MRIC News Digest Volume II.3

MAGNOLIA ROAD INTERNET COOPERATIVE (MRIC)

NEWS DIGEST Vol. II.3

"Fostering Community Through Connectivity"

Local Mountain Bobcat.....Credit: Jennifer Stewart & Dan Larkspur

QUICK CONTENT LINKS...

I.     UPDATE FROM THE MRIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS - 4.13.2005

II.    TECHNICAL TIPS

III.   MEMBERS AREA

IV.   HELP WANTED

V.    COMMUNITY CORNER

I. UPDATE FROM THE MRIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS - 4.13.2005

-Greetings to our members!

Much has happened since the November membership meeting. The new board has been meeting monthly and tackling a number of issues related to improved support and service. Please feel free to ask us questions anytime via bod@mric.coop or during the business meeting portion of the May 7 membership meeting/potluck.

The biggest change is that we now have a part-time paid Technical Support Coordinator. Sue Rodriguez-Pastor was volunteering many hours per week prior to being contracted to help us provide faster response to your service tickets. Our next step is to improve the time we actually come to your home, if necessary.

You can help us minimize the need to come visit by reviewing mric.coop/troubleshooting or attend one of the future troubleshooting workshops. You can check out our new service ticket system installed by David Knapp at mric.coop/ticket which has brought order to the service process. Thank you, Sue, David, and all the support volunteers.

We are also quite pleased with the efforts of our volunteer installers. About two dozen or so volunteers meet each month at the CCCIA Hall for training in various aspects of installation and network troubleshooting. If you are interested in attending these training sessions or the weekly conference calls please contact our awesome Membership Coordinator Barbara Thomas via membership@mric.coop or bthomas@mric.coop). Randy Pierce, who helped us install the dotProject system used by our installers, deserves our thanks, too.

Speaking of new members we are approaching 300 members as we're adding over a dozen each month. Thanks go to neighborhood coordinators such as Mark Lindberg, Steve Dickson, Jim Hubbard, and Jake Owsley for getting neighbors to help neighbors. If you'd like to get involved (and perhaps receive free service) please e-mail installs@mric.coop with your contact information and availability. Better yet, come to the installers training.

Despite our efforts, and relying entirely on word-of-mouth advertising, the current backlog of interested potential members is about 100. Before we add all these new members the MRIC Board is considering upgrading our radio network as well adding more bandwidth. Potentially we will double our bandwidth in 2005 from 2004. To see the trend line of bandwidth consumption see stats.mric.coop and click on the Aggregate Bandwidth chart.

The biggest help you can do to help us avoid "bandwidth hog" problems is to avoid/control the use of peer-to-peer programs such as BitTorrent, Gnutella, and the like. For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer to understand what the legal controversy is all about. No matter how much bandwidth we add, one P2P user can cause a traffic jam in our current environment. MRIC is considering more drastic technical restrictions but the solutions all involve time and money we could spend elsewhere.

The next biggest area of concern is how Windows PC users may not have their computers regularly (at least weekly) scanned for spyware and viruses. The worst attack in MRIC's history occurred between February 11 - 13. See mric.coop/status for more details and possible free anti-virus/anti-spyware software.

We also want our members to be increasingly aware of identity theft. While the odds are low, it's important to remember that if you are vulnerable if you have not encrypted your wireless connection including your internal wireless network. You need to be careful around public "hot spots" as well. For more details see: http://www.thewmurchannel.com/technology/4243276/detail.html and http://nytimes.com.com/4520-3513_7-5630181-1.html.

Enough scary winter news. The Board is quite optimistic about the condition of the co-op and welcome your input. One of the things we are considering this fall is changing our name to Mountain Regional Internet Cooperative to better reflect our demographics. How do you feel about that?

Thank you for your support of the cooperative. We hope to speak with you at the May 7th potluck up Sugarloaf Road.

Have a Great Spring!
MRIC Board of Directors

II. TECHNICAL TIPS

II.1   WIRELESS NEWS
II.1.1 TUTORIAL: HOW TO BUILD A WIRELESS HOME NETWORK
         Link: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wirelessproducts/a/howtobuildwlan.htm
Warning: People should not build 802.11b networks as they will likely cause interference. Inexpensive 802.11a gear is readily available through 802.11g and is much more common. Subscribers should definitely talk to someone at MRIC before buying equipment; we can refer members to local consultants who should be aware of MRIC "watch out" conditions.

II.1.2 ARTICLE: WIRELESS INTERNET OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
         Link: http://www.w2i.org/pages/wificonf0603/index.html

II.1.3 ARTICLE: PANDA PROTECTION GOES HIGH-TECH-BEIJING, CHINA (REUTERS)
         Contributor: Greg Ching

China's biggest nature reserve, in the foggy mountains of southwest Sichuan province, is now wired for broadband.

The installation of mobile telecommunications technology at Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve will allow researchers involved in saving the endangered species to monitor their movements.

The wireless network transmits real-time data on the pandas, including photos and video signals, 24 hours a day from any corner of the nature reserve.

"Digital technology has changed communication between Wolong and the rest of the world and will help promote information sharing on giant panda protection," said the reserve's director, Zhang Weimin.

"This will not only help increase the number of giant pandas, but also help us manage the living environment of giant pandas in a more efficient manner."

Wolong, founded in 1963, covers 200,000 hectares (772 square miles) and is home to 76 giant pandas.

The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species, with an estimated 1,000 living in Sichuan and in northwestern Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

Statistics from the State Forestry Administration released last year show the number of pandas in the wild in China has risen by more than 40 percent from 1,110 in the 1980s to 1,590, while a total of 161 are in captive breeding programs worldwide.

"Despite the increase, the animal's existence is menaced by problems including loss of habitat and a low rate of reproduction," Xinhua said.

II.1.4   ARTICLE: GROWTH OF WIRELESS INTERNET OPENS NEW PATH FOR THIEVES-Seth Schiese, NY Times 3/19/2005
          Link:    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1366086/posts http://www.w2i.org/pages/wificonf0603/index.html

II.1.5   HACKING THE WRT54G OR CREATIVE WAYS TO VOID THE WARRANTY ON YOUR WIRELESS ROUTER
          Contributor: Frank Barnes

         -Everything you wanted to learn about the Linksys WRT54G but were afraid to ask!

                   * Tutorial
                   * Sveasoft Alchemy User Manual
                   * Hacking the WRT54G
                   * How to Un-Brick the WRT54G

          Link:    http://magnoliaroad.net/~fbarnes/

II.1.6    WIRELESS LAN RESOURCES FOR LINUS       http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/

II.1.7    10 MUST-HAVE GADGETS   (CNET)     http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-8900_7-1008327-1.html?tag=cnetfd.dl

II.1.8    LAPTOP LUXURIES     (CNET)     http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6459_7-5583251.html?tag=promo2

II.1.9    REFERENCE SITE: WIRING SMALL NETWORKS      http://www.johnscloset.net/index.html

II.1.10 ARTICLE: RISE OF ZOMBIE PCS 'THREATENS UK'

The UK leads the world in home computers that have been hijacked by malicious hackers, warns a report. Research by security firm Symantec shows that 25% of the world's remotely controlled PCs are found in Britain.

The compromised computers are being used to send spam, launch attacks on websites and steal identities.

