HIGH TECH CORNER: MELISSA'S MESSAGE: FAULT OF MICROSOFT

Melissa, important message; it's Microsoft's fault

Yes, the current black mark on the Internet is Melissa. A macro virus that has wreaked havoc and panic on the Internet.

Now, as viruses go, this is not a super bad one for the individual. It doesn't format your drive or corrupt your OS. It, instead, sends out infected files to 50 people in your address book. And yes, this one is all Microsoft's fault.

The reason? When Microsoft added the current style of macro supports to Word, Symantec & Macfee contacted them explaining that this could become a possibility for virus infiltration. Microsoft's position was "This Will Never Happen."

Well, as my father always said, "Never say never." A macro is a series of Word commands and instructions you group together as a single command to accomplish a task automatically. Instead of manually performing a series of time-consuming, repetitive actions in Word, you can create and run a single macro -- in effect, a custom command -- that accomplishes the task for you. This is how they created the virus.

Syndicate, a mutation of Melissa, takes the nasty Melissa scourge one step further, letting the owner of one e-mail address track its spread. The so-called Syndicate virus, reported by Computer Associates, acts just like Melissa -- except that it sends out 70 e-mails, 69 that spread the virus to others, and one to the e-mail address project1@nym.alias.net that reads "Guess who's infected:" followed by the e-mail of the person who just received the virus. It would be very embarrassing to have to call your friends or companies you correspond with and have to tell them that you just infected them.

So how do you protect yourself against this virus? Don't open any attachments if you use WORD or OUTLOOK as your e-mail client. Outlook Express is OK.

You should also be running virus protection. I hate to say this but it should be updated daily at least for the next couple of weeks. This is very important because there have already been three mutations of the Melissa virus as of April Fools' Day.

Speaking of April Fools', the cable industry just went off of regulations on this fine day. The problem is, the joke is on you. They now can increase the rates on premium channels without government intervention. With no cable modems in sight for Cape Girardeau, hold onto your wallets.

On a better note, I want to offer any City Council member who wants to go, a free badge to NAM (National Association Of Broadcasters) in Las Vegas April 19. This is the show of shows that will determine what the broadcast industry will be doing over the next couple of years as we migrate to HDTV. Don't let the cable company tell you what the direction of Cape Girardeau should be. Come with me to see for yourselves. Cape Girardeau citizens deserve an informed City Council.

In the past I have picked on Bell for not offering DSL in Cape Girardeau. This may be good for local ISP's. Bell is completing an agreement with AOL as reported in the Kansas City Star to be the Bells' service provider.

I called Bells' press group to get their take on how this will put the small ISP businessman out of business. No response after four days. No surprise there. However, I must say something nice about our local Bell office. The Cape office has sent two techs, David and Roger, out to get my modem phone line in shape. SBC should be very proud of Cape Girardeau's employees as their technical knowledge and great personalities far outflank the corporate attitude that is thrust upon us. I take my hat off to Cape's SBC Office employees. I wish you were running the show.

As always, feel free to contact me at (BOLD) DIGITAL@LDD.NET & WWW.DIGITALLABS.COM (UNBOLD).