| Computers long ago entered our social world … they can be used crudely or skillfully |
| Email is part of our lives … but it’s not good for everything | |||
| Poor for emotion, alternating interactions, most broadcast, sarcasm, … | |||
| Email has (n)etiquette | |||
| 1 topic messages; include context w/ reply | |||
| Use ‘vacation’ auto-reply | |||
| Answer aging email in reverse arrival order | |||
| Get sender’s permission before forwarding | |||
| A virus embeds in SW & travels with it, worms move around net on their own | |||
| Both can do damage like erasing your files or taking information, but they may not | |||
| Best defense is practicing “safe” computing | |||
| All computers should have virus protection software -- many vendors | |||
| Melissa virus (Friday 3/26/99) embeds in MS Word docs attached to email | |||
| Would this make sense coming from a friend? | |||
| When users open the attachment, initializing code runs (often macros) | |||
| That code is the virus/worm and can do harm or setup to do harm | |||
| It also propagates itself, e.g. getting the email address book and sending copies of itself to those people | |||
| This month’s species is MyDoom.b | ||
| Like Melissa … | ||
| MyDoom.b is a worm | ||
| Spreads by attachments | ||
| Virus software began checking for it within 24 hours | ||
| MyDoom.b is a mutant of MyDoom | ||
| Unlike Melissa … it’s harmful | ||
| Viruses/worms are serious, be cautious | |||
| Have virus software running on any machine connected to the Internet | |||
| Don’t ever get “trigger happy” at opening attachments | |||
| Be careful where you get your SW from! | |||
| - Commercial SW, Shareware, Freeware | |||
| Keep your files “backed up” | |||
| Be alert to “phony” viruses | |||
| Be alert for odd behavior, weird events … think about it, “What’s happenin’?” | |||
| [It’s hard to teach/learn this topic] | |||
| In physical world, many cues alert us, but for synthetic world of IT, we must use reasoning | |||
| When something is odd, can you explain it? | |||
| Even if you can’t, does your understanding of it suggest some action? | |||
| Basic facts about copyright | |||
| Since 1989 the © has not been needed | |||
| Creating “intellectual property” automatically creates a copyright | |||
| Most information is owned by someone, but if you get a copy legally you can use it personally- read it, play it, etc. - but no copy | |||
| “Fair Use” allows copying for “socially valuable purposes,” like reviews, education | |||
| It is virtually impossible to create bug-free software | |||
| Software engineers know this (better than anyone) and make huge efforts to write quality programs and test them carefully | |||
| Expect quality, but be alert for bugs | |||
| Try other products if bugs/errors numerous | |||
| Be wary of SW in “safety critical” situations | |||