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Keep an eye on your inbox. If you receive an e-mail that appears to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking you to create a personal H1N1 vaccination profile, it's a scam. Ignore the e-mail and do not respond, or you may put your computer at risk for a virus.

These fraudulent e-mails talk about a CDC-sponsored state vaccination program, and tell recipients that they need to create a personal H1N1 vaccination profile on the CDC's website whether they're vaccinated or not. A link is provided for this "registration process" that leads to a fake webpage that looks similar to the CDC's. Once there, recipients are asked to download instructions on creating their profile. If they click on the link to download, they're in danger of getting a computer virus and giving scammers access to their personal information.

To avoid becoming a victim of such phishing attacks:

January 1st has come and gone just like many New Year's resolutions. But we'd like to suggest some resolutions that can pay big dividends in the future.

How about Online Backup? Some of the benefits include:

Your files are copied to data vaults outside the Hartington area.
Your files are safe from hard drive failures, fires, tornados, or other disasters.
Your files are encrypted so hackers can't crack the security.
Automatic scheduling for ease of use and no worries.
Less expensive than tape-backup systems.
Access 24/7 to restore your data.

Now ask yourself these important questions:

Do I have a backup system in place for my end-of-year financial data or personal files or photos?
Does my current backup system fit my needs?
Does my current backup system follow Internet safety guidelines?
Does my current backup system store data off-site?
And then duplicate the data to a second off-site vault?
How much data can my system store at one time?
Can my current backup system store data from multiple computers running all types of operating systems?
Can my current backup system restore data 24/7/365?
Is my backup system inexpensive?

If you've answered "No" to any of these questions, then you need Hartelco Backup! Our Hartelco Backup is safe, secure, off-site, and very inexpensive. Charges are based on the amount of storage used off-site, and not on the number of computers backed up.

Here's what Sue Dickes of Heine Electric & Irrigation had to say about Online Backup:
"We are grateful to Hartelco and Glen Miller in helping us out with Online Backup for our computer system. We had a scare recently when I was trying to do an update on our accounting system. They were able to retrieve all data and nothing was lost."

Stop by our office at 103 W Centre Street or call us at 402-254-3901 and let us customize a backup plan for you!

Another resolution that always pays is to have a strong password. Here's a tip for a strong password: Create a password out of the first letter of each word in a memorable sentence.

An example of such would be the sentence "I made cookies with my 6th grade daughter", which would translate to a password of "imcwm6gd".

While upon first glance this password would make no sense to a stranger, it makes perfect sense to the creator. Please check your passwords and make them strong whenever possible.

Great news! Hartelco is doubling the size of email storage space for each of our Hartel.net customers!

Currently 50Mb of storage space is available for emails. This has now been doubled to 100Mg of storage space for each and every Hartel.net customer.

In the past, if the size of your email waiting on our email server (also known as Hartel.net webmail) for you to download to your PC exceeded 50Mb, you would receive an email notice from us asking you to clear your account of unwanted emails. If after 10 days, the file size was not reduced to below 50Mg in size, your inbound email may have been blocked. This will no longer be the case.

On a going-foward basis, if the 100Mb file space is exceeded, a $5/month fee will be assessed for each additional 50Mb of space used above the initial 100Mb allotted to each customer's email. Again, this is only the amount of space used to store email in each customer's webmail account each month, and NOT the amount of email that is downloaded to your computer which is unlimited.

Some email software have settings that keep a copy of all emails on our Hartel.net email server AFTER you've already downloaded them to your computer. This is also a way to protect emails that contain pictures and save documents with attachments in case of issues on your home or business computer. Some customers use this file space as storage, which is fine as long as the 100Mb file space is not exceeded.

To find out how much space your email account contains on our webmail server, just log into your webmail account by clicking on the View Mail icon in the top, right-hand corner of the Hartel.net homepage. You can use your normal email username and password to login to the webmail, where you will see your file space size in the top, right-hand corner just above the Trash button. Be sure to logout again once you are done viewing your email on our server.

