ours do. The guide explains how to get round the problem, which isn't that complictated when you know how. This one is really for more experienced users, particularly those who help out with other people's computer problems and because of that, it could prove a boon too many. Click here to read the guide.

The memory link has been sorted, (hooray- I've been accepted as a Crucial affiliate!)  and the banner at the top of the forum now takes you to the UK website. The 10% discount I reported below doesn't appear to be available but prices are about the same as.

(27.11.05) Memory: Crucial have started a UK affiliate program, which I've applied for but until I get approved the banner at the top of the forum will take you to the US website. To get to the UK one, with it's lower price and £ currency, just click on the small UK flag at the top of the lefthand sidebar. Hopefully this won't last long, sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime.

Memory offer: A forum member has two strips of 128mb ram available for £20 for the pair, a saving of about £10 and they'd make a really cheap improvement for a standard NAIDC computer. If you'd like them, drop me and email and I'll pass it on.

(25.11.05) Some missing posts have been replaced in the Graphics & Photography Questions section of the forum, restoring the answers lost when the forum was hacked. It's  been a while since they were lost but I didn't realise so much was missing until I went looking for an answer to a question that I was sure had been posted before. Only the first page has been gone through so far but I'll be working my way through the rest over the coming weeks, some questions couldn't be answered again and they've been marked with ? next to the thread title (if you have the answer please post!). There's also a new post about manipulating text and pictures in Word which almost amounts to guide. You can read it all here

10% off memory is available if you click the Crucial banner at the top of the forum at the moment, which brings the price of a 256mb strip below £30 for the the first time in ages.

(24.11.05) At last I've recieved a report of someone connected to an Exchange Activated exchange signing up and actually getting a broadband service via AOL. The Strathnavor exchange was one of those included in the Scottish Executive scheme and AOL was an ISP that people were suppossed to be able to sign up but until now there was no evidence that they actually could (see stories below). Whether or not the phenomena spread to other exchanges is yet to be seen.

(23.11.05) Virus Alert: Spohos is reporting that a new varient of the the Sober virus was responsible for 60% of infections over a recent four hours period. As far as can tell Norton hasn't heard of it, so it's best that we're all aware of the details so we don't get caught out.

The email purports to come from either the FBI or the CIA and advises you that your computer has been traked on 30 illegal websites. Here is the text of the email (the signature details may vary):

Dear Sir/Madam,

We have logged your IP-address on more than 30 illegal Websites.

Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached.

Yours faithfully,
Steven Allison
Federal Bureau of Investigation-FBI-
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW , Room 3220
Washington , DC 20535
Phone: (202) 324-30000

The virus is contained in the attached file, don't on any account open it. No doubt Norton will add this to the viruses they can detect very quickly but be careful for the next few days. More detail can be found here.

There is an email circulating the community that could be taken for a well meaning hoax but apparently it contains genuine advise. Entitled "Recognising a stroke", it starts with a sad story and ends with three simple tests to try on someone if you suspect they've had a stroke and advises that if they fail them, should call an ambulance. You can read the full text here, indication that the advice is genuine is at the bottom of the link.

(22.11.03) Thanks to all of you who contributed to the forum's Community Chest over the last year. When I went to renew the forum's hosting subscription I found that rather than having to pay anything, there was over a $160 in funds available, all of which had been donated anonymously. So, thank you very much, whoever you are, it's much appreciated!

Flu vaccines: As you will have seen on the news, there is a shortage and some people may not be able to get their jab as soon as they expected. The Scottish Executive has released a staement on the subject that can be read here. Although it doesn't say so, the shortage appears to be due to more companies wanting to treat key staff and people who normally don't get a jab asking for one because of the bird flu scare.

(21.11.05) Good news for Round and About, the people charged with recovering the data from the virus damaged hard drive managed to get 80% of it back. The Xytron (click here) service cost £350, at the lower end of it's charges and indication of just how difficult it is to restore a drive in these circumstances, so keep your anti-virus program up to date and be very careful when opening attachments. Even though most of the content has been restored (or will be once the hard drive has been returned), R&R still needs people who submitted content for the next issue to resubmit and it's still looking for things like company logos for some of the adverts. So if you are a contributer of any sort please get in touch, you can email R&R by clicking here. 

(20.11.05) I'm indebted sgegreen for reminding me about "Samknows", a broadband website which has an availability checker that goes into more detail than BT's and is often more up to date. For instance, while BT still report that a 512k connection will be available on Lismore, Samknows reports the true situation. SGE also tells me that most on the island won't be able to get the top speed of 2mb and will probably be restricted to 1mb. For a few households 512k will still be the maximum speed available. Speeds do drop off as the distance from the exchange grows but Lismore isn't that big and in my opinion this more likely to be due to poor lines. As ever, DACS boxes are an issue and whether BT will remove them for broadband, after refusing to do so for many years, is yet to seen. Click here for SamKnows.

(18.11.05) NAIDC meeting: On Wednesday I attended a meeting to discuss a relaunch of the community website. Now, we've been here before and this time I'm not going to make a big song and dance about it but there are some signs that things might go better than they have in the past. For a start there is direct communication with the website designers and the technology has moved on considerably from the interface that dogged Argyllcom. Also the website will serve a wider community than just the 2000 households covered by the NAIDC project, so there is a larger pool of potential contributors and a much larger audience. I'll let you know how we get on.

(17.11.04) Round & About, Mull's free monthly news magazine, needs your help! It's editor, Ian Schofield, has had a computer disaster (as reported below) and if you have either sent him copy for the December edition or have a repeated advert, please send it in again. Send him an email by clicking here.

Credit Card fraud: Although fraud is down overall, thanks to the introduction of chip and pin cards, online fraud is up. There are two main causes of this, "phishing", in which people give away their CC details after responding to a spoof email from a bank, ebay, PayPal etc and "keylogging".

Keylogging refers to programs that track the actual keystrokes entered into a computer. The programs get into a system that don't have up to date anti-virus progams, when an attachment from an unknown source is opened (click here for a guide on how to safely) or when someone installs a dodgy program, such as "just install this program to get free porn". If you keep your antivirus program up to date and treat things that arrive via the Internet with caution you should be OK and it's worth noting that giving your details to a legitimate website rarely causes problems, they hardly ever get stolen, nor do they intercepted on route. The majority of CC fraud is the result of people stealing receipts from rubbish bins and you take a far greater risk when you give your card to a waiter than you do when you use it online.

(14.11.04) The website won't be updated on Tuesday and Wednesday as I'll be away at a meeting, sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully I'll have some good news when I return.

The BT broadband availability checker is still saying that only a 512k service will be available when the Lismore exchange is converted. This may or may not be the reason that ISPs aren't allowing people to sign up in advance, which usual in the months preceding a conversion but it is typical of how up to date the checker is. There have been several accounts of the checker showing an exchange converted/activated when it hasn't been, not being so when it is and it's all rather confusing. Check broadband availability by clicking here.

Tesco customers are being bombarded with promotional email, up to 40 a month, alerting them to various offers in store and online.This will almost certainly increase in the run up to Christmas and Tesco is unapologetic about it, saying that they by far the most popular online grocery seller. Which is true but that's because of the service, not the spam (which is available in a number of varieties). It is possible to stop them by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link, which I would certainly do but I bet that it won't be long before spammers are exploiting the ubiquity of Tesco's email and that becomes a risk. Read more here. 

Did Sony decide to remove their copy protection software (see yesterday's news) because Microsoft has identified it as spyware? A bit of a coincidence if not, read more here. 

Fish farms: The Scottish Executive is in the consoltation stage of the new legistlation covering fish and shellfish farms. This has been a topic of local discussion and interested parties can find out more here. 

(13.11.04) I heard a cautionary tale today from someone had who opened an attachment from an unknown source and went on to lose everything on their computer. Worringly, this was on a system with a completely up to date antivirus program. It's odd for virus to destroy everything, most want to hijack your computer and put it to work but it can still happen. In this case opening the attachment triggered a "blue screen" and a scanning of the file system and it was only when the user noticed the word "delete" next to "Norton Antivirus" that he realised it was the virus doing the scanning, not Windows. The only way to stop the process was to switch off at the tower but unfortunately it proved impossible to restart without triggering another "scan" and in the end the system had to be completely reinstalled, so losing all his files. The moral of the story is never open an attachment you are suspicious of.

Sony have been forced to release a patch for vulnerability that the copy protection system introduces onto a computer whenever one of their discs is played on it. There are already viruses out there exploiting the flaw and so it would be as well to download and run the fix, even if you have never played one of their discs as you well do so in the future. Read more on the story here and get the fix here.

Viruses have already appeared that exploit the flaw in Macromedia Flash that I reported on the 7th, I urge everyone to download the latest version of the software by clicking  here.

(10.11.04) Lismore: Some technical details have come in regarding the upgrade/repair of the microwave link between Lismore and the mast at Torosay. It transpires that the dish that fell off the mast during the storm had been loose for sometime and this had been causing the mysterious, intermittent lose of service that had been reported here in the past.  

The dishes have already been installed and following a successful test, brought online, the engineers deciding that it wasn't worth putting the islanders back on the old system. The new dishes are "low latency", meaning that there is a shorter time lag in data being sent and received, and people are already noticing that webpages download more quickly. Once the exchange has been converted to broadband in January 2006,  speeds of up to 2mb will be possible and because the exchange will a proper converstion, a much wider choice of ISPs will be avilable.

The change from activation to full conversion followed lobbying of BT by the NAIDC, for which the islanders are very grateful. After having had their broadband hopes dashed in the past, it only seems fair. More information can be found on the forum here.  

(09.11.05) Ulva and Iona latest: A letter has been forwarded to me with some bad news (in my opinion) for Iona and a contact address for people connected to the Ulva exchange who are having problems. Click here for the letter and futher comment.

(08.11.05) Lismore lost it's telephone connection to the outside world last night when the microwave dish on the Torosay relay mast fell off in the storm. Even though there has been delay repairing the fault, with parts (a new dish I presume) having to be ordered up, it's not all bad news for the island. It's emerged that island is to get a full activation for it's exchange, rather than just an "activation", which means that the islanders will be able to get up to 2mb service, rather than 512kp as expected. Not only that but because of the storm, the work has been brought forward - so ggod news all round!

The Mull swimming pool progect is gearing itself for the it's last push for funds and has hired a fund raiser to help it get the last few pounds needed. The first initiative is an ebay auction of goods, for which the fund raiser has contacted celebraties for contributions. You can see the results by going to ebay and searching for "pooltogether". There's all sorts of interesting stuff there already and it's well worth a visit.

(07.11.05) A critical flaw has been discovered in Macromedia Flash Player 7 (MFP7) which could make users vulnerable to hacking. MFP is the technology that renders the animations in so much web advertising and some websites are entirely flash driven. It's so common, your computer almost certainly has it, that we hardly notice it these days and that's why this vulnerability is potentially more serious than many I report. Macromedia, who make the progem recommend people upgrade to version 8, which you can do by clicking here.

(04.11.07) Internet Explorer 7, (we're on version 6.0.2) is being beta tested, the last stage before a program released into the wild. TechRepublic has published an excellent collection of screenshots of the new browser and you know what? Surprise, surprise, it looks just like Firefox. It not only looks like Firefox, it reproduces all the main features of the browser that has eaten into IE's market share. There's tabbed browsing, add-ons that mimic Ff's extensions, there's even an intergrated google search bar in the top right corner to which you can add other search engines.

I defy anyone to find a feature that isn't available with IE's new rival (I might even give a prize to anyone that can find one) but it's not just the extra features that have driven people away from one Microsofts flagship programs. It's the risk that having a browser so closely intergrated with the operating system that makes IE risky to use and Ff (amongst others) the choice of the security conscious. It's yet to seen whether IE7 addresses this. Click here to see what you can expect from the new Internet Explorer.

(03.11.05) Attack of the Zombies! "Zombie" is the name given to computers taken over by spammers to distribute their wares and there's a lot of them about, with 85% of spam coming from hijacked domestic computers. MS connected an unprotected computer to the Internet for three weeks and waited to see what happened, by the end of the test there had been 5 million attempts to connect to it and had it been able to, 18 million spam messages would have been sent from it. In three weeks! Other tests have shown that a computer will attacked after only 20 minutes online, so it essential that people keep their systems protected. If anyone can't use a payed for antivirus or firewall program, there are plenty of free alternatives (see "Free Software" below). Read more about Zombies here.

PayPal have started sending out invitations to take part in a customer survey and many people will be so suspicious of PayPal email that they won't take part but surprise, surprise, they are genuine. Having said that, it won't be long before conmen start exploiting the idea, so either ignore them or be very sure that they're genuine. Two clues that they are, they are addressed to you personally, using first and last names and they don't require you to give any personal information, such as username and password, when you click the link in the email.

(02.11.05) Computer Security: A new website, getsafeonline, has been launched to help the 77% of computer users who, according to a large survey in Wales, want more information on how to protect themselves from the numerous online threats. Backed by everyone from BT to Microsoft the site gives basic guidelines on how to ensure that you don't become a victim. Click here for  the website and here for the BBC story on the websites launch.

(01.11.05) A worm has been discovered that spreads via AOL instant messaenger. Once it has got inside a computer it burrows deep into the operating system and is very difficult for anti-virus programs to catch. It infects the computer with spyware, makes it accessible to the sender of the worm and uses it as a luanch pad for further infections. A surprising number of people within the community use AOL, ironically I think they're attracted by the normally excellent security features, which are especially useful to families with children. AOL users should click here to read more.


October

(31.10.05) Some light has been shed on the issues surrounding the "Exchange Activate" (EA) scheme today in the form of a letter from HIE's Stuart Robertson, which a helpful reader forwarded to me. It goes into the history of EA, the demise of Hi-Wide and the negotiations between the Scottish Executive, explaining the delay in the luanch of the scheme. It also explains, to some extend, the limited choice of ISP and the 512k speed available with EA exchanges. Readers will surprised to learn that this is apparently down to the ISPs rather than BT. Click here and scroll down the last post to read the letter in full.

(30.10.05) Ebay guide: I've rewritten the guide for new buyers that was lost when the forum was hacked. It includes information on how to bid, what to expect when you do, what's what on an item page and scams to look out for, amongst other things. It turned out to be a bit longer than I intended, I originally called it a "brief guide" but I hope it's length doesn't put people off from reading it or using ebay, which really is one of the great websites and one of the best reasons to have a computer. Click here for the guide and feel free to post your comments.

(29.10.05) Photo Elements 4 is out and receiving very good reviews. It's the most popular photo editing program within the community by a long way, despite my attempts to get people to use Ulead but most people are still using version two. The release of v.4 will mean the v.3 will drop in price, a full boxed version can already be had for just under £30 on Amazon, comparred to £50 for v.4 from a reliable seller on ebay.

The new version makes it easier to carry out basic tasks and has improved the method for creating composite images. The most interesting addition is photo sharing, allowing people to upload their work into an PE website. Photo sharing via online galleries is increasingly popular amongst forum members but there is much discussion about who provides the best service and perhaps this is the solution. Read a review of PE 4 here (put "Photo Elements 4 into the search box at the top of the page). There are a number of sellers on ebay offering the program for as little as £12 inc p&p, I would be very careful of these until we hear that they're reliable.

Free security software: We all know people who, for one reason or another, don't want or can't afford to pay for security software, so I've got a list of free alternatives which will do the job. In my opinion there isn't free antivirus program that performs as well as, say, Norton of MacAfee but I know plenty of people who would disagree. The list contains a couple of AV programs, a firewall and three anti-spyware programs, all them reasonably downloads unless you're on a very slow connection. Click here for the list.

(28.10.05) A gang of ebay fraudsters have been sentenced to a total of eight years in prison after conning £300 000 from unsuspecting bidders. The gang, based in Rumania, relied on getting people to leave the ebay system to get people to part with their money. It's a basic rule of all auction sites (ebay isn't the only one you know), that if someone tries to lure you away from the usual payment system you should decline. Read more here. Note to self, must rewrite the ebay guide...

Exchange Activate Broadband snippets (Like Lemony but less entertaining): Well, I have more reports of AOL customers not being able to sign up and similar stories for Scotnet, which is a bit of a surprise. There are two, unconfirmed, reports of people signing up with Virgin.net (I'll officially throw my hat in the air they are confirmed) but the good news is that people are connecting via EA exchanges.

(27.10.05) Iona's broadband problems made the front page of the Oban Times today and hopefully the extra publicity will kick start BT into action. They certainly need some encouragement because according to the piece, there is no timetable for sorting the problem out. Also, A BT spokesperson told the paper that funding was not an issue, which can only make you wonder, what is?

Other snippets coming include the news that Strontian's exchange conversion date has been put back for a fourth time and that, despite assurances that AOL is one of the ISPs available on exchange activate, one of their customers on Mull has been unable to sign up for broadband with them, even though they get both their dial-up and landline calls through them. Oh, and the CEO of a small ISP tells me that after a month of applying to supply through EA exchanges, he still hasn't heard anything positive from BT.