Symantec said the rise of broadband in Britain and user ignorance about the dangers of the net contributed to the figure.

Growing pains

The statistics about the numbers of PCs that have been hijacked or turned into "zombies" to do a hacker's bidding were gathered by Symantec for its regularly released Internet Security Threat Report.

It found that 25.2% of all the zombie machines it found were in the UK compared to 24.6% in the US and 7.8% in China.

Despite this the US still leads the world in the number of attacks launched by machines on its soil.

The good news about the zombie networks is that fewer seem to be in use on a daily basis.

Staying safe online

                   * Install anti-virus software
                   * Keep your anti-virus software up to date
                   * Install a personal firewall
                   * Use Windows updates to patch security holes
                   * Do not open e-mail messages that look suspicious
                   * Do not click on e-mail attachments you were not expecting

Symantec found that the average number in use declined from 30,000 per day in July 2004 to about 5,000 in December, however, the compromised computers are being used for progressively criminal ends to mount attacks on websites for extortion or in an attempt to steal confidential information.

Nigel Beighton, director of enterprise strategy at Symantec Europe, said the rise of zombies in the UK was due to the 93% increase in broadband connections in the UK over the last year.

"Unfortunately, new broadband customers may not be fully aware of the additional safety precautions that need to be taken when using an always-on high-speed internet connection," he said.

"Education still remains the number one challenge," he added.

The threat report also found that two programs that create zombies computers were in the top 10 malicious programs for the last six months.

The numbers of variants of one zombie creator, called Spybot, has grown to 4,300 in the last six months.

Many people have been tricked into opening an e-mail attachment bearing a virus which has resulted in their PC being hijacked. Others have simply been found by worms that scour the web for machines suffering one of many widely known vulnerabilities in Windows software.

Also growing fast are threats from phishing, spam, spyware and adware.

More than 33 million phishing attempts a week have been stopped by anti-fraud filters created by Symantec subsidiary Brightmail.

Spam totals were up 77% on the last six months with Symantec/Brightmail now stopping more than 1.2 billion junk mail messages a week.

Many PCs were contracting spyware and adware programs from websites set up to snare victims. But, Symantec noted, much spyware was bundled in with other programs.

Symantec predicted that future security threats will include more viruses for mobile devices and attempts to conceal malicious in media clips.

-Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/4369891.stm Published: 2005/03/22 09:00:30 GMT

II.1.11 TROUBLESHOOTING A SERVICE INTERRUPTION (PART 2)
Contributor: Greg Ching

In the August 2004 issue of the MRIC News Digest (http://magnoliaroad.net/newsletters/newsletter_ii1.html) there was an article about basic troubleshooting. Continuing with the theme of simple things you can do from home, another idea to try should you be unable to connect via your browser is to use the ping command from your computer.

You can do one ping command that tests both your ability to reach outside of MRIC and your Domain Name Server (DNS). You need to open a terminal window.

For Windows check under Start->Programs->Accessories->Command Prompt.
For Mac OS X check under Applications->Utilities->Terminal.

Substituting your command prompt for C:/> type ping yahoo.com. Here's an example:

                 C:\>ping yahoo.com

                 Pinging yahoo.com [216.109.124.72] with 32 bytes of data:

                 Reply from 216.109.124.72: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=47

                 Reply from 216.109.124.72: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=47

                 Reply from 216.109.124.72: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=46

                 Reply from 216.109.124.72: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=47

                 Ping statistics for 216.109.124.72:

                 Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

                 Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

                 Minimum = 53ms, Maximum = 54ms, Average = 53ms

If you get messages "Request timed out" that means the site was unreachable for that ping request. The next step is to test if you can reach the edge of the MRIC network that touches the Internet. That connection is called a gateway (to the Internet).

Let's assume you use the Sugarloaf (SY) gateway 172.24.128.21 so you would see similar (usually lower times) via ping 172.24.128.21 If you were able to contact the gateway but not an outside website that could mean your DNS server is unreachable or perhaps your radio/router is improperly configured.

You can also test the quality of your radio connection by doing repeated pings via commands such as ping -n 100 172.24.128.21
(Windows users) or ping -c 100 172.24.128.21 (Mac users)

Repeated "Request time out" or a significant packet loss (say greater than 5 percent) could indicate a poor signal or interference. If one gateway fails to respond it's important to test another gateway which might be up. If that gateway is up, then the user potentially (subject to public static IP restrictions) has the option of switching to another gateway or wait until the downed gateway resumes. Here the Sugarloaf gateway (172.24.128.21) might be substituted by the Pine Glade gateway (172.24.130.1) or the Lazy Z gateway (172.24.133.1).

A more advanced troubleshooting technique is to trace where your packets hop from one location to another. From mric.coop/noc/training.html documentation we use to train support volunteers:

Traceroute is useful for diagnosing some upstream routing problems or slowdowns. Under windows it is named "tracert" while Mac OS X and all unix variants name it "traceroute". There are other important differences as well- Windows tracert.exe sends icmp packets while unix traceroute sends UDP packets, so running a traceroute through a firewall that allows all icmp but blocks all udp will produce different results. Here is what Windows tracert looks like:

C:\>tracert yahoo.com

                Tracing route to yahoo.com [216.109.124.73] over a maximum of 30 hops:

                1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms gw.lazyz.org [172.24.133.1]

                2     2 ms     3 ms     2 ms eth0.lazyz.org [204.188.105.193]

                3     8 ms     7 ms     7 ms CB-0-1-0-30.rockynet.com [208.139.206.253]

                4     7 ms     7 ms     7 ms f4-0-0-boulder-core-1.rockynet.com [204.144.133.5]

                5     9 ms     8 ms     8 ms s5-0-0-denver-core-2.rockynet.com [206.168.39.250]

                6     9 ms     9 ms     9 ms denver-core-3-fe-0-0.rockynet.com [206.168.230.3]

                7    10 ms     9 ms     9 ms border3.s7-1.rockynet-1.den.pnap.net [63.251.181.221]

                8    10 ms    10 ms     9 ms core4.ge0-0-bbnet1.den.pnap.net [216.52.40.6]

                9    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms so-0-0-3.ar2.DEN2.gblx.net [67.17.211.165]

               10    48 ms    70 ms    52 ms so7-1-0-2488M.ar1.DCA3.gblx.net [67.17.74.145]

               11    53 ms    53 ms    54 ms [208.50.13.210 ]

               12    53 ms    53 ms    53 ms vlan200-msr1.dcn.yahoo.com [216.115.96.161]

               13    53 ms    53 ms    53 ms vl30.bas1-m.dcn.yahoo.com [216.109.120.142]

               14    54 ms    53 ms    55 ms p2.rc.dcn.yahoo.com [216.109.124.73]

               Trace complete.

For our general membership, printing out mric.coop/troubleshooting and keeping it near your equipment is a good idea. It's not as
hard as you might think to do these simple tests. If you want someone to instruct you over the phone please open a service ticket at mric.coop/ticket stating you want to learn how to troubleshoot your connection. We'll schedule this at a mutually convenient time.