This is also how you can check your Hartel.net email account when traveling or away from home.

Again, please note that these size limits have no bearing whatsoever on the amount of email that you download to your computer. This is only regarding the amount of email that you store on our server.

If you are concerned about spam email filling your allocated 100Mb of email storate space, may we suggest Postini email filter. Postini is only $1/month and reduces the number of spam emails received by over 90%.

Please contact our office at 402-254-3901 for more information on Postini, or if you have any questions regarding the size of your email/webmail account.

The Nebraska Department of Roads has a great site for checking traveling conditions not only during this harsh winter, but at anytime of year. Just click here for 511nebraska.org to be taken to the DOR website. Be sure to mark it as a favorite because you'll surely want to return the next time traveling conditions deteriorate.

Rogue anti-virus programs have always been around, but there's been a sudden increase in the number of rogue programs as reported by Glen Miller, manager of the Hartelco computer department.

Miller stated that both anti-virus and pop-up types of rogue programs have caused an unusual amount of computers brought into Hartelco with issues.

Miller explained "A Rogue Anti-virus program tricks PC users into downloading or even paying for the removal of malware, spyware, or viruses that are likely not even on their computer. The program usually shows up in the form of a very authentic-looking pop-up which tricks the user into thinking their current, legitimate anti-virus programs is showing them an alarm to 'Click here to prevent further infection' and begin a virus scan. Sometimes the pop-up wants payment via credit card prior to taking further action. Upon clicking the pop-up and sometimes even before clicking, the rogue program may be installing all sorts of malware on the users computer."

The real culprit is typically not an infected email, but an infected website. The website may have been valid in the past, but somehow became infected, which in turn creates the screen pop-up which then infects the consumer's PC when they click the pop-up.

What to do?

Understand and know what your current anti-virus program's pop-up screen looks like. Don't have an anti-virus program? Get one.
If you see what looks like an anti-virus pop-up window that does not look familiar, do not click on it! Press the Alt-F4 keys which will immediately close the pop-up window.
Open your normal anti-virus program. Make sure you have the newest virus definition files, and run your own virus scan.
If you still run into problems, call us at 402-254-3901 for assistance.

Downloading Songs or Movies? - What You Need to Know About Copyright Infringement

This past week, Hartelco was notified that a customer downloaded two copyright-protected movies. The notification was sent within 8 hours of the movies being downloaded. We thought this would be a good opportunity to remind our customers of copyright rules and give a brief explanation.

Warner Brothers, MGM, and other entities that produce movies and music have ownership rights to their music/movie material by way of Copyright rules under the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" of 1998 (DMCA).

Violations of federal Copyright law can result in civil and/or criminal liability, including payment of monetary damages, costs, and attorneys' fees to the copyright owner. Essentially, Copyright laws restrict the sending/receiving of movie and music files illegally on the Internet. When the movie and music producers discover a violation of the DMCA, they notify Internet Service Providers (like Hartelco) of the event. When we receive a Copyright infringement notice, we will stop Internet services to the customer in question, and ask the customer to remove the shared files of copyright material from their computer immediately. The customer is then required to sign a form stating that they have complied before Internet service is restored. We then are required to reply to the studio's attorneys stating that the issue has been resolved. But please note that it is the studio's option whether or not they will pursue other legal options against the offender.

Please also note that if you have a wireless home network, it should be password-protected and secured to be certain that neighbors aren't downloading illegal files while using your network. Please contact our office if you want help in securing your wireless network or router.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss Copyright infringements, please feel free to stop by our office. Also, feel free to visit Respect CopyRights.org for further information.

Hartelco and other sponsoring area businesses are webstreaming the audio of all the home varsity girls and boys basketball games for both Cedar Catholic and Hartington Public this year.

You can listen to each game by clicking here, or you can listen to the games on the background audio of Hartelco TV Channel 13. You can even re-listen to a previously broadcast game by clicking the link above, or by just going to www.hartel.net and clicking on the "Listen Live" link and scrolling to the bottom to the Archived Events section.