(25.10.05) Barbarian Invasion! No, it's not an influx of out of season chavs but my opinion on the latest addition to the "Total War" series. I like it and I think you will to, well, as long as you like computer games that is. What do you mean, you've got better things to do on your computer? Read more here.

(23.10.05) Spyware: I've written about this several times over the years but despite my best efforts the number of infected machines continues to grow. The UK is now third in the International league table for compromised computers, with average machine having eighteen spies on it.

Spyware results in a slower connection, more spam arriving on your computer and your privacy being compromised. Getting rid of it is just a matter of downloading a couple of free programs (you need more than one to be sure) and running them once a week or so. The most popular are SpyBot (here), AdAware (here) and the new Microsoft program (here). Read more here.   

(22.10.05) Pathfinder took a significant step forward this month with the tender notice being announced. The purpose of the scheme is to bring high speed broadband, 4mb+, to public services in rural areas and it is hoped that this will have the knock on affect for households. Following a successful pilot in Dumfries (see News passim) contracts are up for grabs in six partner councils,  Moray, Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, The Western Isles, Argyll and Bute and Highland. 

It may appear that this website is overly critical of the Scottish Executive's IT ambitions but that is not so. The Excutive and local councils have consistently demonstrated an imaginitive and inovative approach to bringing both the hardware and the connections that people need to join the wider digital community, particularly in disadvantaged rural areas. In this they have had to work round vested interests, monopolys and competition law, and with great success. The Pathfinder project is a prime example of this, the provision of high speed broadband to schools, surgeries etc, could well result in households getting a better service. Any criticism expressed here is intended to help and not hinder their work. Afterall this is the point of the Internet, by working together and sharing information, we can improve things. Read more about Pathfinder here. Thanks to Gordon for the Pathfinder tip.

Rumours: I hear a lot of these, the latest is from a reliable contact who has a BT engineer friend. They say that the problems that Iona is experiencing with it's microwave connection may affect a lot of similar exchanges and this is the cause of a dispute between BT and the Scottish Executive. I would welcome any reliable confirmation or denial of this. Actually I'd prefer a denial as my exchange has a microwave connection but either would do, write in if you can shed any light on the matter.

(20.10.05) EA news: Light has been shed on the fate of exchanges enabled via the Scottish Executive scheme via "exchange activate". As I'm sure you can recall, exchange activate is the cheap and cheerful option choosen for the small exchanges which can't justify a complete conversion, instead a module is installed that enables 30 lines to access a 512k broadband connection.

There has been a great deal of controversy about up until now over what ISPs are available to households connected to exchanges enabled in this way. Now, thanks to emails obtained by forum member Aquarious, we know a little more. According to the Scottish Executive's Telecom Unit the lack of choice of ISP isn't down to BT but the ISPs themselves, apparently they're just not taking up the oppurtunity to supply us. This seems at odds with information gathered by forum member sgegreen but it is apparently the case. It is all very confusing.

Also, we learn from the emails, any increase in the speed available will be market driven, which is not good news for people connected to very small exchanges. Read more here. 

Ulva Ferry: I'm sure that you also recall that we were wondering why Ulva, one of the smallest exchanges on Mull was advertising up to 2mb connections on BTs website, some of you will have been as jealous as me but it seems that all in the garden is not as rosey as it should be. After hearing that there some people were experiencing problems getting a broadband service I thought I'd investigate and so far no one I've contacted has be able to get one. People have signed up, bought the equipment, only to have their contracts cancelled.

The BT website still shows that broadband is available but all sorts of excuses are being given for not supplying it. In one case, BT claimed a DACS box was on the line and removing it would cost over £1000, exceeding the budget for improving a line, even though the dialup speed was 49k, clearly higher than a DACSed line can support. I'm still investigating this, so, more details to come.

(18.10.05) Iona is still waiting for broadband almost two months after the the Fionnphort exchange was converted. At least one resident only found out that there was something wrong when, in the first week of September, the ISP they had signed up with cancelled their offer to supply a service, citing "incompatible equipment on the line". 

After many phone calls it transpired that the problem lay in the microwave connection between the island and the exchange, apparently the dishes aren't big enough to support broadband. As well as the technical issue, extra funding maybe required before the work is carried out. It seems a bit cheeky of BT to ask for extra funding for an exchange that was converted after its users had passed one the highest per capita trigger point ever set and one that would have been impossible to reach without the Iona residents. 

I'm grateful to our newest forum member, saintcolumba, for posting this story. He also asks whether there are any other local microwave links with the same problem, which is a worrying thought. We all assume that ours will support a broadband connection but so did he until the ISP withdrew from the contract to supply a service. Please get in touch if you can shed any light on the state of local microwave links.

(17.10.05) Connection Speeds: Someone sent in their connection speed today, the first in quite sometime. It came from Seil Isle and I'm happy to say that is was a reasonable 46k, not great but a least they don't have a DACS box (which virtually halves the speed) on their line. None the less, the reasons for recording dial up speeds are as valide today as they were three years ago.

In the early days of the digital community, connection speed was a real issue because so many people were on very slow connections as a result of having a DACS box (a device that cuts a connection to about 28k). The information gathered by the website was used by the Scottish Executive when they lobbied Oftel (now Ofcom) when new guidelines were being drawn up. Many people in authority think that issue has gone away, now broadband, in one form or another, is available to all. I disagree, a decent dialup connection should be available to all until broadband can match the price for the light internet user and this website will continue to campaign for the rights of all. This may not be an issue in the current climate but, unless broadband prices drop considerably, it will be again. (The map on the Connection Campaign pages has been updated accordingly, thanks to our Seil Isle friend for sending it in).

(12.10.05) Local News: Despite a loss of funding, the Scottish Islands Network continues to serve the community and to co-ordinate with our fellow European islanders. This month there's a trip to Ireland on offer to discuss island needs and identity issues and there is funding available for people representing eligable causes or groups. Click here for more and thanks to Lisa Stephens for the information.

(11.10.05) The Disasters Emergencies Committee has updated its website today so it can accept donations for the earthquake appeal. The process of giving online is pretty straight forward but there are a couple of things worth noting.

Firstly; the donation link doesn't work with Firefox, so if you are one of the many users who have swapped to it, you'll need to right click on the link below, left click on "Copy link location", open Internet Explorer, right click on the address bar and left click on "Paste". Then click on "Go" or press the "Return"key.

Secondly; there is an line at the top of the donation page marked "Make my donation Gift Aid". This is a tax option, if you select "No" from the drop down box you can recover 28% of your donation from the tax man, if you click "Yes", the DEC can claim the money from him. In affect clicking "yes" increases your donation by 28%. Click here (or copy the link location) for the website

(10.10.05) The south Asian earthquake appears to be a disaster on the scale of New Year's tsunami and many of you will want to help now as you did then. As ever deciding who to give to is difficult, with some many charities focusing their attention on the crisis. After an initial search I decided that the BBC's page, with its list of five organisations was the best place to go but it's just been announced that the Disasters Emergency Committee is to launch an appeal and so that would be my recomendation for online or telephone donations.

The DEC co-ordinates contributions for more than a dozen leading charities, including Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid and the Red Cross and they raised and distributed an enormous amount of money for the tsunami victims. Their website hasn't been updated to reflect the current appeal but probably will be by tomorrow, you can find it here or if you want to give right now, follow the links at the bottom of the BBC's page here.

(09.10.05) I have five gmail invitations to give away, thanks to David de Gernier of Hebridian Herbs. gmail is google's online mail service and is still in its testing stage, hence the need for invites. I've been trying it out for a week or two and it's very simple to use, generating no spam or unwanted email whatsoever. Even though it's still being tested it already works better than Microsoft's hotmail in my opinion, it only takes a couple of click to get into and writing, organising and replying to email is very straightforward. If you need an email account that's accessible from anywhere or just fancy a second address, drop me an email and I'll forward you an invitation. David's online shop is still under construction but you can find out more about him and his work by clicking here.

(08.10.05) NTL and Tesco dialup customers may have had problems getting online on Thursday and Friday and they will be relieved to know that this was due to a problem at the NTL, not on their own computer or telephone line. The fault generated an engaged tone even when lines were available, thankfully they've sorted it out now.

Paypal hoaxes: There appears to be a rash of hoax emails from Paypal doing the rounds at the moment, this time claiming that you have successfully added an email address to your account. They are a bit worrying because Paypal does inform you when a new address is added, however don't let this fool you into to clicking the link in the email, instead go to the PayPal website in the normal way if you want to check everything is OK.

The Netsky.z virus continues to pop up regularly, the pattern of arrivals suggests a computer that isn't connected to the Internet on a regular basis. However there is no consistancy whatsoever in the addresses used, so there is no chance of working out where they come from.

Spam levels are on the increase again, after a period when it seemed that the tide had turned. I know of some people, in reciept of some of the more offensive examples, who have changed their email address because they found it so distressing. These days the vast majority of spam is sent out by domestic computers that have been infected by viruses, one of the many reasons we should encourage everyone to ensure that they have an affective anti-virus program in place.

(07.10.05) Correction: I've been asked to point that people on Lismore are not considering changing to broadband in order to get a decent connection, rather, they are annoyed that it appears that the only way to get BT to remove a DACS box is to sign up for a premium service.

There has been rumours for some time that the "exchange activate" (EA) broadband scheme, which limits speeds to 512kb, is the first stage of a strategy that will bring high speed connections to remote areas. EA was chosen because it was the fastest way of getting broadband to people but it wasn't seen as permenant bridge across the digital divide. The rumour has been substantiated to some extent by the announcement of the South of Scotland Broadband Pathfinder Project, which will bring 8mb broadband to the borders, initially to schools, libaries etc but with the prospect of businesses and then households benefiting too. Read more on the general story here and visit the project website here. Thanks to Steve for the tip.

(05.10.05) Lismore is the latest exchange to have it's broadband activation date back, this time from December the 31st (always unlikely IMO) to the 9th of January. It's the latest disppointment for an island that has suffered from false hopes in the past, you will recall that it was slated to be one of the first Hi-Wide progects before changes in BT trigger levels made the scheme impractical. They still have one of the worst infestations of DACS boxes in the community and many are thinking of converting to broadband just to get a decent line.

(02.10.05) I'm trying out Opera, an alternative browser which claims to be faster than Firefox and more secure than Internet Explorer. It's certainly both, the insecurity and inflexibility of Internet Explorer are well known and the latest versions of Firefox seem to be having problems with memory, with some users finding that it's loading slowly amongst other things. I'm very impressed with it, it doesn't have all the extras that Firefox but it really is a lot faster and now it doesn't carry advertisements it's well worth trying out, it's a very small download and you can easily import all your bookmarks etc. The only downside, apart from not having an easily accessible spellchecker, is that it doesn't support Gaelic. Click here to read more.

I'm happy to report that after two weeks of frustration the community user who couldn't get their email has solved the problem or rather Wanadoo has, it just goes to show that being really persistent with an ISP works sometimes.

September

(30.09.05) Every so often I'm contacted with what proves an unsolvable problem and I got one such call this week. A community member had been unable to send email through their Wanadoo (formerly Freeserve) account, they could connect to the Internet through an anytime number, receive email but no matter how many calls they made to the Wanadoo helpline, they just couldn't get the problem resolved. They reinstalled the dialler, recreated the email settings and even had a local engineer take the system away to test it from their home. Even though it was clear that the problem was with the ISP's server and they admitted as much, nothing has been and it seems nothing will. All that is left to them is to create a new account, change email address and forget about the monthly payment they've lost. Very frustrating and not typical of what is generally a very good and caring ISP (see next story).

More broadband: A community member has written to all the Scottish Executive ministers who have had a part in the exchange activate scheme, pointing out the apparently inherent lack of choice and speed. Like all of us they appreciate that while we are far more fortunate than people connected to small exchange, there are things that need to be looked at if it really going to bridge the digital divide.

Having said that, more and more people are contacting me about signing up with ISPs, either which to pick or how happy they are with the one they picked (Wanadoo even phone up to check just how happy apparently). So far they've all been on the converted exchanges, with fabby 2mb connections but even so it shows there's clear demand in the community.

(28.09.05) More exchange activation confusion: I've been contacted by someone who has spoken to BT Wholesale and has a new slant on how the 32 broadband lines in an "exchange activated" exchange are allocated. Apparently the lines are broken up into blocks of 8, which seems more logical that than the 5 we have previously assumed. Three of the blocks are already allocated, to BT Business, BT Home and Scotnet, which leaves eight lines to be picked up by other ISPs. Whether these have to be taken as a block or are available as individual lines is unknown.

I'm embarrassed to be still posting these developments, as if this is all some sort of mystery but the fact is that it is, there is no definitive information out there, so I have to rely on these odd snippets and clues. If anyone knows for sure what the situation is with exchange activated exchanges, I'd really like to hear from them.

(27.09.05) The Lismore telephone exchange is again experiencing problems. Infested with seemingly irremovable DACS boxes and poor quality lines, it has long been a source of complaint within the community and now it seems that high winds can cut it off from the mainland all together. The exchange is linked to the mainland via a microwave link and a link which failed three times during Monday's storm, with two of the breaks lasting almost half an hour. This is not normal, my exchange is the last in a chain of four microwave links and they've never failed in the seven years I've been connected to the Internet. Even though the BT helpline found it hard to believe that this had happened at all, lets hope this an isolated incident for this benighted exchange. Thanks to everyone who got in touch with me about this. 

(26.09.05) The Tiroran exchange activation date has been put back from the 31st of December to the 6th of January. I was always a bit sceptical that they would finish the work on New Year's Eve but none-the-less this is a disapointment. I found out oecause I called BT after being told by the Tiscali that a Bb service was already available in my area while the BT website still gave the old date; so you can imagine my disappointment. I couldn't check all the other numbers with a 31st deadline but I suspect that will have been put back too, drop me an email if your exchange is suffering a similar delay.

Meanwhile, as predicted, 24mbit broadband has become a reality as BE starts to unroll it ASDL2 service. That's about 500 times the speed of a very good dialup connection and, while I'm grateful to the Scottish Executive for the "Broadband for all" scheme, I can't help eyeing the service available to city dwellers with envy.

(24.09.05) Upgrade complete...well sort of. In the end I decided to buy a hard drive and install a new copy of XP, in affect I built a new computer from scratch. I've always been a bit daunted by the prospect of doing a self-build but it was much easier than I expected and it took less than two hours to put the pieces together. What's taken all the time is installing and updating the software, even with a faster processor and motherboard it's taken hours and I've still got several things to do. It was cheaper was because I already had some of the parts but even then, if I took my time into account it would be much better value for money to buy a ready made system with the software installed. Self build does have the advantage of letting you choose the components you want and it's very satisfying to sit in front of a computer you created yourself. Read a bit more detail, including the parts I used, by clicking here.

(22.09.05) BT: As predicted in these pages, BT has staved off breakup by coming up with changes acceptable to OfCom in responce to claims that it was disadvantaging competitors. For some time Ofcom and independent operators have been seeking access to the "local loop", that is the link between the household or business and the exchange. Unlike previous compromises this appears to herald real change, with BT creating a company to enable access by competitors to exchanges and a board to oversee. I'm not sure why BT appears to be running the oversight body but all in all it seems a dramatic step forward and my see the end of some of the restrictions that people connected to "exchange activate" exchanges have complained about. Read more here (news item), here (access company )and here (Ofcom statement). Thanks to Steve for the tip.

(21.09.05) The latest version of Firefox, 1.0.7, is out, fixing a vulnerability found last week. FF doesn't seem to patch the browser, rather it releases the whole thing again. Fortunately it's only a 4.7mb download, so it's easily accessible to most users. Click here to get it. Incidently, if like me you tried Firefox beta 1.5 and didn't like it, installing this version will replace it.

(20.09.05) BT has made dramatic changes to its broadband usage terms. People who exceed their download limit will no longer be automatically charged for the extra bandwidth, rather persistant offenders will be send an email suggesting that they upgrade their package. They have also upped the download limit on all packages, 1 to 2 Gigabytes on the most basic and 15 to 20Gb on the £24.99 deal. This is significant because BT changes are rapidly adopted by the rest of the ISPs, meaning that everyones choice and deal improves. Read more about this and other information on broadband here.

The Local News section has been updated with an item about the Scottish Executive scheme to help local people by local homes. Help in the form of 49% of the equity is up for grabs, read more here.

(19.09.05) "BIG POTENTIAL PROBLEM" is the subject line of a hoax email that has appeared in the community after circulating the Internet since the Twin Towers were hit. It's one of those emails that purport to warn of a another dangerous email going around and urges you to forward the warning to everyone in your address book. While tragedies always spawn email exploiting peoples interest in the news, the virus this one cautions against doesn't exist and it should be just ignored. These emails are known as "chains" and rely on peoples good intention to promulgate themselves, which makes them all the more inciduous. It's been added to the list of hoax and spoof email on the forum here. 

A neighbour of mine just contacted me to ask if I could recommend an ISP because BT had told him that the exchange was activated. A check on the availability of broadband revealed no change from the 31st of December date and I can only think that once again a BT worker has been confused by the similarity in local numbers. Very disappointing. 