II.1.12 CNET.COM *MEMBER QUESTION OF THE WEEK* (from email 4.15.2005)

Q * I currently have a PC running Windows XP Home and a laptop running Windows XP Professional.* I have a wireless network so that I can access the Internet on my laptop. My desktop PC is currently hooked up to the printer. What I would like to do is two things: print from my laptop and transfer files to and from both computers. How can I do this? Thank you in advance! -Submitted by: Kitty

*Answer by Nigel:* File and printer sharing are fairly simple, and since you already have a wireless network, you're half-way there. The good news is, everything you need is built into Windows--all you have to do is set it up...* Click here to see Nigel's full answer http://ct.cnet-ssa.com.com/clicks?c=127638-56988793&brand=cnet-ssa&ds=5* Submitted by: Nigel B. of Liverpool, United Kingdom

*Answer by James:* First things first. Make sure that My Network Places in shown on the desktops of both your desktop computer and your laptop, and that both computers are on the same workgroup. Make sure you go through...* Click here to see James's full answerhttp://ct.cnet-ssa.com.com/clicks?c=127639-56988793&brand=cnet-ssa&ds=5* Submitted by: James H. of McDonough, Georgia, USA

*Answer by Jamie:* Before you even start to set up sharing on the computers, you'll need to configure your software firewall (and I strongly suggest you use one). A good, free option is ZoneAlarm, which allows access to and from...* Click here to see Jamie's full answerhttp://ct.cnet-ssa.com.com/clicks?c=127640-56988793&brand=cnet-ssa&ds=5* Submitted by: Jamie T. of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

II.1.13 CNET.COM NETWORKING AND WIRELESS FORUM     (from email 4.15.2005)
           Link: http://ct.cnet-ssa.com.com/clicks?c=127647-56988793&brand=cnet-ssa&ds=5

II.1.14 ARTICLE: INTEL SEES MOBILE BROADBAND STARTING IN 2006          (Reuters, 4.15.2005)
           Link: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=8196392&src=eDialog/GetContent

II.2 HARDWARE & INSTALLS
II.2.1   LINKSYS WRT54G OUTDOOR WIRELESS ROUTER-AFTER MONTHS OF EFFORT...
          Link: http://www.sveasoft.com/articles/armored/

II.2.2   STEVE DICKSON: SIMPLIFYING INSTALLATION AND SUPPORT REQUIREMENTS
          Contributor: Greg Ching

The MRIC BoD asked Steve Dickson (who accepted) to come up with two subscriber equipment lists with the goal of simplifying installation and support requirements. The first list will show all the acceptable equipment configurations that MRIC will support. The second list will show all the subscriber gear MRIC will stock. The long-term hope is that we will standardize on just a few configurations that we will purchase with the help of MRIC's new procurement coordinator Lynn Sturgeon.

Besides being one of the CCC neighborhood coordinators, Steve has taken the initiative of testing and teaching the Linksys WRT54G/Sveasoft low cost integrated radio-router approach. We're still trying to solve a couple issues (POP monitoring and reliability) but it's our least cost solution that meets the support policy's network demarcation requirements.

Please give Steve Dickson your support and congratulations!

II.2.3    STRONG PASSWORDS
           Contributor: Scott Jewell

MRIC installers need to use sufficiently strong passwords so we don't get held liable for identity theft. We're doing a liability analysis with our insurance company and this has been discussed.     Members too may find these tips for passwords useful:

               * Avoid dictionary words
               * Use combinations of names or words
               * Change consonants to numbers (to mix up numbers & letters)
               * Make it memorable (or easily re-created) if not used often

Helpful links:
http://www.secureflorida.org/index.php?src=gendocs&link=Passwords&category=Security%20Tips
http://developer.novell.com/research/appnotes/2000/august/02/a0008022.htm#1039937
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/privacy/password.msp
http://www.smat.us/sanity/pwdilemma.html

II.2.4     RODENTS VS. LAZY Z
-Thanks to all involved who overcame the rodent nibbling cable issue at Lazy Z!    The POP is working and the video camera is back!     Link: http://lazyz.org/

II.3 RECENT INSTALL

- Begole POP - George Watson; George Lehmkuhl.....photo credit: Lynn Sturgeon

II.3.1 BEGOLE POP GOES ONLINE!
Contributor: George Watson

Feb. 25, 2005: We turned up the AP at Begole this afternoon. After some cable follies, all appears to be working. Thanks to Lynn Sturgeon, Steve Dickson, George Lemkuhl, John Colton, Sharon Nichols, Paul Ganci, Shane Castle and anyone else who helped out that I may have forgotten!

II.4 SECURITY CORNER

II.4.1 PHIRST PHISHING, NOW PHARMING!

Article: Pharming Out-Scams Phishing Michele Delio, Wired.com - 3/14/2005
(Link: http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,66853-2,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_next1 )

First came phishing scams, in which con artists hooked unwary internet users one by one into compromising their personal
data. Now the latest cyberswindle, pharming, threatens to reel in entire schools of victims.

Pharmers simply redirect as many users as possible from the legitimate commercial websites they'd intended to visit and lead them to malicious ones. The bogus sites, to which victims are redirected without their knowledge or consent, will likely look the same as a genuine site. But when users enter their login name and password, the information is captured by criminals.

"Phishing is to pharming what a guy with a rod and a reel is to a Russian trawler. Phishers have to approach their targets one by one. Pharmers can scoop up many victims in a single pass," said Chris Risley, president and chief executive officer of Nominum, a provider of IP address infrastructure technology for businesses.

E-mailed viruses that rewrite local host files on individual PCs, like the Banker Trojan, have been used to conduct smaller-scale pharming attacks. Host files convert standard URLs into the numeric strings a computer understands. A computer with a compromised host file will go to the wrong website even if a user types in the correct URL.

The most alarming pharming threat is DNS poisoning, which can cause a large group of users to be herded to bogus sites. DNS -- the domain name system -- translates web and e-mail addresses into numerical strings, acting as a sort of telephone directory for the internet. If a DNS directory is "poisoned" -- altered to contain false information regarding which web address is associated with what numeric string -- users can be silently shuttled to a bogus website even if they type in the correct URL.

"DNS poisoning has been around for over a decade now," said Gregg Mastoras, senior security analyst at Sophos. "Many would argue that the DNS system we all depend so heavily on has inherent design vulnerabilities, and because of the initial design flaws there have been a variety of methods used to create successful attacks.

"So while DNS poisoning is not new, the dramatic rise of phishing, and more importantly the complexity of the new pharming attacks, is cause for some concern," Mastoras said.

Phishing is essentially an old con game updated to take advantage of new technology. Similarly, although DNS attack tactics used by pharmers have been around for a while, the rise in internet banking, online shopping and electronic bill paying has created a wide potential profit zone for criminals eager to snag login information and credit card and bank account numbers.

According to information provided by the SANS Internet Storm Center and internet-monitoring firm Netcraft, this past weekend would-be pharmers attempted to exploit a known vulnerability in Symantec's firewall, redirecting some users from eBay, Google and weather.com to three sites that attempted to install spyware on visitors' computers.

Security experts believe the attack was just a trial run; it was limited in scope and few users seem to have been affected.

However, Mastoras says other sophisticated attacks that take advantage of the flaws in DNS protocols are also currently being tested.

In one example, Mastoras said, Barclays Bank was recently targeted. The phishers sent messages that included a link whose first letters were the correct "barclays.co.uk" but then had additional letters that misdirected the user.

