1. Click Folders
2. In the Subscribe column, hilight the folders you want to include
3. Click Subscribe
4. Click Inbox
5. You should now have access to all of your old mail folders

The Library suffered some sort of hardware and/or software malfunction on Tuesday afternoon (Jul 5, 2005) and we were taken off the net. We are still not entirely sure what happened but are in the process of rebuilding our primary Internet server. We don't believe any data has been lost.

As of 5am on July 6, some service has been restored. We have some of our web presence back online. Webmail and moodle aren't back yet. Dialup Internet isn't working yet. The patron lab in DeRidder should be restored to operation, not sure about the branches.

Mail in general isn't working, by web, download, send or receive. Mail should be stacking up at the school board but since we have been out for most of a day, many mails have started bouncing back with warnings about failure to deliver. Well configured mail servers should continue trying for a few more days before returning a final failure to deliver message back.

Some upgrades last night appear to have caused some instability. We think we have everything restored to normal operation now, but if you spot something not working please drop a note to admin@beau.org

The dialup lines in Longville are now connected like our DeRidder lines, which means they are now filtered exactly like the main bank. If you can view this page and can't connect to outside sites you must configure your proxy server.

The dialup lines in Merryville were out Oct 12 & 13th. They are now connected to a Livingston PortMaster like our DeRidder lines, which means they are now filtered exactly like the main bank. If you can view this page and can't connect to outside sites you must configure your proxy server.

All is well again.

We will be going off the air this evening for perhaps an hour so we can swap out some equipment. All online services will be affected.

Today it is Mozilla's turn to have an remote exploit. If you are running a recent version of Mozilla on Windows XP you need to download a patch. This one is not believed to be active in the wild yet, but that just means you should patch before someone does something nasty. Mozilla running on other platforms are not at risk, including Windows XP SP1. (If you do not have SP1 yet we recommend you install it as it fixes many outstanding issues.)

You can get to your mail in Open WebMail by clicking on the words 'New WebMail' on our Home Page. Log in with your user name and password and take a look.

Open WebMail is an open source project made possible by volunteer contributions by hundreds of developers around the world. For more information on the project visit http://openwebmail.org

In other news, a new webmail system is now installed. It offers folders, spell checker, addressbook, calendar, etc. Access it at http://beau.org/openwebmail.

Frequent reboots, sluggish operation and mysterious (usually porn) sites in your 'favorites' folders are usually warnings that you have been hit by one or more of the many plagues affecting computers running the windows operating system.

If you modem connection is slower than it used to be, there's a good chance that it is not the fault of your phone lines, your ISP or your modem. Your computer may be sending out spam without your knowledge.

So what can you do? Many people are chosing not to run Windows. If you are running Windows, be sure to apply all the patches and updates as they are released. Learn the basics of Internet security. Update your virus scan frequently and use it.

You might be interested in these articles:

• Nasty Malware Fouls PCs With Porn
• Check Your Viral Load for Bugs
• Sick of Spam? Prepare for Adware
• Kazaa Delivers More Than Tunes

Progress report. Webmail and the calendar are back up and running. Some problems with sending mail remain, depends on your mail client. SMTP-AUTH support is sorta installed but perhaps not quite right yet, which is why some mail clients may still be having problems. If you are one of the more experienced users, you might want to experiment a bit and report what you change to get your mail client sending again. Once it is working you should be able to send mail through us regardless of where you happen to be connected at the moment so it is worth a little pain to get working right.

In other news SpamAssassin is now installed and learning about our spam patterns. As it gains confidence it has started flagging the ones it is pretty sure about with [SPAM] in the subject line. If your mail client supports any sort of message filtering it will now be trivial to toss the spam into a seperate folder. Be sure to have a look in that folder to catch any false positives, at least until you are confident it isn't tossing any of your mailing lists or other important material out as spam.

Another trick would be to add a small .procmailrc file into your home to catch the spam and dump it into a spam folder on OUR end so that it doesn't clog your line downloading it except when you occassionally check for false positives. Have it drop into mail/spam and configure your mail client to use IMAP so you can access it.