(18.09.05) The "How to" index isn't exciting but it is an essential part of the website and forum and I'm pleased to say that it is almost completely restored. The new version, replacing the one that was destroyed by hackers is better organised I hope and will provide assistance to even more people than the last one did. Click here to explore the dozens of guides written specifically for the NAIDC computers. The last remaining items will be added in the next couple of days.

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days, the longest break since the website began I think. It was due to a combination of glitches connecting to the server and problems with my hardware upgrade.

(14.09.05) My upgrade continues to be somewhat of a challenge and if I think that if I wasn't trying to make things easy it would have been, erm, easier. It's pretty obvious to me now that changing the motherboard isn't something that Microsoft want you to do and if I'd just backed everything up and reinstalled all the programs it wouldn't have taken as long as it has done. If you're interested you can read more details here. It's a good thing I quite enjoy all this because if I added the time up, probably it would have been cheaper to buy a new computer.

(12.09.05) I'm grateful to sgegreen for confirming that people connected to "activated" exchanges will indeed be restricted to just 5 ISPs. Embarrassingly, I can also reveal that he told me about this ages ago, I can only say that in my defence that I hadn't imagined that it would apply to the Scottish Executive scheme and frankly I can't see why it does. The original reason for the limit was five was the number of ISPs that might get together and split the cost of installing the equipment in an exchange but that just doesn't apply under the new scheme.

From what I can gather, unless you are with one of the five ISPs already, you have no choice but to change your ISP if you are connected to activated exchange and want broadband. This is particularly unfortunate for those who use AOL because of the way it helps out families who want to protect their children online. I don't have the names of all 5 ISPs yet, BT and UKonline are two and I'll post the rest as soon as I know them.

(11.09.05) Exchange activated broadband customers (that's those connected to an exchange upgraded by the Scottish Exec. scheme) may be restricted to a choice of five ISPs, one of which is BT. I don't know why BT might be doing this and if it's true, it's a new development because none of the official websites dedicated to the Scot Exec scheme mention such a restriction, in fact they do just the opposite. This story came to me via an email group I belong to, if anyone can confirm or deny it please get in touch. Note; this doesn't apply to exchanges converted to broadband after they reached a trigger level.

As you may have gathered from the lack of update yesterday, upgrading the computer didn't go as smoothly as hoped. Essentially Windows doesn't like you to change the motherboard but I have found a work around which I'll be trying over the next couple of days.

(09.09.05) The last of the computer parts I ordered to upgrade the computer arrived today, the graphhic card that I had to return because the first was broken. If only these companies would use the Post Office for sending to the Highlands and Islands, rather than a commercial operator. When I sent the part back I used the PO's next day service and it did indeed arrive the next day, they used a carrier and it took a week the first time and five days the second. Having said that, the local carrier delivered very promptly once they recieved the parcel.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be putting the new/old system together and hopefully I'll be able to report how things have gone in the evening. If I don't, it means it didn't go well.

(06.09.05) The Hurricane Katrina emergency is the latest tragedy to be exploited by email virus writers/spammers. The emails purport to contain news of events in New Orleans and contain a link that, if clicked, will lead to websites which automatically download trogan software onto vulnerable computers, that is those that don't have up to date antivirus definitions. Once installed the software will use the computers to send out spam email to whatever addresses it can find. Just opening and reading the email won't put you at risk, it's only those that click on the link that are at risk.

(05.09.05) I'm grateful to forum member dazedandconfused for info on the process of installing broadband. It seems that for most people, no one will come to house, instead the equipment you need is posted to you and then you get a call when the line has been enabled at the exchange. The equipment consists of a modem that you plug into the computer, a disc to install the software you need and socket to plug into the phone socket that enables you to take calls while online. Not all broadband providers give away the equipment, which costs about £30 and is something to consider when choosing which one to choose. BT actually send someone round to configure your computer, a process which fairly straight forward but they send the equipment by post, sometimes the engineer arrives before it does, which means he leaves without being able to set things up. All in all though, it seems relatively straight forward.

Sorry about the lack of updates over the weekend, trouble contacting the server again I'm afraid. I'm working on the problem.

(02.09.05) Pennyghael hasn't been enabled yet, the exchange has been apparently but the BT website still gives the 7th of Sept as the date it gets switched on.

(01.09.05) Broadband has arrived in Fionnphort, by which I mean people are actually connecting to a broadband provider. The exchange was actually vonverted sometime ago but it took until the 28th to sort out the problems with getting the microwave (radio) connection back to the national network up and running.

This also means that Pennyghael, Tiree and possibly Tobermory have joined the fastlane. Meanwhile most of the rest of the community will have to wait until the new year before their exchanges are enabled. Thanks to dazedandconfused for the info.

August

(31.08.05) The Netsky.z virus has reappeared in the community. It's an old threat that dates back to the end of 2004 and from some of the email addresses included in the emails (familier from previous viruses) I can only imagine that someone is using a computer that is usually offline because normally this would be detected by an up to date anti-virus program. Thanks to everyone who has got in touch about this, there's nothing worry about and if past incidents are anything to go by, the culprit will sort the problem out in a few days.

Email scammers have it on a new varient to entice PayPal users to click through to fake websites. The new emails claim to be confirmation that you have added a new email address to your account and come in plain text, presumably because so many people only accept email in that format now. Read the full text in the last post on forum thread dedicated to email and internet scams and hoaxes here.

(30.08.05) The Government is to make the possesion of certain violent images an offence in the same way that child pornography is. I'm sure everyone welcomes this but I have had a few emails from people worried that having unsolicited spam might constitute an offence. The answer is that it doesn't, nor does the accidental visit to a dodgy website, it's only those who deliberately download images that should be concerned and so they should be. The legislation will target material which would be illegal in any other published form and is aimed at it's consumer because of the difficulty of persuing the producer. Read more here.

(29.08.05) Local News: The Scottish Islands Network has another trip on offer, this one concentrating on educational needs and it will be held on Denmark's  Femø  island. There's funding available for up to to three people, click here to see if you qualify. Thanks to Lisa for the info.

Police have arrested two young men they suspect of being responsible for two of the Zotob worms that caused so much havoc over the last fortnight. The two, from Turkey and Morocco, are also suspected of releasing the rBot and Mytob viruses. Read more here. This is the fasted virus story I've ever come across, from release to arrest in a fortnight.

(27.08.05) More broadband confusion: BT has been cold calling people and trying to get them to sign up to their broadband service, well, that's hardly news but they've been doing it to people who share my exchange and it isn't due to be enabled until the 31st of December. Not only that but it's part of the chain of exchanges that can't actually get broadband because they haven't managed to get the microwave connection to Tiree working yet (or if they have, I haven't heard yet). What is going on? I know BT are working hard to get the exchanges converted but it seems their sales staff a tad overzealous.

(26.08.05) How do they get away with it? More to the point, why do we put up with it? I'm talking about how time and again leading consumer products cost significantly more in the UK than they do elsewhere. The latest example is the Xbox 360°, which will cost $299 in the US but £209.99 in the UK. At least this time the European price is roughly the same as the UKs and only slightly cheaper. No one will ever do anything about this, it's up to us, we should just boycott any product that rips us off like this. Read more here.

(25.08.05) Local News: You will have seen the adverts for the BBC's "Voices" project that is recording regional accents around the UK, what you might not have realised is that Fionnphort was one of the destinations that was visited. Now you can visit the BBC website and listen to the contributors and their stories, including the many, many words they had for rain. Click here for the link and thanks to forum member dazedandconfused for the tip.

Another day, another google story...The media has been getting very excited about googles new message service which allows people to make voice calls over the Internet. On closer inspection its revealed that they are only offering a service similar to Windows messanger and not, as yet, a rival to Skype or Voip. It's non-story really, I don't know why I mentioned it really...

(23.08.05) An ancient hoax, well ancient in Internet terms, email has surfaced in the community. It's known as the "Bill Gates give away" hoax and purports to be a beta email that Microsoft is using to test the email system and that each time it's forwarded you get paid. It's just nonsense, apart from anything else, Microsoft doesn't control the world email system and if they really did pay out in the way suggested they would have gone out of business years ago. Just bin it! Details of this and lots of other scams, hoaxes etc can be found on the forum here, if you receive anything similar let me know. Thanks to Tony for telling me about this one.

Version 2 of the popluar Google desktop search has come out, incorporating live updates of various search services and gmail, the google email system. I haven't tried it yet but forum members who have recommended version one, so I think I'll have to test it. Click here for more. 

(22.08.05) New Guide: Some things are frustratingly difficult to do on a computer, where is that file, what does that error message actually mean? While others are surprisingly easy, so easy in fact that no one bothers to tell how to do them, so continuing the series of very basic guides is one that explains how to print out a picture index of images saved on disc, or anywhere else for that matter.

Everyone who has a CDRWer ends up with a collection of discs with lots of images on them and no real idea of what's on them, this guide describes how to print out an index of thumbnail (very small) images of what's on them. Click here to read it.

(20.08.05) Broadband delays: I've done a bit of research and from what I can tell the delays we are experiencing aren't common across the rest of the country, in fact I've only come across one exchange that has been rescheduled by BT. I found lots of people annoyed with BT for one reason or another but none experiencing the kind of run around we are. I think this is a good thing, if the problem was replicated across the Scotland then it might take a very long time to put right, as it is, it appears that BT really are trying to sort out a problem unique to us. FIngers crossed.

(19.08.05) The final upgrade: Not the last I'll do ever but the one that says farewell to the few remaining parts of the NAIDC computer that I'm still using. Over the years I've replaced and added memory, added a graphics card, a bigger hard disc and even upgraded the processor but now it's time to move on. It's now possible to create a really good system for a relatively small cost if you use some of the parts from your old computer and if you'd like to see what I'm getting for about £350 click here.

Zdnet reports an interesting theory about the rapidly developing Zotob worm (a type of virus). They say that the new versions that keep appearing could be the work of rival virus writters and that there may be a sort of gang war going on in cyber space. Gone are the days when most viruses were the work of amateurs, these days they're created by or for criminals and it seems that they've fallen out. Read more here. Incidently, your virus definitions date should be the 17th, not the 16th as it says below, they updated late yesterday evening.

(18.08.05) Zotob, which I reported on a couple of days ago, continues to mutate and has caused havoc at major US websites such as Visa and the New York Times. Anti-virus companies have released more updates to combat the new versions (11 so far) of the worm, Symantec's came out on the 16th and now automatic and Live Update have the same availability date. (Read more here). 

Microsoft has added it tool to its "Malicious Software Removal Tool" and McAfee have added it to Stinger. Neither will protect you from getting infected but both are useful if you're trying to remove things like this from a computer. I hadn't used the MS tool before and found it quicker than McAfee's. I must emphasise that if your virus definitions are up to date then you will be safe but be sure to give Norton a chance to update when you go online, don't just connect and download new email just yet.  I'm grateful to sgegreen for keeping me up to date on all this, if you check Software Updates on Anorak News you'll find links to the McAfee and MS removal tools. 

(16.08.05) The Scottish Islands Network, still running dispite the loss of funding, is offering another trip to discuss shared concerns with other European island communities. This meeting focuses on health and social care and there is funding for 2 or 3 people available. Read more here. I bet the UK is the only part of Europe which isn't funding someone to organise this sort of thing.

(15.08.05) Zotob.B is the latest nasty to make a name for itself by infecting computers across the US and Germany. It allows persons unknown to gain remote access to compromised systems and has already caused quite a stir, partly because it threatens every version of Windows from '95 onwards. Happily Symantec (Norton) released an update on the 14th, so people still using it should be protected, double click on the Norton icon in the bottom right of the screen to check and look for "Virus definitions".

Usually at this point I would recommend that you performed a "Live Update" but for some reason that service won't get the update until the 17th, while automatic update already has it. So if you haven't got definitions dated the 14th, just stay online a bit longer.

I expect this will act as a further boost to Firefox, which for the first time in many months, lost ground to Internet Explorer last month. The free alternative to Internet Explorer has seen a surge of interest following the widely reported security fears surrounding its rival this year.

(13.08.05) Some computers are still downloading XP Service Pack 2, almost a year after it was first released. I had a look at one that was having problems with it's antivirus program (AVG free edition) and happened to notice that it was still on XP SP1. The user used the computer mainly for email and the only time it was connected for any length of time was when relatives came to stay. Even though they only online for short period they're still vulnerable to many threats and its no wonder that computers are being hijacked.

ComputerActive, one of the most popular and trusted magazines, has launched a shopping website which combines many features of other price search websites. I don't think it's as comprehensive as PriceRunner, nor is it as quick but it does have more features and is well worth a look. Click here to see for yourself.

My ZoneAlarm firewall appears to be the cause of the problems I was having yesterday. I use the paid for, "Pro", version of the program, rather than the free one and it recently has an upgrade that adds a sort of internal firewall to the computer. It alerts you to any suspicious behaviour and catches a lot of perfectly innocent program activity, often preventing programs launching properly while it goes throw the "allow or deny" process. I think I must have clicked deny on something that I should have allowed and this caused the system to become unstable. The free version of the firewall doesn't do this but if you were thinking of upgrading to the pro, I'd leave it until they've ironed out the initial glitches and it recognises legitimate programs for what they are.  

(11.08.05) Frustrations in Fionnphort, Bunessan and Iona have reached the point where a petition is being got up demanding that HIE do something about the broadband delay. People are stil getting mixed messages from ISPs about when the service will be available and they've had enough. Ironicaly the area would be better off if the Scottish Executive initiative had never happened, as there's was one of the exchanges that met it's trigger point in the normal way and the initiative has put a strain on BT. There's also indications of delays elsewhere in Scotland, which comes as no surprise. If you live on the Ross look out for the petition and sign it! Thanks to forum member themackeral for the info.

(10.08.05) Windows Updates: If you check out the Software Updates page (link in Anorak News) you'll notice that there's an unusual number of MS updates this month. Most people will download them automatically but be bothered by the "there are updates to install" message that appears in the bottom right of the screen. In my experience most people just ignore these, it would be far better if the system was set to install them automatically. (You can set the computer to do this by opening the MS Security Center and clicking on the option but I doubt many do).

Even if that option is selected, how long is it taking to download all this stuff? Those who just use their computer for email and a bit of surfing will still be downloading this month's when next months list appears, in the meantime they're vulnerable to the flaws that the updates are supposed to fix. COuld this be why most spam comes from hijacked computers?

Meanwhile, those of us who like to use the Windows Update page will find themselves going through the seemingly endless process of downloading "Windows Advantage", the anti-piracy software that has already been hacked (See Anorak News). You probably thought you'd been through this before, you're right you had! MS don't care though, not only that but you can't download the updates bit by bit, well you can but you have to restart the computer after each download, which defeats the process.

I could go on but then it might appear that I was just ranting...

(09.08.05) Sunday's item on the activation problems has produced some heat but little enlightenment. What I, we, desperately need to do is clear up some basic questions, such as how does the exchange network join up, where exactly are the exchanges or why some exchanges only offer a limited form of ADSL, etc etc. If you have any information please contact me by clicking on the blue email link above, things that may seem trivial to you might be important when put together with everything else!

(07.08.05) The activation problems may extend beyond Fionnphort, affecting Pennyghael and Tiree. Well Tiree may have been activated but it's the connection from there back to Fionnphort that is causing the difficulty. It is part of the chain of microwave links that connect (in the following order) the Tiroran, Pennyghael, Fionnphort and Tiree exchanges. Apparently BT are finding it difficult to line up the huge dishes and are even finding that sea waves are interferring with the signal. Tobermory has also fallen prey to this, hence exchanges that have been converted or enabled can't actually connect people to a broadband service yet. Meanwhile Ledaig on Mull has been enabled, whether anyone is able to connect to broadband through it is another matter. All the above has yet to be confirmed, anyone with any information please email me - thanks.

(05.08.05) The Fionnphort exchange has a new conversion date, the 28th of August, which is about a month late. Oddly it appears that Tobermory has met its date, at least the BT number checker website idicates that it has been but then so did Fionnphort for a while, so I'd be grateful to hear from anyone in Tobermory who has tried to sign up for a broadband service.

I wonder why people were being fobbed off with excuses such as "line testing" and "lack of capacity", rather than just being told the truth? Very odd. Thanks to forum member themackeral for the info.

(02.08.05) I've had confirmation that the Fionnphort hasn't been enabled yet, so not only did BT not meet the target early, it missed it all together. There's no real explanation for the delay, other than a "backlog" and the when a Fionnphort number is checked on the BT website the it still appears that broadband is available immediatly.

As you may recall, I've complained in the past that households connected to some exchanges, notably mine, are only being offered a 512k service, while others, in communities of the same size, are offered up to 2mb. The explanation maybe that the slower ones link to the wider network via a microwave radio link, mine certainly does and so do most of the other slow ones as far as I can tell.

(01.08.05) The Scottish Executive has extended the £200 grants it offers those on low incomes who want to take adult education courses to everyone. Well sort of, as long as you want to take some sort of IT training you can get £100 towards your course. Read more here.

A bit more on the Fionnphort Exchange; I hear that the exchange hasn't actually been activated but should be in the next few days. It's that work backlog rearing it's ugly head apparently.