Mastoras called this particular method DNS wildcards. A wildcard DNS record is used to manage mistyped e-mail addresses, but has lately been used by spammers and now by phishers, he said.

"DNS just isn't as secure as we'd like to think it is," said Nominum's Risley. "Every internet request has to go through a DNS server, and malicious hackers realized a long time ago the profit potential in hacking DNS records."

Nominum's chief scientist, Paul Mockapetris, helped to pioneer the internet domain name system through the Internet Engineering Task Force in 1983. Mockapetris also designed the DNS architecture that is still in use today, wrote the Risley said Mockapetris firmly believes it's time to refresh DNS, and that Mockapetris never expected DNS and BIND -- the most widely used DNS software package for Unix/Linux machines -- to be used on today's huge public systems. Nominum now sells commercial alternatives to open-source BIND and other DNS solutions.

Still, some security experts believe pharmers will not widely deploy DNS-poisoning techniques.

"Could DNS poisoning be an issue? Yes. Will it be a major issue? Probably not," said Mikko H. Hypponen, director of antivirus research at security services vendor F-Secure. Hypponen cited the skill level needed to hack a high-level DNS server as a major deterrent.

Others say plenty of computer-savvy criminals lurking on the internet are eager and able to conduct sophisticated large-scale crimes.

"I believe that DNS-poisoning pharmers will become more of a threat this year, as there is money to be made on a large scale here," said Patrick Hinojosa, chief technical officer at Panda Software, a security technology provider.

"If the right domain can be hijacked or the right DNS record poisoned, a group could make off with data that could be used to accomplish huge financial rip-offs. The problem is that the end user sitting at his computer thinks he's at the correct site because he typed the right URL into the browser," Hinojosa said.

Experts say pharming could be combated if browsers would authenticate websites' identities. Web browser toolbars like one offered by Netcraft can alert users by displaying the true physical location of a website's host. U.S. customers, for example, would likely pause before typing in their passwords when a website that looks like their local bank's site is reported to be hosted in Russia.

"What would go a long way to protecting people would be server-side certificates," said Hinojosa. "But any certificate system would have to be widespread to be effective."

Some financial institutions, whose users are the prime targets of phishing and pharming scams, are experimenting with "multi-factor authentication" logins, including things like single-use passwords and automatic telephone call-backs confirming that a transaction is about to take place. Such practices can limit the havoc a malicious hacker can wreak with a collection of stolen logins and passwords.

II.4.2 Q&A: RECENT SUPPORT QUESTION RE: READING WEBMAIL
This question may be the same one that you have......

Q: On my own computer, I can go to the sugarloaf.net webmail site, enter my user name and password, and access my e-mail with no problem. However, I cannot do so when I am using another computer, e.g., when I am traveling (which is of course when I would actually need to do it that way!). I get a message saying that my password is incorrect.

Last night, to verify the problem, I tried to get into my webmail using my husband's laptop which was on our home LAN immediately after getting into it from my own computer, and sure enough I couldn't do it on the other computer.

I am leaving on vacation this coming Friday, and it would be really helpful if I could keep up with my e-mail while I'm gone.

If you need them in order to troubleshoot this problem, I don't have a problem giving you my username and password -- after all, if you can't trust your support person who can you trust?      -MRIC member

A   For sugarloaf.net mail, be sure to use HTTP (not HTTPS) to access webmail.    The URL on the MRIC home page is incorrect.   These (which are equivalent) will work:    HTTP://sugarloaf.net/webmail     HTTP://www.sugarloaf.net/webmail and www.sugarloaf.net/webmail .

NEVER give your account password to anyone as MRIC support folks can reset it. They don't need to know.   Phishing (http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/Phishing_Spam_that_cant_be_ignored.html) is a big problem.   -MRIC Support

II.4.3     AVG FREE EDITION FOR HOME PC VIRUS PROTECTION (from PC WORLD)
            Contributor: Chip Webster

AVG Free Edition is the well-known anti-virus protection tool. AVG Free is available free-of-charge to home users for the life of the product! Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high-level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements).     Link: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/

II.4.4     SOME TIPS ON PREVENTING AND REMOVING SPYWARE, VIRUS AND OTHER MALWARE FROM A WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM
            Contributor: Frank Barnes

Latest Updates To This Article Can Be Seen Here: http://contrib.mric.net:2500/gen/published/Worms,+Viruses,+and+Spyware

In order to get the best results from cleaning a Windows system of malware, I would suggest the following:

1] After installing any anti-virus and or anti spy-ware programs, and before running them, it is extremely important to go on-line and update their database definitions to the most current one, as the database supplied when the program is first installed will be seriously out of date.

2] Much better results will be realized if the computer is booted into Safe Mode before running these programs, as many times even though these programs will FIND the mal-ware, they will not be able to successfully REMOVE the malware, as they will sometimes be running processes that can’t be removed in the normal windows running environment.

The programs should initially be run more than once, as they will often find more malware on the second or third pass that they missed the first time. They should be run as many times as it takes until no more positives are found. Sometimes doing this will reveal recurring self replicating malware that keeps coming back, and that will take more serious steps to eradicate. Also, never rely one just one program. The more programs that are used the better, as each one will operate in a different way, using different heuristics etc., so that what one program misses, another will catch.

3] FOR WIN XP THIS IS IMPORTANT: In the case of the XP OS, be sure to turn off (de-activate) System Restore and reboot into Safe Mode before cleaning the system. Any malware present on an XP OS will still reside in the System Restore image, and if for some reason the computer is reverted to an earlier state before the system was cleaned, any malware that was previously eradicaded will be reinstated.

4] XP’s firewall is very rudimentary, and even though Service Pack 2 addresses a lot of the security short comings of XP, the firewall still only scans for incoming traffic. Zone Alarm (www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp at least will monitor outgoing as well as incoming traffic, and can at least have a chance of alerting the user to anything that wants to “phone home.” If another software firewall is used in the XP environment, then XP’s firewall should be turned off. Multiple software firewalls on one operating system tend to conflict or interfere with each other. The same is true with anti-virus programs, don’t run more than one.

5] Lastly, the best defense is of course a strong offence. The point is to prevent malware from getting on one’s system in the first place. Keeping up with the latest Windows Updates is extremely important.

Also, Micro$oft’s Internet Explorer is probably the worst browser to surf the net with. I don’t even want to get started on the numerous security holes plaguing I.E. Using I.E. is probably the biggest single reason that ad-ware / spyware is picked up in the first place, usually when surfing to questionable websites. Beware the teenage internet junkie!

I recommend Mozilla’s Fire Fox (www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/); it’s a fantastic browser, it’s much safer, and it’s FREE! It’s loaded with so many advanced features beyond what I.E. offers, like tabbed browsing etc. I can’t say too many good things about it.

Lastly, there are many programs out there that are much more effective in protecting against malware, but of course they are not free. A few that come to mind are top rated BOClean anti trojan (www.nsclean.com); Diamond CS TDS-3 anti trojan (http://tds.diamondcs.com.au/); Spy Cop, geared towards keyloggers, probably the nastiest malware there is (www.spycop.com); and Spy Sweeper headquartered right here in Boulder (www.webroot.com). I personally use these myself, and I tend to live dangerously on the internet and I’ve never been infected. There is one more freebee that is very good, more geared towards finding trojans, check it out: A-Squared anti-trojan (www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/).