Here is an example .procmailrc file to segregate your spam:

# Example .procmailrc to capture spam flagged by spamassassin
MAILDIR=$HOME/mail
# Catch SPAM
:0
* ^X-Spam-Flag: YES
spam

• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Server 2003
• Microsoft Windows NT
• Microsoft Windows 95
• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows Me
• Microsoft Windows XP

White Hat Linux Project

In an effort to get control of the UCE/Spam problem we just dropped a block on ALL email from China and Korea based on their registered netblocks. If you correspond with someone from there drop a note to admin@beau.lib.la.us and we will advise you of ways around it. The easiest is to just have them use a free web account like Yahoo! Mail or Hotmail. Most residents should already know the drill since many US locations are taking this step. Also note this probably won't effect mail to/from Military personnel in Korea since the military should be using IP netblocks assigned to Milnet.

We've had many questions about the Klez "e-mail virus". This is another of the many e-mail viruses which only affect computers running a Microsoft Windows operating system. When an email containing these viruses (or worms) is delivered to a computer running MSWindows, the program collects addresses from the Windows address book, the ICQ database, and other locations. Then it sends emails to these addresses which includes a copy of the program which contains the virus. The Klez virus usually attaches another file at random from the users computer (for example, a document stored on the machine). The subject line it choses is usually related to the file it is sending. The Klez virus also fakes the address headers so it appears to be coming from an email address the virus found in the Windows address book or some other location on the computer. This means that you can no longer count on a trusted sender address to let you know that it is safe to open an email. The virus cannot infect computers running Macintosh, Linux, or other Unix operating systems. Therefore, the virus cannot infect or be sent to you by any computer at the Beauregard Parish Library. If you have an account at the library, and you read your email through Web Mail or Pine, your machine will not be infected unless you chose to download the infected program into your own computer. If you have your email delivered to your computer - especially if you use Outlook Express (e-mail thorugh Internet Explorer) to read your email, keep your virus software up to date and be ready to clean your computer! For more information see: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.klez.h@mm.html

Our new signup kit (thankfully) defaults to SSL being switched off so should be unaffected.

Outlook/Outlook Express defaults to SSL only so anyone using our system already had to manually switch it off, and therefore should also be unaffected.

With Eudora, go to Tools/Options/Checking Mail and look for SSL. Turning it off will revert to the behaviour prior to our mods.

PINE, if run from a shell on Odin is unaffected. If connecting remote you might (depends on the version) need to change the config. Thankfully it will allow you to connect, it just gives a warning about being unable to verify the signature on our SSL key. It also helpfully provides info on the same screen about supressing the warning message.

While I haven't found an easy way to stop the current pop/imap server from doing SSL, probably a good thing (enhancing privacy is usually a good thing) in the long run anyway so we probably will be leaving it enabled. Hopefully the transition bumps will be minor.

While on the subject of secure things, we now offer OpenSSH on Odin. We have had Telnet blocked from outside access for a few years now, but SSH (Secure SHell) is secure enough to leave open. So if you have accounts with other dialup providers or need to access your shell account here from a work computer, you now have an option. Several SSH clients are freely available for Windows, Mac OSX includes an SSH client and most current Linux distributions include OpenSSH.

1. Configuring the Internet Setup Wizard on Windows 98
2. Configuring the Internet Setup Wizard on Windows 98SE (Second Edition)
3. Installing our new custom version of Netscape 6.2.1 from CD
4. Configuring Internet Explorer 4 to access the Internet through the X-Stop
5. Configuring Internet Explorer 5/6 to access the Internet through the X-Stop

Updated:Cherry Grove Church

E-Mail asking your advice Many of you have asked for information on the E-Mail which looks similar to this:
"Hi! How are you?
I send you this file in order to have your advice
See you later. Thanks"
The middle line may vary a bit but it will be intended to flatter you into opening the attachements.

