Internet Lore

The Net I've been on the net for a long time Particularly email, the web and to a lesser extent recently usenet. I run a jokes email list. Most of the jokes you see are pretty old. Many come from rec.humor.funny or have been collected over time. Most of the "true" stories you see are urban legends, look them up. Yes, there really are Darwin Awards, but most of the email about them is bogus. The Internet Oracle knows all.

Viruses There are plenty of chain letters and virus warnings. Please don't send them to me. There are plenty of sites to help you check out what's real and what's not. Vmyths is an independent group that's been around since the 1980s debunking virus myths and hoaxs. The US Department of Engery runs CIAC with the mission of "Keeping DOE Secure". They produce time critical bulletins and advisories of security vulnerabilities and recommended actions. Their notes for security information of a less time critical nature. They also have a complete Hoax Index you can search for last one you got in email to see if it's real. Of course there are companies with products that help protect you, and I won't advocate one but I will list three with useful info on the net. Symantec owns the Norton AntiVirus products. Their Security Response site includes a Virus Info Database. Network Associates bought McAfee and they run their Virus Information Library. Trend Micro has several products, mostly for business use and maintains their own Virus Encyclopedia.

I've been And yes, I am sick of most forms of junk mail particularly SPAM. CAUSE is dedicated to stopping it, and there are technical instructions about how to complain about SPAM you receive. Or better yet, SPAM Cop will do the complaining for you and the Spam Recycling Center will send your spam to "the appropriate federal authorities". E.g., send securities fraud to cyberfraud@nasaa.org setup by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA). When sending a complaint, include the name of the state in which you live. SPAM has gotten a lot worse in 2001, others are more sick of it than I and have written up instructions.

Online Gomez rates online services from banks to brokers to bookstores, to travel, etc.

Travel To get airline tickets cheap try several of the generic sites first: One Travel, Expedia, Travel Discounters, Lowest Fare, Biz Travel, or Travel Zoo Most will show the same flights, but occasionally you'll find a good deal on one. The next step is to go to the airlines own sites, often they have 15% off deals for booking directly. To compete with the travel sites, the airlines set up Orbitz. Patience helps, otherwise its probably easier to call a travel agent and spend the extra money. Best Fares is pretty well know but I've never used them myself. The same technique works for rental cars, although with them you can cancel at the last minute without a penalty. This allows you to check the agencies sites a week or so before travel when they post last minute deals (They don't make money off cars in the lot, so if they're still available they'll rent them very cheap). If your into a short trip, try Weekends.com. Somehow wisdom says the best time to buy airline tickets is Wednesday morning at 1am, that's when reserved but unpaid tickets are dumped back into the system and when fare wars are strong. But for rental cars, it's not wednesday when demand is high, but noon on thursday. And for hotels, it's Sunday when revenue management is home. When flying check with the Dept of Transportation and the FAA for real time weather and flight delay info. American
Cape Air
Continental
Delta
Frontier
MetroJet
Midway
Northwest
Southwest
TWA
United
USAirways

Radio Listening to the radio via net has become really popular. Microsoft's Media Player and Real's RealPlayer are the two most popular programs to let you do this. Check Yahoo for stations.

Phone

The Net	I've been on the net for a long time Particularly email, the web and to a lesser extent recently usenet. I run a jokes email list. Most of the jokes you see are pretty old. Many come from rec.humor.funny or have been collected over time. Most of the "true" stories you see are urban legends, look them up. Yes, there really are Darwin Awards, but most of the email about them is bogus. The Internet Oracle knows all.
Viruses	There are plenty of chain letters and virus warnings. Please don't send them to me. There are plenty of sites to help you check out what's real and what's not. Vmyths is an independent group that's been around since the 1980s debunking virus myths and hoaxs. The US Department of Engery runs CIAC with the mission of "Keeping DOE Secure". They produce time critical bulletins and advisories of security vulnerabilities and recommended actions. Their notes for security information of a less time critical nature. They also have a complete Hoax Index you can search for last one you got in email to see if it's real. Of course there are companies with products that help protect you, and I won't advocate one but I will list three with useful info on the net. Symantec owns the Norton AntiVirus products. Their Security Response site includes a Virus Info Database. Network Associates bought McAfee and they run their Virus Information Library. Trend Micro has several products, mostly for business use and maintains their own Virus Encyclopedia.
	I've been And yes, I am sick of most forms of junk mail particularly SPAM. CAUSE is dedicated to stopping it, and there are technical instructions about how to complain about SPAM you receive. Or better yet, SPAM Cop will do the complaining for you and the Spam Recycling Center will send your spam to "the appropriate federal authorities". E.g., send securities fraud to cyberfraud@nasaa.org setup by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA). When sending a complaint, include the name of the state in which you live. SPAM has gotten a lot worse in 2001, others are more sick of it than I and have written up instructions.
Online	Gomez rates online services from banks to brokers to bookstores, to travel, etc.
Travel	To get airline tickets cheap try several of the generic sites first: One Travel, Expedia, Travel Discounters, Lowest Fare, Biz Travel, or Travel Zoo Most will show the same flights, but occasionally you'll find a good deal on one. The next step is to go to the airlines own sites, often they have 15% off deals for booking directly. To compete with the travel sites, the airlines set up Orbitz. Patience helps, otherwise its probably easier to call a travel agent and spend the extra money. Best Fares is pretty well know but I've never used them myself. The same technique works for rental cars, although with them you can cancel at the last minute without a penalty. This allows you to check the agencies sites a week or so before travel when they post last minute deals (They don't make money off cars in the lot, so if they're still available they'll rent them very cheap). If your into a short trip, try Weekends.com. Somehow wisdom says the best time to buy airline tickets is Wednesday morning at 1am, that's when reserved but unpaid tickets are dumped back into the system and when fare wars are strong. But for rental cars, it's not wednesday when demand is high, but noon on thursday. And for hotels, it's Sunday when revenue management is home. When flying check with the Dept of Transportation and the FAA for real time weather and flight delay info.	American Cape Air Continental Delta Frontier MetroJet Midway Northwest Southwest TWA United USAirways
Radio	Listening to the radio via net has become really popular. Microsoft's Media Player and Real's RealPlayer are the two most popular programs to let you do this. Check Yahoo for stations.
Phone