July

(29.07.05) Fionnphort Broadband: Despite being converted ahead of schedule, I'm getting reports from people connected to the Fionnphort exchange which serves most of the Ross of Mull, of delays in getting connected. Some have been told that the line needs further testing, one has been told that the exchange lacks capacity, while another has been told that their line has "quality issues". Worse still BT told one of them that they had a large backlog of broadband work and couldn't give a date when the problem would be resolved.

Some suspect that BT is delaying the installation of rival ISP services, a phenomena reported elsewhere but as no one has tried to sign up with BT Bb, there's no way of telling if this is true. I find the news that they have a large backlog of work a bit worrying, they're only a couple of months into the contract with the Scottish Executive and backlogs tend to grow. I'm not expecting to get it by the new year anymore...Thanks to everyone who contacted me about this, if anyone else has tried to sign up with an ISP please let me know how you got on

(27.07.05) BUST! - Lots of us bought our first computers from either Time or Tiny and many more will have thought about upgrading their NAIDC systems for one of those companies widely advertised deals. They are actually one company and today they went bust. They've specialised in offerring very cheap high end systems at low prices and finally the low margins in the IT industry have caught up with them. Apparently people who ordered from them recently will receive their computers and the receivers (who are running the wind down) are keeping the helplines open  for the time being. It's a sad story, especially for those made unemployed but it has to be said, I don't know anyone who bought their second computer from either company.

(25.07.05) Broadband dates: The news that broadband had arrived earlier than expected in Bunessan and Fionnphort sparked a few emails asking if there was any change elsewhere. Well the answer is, "not that I can see". Checking the numbers for all the remaining commuties/exchanges produces the same result that they did when they were first released. I still think it good news for all of us and not just a nice suprise for the Ross of Mull because it shows that BT is meeting it's targets, something that many of us doubted they would. Find out when your exchange will be enabled or converted here, a link to check your particular phone number is in the first message.

(24.07.05) The latest in a series called "guides I should have written years ago" has been posted on the forum, this ones called "Disconnect from the Internet". This is one of the most frequently asked questions that I get asked when I help people out with their computers and why shouldn't it be? How are people supposed to know if no one tells them? So if you know someone who needs to know, click here.

(23.07.05) I think the Fionnphort exchange has been converted to broadband! It was scheduled, along with Tobermory for the 27th of July but when I check numbers connected to it, rather than be told that it will available on the 27th, I'm told that initial tests suggest that a connection at such and such a speed is possible. Tobermory numbers still say that the exchange will converted on the 27th. Fionnphort (and Bunessan/Iona) was originally scheduled a month earlier but then got put back when the Scottish Executive scheme appeared (that might just be a coincidence), I'm sure they'll be pleased to beat the "big city", if only by a few days.

Poetry might be the new trick to used by spammers and scammers in their attempts to get you read their email. I've received a few which use variations on the "are you ignoring me" or "Hi" subject lines that when opened display a poem. While the poem is being read a picture, along with html code, is loaded. The poem is just a trick to stop you closing the email as soon as you realise that it's just another piece of junk. The ones I got all contained obscene images, so watch out.

(21.07.05) New Guide: I've written a guide that I should have created at the start of all this. It's a picture of the front of the tower with numbers for every feature, from the trays to the eject buttons. I was inspired to create it by the realisation that quite a lot of people still had no idea how to do the most basic things nor what the fundamental things were or did. Even if you don't need to be told what the coloured lights are telling you, you will someone who does, so click here for a really simple guide to the basics (coming soon - how to disconnect from the Internet!).

(20.07.05) Firefox has released another update only weeks after version 1.0.5 came out. The latest incarnation fixes some problems in the previous one and fixes a couple of security flaws. It's a 4.7mb download but is simple to install, just requiering you to shut down Firefox before installing it. Click here to get it.

Surfcontrol, a security company, says that there has been a 30% increase in maliceous email in the last three months, half of which is made up of fake e-cards. I've warned about these before and can only restate that if you don't recognise both the sender and the e-card company don't open it. Read more here. 

(18.07.05) Google are issuing an odd warning about spyware when you click it's links that lead from it's main page to Google News etc. In rather alarming language it informs you that spyware has been detected on your computer and asks you to enter a code, similar to those used when signing up to message boards to prevent auto-signups, before proceeding to the next Google page. I checked my computer using Spybot and it did find five tracking cookies, possibly the most harmless form of spyware around and I can't help wondering how Google knew it was there because it appeared they did, once removed I could get to the News page without any warning page appearing. All very odd and I can't find any reference to this anywhere on the Net. Click here for a screenshot of the page and a link to Spybot.

(17.07.05) Broadband: A couple of old friends posted messages about broadband today that were both helpful and thought provoking. Both themackeral and FickleJade have been trying to find their way through the maze of choices that confront anyone thinking about getting broadband. Jade asked a very good question about what to do if you want to connect more than one computer to a broadband connection, which was answered to some extent by a website recommended by themackeral. Broadband gets closer by the day and more and more people are going to be asking questions or will have recommendations like these, click here to go to the thread. You may recall that themackeral held the "slowest connection in the community" record for quite a while, how things have changed in just a few years. 

Right, that's it for today, I'm off to watch the Antiques Roadshow (6.50 pm BBC1), which comes from Oban this week.

(14.07.05) Forum news: I've had a chance to do a bit of updating of the How to index on the forum, adding sections on email, Norton and Internet Explorer. I've also decided to add appropriate guide indexes to the relevant sections of the forum, so far links have been to the How to section have been posted in Internet Discussion and in the future will do the same for General Discussion. I hope this makes it easier for people to find the help they need. There's still quite a bit of work to do on the guides, many of which are still missing posts due to the hacking attack last month, these will be rewritten over the coming weeks. Click here to visit the forum.

(13.07.05) Firefox has released an updated version of it's browser, V1.0.5, which addresses a number of security issues. As the alternative to Interent Explorer becomes more popular, over 64 million people now use it, it will become a more popular target for hackers but even so it remains a lot more secure than it's big rival. Get the latest version by clicking here.

(11.07.05) Peabody has written a follow up to the guide to creating an index for a word document describing how to update or edit an index as a document evolves. It's as clearly written as the first, with lots of useful tips you won't find in the official Miscrosoft guides or anywhere else as far as I can make out. Click here to read and bookmark it for when you need to tackle an index yourself.

Update: Reports of NTL and tesco.net connection and email problems are beginning to surface on the Internet across various UK forums. When I first did a search I couldn't find anything recent but now there are quite a few people looking for help for odd and seemingly unrelated problems. Error 452 is mentioned several times, which indicates that there is insufficient storage space to handle email on the NTL server and AOL comes up to in regard to people whose email isn't being recieved.

(10.07.05) Broadband ISPs: I've added some more detail to the thread about choosing a new ISP, covering the various elements that need to be considered. It seems a lot more complicated than selecting a traditional dialup package at first but once you get head round it, it's fairly straight forward. Click here for more and feel free to send in or post your questions and suggestions.

(09.07.05) New Guide: Forum member Peabody has followed the success of the guide to using Word's track changes utitlity with a new one explaining how to create an index for long documents. It will probably have a smaller audience than the last one but people looking for help in creating an index are unlikely to find clearer instructions than these. Click here to read it and see what I mean.

The European Small Islands Network Inter-Island Exchange Project is holding a meeting on the Isle of Gigha to explore sustainable development in remote communities. There's funding for 3 to 4 people who are members of community groups with an interest in the subject. Read more here. The funding has been organised by the Scottish Islands Network and one wonders who will do the job if it goes to the wall, which is a distinct possibilty. That would mean that islands from Finland to Greece had representation on the ESINIEP and access to the influence and funding it brings, with one exception - us.

(07.07.05) I've found more people who may be able to get 2mb broadband when their exchange is activated by BT. Most of us connected to the exchanges that will be activated under the "Broadband for All" scheme are advised that we will be able to connect at 512kbps once our exchange has been activated, which is wonderful but isn't very fast by modern standards. However some are going to be offered a much better deal. The latest numbers I checked are connected to the Ulva Ferry exchange, one of the smallest on Mull, so there is no possibilty that it will be fully converted to for broadband and yet the potential download speed will be 4 times higher than similarly sized Tiroran exchange. Distance from the exchange nor present line quality is an issue, I checked the numbers of households very close to the Tiroran exchange and they could only get 512. It seems there will be a digital divide within the community and I've written to BT to ask why.

(06.07.05) Wanadoo (formerly Freeserve) pre-filter email and mark junk messages "***SPAM***" before sending it on to you. This makes it very easy to have it sent to the deleted items folder automatically using "message rules", so if you've kept your old Freeserve address this could be really useful. Click here for a guide to using message rules.

(05.07.05) With broadband just around the corner many people will wondering which ISP they should choose, whether to stick with one they've been using for dial-up or to move on one of the many alternatives out there. Some us won't have a choice, NTL don't offer a broadband service to "activated" exchanges, so those of us connected to one of the exchanges that come under the Scottish Executives scheme, will have to find someone new.

With this in mind I've started a thread on the forum where people can ask questions or post recommendations or warnings about providers. There are literally hundreds to choose from as you'll see in the link in the tread here.

(04.07.05) The latest Scottish Islands Network Newsletter is out and, unless something is done, it could be the last! After three fruitful years the funding has run out and this invaluable resource could be coming to the end of it's days. I know that many, many readers of this website have signed up to it because they not only appreciate the breadth of news but the concept behind it, surely we can bring some pressure to bear and save it? Read more and get the newsletter by clicking here.

Email scams and hoaxes: I've updated the "popular email and Internet scams and hoaxes" thread to cover recent developments. The most serious and convincing of the new scam emails are the very convincing "payment received" messages that look exactly like the real ones that Paypal sends out. Even though I know they're fake I still feel I have to check my Paypal account and less experienced users may well be tempted to follow the links in the email. Read the updated thread by clicking here, the first post contains a summary of the common threats and the subsequent messages record them as they appear. The latest paypal fakes are on the second page, along with a screenshot of one of the emails which proves just how convincing they are.

(03.07.03) Wanadoo (Freeserve) are revamping their online mail service to make it more accessible, they also say it will have some added features but I'm can't tell from the demo what these might be. It looks pretty though and looks simple to use. Click here for an interactive demo.

June

(30.06.05) User Accounts: Over the last couple of weeks I've had a look a three computers all of which had some form of intrusive spyware on them, one even had trojan that hid the true name of the website that was being visited. Not only that but they also had odd programs installed, I'm sure with the best of intentions, that were acting as spyware. The computers were being used by inexperienced people who were just to trusting in who they allowed to use them.

I think we should encourage people to create password protected user accounts and only allow other people to use the "Guest" account it also creates. It will cause some inconvenience but it's better than just letting them have free access to the computer. Not only that but they should keep a diary of what well meaning friends install or change on the computer, it would be really helpful for those of us who fix them! There's a basic guide to User Accounts here.

(29.06.05) Since asking last week if anyone else was experiencing problems getting online I've recieved several emails reporting the same thing. Mostly from NTL and Tesco users (which is essentially the same network) but from one or two unamed ISPs. I can't find anything on the Internet referring to this problem, so it could be a purely local phenomena or just an odd coincidence. So, if you're finding it hard to get online write in and include which service provider you use. That's it for today, I'm one of the people having problems connecting and staying online, last night it took nearly an hour to publish the website! 

(28.06.05) Software Updates: Despite the amount of work that goes into it, the forum's Software Updates page rarely features in our main news. However today it has information that will be very useful to just about everyone who ever allows their computer to be used by other people, and that's everyone. If you follow the link to the "Microsoft Toolkit" you'll not only be able to improve how well your computer is protected but will find lots of help understanding what the risks and problems are. I'll add some of the page links to various guides in the near future but in the meantime check it out yourself by going the Software Updates page, the link is in the Anorak News on the left.

(27.06.05) I've upgraded my keyboard and so I've got my old one to give away. If you've ever found typing for long periods a strain or wondered what those fancy "natural" keyboards were like, this is an oppurtunity to find out. The details are on the forum, click here. 

That "Crazy Frog" has been the subject of warnings on this website before but doesn't do any harm to repeat them. None of the widely advertised ringtones that infest the ad breaks on TV are free, far from it. If you download one you will end up with big mobile bill, read more here.

(23.06.05) Broadband: I've made a couple of editions to the "Broadband is coming" thread, for those wondering when their exchange will be activated there's now the date next to it's name but of more significance is a question about the broadband speed available to those connected to exchanges activated by the Scottish Executive scheme. Also there is proof that the scheme as it stands now does not reach every household nor even community.

Indian call centres: A story in the Sun has sparked a scare that people giving their credit card details over the phone risk having them stolen and misused. As it turns out, the story may not be true but it wouldn't be the first report of this happening anyway. For those that half-heard the news, it should be pointed that this was details given over the phone, not online. The theft of credit card details from websites is rare (apart from the recent hacking of US Visa), the vast majority of thefts comes from physical assault and the bin bags behind shops and restaurants.

(22.06.05) A couple of forum members have reported problems connecting to the Internet recently, experiencing long waits and occassionaly not being able to get on it at all. Both happen to be Tesco.net users and given the small number that post on the forum and the even smaller number that use Tesco.net, I wondered if this was a coincidence or if there was a problem with the ISP. So if you use Tesco and have had similar problems please email in and tell me about them by using the big blue button above.

Incidently, I solved my Richard K. Lee problem (see below) after remembering one of my own tips! 

(21.06.05) The forum was off-line this morning, it turned out to be due to the final cycle in the restoral process. Not everything has been put back as it was, lots of topics have been lost forever and a lot only have their first message and nothing after that. The good news is that nearly all the guides are back, along with all ten pages from General Discussion, so much of the community's ramblings of the last three or so years are still there. A huge thank you to everyone who sent emails, encouragement and saved messages, it was very useful and, more importantly, it really cheered me up!

(20.06.05) Spam: There's been a huge increase in spam (unwanted or junk email) over the last few weeks, even my spam filters, which are so strong that they catch a lot of legitimate messages, have missed 20 or more a day. For the first time I've received requests for help about spam (as opposed to people asking about email that they don't realise is spam) and its hard to know what to advise. I don't like spam filters because they are complex to install and maintain for inexperienced computer users, so I usually suggest that people use "message rules" (click here for a guide) to filter out spam from specific sources.

This is because the people who are contacting me tend to be plagued by spam from one sender or relating to a specific subject, credit cards, travel or whatever. I'm plagued by someone who puts "Richard K. Lee" in the "from" line and no matter what I put in my filters, his email still gets through. I HATE him!

(19.06.05) A new guide on how to use Word's "track changes" utility has been added to the How To section of the website. Written by forum member Peabody, it takes you through the basics of sharing and editing documents with others, anyone who has ever asked someone else to comment on something they've written will find it invaluable, not to mention easy to use. Click here to see for yourself.

(18.06.05) More messages have been restored to the forum and there maybe more to come. By no means everything is back and what has been restored is sometimes incomplete, for instance the How to index only has its first message. The good news is that most of the How To section is back, as is General Discussion, which now has ten pages of topics. Elsewhere the restoral is more patchy but the hosts say that they still more data to restore. Click here to see for yourself and post a message!.

(17.06.05) NTL customers connected to an exchange that will be activated as part of the Scottish Executive broadband4all scheme. That's because the exchanges will be activated, rather than converted, as those that passed a trigger point, will be. "Activation" puts a module that enables 30 broadband lines but the installer (in this case BT) in affect dictates the speed ISPs can offer through it. NTL doesn't like this and so they don't offer a service through activated exchanges.

I wonder if enough people make a fuss whether NTL will change their minds, it wouldn't have lost them many customers when there were just a few activated exchanges but the Scottish Executive scheme will connect the equivalent to a medium sized town to activated exchanges. Perhaps we should all write to them and complain.

(16.06.05) An email that purports to offer news of a Michael Jackson suicide attempt is another in an ever growing list of spam that exploits recent news events. It invitesreaders to click on a link for the full story but if you do you'll find the website you're taken to is "busy". In fact it's not. In the background a "trogan" (sort of virus) is being downloaded onto your computer which, when executed, enables the spammer to use it to send out yet more spam, in affect turning your computer into what has become known as a "zombie". They reckon most spam now comes from zombie computers, read more here. There used to be extensive information on the forum about the various types of spam email, this makes me realise just how much still needs redoing :¬( .

(15.06.05) Microsoft has released a long list of critical updates (the ones you really need) this month, a total download of over 17mb. That will take hours for people on slow connections, especially as they only download in the background when a computer is connected to the Internet but there is no activity. The vulnerabilities that the updates address may seem obscure but they are being exploited faster and faster these days, so getting them is important. I suggest that people get hold of the official Windows XP magazine (Smiths in Oban has it) and install them themselves. See the Software Updates page (link on the Anorak News page) for details of the indivual updates.

(14.06.05) Local News: I've posted a set of pictures taken at the Tiroran Hse RNLI day. I took loads with my fabulous new Olympus C-8080 camera but still only ended up with four or five that I liked. It just goes to show, it ain't the megapixels, it's the way that you use 'em. Click here to see for yourself. 