This E-Mail is used to spread the Win32.SirCam.137216 worm. If it infects your computer it will send itself as well as files it finds in your 'My Documents' folder to addresses it finds in your address book. It 'wakes' up to send the messages whenever you reboot your computer and whenever any .exe program is executed. This means you may be sending documents containing private information (opinions about your inlaws, credit card numbers, etc.) to everyone in your Windows address book.

To keep from getting it:

1. Trade in Outlook Express for another E-Mail client such as Netscape mail or Eudora. This makes it much more difficult for the E-Mail viruses and worms to get loose in your computer.
2. Trade in your Windows operating system for Linux. This is an even more foolproof solution.
3. Trade in your computer for a Mac. A similarly foolproof but more expensive solution.

1. Try running a virus scan on your computer. You will probably need to have an updated version of whatever anti-virus program you are running.
2. Look on line to find the recommended procedure for cleaning up after whichever infection you have.
3. Reinstall your operating system and all of your software from the original distribution media. Install document files from backups that were made before the infections. If you must have a file that was updated or created after the infection, run it through a very current copy of the anti-virus software and then cross your fingers.

We are often asked to help with virus or worm infestations. We are not funded to do this nor do we keep up with these problems - we just use Linux instead. You are welcome to bring an infected computer to the PC Help Clinic on the last Thursday of each month. Bring your original installation media and be ready for a 'do it yourself' session. We'll be around to help as much as possible but remember we do not offer any real expertise in this area.

NEW: Melanie Martin School of Dance Registration is in progress, classes begin Sept. 4th

Mail is flowing both ways with wnonline.net again! Finally got through to the right folks there and it was a very subtle mail configuration issue. Can't say either mail server was wrong, but they didn't agree about some of the more arcane issues related to mail relaying and refused to talk to each other. It only effected the beau.lib.la.us/wnonline.net connection because both sides are trying to accept mail from the other's users while connected to their system.

And now that we have a direct dial line to their system admin this sort of thing should get solved a lot quicker in the future.

Some (or perhaps all) mail sent from our system to wnonline.net addresses is being rejected by the server at wnonline.net. We have reported this problem to them -more than once. If it is happening to you, please contact the person you are trying to write to at wnonline.net and ask them to report this. Perhaps if their paying customers ask they will realize that there is a problem. It has been reported to us that wnonline.net says this is our problem. However, the bounce messages clearly indicate that the mail is leaving our system and getting to the mail server at wnonline.net where it is being rejected.

If you have an 'in' at wnonline.net, please contact them and ask their help in resolving this. Since both ISP's are local, there are a lot of people who are being hindered by this.

While you are waiting, you may suggest to your friends at wnonline.net that they consider getting a free E-Mail account from Yahoo or HotMail or one of those services so that they can correspond with you. The only site which is rejecting our mail is wnonline.net so any other server will do. We, of course, continue to offer free E-Mail accounts to anyone with a library card.

Mail sent from wnonline.net is being accepted by our mail server so all of your incoming mail is getting through just fine.

We suffered some sort of electrical problem early this morning which knocked out our dialup lines. It appears that one of our modem pools is going to be out of action for an unknown time for repairs but we have some dialups working again and hope to have the ring without answer problems solved this afternoon. We will be short a few lines even after pressing every standalone modem we can find into service so starting now we REALLY mean it about that two hour per day limit.

All DeRidder lines are restored and we even have one of the Merryville lines back in action!

An exploit has been found in the Network Time Protocol software on UNIX/Linux. Until we get all of our machines updated I have blocked this service from the outside world. If you have any sort of automatic time setting software, odds are it uses NTP. I made one exception to the filter for Odin so our clocks can stay accurate. Just point your program at odin.beau.lib.la.us and you will keep your clock running within a second or so.

We are rolling out a new service! We have our own X-Stop filter and are now able to make it available to everyone with an account on our system. We have added a page to our help system with details on using it.

We are now able to offer local modem access from anywhere in Beauregard Parish. Parish residents can select from these numbers.