Here's the remaining webcast schedule for the 2009-2010 basketball regular season.

January 26	6:15 PM	Plainview at HPS Girls
January 26	8:00 PM	Plainview at HPS Boys
January 28	6:15 PM	Winside at HPS Girls
January 28	8:00 PM	Winside at HPS Boys
January 29	8:15 PM	Wagner at Cedar Catholic Boys
February 9	8:00 PM	Wayne at Cedar Catholic Girls
February 11	8:00 PM	Battle Creek at Cedar Catholic Boys
February 19	8:00 PM	Norfolk Catholic at Cedar Catholic Boys

Please thank the sposoring businesses for bringing you hometown basketball this season.

The 2010 Winter Olympics begin February 12th in Vancouver, Canada. There is more coverage than ever and sites to preview and review events. Here are just a few:

Did you know you have access to Hartelco TV's programming guide via the Internet? It's right on our website where you can see today's programming, or any upcoming TV shows, movies, and sports programming up to two weeks in advance! There are also channel lineup sheets that you can easily print for on your coffee or end table.

Question: Every once in awhile, I lose my Internet connection at home. Do you have any troubleshooting tips for me? What can I do to get back online?

Internet Connection Picture

Answer: In the event of a temporary service outage or if you lose connectivity, you may need to reboot your modem. If your network features a router, it will need to be rebooted as well. Since the sequence in rebooting is important, we'll review the procedure one step at a time:

Gold Medal Resource on Olympics
http://www.olympic.org - Get all of your Olympic information here at the official site of the Olympic Movement. See details on upcoming Olympic Games (including the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver that begin February 12th), read athlete statistics, follow the activities of the International Olympic Committee, or relive highlights of past Olympics with photos and videos.

Get Healthier in 2010
http://everydayhealth.com - If your New Year's resolutions include getting fit, eating right, or taking charge of your health, you'll want to visit this resource-packed site. It provides thorough descriptions of common conditions, drugs, and symptoms, as well as information on how to eat healthier, manage your weight, and start a fitness program. Be sure to check out the Health Tools section for a calorie counter, meal planner, brain games, and more.

Beat the Clock With Fun Fill-in Games
http://sporcle.com - Got a few minutes? Try out one of the fun fill-in games on this site. Examples include One-syllable Things, U.S. Capitals, The Simpsons, and Book Covers. Fill in as many of the blanks as you can in the time allotted. Once you get the hang of it, you may be inspired to create your own game. Then share the fun by directing your friends to it in an e-mail, from your blog, or from your Facebook page.

Good Eats for Great Recipes
http://foodnetwork.com/good-eats - Whether or not you're a fan of the zany culinary-related antics of Alton Brown on his show Good Eats, you'll enjoy visiting the show's website. To celebrate the program's 10th anniversary, the site is featuring classic Good Eats videos. In addition, you can download some of Alton's best recipes for meat, pasta, fish, vegetables, fruit, soup, breakfast, and dessert dishes.

How to Teach Teens About Money
http://giveme20.com - If you're a parent of a teen, the phrase, "Give me $20" (for gas, the mall, etc.) is probably all too familiar. While your teen may be great at spending all those $20 handouts, he or she may not understand the basics of sound money management. That's where this site comes in, providing tips for educating teens on budgeting, spending, saving, and more. It includes calculators to help them reach spending goals, information about credit, an advice blog, a list of resources, a money terms glossary, and even some fun money games.

