Sept / 2004 - Issue #4
The Sirius Star is a monthly newsletter intended to inform, reward, educate, and entertain our clients, potential customers and resellers.

SOS - Sirius Online Service
By Sirius Solutions Staff

ave you ever had a problem with your technology that made you want to lean out a window and scream “SOS!”

Upon a little reflection, you realize that this probably won’t fix your problem, as most technology gurus aren’t tuned into this kind of request for help! Well think again, this is exactly what our SOS is for. Our SOS is an online forum where you can post questions and get responses in four technology areas: General Help Topics; Web Development; Network and System Solutions; and Accounting and Business Systems. Oh yeah, by the way, it’s free!


Read the full story in this month's Hot Topic .

Take a look at SOS - Sirius Online Service here.


The Technology Olympics
By Charles Carr

For most of us, the closest we get to the Olympics is watching it on the television. I get so engaged in seeing people strive to be the best they can be. It captures my spirit and I can almost imagine that if I had worked hard towards an Olympic goal as a child, maybe I could have been a medal contender, and wouldn’t it be great to hear our national anthem. OK, *pinch*, *wake-up*, *shake-head* - wait a second, I’ve got a feeling I better stay in the arm chair Olympics. However, maybe I’ll ponder on how the Olympics could be brought to the realm of Technology Services.

Read the full story here
.


Web Design VS. Templates
By Charles Carr

Web templates get my angst; after all they seem to go against the very concepts of web design. Some would say, “relax dude, templates need to be designed too…get off the semantics train and look at the benefits of templates”. Normally I would dismiss this request out of hand, as I have a fairly sound base of opinion regarding the place for web site templates; Keep them out of my sight/site! However I’ll try and shed my bias in a comparison of developing your website with a template or with a design team.

Read the full story here
.



This month, we decided to profile Avitech International Inc., based in Hollywood, Florida. We are fortunate to have worked with Marvin and his team for the past 5 years.

Read the full story here .



Are you tired of getting a loan every time you need to get gas? We certainly are…that is why Sirius Solutions has started a new client reward campaign. If you are an existing client, new client or a recipient of our newsletter, you can enter to win $50 dollars in gas every month in our summer sweepstakes. Do you have a friend or business partner who could benefit from our services? Let us know and we'll enter your name in this month's draw!

Click here to send us a referral.

Every ballot counts!



Watch out! The US Justice Department has arrested over 150 individual cyber thieves.
Read More...

Microsoft releases the much anticipated "service pack 2". Windows XP users rejoice!
Read More...

First day of Olympics means first real security systems test. Find out what was learned from the last summer olympics.
Read More...

Phishing, a form of online identity fraud. Learn about this new threat and prevent it from happening to you.
Read More...









Dill pickles
Cooking Instructions:

• 4 Quart basket of 3 to 5 inch pickling cucumbers
• ¾ cup course salt
• 2 cups white vinager
• 6 cups water
• tree of dill sprigs

Wash and scrub cumcumbers. Cut off stems and blossom ends. Place in pot and cover with ice over night or for four hours. Slice and pack in 1 quart clean bottles. Add sprigs of dill half way through and on top of dills (5 to 6 sprigs of dill is good).
Combine vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a boil. Pour over cucumbers in jars. Seal jars and leave for several weeks before using, usually 5 to 6 weeks. They are worth the wait.

NOTE: A little clove of garlic can be added with the dill to create a different taste to your pickles.
Best in the West!


Table of Contents
 • Hot Topic
 • Virus Alert
 • Feature One
 • Feature Two
 • Client Corner
 • Free Gas!
 • Industry News
 • Tips & Quotes
 • Recipes
 • Funny Bone
 • Specials
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W32.Mydoom.Q@mm

W32.Beagle.AO@mm

W32.Mydoom.M@mm
Are you infected? Contact Sirius Solutions

Miek’s Dime    By Miek Gall

Worm and Trojans seem to be becoming more proliferate.

They seem to be getting sent in one of two ways; the first being with random names generated i.e. adam@cmpanyname.com, aaron@companyname.com ... this in most part will go unnoticed to anyone hosting a mail server unless they are using software that monitors for this.  The drawback is all the extra traffic being generated by those NDR’s (Non Delivery Report). If you have ever received a bounced email saying that Joe@anycomapny.com is not a known e-mail address this is possibly the originating source.

The second being; through a P2P (peer to peer) networking client.  Trojans are now starting to look for folders that contain the letters “sha” these most likely being shared folders on either a P2P client or a company share.  It will then copy in cool looking files like NAV2005.exe. Norton has not released 2005 and as such an individual looking for files would likely snatch this up.
Phatbot is one example and differs from its progenitors by the sheer amount of monkey business it can carry out and its ability to use peer-to-peer (P2P) networking to control its infected hosts.

Read more about
Phatbot bahaviors Here .

Sirius Solutions Recommends:
Attack the Virus before the Virus attacks you. Buy Norton Anti-Virus from Sirius Solutions. Only $35 *Includes Updates






“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”
   ~ Albert Einstein

“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.”
   ~ John Foster Dulles (Former US Secretary of State)


Did you know diskettes are the worst back up medium that you can use? They degrade over time, and can leave you in miserable shape.

To close the active window hit (Alt+F4).

More Tips Here



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235 Main St, Fredericton NB,
E3A 1E1
Ph: 506.474.1284
Fx: 506.474.0921
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