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Don't fall for the fake e-mail currently circulating that says you've been given a $50 iTunes Gift Certificate. It asks recipients to open the attached file to access a certificate code that purportedly can be used to buy music and other items from the iTunes Store. The e-mail is not from the iTunes Store, as it claims, but rather from a notorious scam machine known as the Pushdo/Cutwail spambot.

Those who open the attachment will not find a certificate code. Instead, by clicking on it, the recipient may inadvertently launch a malicious application that can install a Trojan horse virus on his or her computer. Once installed, this Trojan can then modify the Windows registry, potentially give hackers access to the infected computer by connecting to a remote server, and download and install even more malware components.

Keep in mind that e-mail notifications of genuine iTunes Gift Certificates will typically include the name of the sender along with a personal message, and will not hide the certificate code in a separate e-mail attachment. So pay close attention to any e-mails you receive that appear to be from the iTunes Store. And as always, think twice before opening any e-mail attachment.

What would happen if the federal government decided that city roads, bridges, and infrastructure should be better-constructed and more efficient than the roads in rural America? What about if policymakers determined that urban residents should be able to get where they are going and get what they need faster than rural residents?

A new government plan intends to make that true of our nation's information superhighway - the Internet. And while it's not the highway we drive on, rural consumers should still be very concerned.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has crafted a plan to make broadband Internet access universally available. Reliable, high-speed broadband has become the essential service of today, like electricity and telephone service were decades ago.

Broadband can improve the lives of all consumers, but access is especially important for those of us living in rural America. The Internet enables farmers to monitor weather patterns and ranchers to buy and sell livestock in markets far from home. It also gives small businesses the opportunity to reach customers nationwide, offers local students the chance to take classes online, and allows doctors to remotely diagnose patients and even offer remote emergency care.

The many benefits of broadband are clear, and we applaud the government's efforts to make affordable, reliable Internet connections a reality for all Americans.

But the FCC's plan will make rural Americans second class citizens in the new broadband world, because it establishes a speed goal for rural areas that is twenty-five times slower than for urban areas. Please note that the FCC generally considers even the Omaha metro area as "rural".

Shouldn't rural communities have access to the same broadband services as our larger towns and cities?

Years ago, Congress established a universal service policy for telephone service. It required that those living in rural areas have access to communication services at prices that are affordable and reasonably comparable to those available in urban areas. Rather than support this same universal service philosophy for broadband, the FCC's plan offers faster, better service to some Americans while guaranteeing lesser services to others.

Don't let the FCC keep our rural community on the slow side of the broadband digital divide. Contact your congressional representatives and urge them to support regulatory action that ensures equal access to broadband for all Americans. If you'd like to learn more about this issue, contact Hartelco at 402-254-3901, or your local communications provider in your area.

Hartelco has great money-saving specials again this year for the Cedar County Fair. Stop by and register to win a gift package including a flash drive, 25-pack of CD-Rs, and more!

And it gets even better! We have Back-to-School Summer Savings Specials including a great desktop package (while supplies last), Norton 2010 Anti-virus at special prices, and we again are offering a special discount price on PC Cleanups!

We had such great response in March for these deals that we've worked special pricing to offer them again at these low rates.

Watch this important 3-minute YouTube video about the National Broadband Plan from the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. Just click here to view.

Question: I heard that typosquatting is an online threat. What exactly is typosquatting and what do I need to know about it?

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Answer: Typosquatting has emerged as a significant threat to Internet users. The term refers to the development of malicious websites with addresses (URLs) that are very similar to those of real websites. These addresses are based on common typing errors like .cm instead of .com; the .cm domain has recently been identified as the riskiest domain in the world because of this practice. Typosquatting also takes advantage of adding an "s" to form a plural word in an address or using common misspellings. If you are lead to one of these malicious sites, such as one that pretends to be a financial institution with which you do business, it could collect your login information for identity theft.

In order to protect yourself from typosquatting, be careful when typing Internet addresses, verify the address before entering login information or downloading files, and use bookmarks in your Web browser so that you do not need to type addresses for websites that you visit regularly.

Tourism Tidbits
www.funtouristattractions.com – Planning your next trip, or looking for somewhere new to travel to? This site is packed with details about tourist attractions in cities around the world. Just click on a city, pick an attraction, and find photos, videos, links to blog posts, maps, and contact information. Or try the Stumble Travel feature, which brings up random videos of attractions you might not have looked for on your own, like the Mud Volcano (where you can take a mud bath!) in Cartagena, Columbia.

Cool Vacation Slideshows
tripwow.tripadvisor.com – Here's a way to take sharing vacation pics to a whole new level. Just upload a few photos, and the site creates a very cool trip slideshow (with music!) for you to show your family and friends. It even includes a map of your travels and allows you to customize titles and captions. The site is free, fast, and easy. Once a slideshow is created, you can easily share it on Facebook, Twitter, or another social media site.