6] Online Scans: Trend Micro has a very good free online virus scan that is highly rated on the BBR (Broad Band Reports) forums, and it does not require the installation of any software. This might be a good first step for users suspected of having an infected computer and who are perhaps uncomfortable with installing and/or configuring anti-virus software. http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ Also, Boulder based Spy Sweeper has a similar online scan geared towards spyware which is very good. They are top rated by PC Magazine: http://www.webroot.com/services/spyaudit_03.htm?WRSID=c7bc837538fa5dcdadf4be37337f739a

I hope this helps…

Frank B. 2/22/05

II.4.6 ABC NEWS ONLINE - ONLINE IDENTITY THEFT SOARING: SURVEY
         Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200503/s1329259.htm

II.4.7   ZDNET POSTING (4/10/2005)

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/index.php?p=939

53% of adult e-mail users in the United States now say they trust e-mail less because of spam, down from 62% a year ago and about the same as a June 2003, according to Pew Internet and American Life Project.   22% of e-mail users say they are spending less time on e-mail because of spam, down from 29% last year. In 2003, it was 25%.

II.4.8   SCAM ALERT: ANOTHER CREDIT CARD SCAM     -Via the USAF, 4.11.2005
          Contributor: Greg Ching

Please read this one and disseminate to all your peers and Service Members. Citibank has asked us to make everyone aware of a new credit card scam. Outlined below is how it works, please forward this on to all of your card holders. The scam works like this:

A Person calling says, "This is (name), and I'm I'M calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA (or any other credit card issuer). My Badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card, which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company based in Arizona?"

When you say "No." the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a credit to your account This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497 just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address). Is that correct?"

You say "yes." The caller continues _ "I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1.800 number listed on the back of your card (1_800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6-digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?"

Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says he needs to verify that you .are in possession of your card. He'll ask you to "Turn your card over and look for some numbers." There are 7 numbers: the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you are the possessor of the Card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card"

The caller will ask you to read to him the 3 numbers. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say "No, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back if you do: and hangs up.

You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card, Don't give it to them. Instead,. tell them you'll call the credit card issuer directly for verification of the conversation, The card issuer will NEVER ask for anything on the card (they already know).

Call the card issuer immediately! Your identity has been compromised. If you have any questions or concerns, call Citibank at (800)790-7206.

II.4.9    MORE CYBERCRIME ARTICLES   Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/technology/techpolicy/cybercrime/
                             -Washington Post

II.4.10 HAS YOUR IDENTITY BEEN STOLEN?   Link: http://slate.com/id/2113746/      -Slate.com, 2.18.2005
                             What to do if it happens to you....

III.   MEMBERS AREA

There have been a few requests from members to offer their services and/or products to the membership via this newsletter.   We are considering developing a members' service directory on the mric website, linked to from the newsletter. We are currently trying to understand if this is something that would be supported by our members and certainly want to exclude formal ads.    If you are interested in being included in this listing, please submit an email with company name, contact name, address, phone, email, skill and a brief (1-3 sentences) product/service description.
Send to: editor@mric.coop   and reference "mric directory" before the next newsletter deadline of July 17th, 2005.   -Thanks!

III.1 MRIC MEMBERS' SPRING MEETING - HOLD THE DATE: SATURDAY MAY 7TH
              Contributor: Cori Boogaard

-SLFPD Station #2; Cars in photo will be away & parking will be available along road and in front of the station
(firetrucks will be moved).......Photo Contributor: Bill Clark

The next MRIC Members' Meeting is planned for Saturday May 7th, at Sugarloaf Firehall #2.

Schedule:

    11 am: Setup
     Noon:   Potluck Dinner
     1 pm: Business Meeting
     2 - 4 pm: Tabletop Expo and Workshops:
                     New Subscriber Orientation, Website Hosting Basics, SPAM Security & Spyware Tips
                     and Mountain Community Firewatch

Invitations are sent to the MRIC member list - if you do not have your's, please contact: Cori at: coriboo@mric.coop

Please rsvp at RSVP@mric.coop or respond to your E-vite invitation asap so MRIC can have an accurate headcount.

Location:
   SLFPD: SugarLoaf Fire Protection District    Station 2 - 303-442-1050 (district office)
   1360 Sugar Loaf Road, Boulder, CO 80302   (7 miles W of Boulder off Boulder Canyon)
   website:   http://www.slfpd.org/index.htm

Directions:
    From Boulder:   Take Boulder Canyon Rd. West towards Nederland and go R on Sugarloaf (SL) Rd.
    Look for the station about 1.3 miles on SL Rd. on the R.

Note:   Parking is restricted, so MRIC suggests parking at the space at Magnolia & Canyon and car pooling up to the fire house station. MRIC is looking for volunteers to help shuttle car poolers as needed.

-Looking forward to a great turnout!   -See you there....

III.2 MRIC VOLUNTEER TRAINING
        Contributors: Barb Thomas, Greg Ching

Free training is provided for installers & interested members on a monthly basis at the CCCIA Hall (on Hwy 72 - the site
of the last MRIC Members' Meeting).   Class duration is 9 am to noon.    Light continental breakfast will be provided (i.e. hot
beverage, juice and a bread or bagel).    -Just show up and have fun!

                        DATE:                                 TOPIC:                                              PRESENTER(S):

                      April 9th                              Subscriber Troubleshooting              Greg Ching
                      May 21st                              RF Basics                                          George Watson
                      June 25th                            Mail Server Maintenance                  Paul Ganci
                      July 9th                                Bandwidth Management                  Shane Castle
                      August 20th                         Network Operations (tentatively)    Mike Lewinski
                      September 24th                   TBA                                                  TBA

Photos from a prior training class......

CCCIA Meeting Hall Greg Ching

Greg Nazimek, Chris Dobell & Jim Smith                                            Barb Thomas, ? and Jake(aroooo!) Owsley

III.3 HOW TO PAY MRIC INVOICES ELECTRONICALLY
        Contributor:   Rick Cobb

By far the most time-consuming task of the MRIC accounting group is to call folks every quarter asking for payment of their invoices for wireless access to our network. This challenge will only become more daunting as we continue to bring more new members online. A good solution is to provide a mechanism for submitting payments electronically and automatically.

After evaluating multiple electronic methods to pay both one-time and recurring MRIC invoices, we chose Alliance Payment Technologies~ WebCheck for several reasons:

You are in control: since you enter the information into the Alliance system, MRIC has no permanent records of your sensitive financial information (including your credit card or bank account numbers)

Lower transaction fees: Alliance only charges MRIC $0.50 per transaction, which is almost 10 times less than PayPal (at $4.50 per transaction)

Easy to add to our web page

Now has a quarterly recurring payment option

No need to set up a merchant account to process credit card transactions

There are two scenarios that are well served by Alliance~s service: one-time invoices for initial MRIC membership, installation, equipment, and pro-rated wireless access fee, and recurring quarterly wireless access fees.    Click on this link: http://magnoliaroad.net/payments/MRIC_electronic_payments.pdf to view/download instructions on how to enter both types of payments.