Ebay has caved into one of Bob Geldof's rant's and is withdrawing Live8 ticket auctions from the website. On the face of it this is a good thing, afterall, why should people make money out of free tickets to a charity event? Except that they're not free, Live8 made £1.5 million on the text messages made to enter the Live8 lottery. What if you won the Freelander in this years RNLI lottery - don't you have the right to sell it? Not only that but ebay has always been a place that you could buy things that the "authoritys" might not approve of and I hope it always will be. But if sponge Bob has his way, it won't be.
 
(12.06.05) The forum had some of it's old posts restored overnight, not many, just the ones in "Off Topic" which is one of the sections that hasn't anything posted since the attack. I'm hoping this is because they're being very careful not to damage anything that's been posted since everything was deleted and not that it's all they can restore. Fingers crossed!

(11.06.05) For reasons I don't understand the updates I made to this website on Thursday and Friday didn't appear in the real world and so I've reposted them. Please scroll down to read the latest news on OnSpeed and more.

(10.06.05) OnSpeed, the Internet accelerator program/service thing, now intergrates with Firefox. You may recall that I reported that it actually slowed it down, rather than made it faster, as it did Internet Explorer. They've also improved the compression program so that images aren't so awful, see for yourself here.

Talking of images, I'm often asked about posting them on the forum or the best way to share them with friends and so I've posted another item about Image Shack, the free and amazingly simple image hosting service. It's so simple that you'll think there's more to it but there isn't, click here to give it try.

(09.06.05) A big thank you to everyone who has sent in messages they've saved from the forum, combined with the stuff retrieved from the web archive, I've managed to restore far more of the lost material than I thought possible this time last week. Most of it has gone into "Guide Testing" (click here) because it yet ready to go to How To yet. There are a few new or revitalised guides in the How To section (click here), as well as a quite a bit in "Absolute beginners" (click here) and "Graphics and Photography" (click here). Other posts are scattered here and there but most of the recovered are guides and answers to specific questions. Thanks again to everyone who has contributed.

The recent emergence of new virus threats has highlighted just how important it is to keep your anti-virus program up to date. The new threats are mutating far faster than before, with new variants of a basic virus appearing at the rate of tens a day and they're adopting new tactics, such as tempting people to click on links rather than imbedding the virus in the email itself. All of which is very worrying but as long as you keep your antivirus program up to date there is hardly any chance of your computer being infected. 

Norton Antivirus updates every Wednesday, so the date of your virus definitions should be no older than last Wednesday. It's also a good idea to update the program every so often yourself, especially if you read of virus threats in the news. To find out how click here. 

(08.06.05) Further research into the exchanges to be activated under the Scottish Executive scheme reveals that most, if not all, the exchanges will be restricted to a slower download speed than those that will be fully converted for broadband. If you click through all the links on the BT number finder page, you'll find that the activated are told that a 512kbps download speed may be possible, while those on a converted exchange can get a 1mps or higher. Some ISPs are offering up to 8mps download speeds and the average is rising all the time. It could be that connections improve for those that can afford broadband but the relative disadvantage will remain and that the devide will actually widen. Read more here. This is an evolving story, so check back for developments.

Local News: The latest edition of the Scottish Islands Newsletter is available for download, in fact it has been for a few days but I've been just snowed under and forgot to post about it. Click here to get your copy and why not sign up so you don't have rely on me to tell you when it's out!

Also in the Local News section of the slowly recovering forum, is an item about the abandoned village of Shiaba. It's one of the most evocative places I've ever visited and set in the most beautiful settings you can imagine, now it's been featured in an excellent article from the Scotsman. Click here to read it.

(06.06.05)  Broadband News: When I posted the list of local exchanges to get broadband under the Scottish Executive scheme I asked three questions; was Dervaig included, wether they would be converted or "exchange activated" (meaning only 30 broadband connections are possible) and what would happen to people out of the 7km range of telephone broadband.

Firstly, yes broadband is included, secondly, I'm told that the Lismore exchange is to be activated and as it's one of the larger of the smaller, if you see what I mean, I assume the rest of them will be too. Lastly, by entering phone numbers into the BT number testing thingy (apologies for the technical jargon), I've found that distance from the exchange does make a difference. If you're close you'll get told that you'll be able to get 512, some distance away, 256 or 512, over 7km and an engineer will visit.

But worse still, occasionally I was told that a "line sharing device" or DACS box was on the line and broadband might not be possible at all. Now one would think that the Scottish Executive/BT contract would ensure that everyone who wanted it could get broadband but if that's the case, why haven't they changed there advice to customers? They've included other details derived from the contract. Read more here.

(04.06.05) Yet more forum news The chief executive of the hosting company has released a new statement regarding progress towards restoral and who might have been responsible. Reading between the lines, it looks like an inside job or at least someone with inside information. Read it for yourself by clicking here.

The lose of posts has had the knock on affect of making many of the links on this website useless and I'm getting emails from people asking for help as a result, which I'm quite happy about of course, it's always nice to here from readers but it does show how much work there is still to do.

Today I've been adding more of the retrieved topics, mostly guides of one sort or another. The reposted stuff is mostly in Guide Testing, Graphics and Absolute Beginners so far. Don't forget you can still post messages on the forum!

(03.06.05) More forum news: Although I haven't added any more rescued topics, I have managed to retrieve a lot more form caches on the web. All of it comes from 2004 and some of the most useful stuff appears to be gone forever unless the hosts manage to restore the whole thing.

They have restored one or two other message boards but as time passes I doubt more and more that they will ours. On the bright side I've been contacted by a couple of forum members who'd saved bits and pieces, most of which I hadn't managed to get back myself. That and just rereading the posts I recovered, has reminded me just what a nice bunch the forum members are and how worthwhile the whole thing has been.

I'm sorry to report that the Lismore forum was a victim of the hackers too, which is a real pity because I think this was their third attempt to get a forum going and the first that had succeeded, my sympathies go out to them.

Other than here, the whole sorry saga has only made one appearance in the media, which you can read by clicking here.

On another matter, I went round to help someone with a computer that was playing up and found a machine that had been severly affected by well meaning but mis-guided help. Automatic Update had been disabled, so there was no service pack 1, let alone 2 and the antivirus program hadn't updated since 2003. Amazingly there weren't any of the more recent and common viruses on it but only a full scan will detect what else is there. It's not the first time I've come across this sort of thing and I wish that people who make changes to someone elses computer would either continue to keep an eye on it or at least make a note of what they've done.

(02.06.05) Some good news regarding the forum. I have been able to rescue some of the messages by using a web archive. Nothing like all of them, I doubt I've got 10 % but I have been able to find some of the guides and similar posts.

It's taken a long time (ten hours so far today alone) and I've only been able to save plain text versions of the threads, so they don't have the formatting nor the normal post and reply structure but it's the best I could do. I found the page through using a web archive, a site that saves old web pages for posterity and I'm just grateful that the forum was one of the sites they deamed worthy of saving.

Check the forum (click here) for the ones I've reposted so far and post something yourself, especially if you have a new question!

Thanks to everyone who has written in with sympathy and offers of help!

(01.06.05) The forum has been unavailable for about 24 hours and shows no sign of returning. According to the company that hosts it, the server (big computer) it lives on was hacked yesterday and it and 11000 other forums lost their messages. They're working at restoring them but it may take sometime and might not be possible at all.

Which would mean that over three years hard work could be down the drain, I can't tell you how upset about this I am, very little is backed up because I partly chose the host because they backed up the forums in case something went wrong but they've lost those too.

Thanks to everyone who has contacted me about this, I'd be really grateful to hear from people who have any of it backed up or even just printed out, so that something can be restored if the worst comes to the worst. Read the message from the hosts here.

May

(30.05.05) BT's rogue dialer dtection software works and is proving very popular with the public according to the Register, which is good because I recommended it when it first appeared, so it's nice to see it lives up to it's claims. Rogue dialers are those sneaky bits of software that dodgy websites get you to install in order to access premium content, which they always claim is "free". Which is true except that the software changes the number you access the Internet by and costs a fortune. The BT software prevents this from happening and warns you if you dial number is being changed. Read more here.

(29.05.05) Friday was Silver Surfer day, which is held every year to celebrate the Internets older users, highlight their concerns and introduce newcomers to computers . More and more retired people are using the new technologies but there is still a worryingly high number on the wrong side of the digital devide, many of whom appear to be resentful of the growing gap between them and their more adventurous neighbours.

According to recent surveys, the silver surfer is most likely to use their computer for keeping in touch with far flung relatives but other activities are popular too, gambling, playing games and finding love being but three. In other words they spend their time online in almost exactly the same way as everyone else! Read more here in a BBC article, which is full of interesting facts but seems to miss the most important conclusion that can be drawn from them, that is that silver surfers are not significantly different to anyone else using the Internet.

(26.05.05) You may hear or see some scary news about "zombie" computers on the news today but it's not actually news. Rather, it's the old problem of virus infected computers being used by spammers to send email without the knowledge of the computer's owner. The reason it's in the news today is that the UK has joined some sort of international action group on the problem and not because there's been a new development that need concern us. As long as your antivirus program subscription is paid up there's nothing to worry about.

(25.05.05) Freeserve/Wanadoo email users who occassionally connect via their old freeserve connection in order to to keep the account active may get be unable to connect, even though email is working perfectly. This is because they've changed the number and you'll have to go to the reactivation page and install the number. Note that the process doesn't work properly on Firefox, so you'll have to use Internet Explorer. The link to the account activation page is here.

(24.05.05) There's a new breed of spoof email doing the rounds. Once again the aim is to extract account and/or credit card details but the approach they use is a lot more subtle than their "please update" predessecors. They target ebay and Paypal users and use subject lines such as "Receipt of payment" and "Sale completed", attempting to fool people into thinking that something has been purchased in their name and tempting them to click on the links contained in the message.

The emails are identical to legitimate email from the companies, using the same wording, images and apparently the same links and it's only by looking at the underlying code that you can see that the links actually take you somewhere other than ebay or Paypal. If you receive one of them you will want to check out if something has been bought in your name but, rather than follow their links, just go to your account in the normal way, in the unlikely event something has gone wrong you'll be able to find out by looking at your transactions history.

(19.05.05) Local News: While looking for updates on yesterdays good news on broadband, I came across a couple of local stories of some note. The first was a bizarre item about A&B's determination to build a bridge to Easdale, an island without a raod, let alone cars, despite refusing the bridge to neighbouring Luing, where they want one. The second was the news that the Clyde and Argyll Health Board is to be wound up and the area it covered is to be devided up between the Glasgow and Highland boards. Hopefully this will result in a sensible solution to the Oban/Fort William hospitable dilemma. Read more here and here.

(18.05.05) At last we have official confirmation that the Scottish Executive scheme to bring broadband to all of Scotland is really going to reach the parts that other schemes couldn't reach. Geaorge Lyon, Argyll and Bute's dynamic MSP, has put out a press release listing the exchanges that will be included in the scheme and every NAIDC exchange not already enabled in one way or another is included..

The only question that remains is that it only list exchanges, despite referring to them as "communities". There are at least two areas of Mull that fall outside the range of exchanges broadband and there must be far more across northern Scotland. It remains to seen how these areas will be served. Never the less it's nice to see even the smallest exchange listed and it shows that the Executives intentions are genuine and not just headline grabbing. Read the full press release here (2nd post).

(17.05.05) Anyone following the link to the Software Updates in today's Anorak News is in for a bit of a shock, the size of the download is so big that you really need a broadband connection to take advantage of them. They're updates for Nero 6, the latest edition of the popular CD/DVD burning software, so fortunately it isn't critical that people get them.

More and more companies are releasing huge updates like this and many don't bother putting them on free discs, affectively depriving those on dial up connections from getting the same value out of their programs as broadband users and it just emphasises just what the phrase "digital devide" means.  As it says on the SU page, "roll on broadband".

(16.05.05) GamesSpy has an excellent page on Xbox 2, full of screenshots (are they real), specifications and interviews. I know most of you aren't interested in this but quite a few are and even if you're not, you might be buying presents now and again for someone who is.

So, shuld you buy Xbox 2? Not for a bit in my opinion. It's going to be very expensive for a while and the limited number of games available will be a problem, just as it was for it's predecessor. It's only real rival, PlayStation, isn't luanching a it's next version for at least 15 months, by which time the current version is going to look pretty old. So wait a bit, and wait for Xbox 2 prices to fall is my advice. Read more Xbox here and PS3 here.

(15.05.05) There's an updater for Word and Office similar the one for XP etc you get to if you click on the "Windows Update" link on the Tools menu in Internet Explorer. After downloading and installing a small application, it scans Word and other Office programs and then presents you with a list of available updates. It's very easy to use and there are clear instructions taking you through every step. Click here to try it for yourself.

(14.05.05) Firefox has fixed the flaws discovered less than a week ago and the latest version of the increasingly popular alternative to Internet Explorer is available by clicking here.  If only Microsoft fixed IE as quickly..

The Xbox 2, or rather the Xbox 360, launch was a glitzy as expected and even included Coldplay impersonators, Snow Patrol, playing live at the launch. The specifications of the new console are equally impressive,  powered by a "custom 3.2GHz IBM PowerPC CPU with three symmetrical cores" (?!)(apparently), the Xbox 360 will also include 512MB RAM and a custom ATI video processor with 10MB of embedded DRAM. There was also a lot of guff about connectability and service, which is code for more stuff to spend your money on. Xbox 1 was very impressive too but it lost out to the technically inferior PS2 because there were fewer games and what there was was more expensive, will Xbox 2, sorry, 360, be any different?

(12.05.05) The Scottish Executive website has deigned to mention the arrival of broadband for all at long last. The story is dated the 25th of March but I assure you it was't posted then and it's only just appeared on the news letter. If you've been following the stories on this website it will tell you slightly less than you already know but it's nice to read it officially. Click here for the story.

Xbox 2 is to launch tomorrow and I think it will be unveiled in the UK on MTV at 8pm. More tomorrow on the Anorak page.

The Tobermory branch of the Clydesdale Bank isn't included in the first 14 closures announced yesterday (read more here). Of course it could be one of the remaining 46 branches to close in Scotland but I'm hoping not.

(11.05.05) More on Fionnphort Broadband: The big dishes at the Bunessan telephone exchange are not, as I speculated yesterday, the first sign of broadband coming to the Ross but are part of the Tiree broadband link. Thanks again to Jane for the information

I can't help noticing that the new date for broadband on the Ross is the same as that for Tobermory, when they were scheduled to get it much earlier. Of course it could be that Tobermory is set to have it's date moved back too.

The Scottish Islands Network has another trip on offer, this time to Denmark on the theme of Argiculture and the Environment. If you're interested click here for more details, applications must be in by the 18th of May.

(10.05.05) The arrival of broadband on the Ross of Mull has been delayed, those connected to the Bunessan exchange will have to wait until the end of July, rather than June to connect at a reasonable speed. Anyone passing the exchange can't have helped to notice the work going on there, what with the radio dish the size of a swimming pool sitting outside it, just waiting to be put up. The three week delay mirrors the delay in the announcement from the Scottish Executive for the project as a whole. Big thanks to Jane Brunton of the Ferry Shop in Fionnphort for the tip.

Another security flaw has been found in Firefox, the popular alternative to Internet Explorer. I only mention it because they are quite rare and Ff has only just updated to fix the last lot of flaws. As I understand it, the latest flaw relies on people visiting a website that contains the code that can exploit it. If you only visit well known websites and avoid clicking on tempting links (including those arriving by email), you should be OK. Thanks to Steve for the tip.

(08.05.05) There's a couple of new scams going around that may catch out the wary. The first is one of those topical invitations, this one claims that Tony Blair's email account has been hacked, trust me it hasn't. The other is yet another ebay account scam, with the subject line "ebay registration details" and it's very convincing. Just remember that ebay never sends out emails about accounts in this way, rather it uses it's own internal system and contacts people via their "my ebay" page. 

(04.05.05) Sober.O, the latest incarnation of a long running series of Sober viruses, has caught out a few returning bank holiday makers. The virus was added to the list of nasties Norton can detect on Monday but if you were away and went straight to check your email on returning home, Norton wouldn't have had time to update before an infected message arrived and did it's worst.

In my opinion, this is most common cause of computers with an anti-virus program getting infected. So if you've been away for a couple days, let it update before checking your email.

(03.05.05) Wanadoo (formerly Freeserve) customers can now retrieve an inactive account online, very handy for those of us who retain an email account with them but now mainly use a different company to connect to the Internet with. Wanadoo gradually phase out the accounts of people who don't connect using their service, even if the email account is still active, which is fair enough really, they do have to make a living afterall.

If you haven't connected using Wanadoo for three months, your email will stop working and you'll have to reactivate the account. Click here and add the page to "My Favourites" in case it happens to you. Just make sure you can remember your password, otherwise you'll have to phone them up.

(01.05.05) Firefox has released it's latest version, 1.0.3, which includes some security fixes. Click here to download, it's a 4.7mb file, so may take a lttle time on a slow connection.