Do you frequently send the same e-mail message to groups of people such as close friends or members of a club? If the answer is yes, how do you do it? If you individually select the e-mail addresses of recipients and place them in the "To" field, we encourage you to consider a better way. Take a few minutes to create separate groups with these e-mail addresses and send future messages to the name of the group instead. Your recipients will appreciate the change, since their individual e-mail addresses will no longer appear in the "To" field (which can potentially expose them to scammers). Here's how to do it:

Sending Group E-mail Messages Using ...
E-Mail Program: Outlook Express 6
Computer Operating System: Windows XP

With Outlook Express open, click your cursor arrow on the "Addresses" icon on the toolbar. The Address Book - Main Identity window will appear.
Click on the "New" button on the toolbar and select "New Group..." from the resulting drop-down menu. The Properties window will appear.
Type in a name for your new group in the "Group Name:" field. "Work," "Family," or "Friends" are good examples. (Note that the name you use for the group is the name that will appear in the "To" field of future e-mail messages.)
Next, click on the "Select Members" button on the right side of the window. The Select Group Members window will appear showing a list of your contacts in the left-hand pane of the window.
Highlight a name, multiple names, or all of the names from the listed contacts and click the "Select" button located between the two panes. This will move the highlighted contact or contacts into the "Members:" pane. Click on the "OK" button when you have added the contacts and click "OK" again to close the new group's Properties window.
You will see the new group name folder listed under the "Main Identity's Contacts" folder located in the Address Book - Main Identity window and with your other saved contacts. Click on the red "X" to close the window. You are now ready to begin using the new group name when you create new e-mail messages.

Sending Group E-mail Messages Using ...
E-Mail Program: Mozilla Thunderbird
Computer Operating System: Windows XP and Windows Vista

With Thunderbird open, click your cursor arrow on the "Address Book" icon on the toolbar. The Address Book window will appear.
Click on the "New List" button on the toolbar. The Mailing List window will appear with the "Personal Address Book" already selected in the "Add to:" field.
Type in a name for your new group in the "List Name:" field. "Work," "Family," or "Friends" are good examples. (Note that the name you use for the group is the name that will appear in the "To" field of future e-mail messages.)
Next, in the "Type e-mail addresses to add them to the mailing list:" field, begin typing in the names of the contacts from your Address Book that you would like to add to this new group. Click on the "OK" button when all contacts have been added.
You will see the new group name folder listed under the "Personal Address Book" folder located in the Address Book window and with your other saved contacts. Click on the red "X" to close the window. You are now ready to begin using the new group name when you create new e-mail messages.

Sending Group E-mail Messages Using ...
E-Mail Program: Windows Mail
omputer Operating System: Windows Vista

With Windows Mail open, click your cursor arrow on the "Contacts" icon on the toolbar.
On the next screen, click on the "New Contact Group" button. The Properties window will appear and the "Contact Group" tab should be selected.
Type in a name for your new group in the "Group Name:" field. "Work," "Family," or "Friends" are good examples. (Note that the name you use for the group is the name that will appear in the "To" field of future e-mail messages.)
Next, click on the "Add to Contact Group" button. The Add Members to Contact Group window will appear showing a list of your contacts.
Highlight a name, multiple names, or all of the names from the listed contacts and click the "Add" button. This will move the highlighted contact or contacts into the "Contact Group" pane located in the Properties window. Click on the "OK" button when all contacts have been added.
You will see the new group name listed with your other saved contacts. Click on the red "X" to close the window. You are now ready to begin using the new group name when you create new e-mail messages.

Sending Group E-mail Messages Using ...
E-Mail Program: Address Book 4.1 for Mail.app
Computer Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5

With Address Book open, click on the address book icon titled "All" in the Group column of the Address Book window. A list of all of your addresses in the Address Book will appear in the "Name" column.
Highlight a name, multiple names, or all of the names from the listed contact names by holding down the Command key (the key with the Apple logo next to the space bar), while clicking on the addresses you would like in the new group you are about to create.
Click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu, and select "New Group From Selection" from the resulting drop-down menu. A new untitled group will appear in the "Group" column and all the names you selected in step 2 will be visible in the "Name" column.
Type a name for the group in the highlighted field that says "Group Name." "Work," "Family," or "Friends" are good examples. (Note that the name you use for the group is the name that will appear in the "To" field of future e-mail messages.)

We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the happenings here. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click here.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

The Hartel.net Team

Hartelco
103 W Centre
PO Box 157
Hartington, NE 68739

Ph 402-254-3901

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

©2010 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.

Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this e-mail are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.