Please help us streamline our operations! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Rick Cobb at: rick.cobb@mric.coop or 303/258-0203.

III.4 MRIC NEWS
Be sure to check out the MRIC event & press highlights on the website!      http://magnoliaroad.net/news/

III.5 VOLUNTEER PROFILES
Katrina Harms: -Third generation Colorado native, born a co-op member. Her father belonged to coops for about 30 during his life, from a dairy co-op to Adams County Co-op in Brighton where he managed the hardware store for 15 years. Katrina's mother spent 20 years traveling all over CO, WY and NM working with co-ops, churches and communities to help them use the principles of cooperatives to work together as a community for support and strength as the rural landscape was changing. It is hard to find a generation in Katrina's family that did not have a co-op board member or county organizer in it.   She still has a certain amount of pride that she can still belong to 'old' coops like United Power as well as 'new' coops like food coops and now MRIC.   Katrina was happy to give her time helping MRIC as it grew and is very excited about it's success.    She has helped with web-related needs.   (Editor's note: Katrina has been a wonderful assistance in getting the newsletter on the website!)

Katrina took another path in life and is now a Marketing person, consulting on Web design and development as well as business identity and marketing. Thanks to MRIC Katrina gets to work from home and over the last 2.5 years has been able to build a successful business and work barefoot. She shares her home and life with Tom and their 3 dogs. They recently bought Village Video in Nederland which is now called Doghouse Videos.

Dr. Kara Lee:   -A professor of web design at the Art Institute of Colorado. Her love of teaching keeps her in the classroom with fantastic students, but she also operates a consulting firm here in the canyon.   Her specialty is web design and the redesign of web presence, corporate identity and logos, and helping small firms with web usability. Kara has graciously volunteered to be the new MRIC webmaster.   -Welcome, Kara!   She can be contacted at drklee@mric.coop.

III.6 THANKS!
Contributor: Greg Ching
MRIC depends upon the volunteer efforts and contributions of its members.    Thanks go out to these members for recent hardware contributions:   John Chase (laptop), Chris Chen (laptop), Tom Plant (ORiNOCO RG-1100), Peter Tamblyn (5 ORiNOCO cards), and Tim Gorman (RG-1100).   We continue to want laptops, Avaya/ORiNOCO Gold PCMCIA cards, Avaya/ORiNOCO Gold RG-1100s, and Avaya/ORiNOCO Gold USB modems for signal testing.     Have some equipment to donate?    Contact: installs@mric.coop

IV.   HELP WANTED
IV.1 MRIC VOLUNTEERSs
Check MRIC website for previously listed jobs:   http://magnoliaroad.net/volunteer/volunteer.html
New Membership Volunteer: Responsible for Volunteer coordination in order to assist Barb Thomas when she is away.   Activities include: review of new member data form, performing Line of Sight analysis, updating dotproject,communicating results to members, enlisting new volunteers, respond to membership emails & voice mails, book training sessions & bring related refreshments.   Will train & free internet service is available with 8 hours or more of service per month.   Contact Barb via:   membership@mric.coop

On-line Training Coordinator: Responsible for assistance in transforming videotaped lectures and on-line presentations to on-line courses suitable to new MRIC subscribers and volunteers.    This material may also be helpful to less technical rural communities that want to leverage MRIC resources.   Teaching experience helpful.   Familiarity with Quicktime a plus.    Contact membership@mric.coop.

IV.2 AREA EMPLOYMENT
Boulder County:
   http://yellowpages.superpages.com/listings.jsp?C=Employment&CID=520993&T=boulder&S=CO&R=N&search=Find+It&SRC=promo6
Technical & Engineering:   http://www.aerotek.com/
Internships: http://www2.monstertrak.monster.com/cgi-bin/seekers/jobs/results.pl
Environmental & Outdoor:   http://www.coloradoguide.com/careers/searchjob.cfm
Jobsearch in CO:   http://www.jobsearchsecrets.info/directory/colorado-job-search.php

V.   COMMUNITY CORNER

V.1 PUMP PATROL IS BACK!
With prices rising so quickly, the Denver News7 is maintaining a Pump Patrol to keep current with gas prices:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/1983455/detail.html

Colorado gas prices: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/892152/detail.html

V.2 UPCOMING NEDERLAND EVENTS
             Nederland Chamber of Commerce Events: http://www.nederlandchamber.org/
             Mountain Ear Online Calendar: http://www.themountainear.com/calendar.shtml
             Live Music:   http://www.jambase.com/search.asp?city=Nederland&stateID=6
             Wildflower Hikes:   http://www.frontrangeliving.com/outdoors/Wildflowerhikes.htm
             Indian Peaks Trails & Trailheads:
                http://www.trails.com/explore/activity.asp?Activity=&StateID=&AreaID={323C79AC-338D-4E1D-ADB8-9F0FC69A86F1}
             Nederland Clear Sky Clock:   http://cleardarksky.com/c/NdrlndObCOkey.html
             Horseback Riding & Hayrides:   http://www.peacefulvalley.com/html/horsepage1.htm

V.3 UPCOMING BOULDER EVENTS
             Bolder Boulder: http://www.bolderboulder.com/
             Boulder Events:    http://bcn.boulder.co.us/entertainment/center.html#Events
             Boulder Cycling:   http://www.bouldercycling.com/DesktopDefault.aspx
             Boulder Chamber of Commerce Events:   http://www.boulderchamber.com/chamber/events2.asp
             Boulder Pride (Alternative Lifestyle) Events: http://www.boulderpride.org/
             Boulder Music Festival:   http://www.coloradomusicfest.org/
             Live Music:   http://www.jambase.com/search.asp?band=&venue=&city=Boulder&stateID=6&adv=1&fromdate=&todate=
             Lyon's Events:   http://www.lyons-colorado.com/calendar/calendar.htm
             Boulder Farmers' Market:   http://www.boulderfarmers.org/
             High Altitude Observatory (HAO) Schedule: http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/workshop/colloquium_2005.html
             Fiske Planetarium: http://www.colorado.edu/fiske/
             Mallory Cave Hike: http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/mallory_cave_2082.asp
             Virtual Tour - Boulder Ice Cream:   http://bouldericecream.com/

V.4 UPCOMING COAL CREEK CANYON EVENTS
            CCCIA Upcoming Events: http://www.coalcreek.com/cccia/
            CCC Chamber of Commerce: http://www.coalcreek.com/chamber/
            CCC Community Events: http://www.coalcreek.com/
            TEG (The Environmental Group) of CCC: http://www.coalcreek.com/teg
            Live Music (Golden):
                http://www.jambase.com/search.asp?band=&venue=&city=Golden&stateID=6&adv=1&fromdate=&todate=
            Rawhide Loop Hike (near Golden): http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/Rawhide_2082.asp
            CO Railroad Museum (Golden): http://www.crrm.org/
            Annual Lariat Loop Road Rally (June): http://www.lariatloop.org/rally.html

V.5 UPCOMING GILPIN COUNTY EVENTS
            Gilpin County Events:   http://www.co.gilpin.co.us/Events/UpcomingEvents.htm
            Sr. Calendar: http://www.co.gilpin.co.us/Seniors/SeniorCalendar.htm
            Crater Lakes Hike: http://www.localhikes.com/HikeData.asp?DispType=0&ActiveHike=2&GetHikesStateID=1&ID=5692

