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Election 2006 (and beyond): Digital Copyright Canada
From: Russell McOrmond <russell_-at-_flora.ca>
To: flora-admin-help_-at-_flora.org
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2002 13:07:58 -0400 (EDT)
Useful summary. I suggest other list managers consider publishing
something similar.
BTW: I posted a relevant article about OpenOffice.org to the FLORA
Weblog.
"NY Times: The Office Software That Roared"
http://weblog.flora.org/article.php3?story_id=199
This is a great review of OpenOffice.org 1.0:
Some people should download
OpenOffice immediately. That
includes anyone who doesn't have
Microsoft Office but would like the
ability to open and edit documents
that other people send along.
Conscientious objectors to the
Microsoft monopoly should also
rejoice, along with anyone who uses
more than two PC's and doesn't feel
like shelling out for a second or third
copy of Microsoft Office.
---
Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
See http://weblog.flora.ca/ for announcements, activities, and opinions
At Ottawa Linux Symposium this week - replies may be slow.
http://weblog.flora.ca/article.php3?story_id=196
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2002 06:23:26 -0400
From: Peter Blanchard <people@planetfriendly.net>
To: people@planetfriendly.net
Subject: Don't Open Attachments (but no, we don't have a virus)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ATTACHMENTS, VIRUSES &
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An important note to our subscribers
and others interested...
(1) We Don't Send Attachments!
(2) Viruses that *pretend* to come from us
(3) Think twice before opening ANY attachment
(4) What's Wrong With Attachments???
(5) Need to send an attachment?
(6) Sending effective attachments (or not!)
(7) The Bottom Line
(8) To learn more:
- E-Mail Tips & Strategies
- 7 Steps To Virus-Free Computing
- Alternatives To Corporate Software
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) WE DON'T SEND ATTACHMENTS !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The People- & Planet-Friendly has never sent any attachments
and never will. This is partly because of the very real risk
of viruses. Dozens of you are getting infected (from sources
other than us) -- often losing important files, having to
reinstall your computer, and wasting a lot of time.
*** If you ever get an attachment purporting ***
*** to come from us, DON'T OPEN IT ***
(Exception: While we never send attachments to our list,
we do occasionally send small attachments in *individual*
correspondence -- to people we have already corresponded
with and who are expecting such an attachment. We always
include a full explanation in the plain text body of the
message, giving plenty of information for you to decide
whether or not you wish to open the attachment).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(2) VIRUSES THAT *PRETEND* TO COME FROM US
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's e-mail viruses can forge the sender's address.
For example, if Jane Doe's computer is infected by a
virus, and our e-mail address happens to be somewhere
on Jane's computer, the virus could send an attachment
that *appears* to have come from us. So if you receive
an attachment that seems to be from us, don't open it...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(3) THINK TWICE BEFORE OPENING *ANY* ATTACHMENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you receive an unexpected attachment from anybody
-- including friends and coworkers -- think twice before
opening it. While plain text messages cannot contain
viruses -- attachments and HTML mail definitely can.
Today's viruses can do everything from destroying
your files, to damaging your computer, to violating
your privacy (passwords, credit card numbers, etc.)
If someone sends you an unsolicited or unwanted attachment,
politely ask them to resend the message as plain text, and
refer them to http://www.planetfriendly.net/emailtips.html
for more information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(4) WHAT'S WRONG WITH ATTACHMENTS?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are MANY reasons -- in addition to concerns
about viruses -- that make the sending of attachments
problematic.
Sending or receiving e-mail attachments:
* can infect your computer with a virus and destroy your files
* can infect your friends (who may not know how to protect themselves)
* exclude people who do not have the required software
* exclude people who have slower connections
* often take additional time & effort on the part of the recipient
* can make things more difficult for beginners
* can overfill people's mailboxes, causing further
messages from you and others to be rejected
* are less frequently forwarded to others
* can be blocked, mangled or stripped off in transit
* are often deleted by recipients (i.e. not read!)
* can waste a lot of time, effort and money.
On a political and economic level, attachments can:
* needlessly increase the dependence of the entire community
on expensive corporate software (plus the expense
of frequent required upgrades and other concerns);
* foster dependence on monopolistic companies
that operate without concern for diversity or
sustainability -- and already have had major
impacts far beyond the world of computers;
* foster an imbalance of power in communication media;
* be harmful to open, democratic communications.