• 462/463 exchange: 462-9420 (twelve lines)
• 825 exchange: 825-8081 (two lines)
• 725 exchange: 725-3768 or 725-4484 (two lines)

If you are eligible for a Beauregard Parish Library Card, you are also eligible for a free Internet account. This includes dial up service, use of the library's computer labs (7 convenient locations), and e-mail. Contact the library for more information.

Looks like there is yet another batch of security exploits making the rounds. This time it affects both camps, so it impacts us a little more. :)

• Netscape has had two exploits recently. The evil JPG exploit and now the so called "Brown Orifice" exploit. Both are real and have been publicly demonstrated. Both need you to go to a website that has evil intentions, but following odd links is part of the attraction of the Internet. Upgrading to Netscape 4.74 will fix the "evil JPG" problem, but right now the only way to prevent "Brown Orifice" is to disable JAVA support under preferences. Expect a proper fix RSN from Netscape.
• Internet Explorer/Outlook Express has Yet Another Security Exploit. Yawn.

New: Beauregard Parish Civic Center - Covered Arena
New: Rockin R Stables
New: Ragley Heritage and Timber Festival

CCC Internet is officially out of business. This means that if you have an @dtx.net address you are out of luck. Those of you who have been with us since the beginning will remember that we started out with a 'subdomain' under dtx.net while sorting out the paperwork with LSU and LA-Net. So anyone with a beaulib.dtx.net or bpsb.dtx.net address is also in trouble. Fortunately you are not completely lost since beaulib.dtx.net addresses can be interchanged with beau.lib.la.us or beau.lib.la.us, you just have to update everyone who has the old address. bpsb.dtx.net will similarly translate into beau.k12.la.us addresses. If you are stuck, holler and we will help you get sorted out.

We also still have more than a few links on the webpages pointing to www.beaulib.dtx.net and we will be making it a priority to fix those over the next few days. If you are pointing to our nameserver, the names still resolve because we backed up their nameservice, but this will be discontinued as soon as we clean up our links.

• Be sure you have an updated anti-virus program and that you are using it in the recommended way to protect against the virus.
• Use a different mail client. If you have read email with Outlook during the time this was traveling, begin with an anti-virus scan to be sure you are not already infected. To be absolutely safe, either telnet to our mail server (odin.beau.lib.la.us) and handle your mail using pine or use the web interface. Even with the web interface you should watch for file attachments and NOT open them unless you already know what is going to be inside it because clicking on an attachment will cause your browser to try and display or run the attachment. If the attachment is a virus or other nasty, this will release it to infect your machine.
• In any mail client, don't open an e-mail attachment unless it is something you are expecting to receive and recognize as being the right thing from the right person. For example, if I know that you are going to send me a program that you have used with no problems and I receive an email with that program as an attachment, it should be o.k. for me to open it. If, however, I receive an email from you with something I was not expecting, I should check with you first to be sure it was something you intended to send and that your computer is not suffering from a virus.
• The "I love you" nasty is a program which will run on Microsoft Windows computers which have Outlook Express or anything else that makes Visual Basic available to the computer. The following is good advice for this and other virus attacks. Avoid the use of Outlook Express and related programs. If at all possible you should probably disable your browser and email client from accepting Microsoft Office documents due to their pre-internet security model. If using Internet Explorer, also be sure to disable ActiveX. JAVA is also a potential security risk but is much safer than ActiveX.
• You will find lots more information all over the Internet. Look at www.zdnet.com and similar computer news sites for more information.

Update: Cherry Grove
And The Drama Page
New: Easter Greetings From The Library Staff



5:20 PM We're doing some troubleshooting on modem lines. Hope we don't cut you off! If we do, please understand that we would not do it if there was some other way to resolve the problem.

Gold Wing Road Riders Association - LA Chapter Register now for the 2000 Mud Bug Rally.

The Methodist School of Wesley United Methodist Church - K-2nd grade and growing

Pastor's Help Page This is a new on-line service from the Beauregard Baptist Association and Dr. Paul W. Wilson. It includes an extensive collection of web links and other information which will be helpful to pastors and others involved in Bible study or church training.