April

(30.04.05) The latest Scottish Island Newsletter is out and in a new format! Rather than being sent in plain text to subscribers, it's now downloadable as a Word document. It's much more attractive to look at and easier to read than going through the stories on the forum and all the email links work properly. It only takes a moment to download and then you can read it at your leisure or print it out to share with other people. Click here for the download link and some details of what's in the latest issue.

Image hosting: I often get asked about this, how can images be put on the Internet for sharing with other people or posting on message boards like 2000friends. The easiest system I've found is ImageShack, which is free and so simple that's it's almost confusing. Hosting pictures on the 'net has lots of advantages over sending them by email, you only have to send them once for a start and then send the link to as many people as you want. Your friends can then see thumbnails (small versions) of the pictures and download the ones they want. ImageShack has now added a new feature, a blog system that allows people to post comments. Read more detail and see my gallery of cartoons by clicking here.

(28.04.05) Is anyone else having problems using their switch card online? I've had problems on three websites, one of them NoChex, which is normally very reliable and two small retail sites. On other websites it worked fine, so it's nothing to do with my account! Switch has been taken over by Mastercard, who are phasing out in favour of Maestro, which might have something to do with it. Anyway, email me if you've had similar experiences.

There's a subsidised trip to Sweden on offer from the Scottish Islands Network for anyone interested in rural housing needs. For details click here.

(26.04.05) More on Broadband 4 all: Work on upgrading the exchanges will start next week and those of us sceptical that they will achieve the target of 97.8% coverage should look at the example of Northern Ireland. BT entered into a similar agreement with the N.I. executive and now the province has 98% of households within reach of a Bb connection.

BT has put up half the money needed to achieve the Scottish target apparently, with another £5 million coming from the EU, which reminds of the Monty Python joke "what did the Romans do for us". You can see what can happen if it's all left up to the free market by clicking here.

(25.04.05) At last! The Scottish Executive has announced that the contract to upgrade the remaining exchanges in Highlands and Islands is to be given to, wait for it.... BT, so paving the way for almost everyone in the community to have the option of a broadband Internet connection by the end of 2005.

Jim Wallace, minister for technology, made the announcement today, only six weeks after it was originally due, so hopefully they will still be able meet the year end target. I say hopefully because there's a a lot of work to be done in some areas, in just our little digital community there are several places with very poor infrastructure which will have to be upgraded before the phonelines are capable of carrying the broadband.

From the articles on the BBC and Scottish Executive websites, it seems that there is no doubt that all exchanges will be upgraded but there is no word of what will be done for those beyond the current 7km range of telephone broadband. The figure of 97.8% coverage suggests that some will still be left out in the cold or that they are going to revive Hi-Wide in some form.

Read more on the BBC here and the Scottish Executive website here (incidently, if you follow all the links you'll get back to the start in about five clicks!) Thanks to everyone who sent in the news!

(22.04.05) You're just not safe anywhere these days from scams and viruses and I think the success of Internet cons has inspired developments in other areas. The first mobile phone virus appeared last October and Symantec are now offering virus protection for hand held devices. It's really aimed at PDA (those tiny hand held computers) users but the line between a PDA and a mobile phone is getting more blurred by the day. It can't be long before spam becomes a real problem for mobile phone users and we've already seen how the makers of those annoying ring tone/screen animations make a fortune out of unsuspecting users.

All that was to be expected but even I was amazed by calls received by a friend who has taken over a local hotel. Within days of moving in he was being called by all sorts of people demanding money for non-existent services. For instance he was informed that he needed to register his meters, that he was required to register under the data protection act because as hotel, he would storing peoples details on computer. He wasn't taken in, for start he doesn't have a gas to register but the fact that there are people organised enough to know when a property changes hands proves that a lot are fooled.

Part of the problem is that phone scams are policed by Oftel, which has a pathetic array of powers. For example, when they get a complaint about someone using automatic phone equipment to call people, which is illegal, they can't prosecute them, they have to send them a warning letter. The only thing that seems to have any affect is the Telephone Preference Service, it only stops companies who have registered with it from calling you but as every legitimate company is, you know that if you are cold called the person on the other end isn't worth talking to. And it does dramatically cut down on the number of sales calls you get. Register your phone number here.

(21.04.05) The other week I reviewed Rome Total War, the latest in a  highly rated series of stratergy games, in the off topic section of the forum. Much to my surprise it not only looks better than it's predecessor but it runs better too, so I recommended it. I still do but with a caveat, it takes up a lot of computer space, 2Gbs or over 10% of the 18Gb NAIDC hard disc.

It's not alone in wanting a large chunk of storage space, I've also installed Norton Go-Back, which is a more powerful recovery system than Windows' Restore. I nearly recommended that too but it suggests allocating a whopping 7Gbs to store the information it needs, far to much for a NAIDC computer. It can be run using less but it's always going to use up a lot of resources.

Program writers are taking advantage of todays huge hard drives, where 180Gb is about the average storage space available and are just making their programs and utilities bigger and bigger. I'm going to have think before I recommend any new software in future and it looks as the community is either going to have upgrade hard drives or stick to using old software. 

(20.04.05) eProcurement is a Scottish Executive initiative that aims to standardise the way government at all levels buys services from outside suppliers and it's been adopted by Argyll & Bute council. It even affects those of us who work for the digital community in one way or another and they're holding a roadshow in Tobermory on the 19th of May. I would imagine that there will be on in Oban too. I'm not sure what it all means to us yet, there won't be any significant changes to the way we work or get paid apparently. Learn more about the project in general by clicking here.

Did anyone else notice this story about rural bus services on Monday? It seems to have received very little attention but if true the Fionnphort - Craignure route will have to hire an HGV driver or people are going to have to walk the last three miles!

(19.04.05) It's been quite around here newswise recently, as you may have noticed. Gerry Wilson is on annual leave (holiday), so there hasn't been any progress with the new community website but other things that should have happened haven't either. Most notably is the absence of an announcement from the Scottish Executive regarding the broadband for all project. They should have named the successful bidders for the contracts to upgrade exchanges and to bring other forms of broadband to outlying areas at the begining of March, the fact that we are still waiting not only suggests they are going to miss the end of year deadline for everyone to be connected but that there is a problem with the contracts themselves. This does not auger well I'm afraid.

(16.05.04) You may notice an unusual number of those "there are updates to install" messages popping up in the corner of the screen over the next few weeks but there's nothing to worry about. It's because Microsoft has released at least 18mbs of critical updates this week and although they download in the background while your Internet connection is on but inactive, you'll still notice all the messages. You'll find details of what's been updated on the Software Update's on the forum (link on the Anorak News page).

(12.04.05) The opt-out that allowed organisations to put off the downloading Service Pack 2 but to continue to use automatic update ended today. This doesn't affect most of us but might local organisations or users of XP Pro.

Virus: A virus masquerading as a security email from Microsoft has been appearing in the news today and from experience I know that this will result in worried people emailing or calling me. The virus is dates back to 2002 and so the is virtually no chance of your computer being infected even if you open it.

(11.04.05) Hooray! I've got it working again! Unfortunately it's taken ages and some elaments have got a bit messed up, so I'll be spending the rest of the evening sorting them out. Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

(10.04.05) I'm still having problems updating the website and don't seem to be able to access any of the pages beyond this one for editing purposes. Apart from spending an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what's wrong, I've done a bit of tidying up of the 2004 News Archive.

Hopefully I'll be able to get the website hosts to sort it out on Monday. Another good reason to move the website over to the Argyll and Bute server I think!

(09.04.05) New hard drive: As you will have gathered from the lack of updates over the last couple of days, the installation of the new hard drive didn’t go quite as smoothly as hoped. In fact for a while I was completely baffled by what had gone wrong as the starting the computer just produced and endless sequence of restarts.

Fortunately I still had my old hard drive which I put back in while I figured what was wrong. The solution turned out to be embarrassingly simple and you can read the whole sorry tale by clicking here.

The only thing to go wrong after restarting was some Internet Explorer elements went missing which seem to be affecting the updating of the website (which is why the news is on this page)(now moved to the right page), I think removed in error during a Symanted check up but the good news is that I’ve now got an 80Gb hard drive just waiting to be filled up. Which is no bad thing considering how big programs are getting these days!

(06.04.05) I'm fitting a new hard drive to my computer tomorrow. so there probably won't be an update.

(05.04.05) Events have always inspired fraudsters and the announcement of an election and death of the Pope are no exceptions. Within hours of the election date being confirmed I received an "Urgent Message" from "Tony Blair", which on opening proved to be a crudely worded advertisement for some sort of security service. More sickeningly the passing of the Pope is being exploited too and much more convincingly. An email purporting to be from the BBC and containing a perfect facsimile of a BBC news page offers video footage of the Pope lying in state, something bound to appeal to his many devout followers.

It was only by examining the code generating the graphics that I found that the link led not to the BBC website but to somewhere in California. it was a very convincing attempt at what I assume would be some sort of fraud or attempt to infect a computer with a virus. It's easy to get taken in, many people visit the BBC websites, sign up for news alerts or letters and forget whether they have or not, receiving these things is not uncommon but you should always be suspicious. If you're interested in the news item or whatever, just go to the website as you would normally and look for it! 

(The code can be seen by right clicking on an email and then on "Properties" and "Details in Outlook Express or "View Source" in Outlook, the real website is found using an Internet security site).

Something that you can rely on, hopefully at least, during the election is the new Channel Four fact check website. Inspired by a similar US site that ran during the Presidential election, it checks the campaign claims of the parties as they are made and it's already caused all three parties to back down on some of their more outlandish statements. See for yourself here.

(04.04.05) The latest (ever fabulous) Scottish Islands Newsletter is out, jam packed (must find another phrase) with news from Rackall to Gigha. Of local interest are items on the ferry services, Lismore's petrol services or rather, the lack of; whats on at An Tobar (Mulls art center), Mull's neverending housing crisis and more. Of particular interest is the news that SIN is offering a grant search facility to it's members. Any one who's been involved with a charity will know what a nightmare the grants jungle is, so that's all for tonight because I'm off to sign up. Read it all for yourself here.

(02.04.05) Problems at the Kilninver Hydro Electric substation, which supplies the Seal area, appear to be the cause of the death of at least two computers on Luing. The substation has been suffering from a catalogue of problems, brown-outs (low power), power cuts, frequent on/off switching, for over a year now and there seems little prospect of them being resolved soon.

Not for the first time the inconsistancy of supply has destroyed the hard drives of local computers and hence, the complete loss of data. This happened despite the computers being plugged into the surge protector supplied with the computer. However they were also set to restart when power is restored, which as reported last year, can cause problems when the power switches on and off in rapid succession (for instructions to stop your computer doing this click here).

As pointed out by sgegreen in his forum post, there is little point in encouraging people to use their computers to replace their old paper offices and archives if they can loose everything as a result of something this basic.

The Seil area is not the only one to suffer from an unreliable supply and something should be done to make, what is public company, deliver a reliable service! Read sgegreens post in full here.

(01.04.05) Symantec, makers of Norton Internet Security etc, is advising people to manually update their programs to fix a recently discovered security flaw. To do so, just open Norton Internet Security or Antivirus from the Start > All Programs menu and click on "Live Update". A dialogue box will appear that will take you throught the simple process. The download is relatively small and shouldn't take to long even on a slow connection. Read the news story here and the Symantec responce here. Thanks to sgegreen for the tip.

March

(30.03.05) Email Scams, we all receive them and they keep evolving and mutating. The latest "fashion" amongst the senders appears to be the promise of astronomical earning from buying cheap shares in companies that sound OK but if you think about it, you've never heard of. This is an old scam reborn for the Internet, for years criminals have been running what are known as "boiler rooms", there was even a film of the same name on the subject, where people cold call victims and try to sell what is called "junk" stock or bonds. Often the price of the stock is artificially inflated over a short period to bring people in.

Like a lot of these scams, no crime is committed because as everyone knows, stock prices can rise and fall. So if you receive a great stock tip from a stranger just delete it. As you should the e-cards from strangers, even if you recognise the e-card company. At the moment the "BlueMountain", a genuine e-card sender, is appearing in emails which come from someone else altogether. I've know idea who but when I've looked at the code in the emails they don't link to who they claim. Spoofs of Paypal and Amazon email continue to be common, neither company sends out important notices via email and so they can be safely deleted too.

However, Amazon continues to send out advertising emails, highlighting bargains on their website. It hasn't been reported anywhere so far but it can only be a matter of time before the scammers spoof these as well. My advice is to ignore them too, if you are interested in a bargain go directly to the Amazon website and search for it instead. Read more about email scams here.

(29.03.05) It appears that there is yet another XP service pack on the horizon from Microsoft, called of course Service Pack 3 or SP3 for short. It's thought that it won't be available until at least the end of the year but elements of it, called hotfixes, are already being downloading by testers and kean computer users. In total they add up to over 45mb's of downloads and there are bound to be more to come. You can find out more on the Software Updates page (see link on the Anorak Page). Thanks to sgegreen for the tip. 

(28.03.05) Exclusive: Apparently BT are in the habit of transferring unused ISDN lines to other users without telling the original owner of them. This won't affect private lines but it can happen to commercial and government customers. I have reports of unused ISDN lines going into social centres being moved and most worryingly, a fire alarm line being transferred. BT will restore the line as soon as there's a complaint but that's not much help if the line that goes is the one that supposed to alert the fire station in the event of an emergency. BT only do this in areas where there is a shortage of lines but there's a lot of places within the digital community that fit that description.

The forum will be unavailable this evening as the hosts in the USA do some vital maintenance, apologies for the inconvenience.

(25.03.05) New Easter clip-art is available from Microsoft and unlike most clip art, the images are actually quite good. There's lots to choose from, it's easy to download and use and of course, it's free. Click here to get some to decorate your Easter email.

The "Crazy Frog" adverts have irritated most of us over the last few months but did you know that they can result in very high mobile phone bills? That's because the company that sells the download charges for each time it's used. Adults may not have even heard of the company, Jemster, but children will have done because they saturate stations like MTV, commercial radio and teen dramas like Hollyoaks with their ads. Read more here and make sure your kids understand just how much this annoying frog costs.

Firefox has released an update for it's browser which fixes the security flaw reported last month. It's a 4.8mb download, which isn't that big if you have a decent connection and it's a trouble free download. You'll find the link to the download on the Software Updates page (link in Anorak News).

(24.03.05) As reported below computer support is to continue for another year (hooray!), so it would be handy if we all had the correct number. Which is  01546 604060, the line serves A&B corporate users and schools, so you must identify yourself as a member of the digital community to get help. I'll check the website and forum over the weekend to make sure the number is in all the right places, in the meantime I'm grateful to forum members dazedandconfused (I love that name!) and GerryW for the information.

Local News (this is just the sort of thing that would go on a good community site): The Scottish Executive has published its draft regulations for people on private water supplies, including information on grants for upgrading them. This is of particular relevance to local hotel owners who are more likely to be inspected than the rest of us. Read more here.

(23.03.05) BT are to offer free software that will prevent modems from dialling international numbers in an effort to stamp out dialler scams. These are small programs installed by dodgy, generally adult, websites when people respond to the promise of "free access" in return for installing a small program. Usually they aren't even aware that they are installing a program at all, it happens so quickly. Once installed, the program, called a dialler, reprograms their internet connection to dial a premium or international number.

The is a scam that has caught a few people in the community out, who then had rather large phone bills to explain. The BT software will warn people when the modem attempts to dial premium or international number. I can't help wondering if this is in some a response to people using their computers to make international phone calls though...Read more here. 

(21.03.05) The forum welcomed it's 153rd member today, not a number that would normally attract attention but the new bug is none other than Gerry Wilson, head of Argyll & Bute's IT Development Department. He's joined so that he can field questions about the future of the community and dispel some fears that the website and forum might lose their identies and independence if they moved over to the A & B server. His first post on the forum does just that, as well as raising some intriguing possibilities for training and community involvement. See for yourself by clicking here (last post in the thread) and add your reply!

The survey, reproted below, won't be extending beyond Coll and Colonsay. The survey is part of the "3 islands project", which saw one-stop-shops being installed on Islay, Colonsay and Jura by A& B council. The centres provided various services, perhaps most notably the ability to see a NHS consultant over a broadband connection, so saving the long trip to Glasgow. The project was so successful that it won the UK's "Modern Government" award last year. The three islands were surveyed to see how it had impacted local life and Coll was included because, like Colonsay it had had the NAIDC project but not the 3 islands one and so was a sort of control subject for Colonsay (they really got lucky didn't they? 3 islands, NAIDC and Hi-Wide broadband!)

(18.03.05) The surveyors are back again, looking into the affect that the digital community has had on our lives. So far they've only contacted people on Colonsay and Coll, and only Colonsay has actually received the survey forms so far. It's a different company than last time and the survey is on paper posted to residents, rather than a phone survey. I don't know if they intend to contact more people or if they're looking at Coll and Colonsay as microcosms of the community as a whole. Maybe they're just doing it in alphabetical order. I'm grateful to Pete Mackay and forum member Peabody for this item. Incidentally, Pete's Coll website is undergoing a revamp at the moment and is offline, I'll let you know as soon as it's back.