V.6 UPCOMING DENVER EVENTS II.2
            CO Rockies 2005 Schedule:   http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=col
            Denver Trolley Tours:   http://www.denvertrolleytours.com/
            Red Rocks Film Series 2005:   http://www.redrocksonline.com/00_news/00_news_detail.tml?id=197
            Red Rocks Events 2005:   http://www.redrocksonline.com/02_events/02_events.html
            Denver Botanical Garden Schedule: http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/pressreleasearchive.cfm
            The Wildlife Experience Schedule:    http://www.thewildlifeexperience.org/info_and_events/events.asp
            Wine Education Schedule (Cook Street):
                 http://www.cookstreet.com/wineclasses.cfm?PageID=8&LU=0&R=0&C=0&User_ID=&FA=&UID=&A=0
            U.S. Womens' Golf Open (Cherry Hills):   http://www.2005uswomensopen.com/
            CO Crush (arena football) -thru May:   http://www.coloradocrush.com/
            First Annual Doors Open Denver (4/16 & 17th):   http://www.denvergov.org/doorsopendenver/
            Bandimere Event Schedule:   http://www.bandimere.com/calendar/calendar.php
            COUPON: Six Flags Elitch Gardens:   http://www.denver.org/Specials.aspx?SID=6
            COUPON: Denver Museums:    http://www.denver.org/Specials.aspx?SID=6

V.7 UPCOMING COLORADO EVENTS
            CO Events Search:   http://www.colorado.com/planning/events/
            CO Cycling Event Calendar:   http://bcn.boulder.co.us/transportation/bike.d/bike.cal.html
            CO trains & scenic tours:   http://www.colorado.com/landing_data.php/id=69
            Regional Casinos: http://www.denversbestentertainment.com/Casinos/Casino_List.html
            Front Range Wildflower Hikes:
                http://www.trails.com/explore/activity.asp?Activity=&StateID=&AreaID={323C79AC-338D-4E1D-ADB8-9F0FC69A86F1}
            Crested Butte Wildflower Festival:   http://www.shopcrestedbutte.com/wildflower/index.cfm
            CO Spider Survey:   http://www.dmns.org/main/minisites/spiders/index.html
            Bravo! CO Family Events (Vail): http://www.vailmusicfestival.org/press.cfm?id=76#pr
            Shambhala Mountain Center (Buddhist Retreat):   http://www.shambhalamountain.org/
            CO Renaissance Festival (Castle Rock): http://www.coloradorenaissance.com/
            Cheynne Frontier Days & Rodeo (WY):   http://www.cfdrodeo.com/
            CO Golf coupons:   http://www.golfcolorado.com/coupons.php
            CO Triathlon Calendar:   http://www.trifind.net/nf/co.html

V.8 GENERAL INTEREST
            Top 10 CO History Reads:   http://www.colorado.com/cms/index.php/id=289
            CO Archaeological Sites:   http://www.colorado.com/landing_data.php/id=61
            Denver Museums: http://www.colorado.com/cms/index.php/id=370
            Current Exhibitions (DMNS): http://www.dmns.org/main/en/General/Exhibitions/CurrentExhibitions/
            Current IMAX Films (DMNS): http://www.dmns.org/main/en/General/Imax/CurrentFilms/
            Gates Planetarium (DMNS):   http://www.dmns.org/main/en/General/Planetarium/CurrentShows/
            Adult Learning Events (DMNS): http://www.dmns.org/main/en/General/Education/AdultProgram/
            Scientists Measure tsunami from space (NOAA): http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2365.htm
            How to Make a "No Water Garden" (from Cheyenne Mtn Zoo): http://www.cmzoo.org/nowatergarden.html
            Deer-Resistent Plants:   http://www.deerxlandscape.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?p_catid=9
            CO Gardening - Challenge to Newcomers:   http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07220.html
            Fishing Licenses in CO: http://wildlife.state.co.us/fishing/licensefees.asp
            Rafting:   http://www.clearcreekrafting.com/
                   http://www.georafting.com/
            Photos of CO Wildlife (BLM):   http://www.co.blm.gov/cpyrt/wildthumb.htm
            Bird Feeding Basics (Audebon): http://www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/bird_feeding/index.html
            Gliding (Boulder): http://www.milehighgliding.com/
            Hot Air Balloon Rides (Boulder):   http://www.fairwindsinc.com/
            Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory:   http://www.rmbo.org/default.html
            Menopause Resources: http://womensissues.about.com/od/menopause/
            Setting Up a Home Business (INC.): http://www.inc.com/guides/solo_business/20802.html
            Developing a Business Plan (SBA): http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/startup/basics.html
                   http://www.learnthat.com/courses/business/businessplan/
            Do it Yourself Legal Kits:   http://www.myshoppingonline.com/
            Learn Spanish:   http://www.spanishprograms.com/
                    http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm
            Italian Hand Gestures:   http://italian.about.com/library/handgestures/blgesturesindex.htm
            Italian for Beginners:   http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfarehome.htm
            Electing a New Pope:   http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa050901a.htm
            Japanese Lessons: http://japanese.about.com/mmore.htm
            Kangi for Tattoos: http://japanese.about.com/bltattoo.htm
            Fiddle Toons of the Old Frontier: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hrhtml/hrhome.html
            Wild Horse and Burro Adoption:   https://www.adoptahorse.blm.gov/
            Volunteers for Outdoor CO:   http://www.voc.org/Home.cfm
            Tips for Returning to Excercise after Having a Baby:
                  http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=11328&sidebar=630&category=activewomen
            Frequently Asked Marathon Questions:
                http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=10918&sidebar=558&category=marathon
            How to Survive an Avalanche: http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1019841,00.html
            Free Email Courses: http://u.about.com/#abtUe
            Federal Taxes: http://taxes.yahoo.com/
            Colorado Taxes: http://www.revenue.state.co.us/TPS_Dir/wrap.asp?incl=businesses

           RECIPES:
             Family Spring:   http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/family/specialfeature/spring_outdoor_ms/
             Low Fat:   http://ww1.reciperewards.com/GetRecipes.html?Type=RECCLASS&Item=Low-Fat&Link=7
             Low Carb: http://ww1.reciperewards.com/GetRecipes.html?Type=RECCLASS&Item=Low-Carb&Link=8
             Grill: http://ww1.reciperewards.com/GetRecipes.html?Type=RECCLASS&Item=Grill&Link=11
             Vegetarian:   http://ww1.reciperewards.com/GetRecipes.html?Type=RECCLASS&Item=Vegetarian%20Dishes&Link=17
             Vegetarian Snack: SUNDAL:   http://vegweb.com/recipes/ethnic/6433.shtml
             Mango Margarita: http://www.recipegoldmine.com/bevalc/bevalc222.htm
             Sangria: http://www.webtender.com/db/drink/1234