We have now joined the MAPS Realtime Blackhole List and the MAPS Dial-up User List in an attempt to reduce the quantity of spam plaguing your mailboxes. Mail appears to still be flowing normally in and out of the system to legit sites, but let us know if anyone you normally correspond with disappears.

Antique Car and Truck Show

• 12:30 pm I just got news that the LANet connection is restored. If you are still having a problem please let us know.
• 11:25 am I received a message from LANet (our uplink) that they are experiencing problems with Internet connectivity. They do not have details yet. You may have problems. I'll report more when we know about it.

The phone company has added a feature which may cause problems when you try to use your modem. If the number you are calling is busy, you may not hear a busy signal. Instead, you hear a recording telling you to press 1 if you would like the service to continue to dial the number and to let you know when the call is completed. There is a 90 cent charge for this.

Because the phone company implemented this in a way that has the voice kick in before there is a busy signal, there is no way for the computer to know the phone is busy.

To have this feature removed from your phone line, simply call your phone service provider and tell them that you want it off.

• Is your email address too long? If your email account is with the library, you can now use beau.lib.la.us instead of beau.lib.la.us. For example, if your address is mymail@beau.lib.la.us you can also use mymail@beau.lib.la.us You can use either (or both) addresses.
• New: Fairview Young Christian's Club

• 725-3768
• 725-4484

• New: Read This If You Use E-Mail
• New: East Beauregard Branch Library Page
• New: Singer Branch Library Page
• New: Fields Branch Library Page
• New: Longville Branch Library Page
• New: Merryville Branch Library Page
• Renewed: Beauregard Baptist Assn - Schedule Added For First Quarter 2000

• The New Book of Knowledge
• Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
• Encyclopedia Americana

• New: Travels With MEL (Mobile Electronic Library)
• New: Singer Branch Library

• Updated:Database Access Passwords have been changed. If you are trying to access the databases we pay for, you will need to get the new password using this page and your library card.
  
• Updated:Cherry Grove Church New look and new dramas.

• A great day! After a long struggle with the beauracracy at BellSouth, we are happy to announce that we now have twelve public dialup lines in service as of this morning! As this is being written all twelve lines are in use so this does NOT mean the end of the two hour per day limit, but it should make it easier for you to get on to take your turn.

• Updated: Database & Information Service now includes a link to the LOIS Law Library - complete Louisiana Law Resources & more!

• New:Girls In Action at Dry Creek Camp
• New:Royal Ambassadors at Dry Creek Camp

We will go offline on July 2 sometime during the afternoon so we can conduct some extensive Year 2000 testing. We hope to return to normal service on the same evening but are reserving the whole weekend for Y2K testing and abatement so do not depend on our dialups or webserver during this period. Email should be collected on our backup mail exchanger at CCC Internet and delivered once we return to normal service.

The partnership regrets that the center cannot remain open and is searching for a way to open another center in the Merryville area.

There a multitude of sites on the Internet to help you detect and eliminate this and most other virii, here is but one to get you started:
CIAC Virus Database

Passwords for the on-line databases are changing on or around June 2. You will need to know your library card number in order to access the new passwords. For more information, see: Library Passwords and for some of the places you might want to use the password, see:

• Databases & Research Resources
• Periodicals

New:Beauregard Daily News

• New:Self Enterprises Introducing a new decorative waste cart.
• New:Eat-A-Bite Call-n-Drive Thru and Full Line Catering. We fry turkeys any time.

• Updated: First Baptist Church of DeRidder New information, pictures, calendar of events!
• Updated Activities Schedule : Beauregard Baptist Association

• If you store mail on the server for over 60 days, we may delete it without asking you.
• If you leave your mail unattended for over 21 days and your mail spool is very large, we may delete it.
• If your mail spool grows very large we will attempt to contact you and then (if necessary) move and compress it.

• Older System News
• April 1998
• March 1998

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