(17.03.05) Some time ago I recommended a free program called WinCleaner Suite. It's one of those utilities that sorts out the junk that accumulates on your computer and tidies up various parts of the system. The first few times I used it everything went fine but this week it has caused me a great deal stress. Somehow I switched on something called "WinStart Commander", which is supposed to speed up the time XP takes to start but on my computer it just froze and caused various applications not to start at all. Most notably the mouse stopped working and I had to sort everything out using the keyboard, which isn't easy I can tell you. So, if you're using it as a result of my recommendation be very careful not to turn this bit of it on. I usually recommend that people stay away from this type of program and I'll be following my own advice from now on!

(16.03.05) Suffering from hand tremors is very common and prevents people within the community from getting anywhere with their computer. Happily, help is at, erm, hand, unhappily it costs seventy quid but that might not be to much to pay to get someone up and surfing. Montrose Secam is a British electronics which has developed system that eliminates the affect of the tremor on the mouse cursor, it's adjustable to take into account the degree of tremor and has settings for button clicks too. See for yourself by clicking here, more help for those with problems using a computer can be found here.

The forum has had over a quarter of a million visits and more than 6000 messages have been posted! Thanks to everyone who has contributed over the years!

(14.03.05) Two weeks into March and as far as I know (and I get tons of newsletters) the Scottish Executive hasn't named the lucky winning tenders for the broadband contracts that are supposed to provide us all with broadband by the end of the year. When I spoke to my contacts at the end of 2004 they were all positive that the end of '05 date wasn't an "aspiration" (in NuLabour speak) but an achievable commitment. They were also certain that the contractors would be announced at the beginning of March and we're now half way through. Anyone else with a sense of deja vu?

I wish I had broadband NOW! If it wasn't hard enough dealing with an out of date address book, the NTL email service has been experiencing ongoing problems over the weekend and today I'm getting disconnected every ten minutes. What's worse, the NTL service status page is unavailable today, which can't be a good sign. If you're a NTL or Tesco customer and have been experiencing difficulties - you're not alone!

(12.03.05) Far to much sport on the telly today to update the site properly but just enough time to thank everyone for their comments on the future of the community. Most have come by email, I'd really appreciate some more comments on the forum itself, so come on everyone - lets get a debate going!

(11.03.05) As well as the extra funding Argyll and Bute want to give the community website another crack. Now I know we've been here before and the last attempt didn't work out as well as it could but the basic idea was good. The community should have a website that provides a hub for news, events etc and we need to talk about what we want from it. What do we want from a community website, should this website and it's forum be intergrated into it so everything works together better?

There's lots of other things that need discussing too, what do we want in the way of courses from Argyll College or what's to be done about all the computers that were delivered but never used. I've started a thread on the forum the subject and I really want everyone to contribute their thoughts, positive, negative or off the wall. If you can't post on the forum email me and I'll post for you, this is really important, it's our chance to influence the future and how a significant amount of money is used!

I'll be mailing people about this over the weekend, in the meantime I've emailed all the forum members, my apologies if you get the same email twice!

(10.03.05) I am happy to confirm that, as a result of the extra years funding for the digital community, the local engineers are going to retained and will be available to sort out most computer problems. It's likely that there won't be sufficient funding to cover hardware replacement however, so you might have to fork out something if you need a modem or hard disc replaced but the labour costs will be covered. This may encourage more people to pick up the Belkin cube (which protects against surges on the power line) that's waiting for them somewhere locally (most are at village halls or schools), line surges being one of the most common causes of computer failure.

(09.03.05) Tiree, the somewhat uncommunicative NAIDC member, was one of the islands that worked really hard to reach the BT trigger point last year and against all expectations reached the necessary 100 signatures. This means that the exchange will be enabled for broadband but unfortunately because of the island's geography not everyone will be able to get the service. To solve this problem they've set up their own broadband company so that those in outlying areas will be able th enjoy the same service as their near neighbours.

Now, thanks to the extra year that Argyll and Bute has granted the NAIDC, the council is looking at ways of assisting them in their work. It's just the first example of what the council IT department hopes will be a way of helping others unable to get broadband via the telephone. At the moment the maximum distance is around 8 kilometers or 5 miles from an exchange, which leaves a far number of people literally out of the loop. Since the demise of Hi-Wide, which was set up for exactly this group of households, there has been a need to help them and A&B aim to do just that.

My email about the future of the community has had to be put on hold because so many people have changed address and my old group mailing list just doesn't work anymore, every time I try to send it out an extinct address stops it. I'll try and get it out tomorrow.

(08.03.05) My report of the end of the community was premature! I'm very happy to announce that Argyll-Bute have decided to carry on the project for another year. There will be some changes, for instance it not entirely certain what form the hardware support will take but hopefully it will be available in some form and there will be more career and life enhancing courses available from Argyll College.

We're going to have another go at reviving the Argyllcom website but possibly in another form and forum members should look out for an email from me on this subject soon - because it's up to us what exactly happens.

Also the council intends to get involved in helping outlying communities to get broadband because there will still be people who are beyond the range of ADSL when the exchanges are enabled. There'll be more on this and other news about the coming year over the next few days, so keep checking the website!

Good news all round really :¬)

(07.03.05) Yesterday marked the official end of the NAIDC project - or did it? Certainly we will no longer be able to get a variety computer problems fixed for free which will mean that a lot of people will have to be lot more careful about lightening strikes and viruses but is really the end of the community? No, the whole thing would have been a failure if that was true and all the evidence suggests that it will continue as long people want it to. The access statistics for both this website and the forum continue at the same level as they established in the first year of the project and as long as we have common issues and interests, there's no reason for that to change. And who knows, Argyll and Bute may have some ideas for sustaining things in the long term, afterall they are hardly going to want all this effort to count for nothing.

Zopa has been on the news a lot today, it's not the name of a new south American revolutionary but a loan exchange that will operate in a similar way to ebay or betting exchanges, putting together lenders with borrowers. It allows you to lend at higher rates than that you might expect from conventional investments and borrow at lower rates than offered by banks etc. Essentially you set the rate at which you want to borrow or lend and wait for people to take up the offer. Risk is spread by sharing transactions amongst 50 people and contracts enforced by a collection agency. Signing up is reassuringly vigorous but fairly straight forward and the whole thing looks well worth looking at. Read more here or visit the zopa website here.

(06.03.05) This month's Scottish Islands Newsletter is out and as ever it's full of stories that you just have to read. This month has something of a theme, renewable energy and while the rest of the islands and their councils seem to be steaming ahead,  the Luing plan for a bridge/wave power scheme, that would have joined the island to Seil and gone a some way to reducing our use of non-renewables, has been rejected, I wonder why. Also in the news is the plan to join Orkney to the mainland with a tunnel. Yes, that surprised me too. Read all about it here.

(03.03.05) Emails infected with the W32.Mydoom.AS continue to pour in and the senders computer appears to infected with a much older virus too. The email addresses in the messages are still mostly .com, so the user might not be local but I'd still like to track them down. Click here for the list of addresses and more details.

(02.03.05) Skype does work! It's a bit embarrassing, I discovered that to dial a UK number you has to dial the international code (+44) but leave off the first zero of the number and then it worked fine. There was no delay on the line but voices sounded as if you were suffering from a really bad cold. The best thing about the system, apart from being to phone me if I'm online, which I am all the time, is that you can phone somewhere like New Zealand for only 1.1p (approx.)! I've started a thread on the subject on the forum in the Internet section, check it out, sign up and give me a call!

February

(28.02.05) Skype is the much publicised service that allows you to make phone calls over the Internet. To other users of the service the calls are free, it's like messenger but without the icons really. You are suppossed to make calls to the phones of non-skype users too but I can't get it to work :(

The idea is wonderful, especially for those of us with one line and on a dial-up connection, supposedly we can call any number in the world but no matter what combination of UK prefices I use, I can't get through to local numbers. It would be a great thing if all the users of the forum and website where signed up to the service, which is free if you're calling other users, it would be even easier to use than messenger for sorting out problems. My username is bwilderbeast, sign up to skype (what a horrible name) here and give me a call!

(27.02.05) Hewlett Packard is one of the most popular choices for people wanting a really good printer. One of the drawbacks with them, and most other high end models, is the cost of ink. Whereas with a cheaper a printer you can buy cheap compatible cartridges but with an expensive printer you have to stick with the manufacturer's own brand because there's not much point in spending all that on a printer only to spoil the pictures with inferior ink.

HP inks can cost anything up to £24 a cartridge, which is bad enough but now it appears that they have a built in fail by date which means that even if you don't use it much the cartridge will fail after a certain time. This is the claim of an American woman who is taking the company to court over the matter. Read more here.

(26.02.05) Don't bin the Wanadoo (the new name for Freeserve) disks that have been arriving with the post over the last couple of days! Over the last month I've had to help a number of people get online and it would have been a lot easier if they'd had one. Even if you don't want to use Wanadoo in the long term, you can use the disk to install a pay-as-you-go account and then sign up with someone else at your leisure.

(25.02.05) Firefox has released an update to counter the recent security flaws in the browser. The main one is a work around for the spoofing of domains (website names) and there will be another update when they come up with a permenant solution. The update appears to be a reinstallation rather than a patch and is a 3.9mb download but apart from it's size, it's a simple proceedure. Click here for more information, here for a list of fixes and here to download the update.

W32.Mydoom.AS has been popping up with alarming frequency in my in box over the last few days and I would like to here from anyone else who has been sent it. It's a very widespread virus which first appeared at the beginning of the month and Norton has been detecting since the 9th, if you recieved a copy please email me and maybe we'll figure out who the sender is. Read more about virus tracking here (the item about MyDoom AS is the last post in the thread).  

(23.02.05) Mull & Iona Chamber of Commerce & Mull & Iona Renewable Energy Forum are holding a meeting tomorrow night at the Craignure Hall about domestic wind power. The small turbines are about the size of a satellite dishes and are attached to the corner of the house or  chimney. They don't provide enough power to run the whole house but can make a significant contribution towards reducing power taken from the mains. The meeting will explain grants, installation and when they'll be available and starts at 7pm.

"Xbox recall" has been a headline on many websites but isn't strictly accurate. Rather than recall they're replacing, free of charge power cables that might be a fire hazard as they're prone to over heating. All boxes sold before 23rd of October 2003 should be returned and all those purchased from continetal Europe before 13th of January 2004.  People who searched for an online bargain Xbox may have inadvertantly bought from the continent due to marginal retailers in the UK sourcing from whoever offers the best  price. Read more here and find out if your box is affected here.

(21.02.05) Sorry, not much news today or over the weekend, just a couple of items in Anorak News. I'm having trouble with the server again, hopefully things will be fixed now the weekend is over.

(18.02.05) System Restore is the no nonsense solution to a lot of computer woes that even the most inexperienced is happy to use. And I don't want to put them off because this problem can't affect most people and only affects a very small number of those it can.

System restore works by replacing the latest copy of a folder, called the registry, for an older one. The registry contains the date of the virus definitions and uses this to retrieve files for Norton Antivirus (NAV), so after doing a restore you should perform a live update with NAV so have the latest files. It's only people who restore back to Wednesday's date or earlier who need worry about this because that's the day Symantec releases the updates.

Normally doing a live update easy and the updates are found but very rarely they might not, which can be indication that the definitions folder has been corrupted. Fortunately it's easy to test to see if it is OK, sadly not so easy to fix if it's corrupted. If that happens it has to be deleted and all the virus definitions and more have to be downloaded again.

As I said, the worst happens very rarely but everyone should know that they should update NAV if they do restore to Wednesday or earlier. I've update the Norton guide here and the restore guide here, thanks to Peabody whose forum question brought the issue up.

(15.02.05) A flaw in Norton Internet Security could lead to viruses infecting computers and even in the antivirus program executing them. The flaw lies in the compression program that NIS uses to store and transmit virus definitions. The is a patch available but at the moment it needs to be downloaded manually. To do this you just need to open Norton Internet Security or Antivirus from the All Programs menu and click on "Live Update" at the top of the dialogue box, click next etc until you're finally told to restart your computer. Hopefully they will add the fix to the updates that are downloaded every Wednesday but they might not as it's not actually a virus definition. I'll check tomorrow to see if they have. Read more here.

(14.02.05) Valentines day is a special day for more than just the secret admirer, virus senders look forward to it as an oppurtunity to get unsuspecting people to open things from strangers. This is something they try to do all year round but today is the only one dedicated to doing just that. Their favoured weapon is the e-card, if you're lucky you'll get a genuine one but be careful of opening it if you don't recognise the name of the e-card company it comes from.

I've had to edit the piece on Firefox Add-ons (see story below) because the links don't work and I've had to remove them. It all works now, thanks to everyone who got in touch about it!

(12.02.05) Firefox add-ons: I've spent the afternoon writing a guide to installing Firefox extensions and themes. Which is not as exciting as it sounds. Knowing about the subject isn't either but it can really improve the way that FIrefox works and the things that it can do. For instance if you get bored with having to right click to copy highlighted text you can do that automatically just by downloading a tiny program. Click here for more. Click here for more information on Firefox.

(10.02.05) Firefox, the popular alternative to Internet Explorer, performs better without OnSpeed than with it! OnSpeed, you will recall, is the application that promises broadband speed on a dial-up connection and it does indeed speed up Internet Explorer considerably. Describing it as broadband is a bit misleading because it never reaches the kind of speed you'd get from ADSL and it makes pictures look terrible but does make IE noticably faster.

Firefox however performs slightly better without it, not much, about 5% faster but it does this without spoiling the pictures. Not only that but it's free, while OnSpeed costs £24.99, and safer to use than IE because it doesn't have all the security flaws of its Microsoft rival. Read more about Firefox on the forum by clicking here. 

(09.02.05) A box is popping up on some computers when they connect to the Internet containing the message "A newer version of Messenger is available. You must install the newer version in order to continue. Would you like to do this now?". There are only two buttons "Yes" and "What's New", so not much choice and people choose "OK". The update then downloads automatically.

It a while to download because it's a large file but the problem comes at the next stage when an unfamiliar box appears with the choices "Run" and "Don't Run". Unfortunately the latter is highlighted in blue, which usually means that it's the thing you are supposed to do but if you click it or hit the return without thinking the update won't be installed and you'll go through the same process the next time you connect to the Internet. You should click on "Run Now" instead. There's more information, with screenshots of the dialogue boxes, on the forum if you click here. Thanks to everyone who contacted me about this!

Microsoft anti-Spyware utility, which has only been out a few weeks, when I reported it's release, has been targeted by a trojan(type of virus) that disables it and then attempts to steal banking details. No doubt it will added to Norton Internet Security's list of threats very soon but it is an indication of how quickly MS products are targeted. My advice is to stick to third party anti-spyware programs, you'll find links to some below. Read more here.

(08.02.05) MS Automatic Update will probably slow down your internet connection over the next few days as it retrieves over six Mbs of files. It won't happen all the time as it is suppossed to operate in the background but it does switch on and off, which does have an affect. The updates include security patches for XP, messenger and Internet Explorer amongst other things and they come at once because Microsoft only releases the updates once a month these days. The full list can be found on the Software Updates page (link on Anorak News)

(07.02.05) Sorry about the lack of updates over the weekend, this was partly due to me watching the rugby when I would normally be working on the website but also due an upsurge in request for help. I'm not sure what's caused it, the requests were very varied, so it might be just down to people thinking that they better ask now in case there's no help around when the NAIDC project is wound up at the beginning of next month.

I'm happy to say that this website and it's forum won't be disappearing though, it might not get the same attention if I can't find new funding but it will still be here. So I still welcome the questions but don't panic, you'll still be able to reach us after next month!

(04.02.05) The 2005 News Archive has been redone to make it easier to search. All the months are now on the same page so that, although it takes longer to load, once it does you can use the "Find on this Page" function available via the "Edit" menu at the top of Internet Explorer. I haven't actually deleted the individual month pages yet incase it all goes wrong.

(03.02.05) Spyware was in the news again today, only a few days after I last wrote about it. Today's story centered on the possibility of having banking details stolen by a trojan (type of virus), something that is more a matter of having an anti-virus program to my mind but none-the-less it's an oppurtunity to repost the links to anti-spyware programs. Both of these a free and you should run both on a regular basis because neither will catch everything. Click here for Spybot and here for adaware.

Mess, Mull's recycling group, will glad to hear that their efforts have not been in vain. The Scottish Executive reports that the recycling of municiple waste has risen by 3% over the last year to 12.3%. Read more here. I need a proper page for this kind of story.

(02.02.05) Unst, Scotlands most northerly island could be mined for platinum. This is just one of the many stories that can be found in the latest Scottish Islands Newsletter, which also has items about marine ecology, Windfarms and a look at the latest figures from Cal-Mac. To read more about Unst and much else click here.

(01.02.05) The first day of February marks the start of new news archive and so I've moved most of January's news over to the new page for 2005. I've left the last few days here for people who don't check the site everyday and so this page doesn't look quite so bare. The best way to search the archives is to wait for the page to load, which can take a while because it's a whole years news and then to click on "Edit" and "Find on the page". A box will pop up and you'll be able to enter the subject you want. Entries will then be highlighted each time you click on "Find".

