Re: VERY IMPORTANT !!!!

At 12:22 AM -0400 22/5/01, Peter Grimes wrote:
>On Mon, 21 May 2001 Threehegemons@aol.com wrote:
>
>>  Can I encourage people to just not send out stuff as attachments to this
>  > list?  Just use the cut and paste function.  Downloads are a pain in the
>  > butt anyway.
>>
>>  Steven Sherman
>>
>       Unfortunately, cut & paste cannot send spreadsheets of data such
>as our friend Arno Tausch has recently circulated, nor articles in PDF
>format such as I have sent.  I am currently discussing our options with
>those operating the system software, and will keep people appraised.


There are ways around this.

First, it appears that the circulating viruses are now mainly in 
visual basic transmitted through html-formatted messages. It would 
help a great deal if people generally refrained from sending out 
messages in html, and just stick to the old - and still good - 
standard for email: plain text. This can be set in the 
options/preferences/settings of your favourite email programme.

Secondly, if attachments are to be sent, the viruses are apparently 
courtesy of Microsoft. That is, if it's a Word file or an Excel file, 
please scan the file prior to sending. Alternatively, the list can 
set up a space on the CSF server where files can be uploaded for 
download. Then it's the responsibility of those who choose to 
download those files to ensure that they are virus-free before 
opening them.

PDF files are, I believe, not susceptible to those viruses. So, if a 
Word file is converted into a pdf file, that should be fine. And 
that's an option. You can download a free PDF printer from the Adobe 
website, and if you select PDF when you print, it generates a PDF 
file from your Word file, or Excel file, or anything.

For small tables, there are small shareware programmes out there 
which will take a table and convert it into a format which will 
travel well as a plain text email file.

Hope this helps.

KJ Khoo