[pct-l] email worm

[pct2003 at attglobal.net (pct2003@attglobal.net)]

As long as the subject has been raised, here are
some other steps that Windows PC users can take
to avoid being nuisances to other pct-l members:

1) Never send attachments and never open them.   
   Ever!   Get a free website and learn how to use
   that to distribute non-text items.

2) Never send html-formatted email.    It tends to
   look like and be treated like spam.   email is
   for plain text messages.

3) Don't use Internet Explorer except for sites
   that are misdesigned to not work with anything
   else (and if that's the case, why do you want
   to go there?)   A free and easy-to-install
   simple browser is Firefox from
   http://www.mozilla.org

4) Don't use Outlook or Outlook Express.
   A free and easy-to-install simple mail client
   is Thunderbird from http://www.mozilla.org 

5) Don't use Microsoft Office.
   A free and easy-to-install alternative suitable
   for most users is OpenOffice from
   http://www.openoffice.org

Safe computing is like safe sex or safe hiking
for that matter.    Nobody else
can be responsible on your behalf.   Others can and
must take steps to protect themselves if you
choose to be irresponsible, but in the long run
as well as the short it's better for everybody
to be responsible for not contributing to the
problems themselves.

Many people feel that they are just naive simple
computer users and don't understand all these
directions and don't want to get involved.   These
of course are exactly the target audience for
viruses and worms.

Not all ills can be attributed to viruses and
worms, of course.    Even without them, people
would still attach
an entire digest when responding to
one posting in it, and other people would recurse
on the error.