*** ANSWERMAN INTERNET EXTRA *** For the week of March 31, 1997 This is the free weekly newsletter for the community of Internet users on America Online. This week, AnswerMan gets foolish for the first, and will show you how you can protect your privacy on the Internet. =*=*= IN THIS ISSUE =*=*= AnswerMan's Update -- Feeling Foolish & Protecting Your Privacy Upcoming Weekly Focus -- What's coming up The End -- How to contact us or unsubscribe =*=*= WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK WITH ANSWERMAN =*=*= Go to keyword: For: ANSWERMAN Daily tips and Internet message boards AM FOCUS More on Protecting Your Online Privacy, April Fool's Fun NET HELP Get quick help for your Internet questions NET TUTORIAL Clueless about the Internet? Start here! AM GLOSSARY Decrypt that Internet jargon Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: Go to keyword ANSWERMAN Go to keyword AM FOCUS NET TUTORIAL =*=*= ANSWERMAN'S UPDATE -- Foolishness & Privacy =*=*= Happy April 1, known in the United States as April Fool's Day. There is a long tradition by Internet users of observing April Fool's Day, so today I'll share with you some of the best April Fool's Day pranks to have happened on the Internet. Many April first pranks are technical in nature--and most of them happen on Usenet. Some are easy to spot, others are not so easy... But those posting usually leave clues in the message... if you are careful to read it. If not, you may be duped. For example: In 1994, a now-classic message was posted to the Internet: Microsoft Bids to Acquire Catholic Church. The message stated in lurid detail how Bill Gates was going to team up with the Pope. So many people were apparently fooled, that Microsoft issued a press release denying the story. Also in 1994, a message was posted claiming that McDonalds and EUnet (an Internet provider) would join to offer something called "Internet in a Lunchbox". And (one of my personal favorites) this one had to do with domain names--you know, domain names that tell where the user is, like aol.com means the user is from AOL. Well, someone posted a Frequently Asked Questions list to the Internet that gave rules for using domain names on other planets, in case extra-terrestrial entities needed to log in, you could send them e-mail. Another favorite of mine: On April 1, 1992, Apple Computer, Inc., "made a major addition to the software that runs the Macintosh computer with the release of the Caffeine Manager, an extension to System 7.0 that allows all Macintosh computers to interface cleanly and easily with such devices as coffee percolators and soda machines...John Sculley, CEO of Apple Computer, was quick to hail the Caffeine Manager as a turning point in the development of the Macintosh. 'It's where I've envisioned the company going, it's a dream I've had since my last job,' he states. 'This will make the Macintosh the choice of a new generation.'" Corporations like to get in on the April Fool's tricks too--that message actually came from someone at Apple. (And this happened long before anyone had heard of a little Web tool called Java. :-) In 1991, a bogus press release, allegedly from Microsoft, heralded the development of Microsoft Windows for the Macintosh. "Yes, all the power you've come to know on your IBM PC will soon be available on the Macintosh, too. Get all the power and function of Windows applications like Microsoft Word for Windows and Microsoft Excel for Windows, right there on your Macintosh. Now the Macintosh user will come to know what users of Windows on the IBM PC have known for some time now: that a powerful graphical icon-based user interface will give you even more power to be your best than you've ever had before!" The cost? $395. The optional "Microsoft Excel for Windows for the Mac" was said to cost $695 and required 16MB RAM and System 8.2. (By the way, in 1994, Apple Computer announced a product that would really made Windows work on a Macintosh. Sometime in that year span, that concept stopped being funny. Or did it?) In 1990, official RFC (Request for Comments) document #1149 outlined an experimental Internet standard describing a method for the encapsulation of IP datagrams in avian carriers, stating, "Avian carriers can provide high delay, low throughput, and low altitude service. The connection topology is limited to a single point-to-point path for each carrier, used with standard carriers, but many carriers can be used without significant interference with each other, outside of early spring...Multiple types of service can be provided with a prioritized pecking order. An additional property is built-in worm detection and eradication. With time, the carriers are self-regenerating. Audit trails are automatically generated, and can often be found on logs and cable trays." (Yuk!) Perhaps the most (in-)famous April Fool's day joke happened in 1984. The prank is now legendary: a forged Usenet posting supposedly from the Premier of the USSR celebrating the first Internet link to Russia (this was, of course, a few years before there really was one.) It was written in an excellent imitation of Russian bombast, and despite the repeated mention of the date, it fooled a fair number of people. (This joke was successful enough that when the USSR finally did get a real Internet connection, many people thought that it was just another prank.) In 1989, a post to the RISKS mailing list announced that BMW had released "Road Warmers"--the result of twenty years of German engineering--employing laser