          TEENS:
            Student Jobs & Fellowships (EPA): http://www.epa.gov/region5/teachers/jobs-scholarships.htm
            Ancient Pueblo Framers of SW CO (actiivties):   http://www.co.blm.gov/ahc/pip/PIPonline.html
            YAHOO Games: http://games.yahoo.com/
            Discover Orchids (Smithsonian):   http://www.si.edu/harcourt/h_si/gardens/orchids/start.htm
            Adventures with Art (NGA): http://www.nga.gov/kids/
            Making a Pringles Camera: http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/pringles_pinhole.html
            Taking Great Pictures (KODAK): http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=38&pq-locale=en_US
            Music History:   http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/history/music-history.htm
            Music Styles:   http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/styles/styles.htm
            How to Make a Henna Tattoo:   http://www.hennapage.com/henna/how/index.html
            Top CDs Released in April 2005:   http://teenmusic.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/bestbetsapr05.htm
            Martial Animos (Flash movies):   http://www.animos.com/
            Stonetrek (cross between the Flintstones & Star Trek): http://www.angelfire.com/fl/sapringer/STONETREKDOTCOM.html
            Bike Fitting and Setup for Beginning Mountain Bikers:
                  http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=10184&sidebar=32&category=mtnbiking
             New Video Game (free):   http://www.food-force.com/
                   article:   http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=8182564&src=eDialog/GetContent

          KIDS:
           Comparison of feline paw prints (Denver Zoo):   http://www.denverzoo.org/images/graphics/cat_comparison_large.jpg
           Gorilla print (Denver Zoo):   http://www.denverzoo.org/images/photos/gorilla_gorilla_hand.jpg
           What's New (Denver Zoo):   http://www.denverzoo.org/new/What%27sNew.htm
           Family Events (DMNS): http://www.dmns.org/main/en/General/Education/FamilyChildren/
           High Altitude Observatory (HAO) Education Pages: http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/education/education.html
           How to Grow Table Salt or Sodium Chloride Crystals: http://chemistry.about.com/od/growingcrystals/ht/saltcrystals.htm
           Yahooligans:   http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/
           Kid Wizard:   http://www.kidwizard.com/
           Try Science:    http://www.tryscience.org/experiments/experiments_home.html
           Brain Drains:    http://www.funology.com/braindrains/index.htm
           At Home Astronomy: http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/AtHomeAstronomy/
           Casting Animal Tracks:   http://www.sccgov.org/channel/0,4770,chid%253D195737%2526sid%253D12761,00.html
           Identifying Animal Tracks: http://www.wcsscience.com/casts/identification.html
           Build-a-Saurus: http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/dino_sci/index.html
           Stargazers:   http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/stars/index.html
           SFS Orchestra:   http://www.sfskids.org/templates/instorchframe.asp?pageid=3
           NY Philharmonic KidZone (Instruments):   http://www.nyphilkids.org/lockerroom/main.phtml?
           Frogweb: http://frogweb.nbii.gov/frogfun/
           Earth Day (4/22): http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/earthday/

V.9 COOL LINKS OF THE MONTH

          Energy Smart Living: http://www.ourcoolhouse.com/
          World's Ugliest Animals: http://www.livescience.com/bestimg/result.php?back=&cat=uglyanimal
          Van Gogh's Van Goghs: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/vgwel.htm
          Flicker Cam:   http://www.hpwtdogmom.org/flicker_cam/flicker_cam_home.html
          Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/
          CO State Song: http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/song/co_song.htm
          Shipwreck Finder: http://www.shipwreckcentral.com/map/index.php?search=1
          New Method Could Detect Alien Space Stations: http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/alien_space_stations.html
          Face Reconstruction for Members of the downed ship, Hunley:
              http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/04/photogalleries/submarineforensics/photo3.html
          The identities of the crew of the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley are coming to light just days before the men's remains are
          to be buried. The first submarine to sink an enemy ship, the Hunley itself sank off South Carolina in 1864, was found in
          1995,and was raised in 2000.    - Willie Drye, National Geographic   4.12.2004

V.10 MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY FIREWATCH (MCF) )   LINK: http://mtncf.org/index.html


-Video camera used by Divide CAM

Link: http://divide-cam.mric.net/
We're still looking for interested people to obtain web cameras and link to the MCF server.    Check out the website for "How To" and "WebCam 101."    There will be a MCF workshop at the next members meeting for interested people. Mark Lindberg will share his experiences in setting up his Divide Cam.
- See you then!   Contact:   mcf-team@mrif.coop

V.11 EDITORIAL: FEDERAL AGENCY NIXES YOUR RIGHT TO PRIVACY (GoDaddy.com) 3/30/2005
        Contributor: Greg Ching

Today I have the unfortunate responsibility of informing you that there has been a decision made by bureaucrats of a Federal
agency that takes away your right to privacy as guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

This decision was unilaterally made by the National Telecommunications and Information Association ("NTIA") -- http://www.ntia.doc.gov/-- without hearings that would determine the impact on those affected, and delivered without notice -- in short, the NTIA decision was made without due process of any kind. This is exactly how our government is not supposed to work.

The effect of this decision is to disallow new private domain name registrations on .US domain names. In addition, if you already own a private .US domain name registration, you will be forced to forfeit your privacy no later than January 26, 2006. By that time, you will need to choose between either making your personal information available to anyone who wants to see it, or giving up your right to that domain name.

I personally find it ironic that our right to .US privacy was stripped away, without due process, by a federal government agency -- an agency that should be looking out for our individual rights. For the NTIA to choose the .US extension is the ultimate slap in your face. .US is the only domain name that is specifically intended for Americans (and also those who have a physical presence in our great country). So think about this for a moment. These bureaucrats stripped away the privacy that you're entitled to as an American, on the only domain name that says that you are an American. I am outraged by this -- you should be also.

If, like me, you are outraged at the NTIA's decision to strip away our constitutional right to privacy, the Web site
http://www.TheDangerOfNoPrivacy.com will provide you with a petition to sign. (Only your name will be published, your address and email information will be kept private.) This Web site also provides a very easy way for you to send either a fax or an email, expressing your outrage, to your Congressperson and Senators. This is all provided at no cost to you. All that is required is for you to take the time to visit http://www.TheDangerOfNoPrivacy.com sign the petition, and send the fax or email to your legislators.

On my personal Blog -- http://www.BobParsons.com -- there are a number of articles where you can learn more about the NTIA's unfortunate decision and what you can do to help get it reversed.

I also will be talking about our right to privacy on Radio Go Daddy, our weekly radio show that debuts today, March 30, at 7 PM PST. To find out how to listen in, please visit the Web site dedicated to the show, http://www.RadioGoDaddy.com

You can be sure that I, and everyone at GoDaddy.com, will do everything in our power to get the NTIA decision reversed. However, we need your help. Please visit http://www.TheDangerOfNoPrivacy.com to sign the petition and express your feelings to your Congressperson and Senators.

Sincerely,

Bob Parsons
President and Founder

-Photo Credit : Jennifer Stewart
Spring is here! This little flower, Claytonia rosea, or Spring Beauty, is in the Purtulaceae, or Purslane, family. Its cousin, Bitterroot,or Lewisia rediviva, is the state flower of Montana. Our baby is pretty small, so look carefully around your feet.

Editor's Note:

I'd like to thank all contributors to this newsletter for all their efforts. We all benefit from your inclusions..... The deadline for copy for the next newsletter is July 17th 2005. Please email your copy inputs to editor@mric.coop. MRIC wishes all members and the community a great Spring!
Take time to enjoy our beautiful mountain areas....
-Sharon