The above applies to all kinds of attachments. It
also applies to HTML mail. In most circumstances,
e-mail should be plain text, and plain text only!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(5) NEED TO SEND AN ATTACHMENT?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sending an attachment to multiple recipients beyond
your own immediate office is rarely appropriate.
When is it appropriate?
* IF all of your recipients have the required software,
and the time & ability to process the file;
* IF you and all your recipients have up-to-date virus
protection software and recent backups of your files;
* IF you know that the file is not larger than
your recipients will be happy with;
* and IF the graphics, formatting, or other
non-textual content is critical to your message
...then sending an attachment might be appropriate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(6) SENDING EFFECTIVE ATTACHMENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If, after considering the above, you feel that
sending an attachment is appropriate in your
situation, try to do it in an effective and
considerate manner.
At a minimum, be sure to write a clear, descriptive
subject line AND use the text body of the message to
describe the purpose and content of the attachment.
If it's a large message (say over 100K), consider
contacting the recipient in advance and ask them
if they want the attachment.
OR, COPY & PASTE IT INTO A TEXT MESSAGE
Better yet, copy and paste the entire thing into the
plain text body of the message. Don't know how
to copy, paste and format quickly and conveniently?
Ask a friend or two to show you the tricks -- it's an
invaluable skill with many other applications. See also:
http://www.planetfriendly.net/emailtips.html
http://www.planetfriendly.net/emailtips.html#text
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another alternative: switch to "OpenOffice", a fully
featured alternative to Microsoft Office, now available
FREE as a download. Due to a fundamentally
different design philosophy, documents created
by OpenOffice are entirely virus-free (see the link
below for details). Note that many of the other
disadvantages listed in (4) above apply to all
attachments, including attached OpenOffice files.
To learn more about the advantages of OpenOffice:
http://www.planetfriendly.net/opensource.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(7) THE BOTTOM LINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of you who really don't want to spend even a few
minutes learning about this, there's a simple rule that will
protect you and your friends from many viruses: AVOID
OPENING OR SENDING ATTACHMENTS ...and make
sure you're not using software that automatically opens
them on your behalf. But if you think you'd like to learn
a little more, please see the following links.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(8) TO LEARN MORE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why not "empower" yourself on effective and safe
e-mail communications? Take a few minutes to
browse the three pages linked below. Bring them
to the attention of your friends and co-workers.
Help promote sensible e-mail practices ...and
we all will benefit.
E-MAIL TIPS & STRATEGIES
http://www.planetfriendly.net/emailtips.html
7 STEPS TO VIRUS-FREE COMPUTING
http://www.planetfriendly.net/virustips.html
ALTERNATIVES TO CORPORATE SOFTWARE
http://www.planetfriendly.net/opensource.html
In hopes of effective communications for all,
- Peter Blanchard
people@planetfriendly.net
http://www.planetfriendly.net
~~~~~~~
P.S. E-mail Forgery -- As noted above, some viruses
are capable of forging the "from" line and other parts
of a message. Perhaps the easiest and most reliable way
to find out if a suspicious message really came from
where it seems, is to ask the sender. Send them an e-mail
message or, if appropriate, phone them. To some degree,
it is also possible to "trace" an e-mail message. Ask
a technically inclined friend, or try these links:
http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/net-abuse-faq/spam-faq.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22tracing+an+e-mail+message%22
~~~~~~~
Virus protection is *NOT* just a matter of having anti-virus software!
http://www.planetfriendly.net/virustips.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(9) ABOUT THIS MESSAGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a special bulletin being sent to the subscribers
of the People- & Planet-Friendly e-mail list. Please
feel free to forward it to other interested persons.
The People- & Planet-Friendly Events is a free weekly
e-mail newletter offering unique listings of ideas,
activities, events, and opportunities -- related to peace,
environment, sustainable living and social justice.
For more information, see: http://www.planetfriendly.net
TO SUBSCRIBE: use the form on our website, or send an
e-mail to: people@planetfriendly.net (subject: subscribe)
To Unsubscribe: reply to this message (subject: unsubscribe)
To Submit a Listing: http://www.planetfriendly.net/submit.html
To Donate: http://www.planetfriendly.net/donate.html
DISCLAIMER:
The above information is provided free of charge, for your
interest. There is no warranty, express or implied, as to the
accuracy, reliability, utility or completeness of this information.
- Peter Blanchard, July 2, 2002.
Within a few days, this document will be placed at:
http://www.planetfriendly.net/attachments.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://planetfriendly.net -- bringing people together over ideas that matter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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