(31.01.05) Watch out for the latest ebay scam emails, they look particularly convincing. The subject line informs you that your account has been cancelled and the body of the email has all the right links and graphics, some of the links even take you to genuine ebay pages. However it's a complete scam and as I reported earlier, ebay no longer sends this kind of email out, instead it uses it's own internel email system which access via "Myebay". It's easy to check if your account has been cancelled, just go to ebay in the normal way and logon.

There's also a fake e-card appearing in the community. The subject line has the bit that appears before the @ sign in your email address and as a lot of people use their own name there, it can look genuine. It asks you to collect a card from www.postcartes.com, a domain that doesn't actua;;y exist and you shouldn't attempt to download the card.

(28.01.05) Fathers 4 Justice virus: I'm just posting about this because it's one of those stories that could make the headlines if it's a slow news day tomorrow but there's not that much to worry about. The anti-virus company Sophos is reporting the emergence of a worm (a type of virus) that appears to come from a supporter of the Dads rights organisation, although it doesn't show any sign of this when it arrives, rather it has various subject lines such as "how not to get a promotion". It comes with an attachment which if opened will attempt to resend the virus to addresses found on the computer in the normal way of viruses. What's unusual about it is that it also creates a Word document containing text that supports F4J and leaves it on the computer.

It's not widespread as yet and Symantec (makers of Norton Anti-virus) have already released an update to deal with one of the two variants of the worm and no doubt the second variant will be dealt with soon. Read more here and avoid opening email attachments form strangers in the meantime.

(27.01.05) Spyware: This sort of story would usually appear on the Anorak page but enough people in the community use anti-spyware programs for it to warrant a spot in the main news. Windows Secrets (WS) reports that not only are 80% of home computers infected by spyware but the programs that they use to detect and destroy aren't that good at their job.

"Spyware" refers to programs that spy on your web surfing and use that information to send you spam email. It ranges from tracking cookies that record the adverts you look at to programs that report your every click on a link. Tracking cookies aren't to bad, they just produce spam but some spyware actually uses your internet connection to report back to another computer. Not only does this result in more spam but it slows your internet connection down.

WS has taken research done by Eric Howe, who published five pages of raw data into the affectiveness of anti-spyware programs and turned it into a league table, then added tests on a program of their own. What they found was that the best of the programs only found that even there choice, Giant Antispyware, only got 63% of programs on an infected computer. Ad-Aware, the most popular program, came third with 47% and SpyBot scored only 33%.

They recommend that people should have at least two antispyware programs and run them regularly. As Giant costs $30 I recommend Adaware (click here) and SpyBot (click here). You might also consider A², click here. Read the full article by clicking here.

(26.01.05) I spoke to someone at HIE regarding yesterday's story and it seems that people living in small communities shouldn't be unduly worried by the "50 households" definition of a community. This figure is being used as a base from which companies tendering for the contracts can work. There has to be some sort of figure because it's unrealistic to expect them to bid on a per person basis. Also the size of the local exchange is not that important because ADSL is not the only technology being used, it might be that ADSL proves cheaper for one community, while radio is the best option for another.

I'm also happy to report the EU has decided that the scheme does not contravene their competition rules (I had google alerts set up to tell me this and it failed to do so - darn technology!), which was the only thing that might have put a crimp in the Scottish Executive plans. They hope to have completed the tender process and be awarding contracts sometime in March.

Microsoft is extending it's carrot and stick approach to illegal software by offering more free or discounted software. I reported on their free photo editor, Photo Story 3 before Christmas, now they've added free game trials and discounts on their purchase and discounted website hosting amongst other things. In order to get them you have to prove that you have a genuine copy of XP by entering the product code before downloading or signing up to services. On the stick side of things They're going to clamp down on people with illegal copies getting upgrades and patches, which will leave their computers vulnerable to attack in the long term. Read more here and check the free software etc here.

(25.01.05) Broadband (Bb): Since the Scottish Executive anouncement last year, telling us that every exchange in Scotland would be upgraded for ADSL (Bb via the phone) by the end of this year, we've all thought that it was only a matter of time before we could enjoy the Internet at a reasonable speed.

However, a reader has pointed out that the FAQ's document on the HIE website (available here) states that coverage will "ensure as "near 100%" coverage as possible within the limits of available technology and budget" and more to the point, the communities "are the smallest geographical units used in the official census – each typically contains c. 50 households". As several exchanges within the community serve considerably less than 50 households, he asks if his exchange will be upgraded.

I tried to contact Hi-Wide, who were charged with bringing Bb to outlying areas but it's been disbanded (even though the website is still there), which could be good news because it presumably means that there is no need for it. But it could mean that Bb stratergy is as confused as ever. So I've written to the HIE for clarification and I'll let you know the results as soon as they come in. Thanks to David for getting in touch with the question.

(24.01.05) My item last week about renewing antivirus subscriptions or at least finding a cheap alternative, has sparked some reaction. Emails from all over the community have come in from people who have had to help people out because their computers have been infected with a virus after their AV subscription lapsed. This is all very well now, when we are still being supported by a network of engineers but that is about to run out and one can only rely on good neighbours so much. I urge everyone to do something about this now. Just about everyone who reads this website will be completely up to date but we have to get the message out to more people somehow (nagging? I don't know!). I'll look into buying on ebay and I hope to be able to offer Norton Antivirus at discount prices in the next couple of weeks, in the meantime check the links in the previous story below.

Mess, Mull's very own recycling project, is holding an auction and jumble sale in aid of the Tsunami victims on the 5th of February at the Craignure Hall. The jumble starts at 12 and the auction at 2, if you would like to contribute you can bring stuff to the hall on Friday between 12 and 6pm and on Saturday before 12, uplift can be arranged before Wednesday the 2nd, please ring Carol Marshall on 01681 700 375 or Alan Schofield on 01681 700 368 for details.

(21.01.05) Ebay has introduced its own inhouse message service in a bid to finally defeat the ebay phishing (emails that pretend to come from ebay in order to steal personal details) problem. They will no longer send any announcements out via email, instead members will find a new item on their "My ebay" page called "My Messages". At the moment it only contains stuff from the company but they intend to expand the service and allow members to communicate with each other through the system.

They still appear to be sending out advertising email in the normal way but now everything that seems to come from them can be binned without worrying that it might actually be important.

(19.01.05) Those of us not lucky enough to find our Norton Internet Security subscriptions renewing automatically often feel somewhat resentful at having to fork out for another years updates. Well, I do anyway. Fortunately there are some cheap alternatives to renewing the existing programs subscription. On Ebay at the moment you can buy Norton Internet Security 2004 from reputable sellers for only £11.99, while the newer 2005 is £17.99. If that is a bit more than you want to spend you can find Norton Antivirus at very low prices. If you don't want to go to Ebay you could buy the latest edition of Computer Shopper magazine by phoning Smith's in Oban, it has ZoneAlarm firewall and AVG Antivirus on the cover disc, both of which are completely free. AVG is not as user friendly as Norton Antivirus but it's better than being without virus protection. You can find advice on buying on Ebay in the forum's Buyer's Club.

(18.01.05) New Guide: New forum member meg posted a question asking how she could set up email accounts for herself and her husband and when bearsarus said that she hadn't realised this was possible, I decided it was worth turning into a guide. Having more than one email address is really useful even if only one person is using the computer. You have one for friends, one for online shops, another for groups or message boards you belong to. Then it's very simple to set Outlook Express up to put the email to each one into its own folder. The guide is written for a Tesco.net user but all ISPs allow you to have more than one address, so whoever you use it's worth checking the guide. Click here for the guide. Thanks to Meg for asking the question!

Watch out for emails with the subject line  "Tsunami Donation! Please help!", they are one of the anticiapated scams exploiting the Asian tragedy. It goes on to ask people to contribute by clicking on a link which actually runs a virus infected file. The virus then launches an attack on a website. Read more here.

(16.01.05) The XP SP2 problem I reported on Saturday that prevented a user from accessing webpages has been solved. It was an odd one too because they could connect to the Internet and download updates etc but webpages produced a non-specific error message, while trying to send and receive email just resulted in the incorrect error message 0X008CCCOE.  After a forum suggestion from sgegreen, I uninstalled and reinstalled Norton Internet Security and now everything is working again. I don't really understand why, merely disabling them had no affect but it worked and that's what matters!

I'd searched in vain on the Internet for a solution to this problem and, although I found a few other people reporting the same problem, I didn't find the answer. As sge says he's come across the same thing and XP SP2 is evidently still downloading, more people may have the same difficulty, so this is worth bearing in mind. Read slightly more here, or if you come across this in the future, remember that there's an item about it on the forum.

(14.01.05) XP SP2 is still downloading! The new dialogue box I reported yesterday appeared on a computer which installed XP SP2 the next time it was started. I'd say that the user was online a fairly average amount of time for someone who just uses the Internet for email and the odd bit of shopping or research. Their connection speed is pretty good, suggesting that a lot of computers are still downloading the service pack, which might explain why there haven't been that many questions about it. I'm sorry to report that the user has now lost the use of email and can't get web pages to display, I don't know if this connected to the installation of SP2 but I suspect it is :(

(13.01.05) The latest round of Windows automatic updates come with a new dialogue box. Gone is the familier biege box in the bottom right of the screen, replaced by a big dialogue box in the middle of the screen, offering a choice between Express and Custom Install. Express installs all the downloaded updates, while Custom lets the user choose which ones they want. I recommend that inexperienced users use the Express option rather than try and decide which ones they need.

As reported below, one of the updates is a virus scanner and clicking on the Custom brings up a brief description of what it does. Helpfully it explains that you might also use a third party antivirus program (Like Norton). Installing it doesn't appear to make any dramatic changes and it appears to be just a passive scanner, requiring the user to run it, rather it just working away in the background. Further details of the new dialogue box, including a screenshot and the installation proceedure can be found on the forum by clicking here.

(12.01.05) This month's MS updates include patches for some of the recentely discovered vulnerabilities, including the way Windows handles image files and the help file one (I never really understood what that was). It also contains what appears to be an equivalent of McAfee's stinger, a virus scanner that will detect some of the most recent and virulent viruses. It is the result of MS's purchase of a virus company and is the first sign that they intent to intergrate virus scanning with automatic updates. It's better than nothing I suppose but I wouldn't give up on a third party program such as Norton Antivirus just because MS are now taking an interest. All the above will download via automatic update by the way.

Last night's power cuts were short and at long enough intervals not to affect computers that are set to automatically reboot when power is restored. Even so it was a timely reminder that it's a good idea to stop them doing so, just incase the power cut is really short and the computer doesn't get a chance to start/shutdown properly. All NAIDC computers are set up to restart automatically and you will have to make a change in order to stop them doing it. Click here for the guide.

(11.01.05) Hope you all like the new look for the website and find that it loads a bit quicker. I'm still tweaking odd things, I'm not too happy with the logo in the top left for instance. Any comments welcome!

Mozzila is not as secure as it once appeared according to an article on the Enterprise Security Today website. The three vulnerabilities are not rated as critical and only two of them affect the latest versions of Firefox and Thunderbird. Never the less it shows that with an increase in popularity comes an increased interest in finding exploits and there are bound to be more to come. Read more here. Still a lot more secure than Internet Explorer though! Thanks to Steve for the tip.

There's a 25% chance of lightning tonight and tomorrow, so people who didn't get their free Belkin Cube are advised to disconnect the computer from the telephone in case of surges. Incidently, this also applies to satelite boxes. On the subject of weather, I see from the much improved Cal-Mac website that all the ferrys to Mull are/were (depending when you read this) cancelled today due to the weather, the next scheduled Craignure sailing is tomorrow at 8am. You can check the ferry service status by clicking here and the weather here (type in your postcode on the left).

(09.01.04) I'm working on a new look for the website and maybe a couple of extra features and intend to have it up and running by tomorrow evening. Basically I'm trying for a cleaner and less cluttered look which hopefully will enable it load faster. So check back tomorrow, either it will be here or it will be an unintelligable mass of code floating around cyber-space. Fingers crossed...

(08.01.04) Microsoft has released a set of add-ons and is even recommending an alternative to Internet Explorer on its website. The add-ons (small programs that add various functions to a larger program) include  pop-up blockers, spam killers and much more. The browser is called "Avant" and has many of the same features that Firefox users have enjoyed for some time, such as tabbed browsing,  which allows you have more than one web page open at a time in the same window and spellchecking of web forms.

They've obviously been developed in response to the success of Firefox and are very easy to download and install. Initial impressions are that the Avant browser is almost as quick as Firefox. As it is based on the same core program as Internet Explorer I suspect that it will also share it's vulnerabilities but it might appeal to people who want an alternative to Internet Explorer but don't quite feel like moving to Firefox just yet. Read more and get the link to the MS page by clicking here.

People should update Adobe Acrobat reader in light of a recently discovered security vulnerability. It's very rare for .pdf files to pose a risk in this way, the last occassion was back in 2000 I think. People can either open a .pdf document and then click on "Help" and "Updates" or download the latest version of the program by going to the Software Updates page (click here) and clicking on the link on the top of the page. The new version is said to be a lot faster but it is a large download, so people may prefer to take the update route.

(07.01.04) DACS boxes: It seems I painted an overly rosy picture of the DACS box situation in my round up of the years news, at least as far as Lismore is concerned. The island was one of those places with a mix of connection speeds, ranging from the fast to the worst.

There was some improvement when the new guidelines came in and some of the really bad connections were improved but not much. Now it seems that that BT has abandoned the island exchange and have no intention to improve a line even when there is a spare one available. I've started a topic on the subject (click here) on the forum and welcome views and experiences, most of all we need to figure out what we can do about it though. Thanks to Steve for the correction, I'll update the news round up accordingly.

(06.01.04) I thought this was all behind us but it seems that BT are still messing people about when they complain about line quality. Two community members, both connected to the same exchange, are reporting noise on their telephone lines and BT are not doing anything about it. The problems are so bad that you can't actually have a coherent conversation because the noise is so loud. BT blame their equipment, presumably they think that all their handsets and computers have suddenly developed faults that don't actually disable them but just put a loud crackle on the line!

I'm very disappointed about this, BT had vastly improved over the second their response to these complaints in the second half of 2004 but they seem to be back to their old ways. It's just not good enough...ooh, I feel quite cross...

A new guide to creating hardware profiles is available by clicking here, give it a go, it very easy and can improve games performance significantly.

(05.01.04) You may have noticed a button at the bottom of the hardware tab on the "My Computer" properties dialogue box marked "Hardware Profiles". It allows you create configurations which have different components enabled or disabled and I've been seeing what affect disabling things like the printer, modem, scanner etc would have on the performance of the computer.

Much to my surprise the difference made by just having those external devices disabled was quite significant. In 3D tests for instance, which are important for playing games, there was an improvement of around 16%, almost as much as I got by upgrading the processor. Tomorrow I'll write a guide to how to create profiles, which is surprisingly straight forward. 

(04.01.05) The 2000friends year in review has been posted in the News Archive 2004, the link's on the left, I hope you enjoy the look back! In the near future I'll put all the month pages together onto a single page so they are easier to search.

(03.01.05) The year in review: Not mine yet I'm afraid, that'll be posted tomorrow but googles. Every year they summarise the web searches by category and country, creating a snap shot of the life on the Internet. Surprisingly almost nothing seem to have changed for UK surfers over the past 12 months, Beckham and Spears still top the celeb searches, Bush the political, Big Brother TV. Anna Korna whatshername seems to have disappeared and it seems that we're all bored with Tony Blair though. To find anything interesting you have to venture to the top ten list of countries like Japan and Finland, which you can do by clicking here. Google have also created an interactive, geographical timeline to the year here (takes a moment or two to load.

On a bleaker note an article on the Register (click here) sumes up one of the themes of the past year, the various threats faced by Internet Explorer users. Well some of them face everyone but IE users are particularly at risk. Check back tomorrow for the summary of the year in the community 

(02.01.05) £8 million has been raised via the DEC website, the highest amount ever raised on line for a single appeal and with 11000 donations an hour being made that's hardly surprising. To make it even easier for people to find the site major websites like Amazon and google have added links to their homepages, even google has joined in with a link on it famously bare search engine.

Sadly some people have seen the tragedy as an oppurtunity to make money and people are warned to look out for fake charity emails asking for money to help the victims. Some of these are bound to be very convincing and so, even if you are on a charity mailing list I suggest that you only give money by going directly to the DEC website by clicking here.

(01.01.05) Happy New Year Everybody! I hope you've all recovered from your celebrations and are ready for another year at the white hot cutting edge of the computer coal face! (Oh...I feel tired already..)

Tsunami donors will be interested to know that they can now donate at the Post Office, much easier than going online or over the phone. As you will have seen, the amount of money given has already risen to unprecedented levels and perhaps people will think its enough. If that is the case, please direct them to the Washington Post, which has satelite images of just a small part of the devastated land. You can see that not only have villages gone but entire field systems, perhaps hundreds of years old, have been wiped out by the tidal wave. Click here to see for yourself or here for the forum thread that has links and numbers for donations. Thanks to baldeagle for the Post Office tip.