Healthy Home Cooking
www.mealsmatter.com – The Meals Matter website helps you prepare healthy meals at home. This free site offers a variety of tools, including a grocery list, meal planner, nutrition planner, and cookbook. You can also take calcium and food personality quizzes to help you get on track. Visit the Nutrition & Healthy Living section to read up on nutrition and healthy living topics, or check out the Recipes & Meal Ideas section for quick meals and meal suggestions. How does Almond Chicken Dijon sound for dinner tonight?

Help With Finances
www.mymoney.gov – Financial management can be complicated, but there are good resources out there. This site is dedicated to financial literacy and education for all Americans. You will find tips on starting a new business, how to buy health insurance, how to prepare for retirement, and much more, including the new rules regarding credit cards and overdraft fees. Calculators, worksheets, and checklists make it easy to get your financial life in order.

Want To Volunteer?
www.serve.gov – A situation like this year's Gulf oil spill reminds us that there are people in need of help—not just in disaster situations, but in everyday life. Whether you want to assist animals, youth, or the environment, this site can help you find ways to use your passion and knowledge to benefit others in your community. Just use the easy interface to search for opportunities. You can also post information if your organization needs volunteers.

Short Tutorial – Setting Up Your E-mail Program To Not Leave Messages On The Server

Have you ever received a notification that your mailbox is full because you have used your allotted amount of storage space? If so, we recommend that you check your settings to make sure that your e-mail program is set up to not leave messages on the server. To do so, simply follow the steps below.

Setting up Your E-mail Program to Not Leave Messages on the Server Using ...
E-mail Program: Outlook Express 6
Computer Operating System: Windows XP

With Outlook Express open, click your cursor arrow on "Tools" from the menu bar and then select "Accounts..." from the resulting drop-down menu.
When the Internet Accounts window opens, highlight your e-mail name and select the "Properties" button.
When the e-mail specific Properties window opens, select the "Advanced" tab.
Under the "Delivery" section, uncheck the box next to "Leave a copy of messages on server."
Click on the "Apply" button and then the "OK" button to save your changes and close the e-mail specific Properties window.
The Internet Accounts window should reappear. Click on the "Close" button to close the window.

Setting up Your E-mail Program to Not Leave Messages on the Server Using ...
E-mail Program: Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0
Computer Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OS X

With Thunderbird open, click your cursor arrow on "Tools" from the menu bar and then select "Account Settings..." from the resulting drop-down menu.
When the Account Settings window opens, click on the "+" sign next to your e-mail name (arrow on the Mac version) and a list will appear below. Select "Server Settings" from this list.
Under the "Server Settings" section, uncheck the box next to "Leave messages on server."
Click on the "OK" button to save your changes and close the Account Settings window.

Setting up Your E-mail Program to Not Leave Messages on the Server Using ...
E-mail Program: Windows Mail
Computer Operating System: Windows Vista

With Windows Mail open, click your cursor arrow on "Tools" from the menu bar and then select "Accounts..." from the resulting drop-down menu.
When the Internet Accounts window opens, highlight your e-mail name and select the "Properties" button.
When the e-mail specific Properties window opens, select the "Advanced" tab.
Under the "Delivery" section, uncheck the box next to "Leave a copy of messages on server."
Click on the "Apply" button and then the "OK" button to save your changes and close the e-mail specific Properties window.
The Internet Accounts window should reappear. Click on the "Close" button to close the window.

Setting up Your E-mail Program to Not Leave Messages on the Server Using ...
E-mail Program: Windows Live Mail
Computer Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7

With Windows Live Mail open, click your cursor arrow on "Tools" from the menu bar and then select "Accounts..." from the resulting drop-down menu.
When the Accounts window opens, highlight your e-mail name and select the "Properties" button.
When the e-mail specific Properties window opens, select the "Advanced" tab.
Under the "Delivery" section, uncheck the box next to "Leave a copy of messages on server."
Click on the "Apply" button and then the "OK" button to save your changes and close the e-mail specific Properties window.
The Accounts window should reappear. Click on the "Close" button to close the window.

Setting up Your E-mail Program to Not Leave Messages on the Server Using ...
E-mail Program: Mail.app 3.6
Computer Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5

With Mail.app open, click your cursor arrow on "Mail" from the menu bar and then select "Preferences" from the resulting drop-down menu.
When the Preferences window opens, click on the "Accounts" button.
From the Accounts window, select your account in the pane to the left by clicking on its name.
Click on the "Advanced" tab.
Make sure that the box is checked next to "Remove copy from server after retrieving a message:" and select a time interval from the button below that line. Select "Right away" to remove mail from the server as it downloads to your computer.
Close the window by clicking on the red dot in the upper left corner.