technology to ensure consistent road conditions. "Underneath the car, four pivoting convex lasers are mounted in front of each wheel. The lasers are aimed at the pavement directly in front of the tread stance. They work in tandem with five-speed turbo fans. So not only do they manage to melt snow and ice, they also dry the road of excess moisture. And virtually eliminate the need to clear your driveway during winter...Eventually Road Warmers will be standard on all new BMW's. But as part of a special offer, your dealer will install them on your present car free of charge." I wonder how many really confused BMW dealers there were in the following days. In the next few days, take everything you see on the Internet, and especially Usenet, with a grain of salt. Everything dated April 1, even if you see it a few days before or after April 1, should be suspect. I don't want to sound paranoid--April 1 on the Internet is fun! Lots of strange and interesting things happen, but its more fun to enjoy the trick than to be tricked. So be careful. Want more April Foolishness? Start by going to keyword AM FOCUS, where I've put links to several great web sites dedicated to the spirit of the day. Then head on over to keyword APRIL FOOL, AOL's official forum for foolish fun. Here are direct links for AOL 3.0 users: AM FOCUS: Foolish Web Sites Keyword APRIL FOOL -.-.- Protecting Your Privacy -.-.- First, a question that I've been seeing a lot lately: What is a "cookie"? When the administrators of a Web site want to remember information about you from visit to visit, the site can be set up to "plant a cookie." A cookie is a file, stored on your hard disk, which holds information that the site wants to remember for later. For instance, if you fill out a form at a music site indicating that you prefer classical music, the site might store that preference in a cookie, so that next time you visit, you'll go straight to the classical music news and reviews. Or, a site that requires that you have a username and password might give you the option of "planting a cookie" with that information on your hard drive. That way, the site won't have to ask about your identity every time you visit. Convenient, yes, but perhaps not a good idea if other people have access to your computer. Cookies are not meant to be insidious, but they can be worrisome. The bad news is that there's no good way to control what a Web site inscribes on its cookie, and it is theoretically possible for other sites to snoop through cookies left by other sites. In other words, other sites could learn that your prefer classical music. If you willingly give your credit card number to a Web site, which then stores the information in a cookie, and later another site snoops in your cookie jar... well, you can invent your own worst-case scenario. Privacy question number two: How private is the e-mail that I send? You should think of the e-mail that you send as written on a post card, as opposed to sealed in an envelope. The government or AOL are not snooping in your mail. Any real threat to the privacy of your message comes from system administrators of other Internet hosts. You see, as your message gets from "here" to "there," it may pass through a couple, or a couple dozen, other computers along the way. Anyone with system administration access on any of the intermediate (or destination) computers could potentially read your mail. Don't worry too much--despite this, I believe that your e-mail is safe. Most system administrators know that reading others' mail is wrong. (And most simply don't have the time to go snooping through strangers' mail.) Still, if you want to be positive that your message is 100% private, encrypt it. One last privacy question: What can Internet users learn about you and your personal life? Pretty much only what you tell them. For instance, by default, AOL's Member Directory doesn't tell the world anything about you. If you choose to use the "My Profile" feature and fill out your birthdate, hobbies and so on, remember that information will be available to everyone on AOL. If you post to newsgroups, it is easy for others to use a search tool like DejaNews (http://www.dejanews.com) to search for your e-mail address and quickly find every newsgroup message that you've ever posted. Remember that Usenet is a public forum, and anything you say might be read by your mom, your boss, or your dog, tomorrow or a year from now. Here is a direct link for AOL 3.0 users: Keyword AM FOCUS =*=*= UPCOMING WEEKLY FOCUS =*=*= Every week, AnswerMan focuses on a particular facet of using the Internet. Here are the Weekly Focus topics we'll be covering in the near future: April 7 - April 13: Essential e-mail April 14 - April 20: Dealing with Spam April 21 - April 27: Getting Help Online April 28 - May 4: Playing games on the Internet also in Arpil: new tools for Mac users and genealogy sites =*=*= THE END =*=*= That's all for this week. Got comments about this newsletter? We want to hear them! Send 'em to AnswerMan. The e-mail address is AnswerMan@aol.com. We would hate to see you go, but if you must leave, there are two easy ways to unsubscribe yourself from this newsletter. You can use either. #1: Send an e-mail message -- To: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE Body: UNSUBSCRIBE ANSWERMAN #2: For AOL 3.0 users only: Click here then press "Unsubscribe". Though it may get harder for you to see me, I'm Argentina, and always will be copyright 1997 by America Online, Inc. All rights reserved.