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When I woke up Thursday morning, I guess I wasn't too surprised that we had officially gone to war.

I understand the reasons, I just hope that this is a short conflict and the loss of life is minimal. Our thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers, their families, and any innocent civilians that may be hurt or killed.

It seems that we are no strangers to tough situations lately. Let's hope for better times ahead.

Are You Secure?

We had a tremendous response to our Norton Internet Security 2002 offer yesterday. Orders started coming in within 5 minutes of sending the newsletter!

Then yesterday afternoon, I read an article about how virus writers are going for a "war theme" now. There's already a new one on the loose called Ganda (which Norton already protects against). Read more about it here:

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-993444.html

If you're not protected by anti-virus and firewall software, now's the time. Again, the 2003 version of this retails for $69.95, so $18.97 for a fully supported (with free updates for a year) 2002 version is a real bargain. Plus, if you live in the US, your shipping is FREE!

This suite includes Norton Anti-virus, Norton Personal Firewall, Norton Parental Control, and Norton Privacy Control.

Basically, it keeps you safe from viruses, hackers, porn, and keeps an eye out for your privacy online!

Oh, and a lot of people think that their anti-virus software keeps hackers out - it does NOT! You need to have both to be safe. A hacker can make a virus problem look like a digital picnic.

In my opinion, this is a must have product if you're online. We ran out of our initial supply late Saturday, but we were able to get a few more. So, I wanted to mention this one more time to give those who may have missed out a chance to grab it. Here's the link for more information:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/nortonis2002.htm

PS - This has been selling really fast, so order while you still have time. Once this is gone, it may be awhile before I can get more in!

Note - There was a typo on the web site yesterday for this product. It said it only had 90 days of free updates, it's actually one year's worth. Sorry for any confusion, but at least this makes it an even better deal :-)

Computers 101

Q:
Yesterday you mentioned that Windows XP has its own unzip program. Where is it and how does it work?

A:
Actually, you do not need to open a program—just double click the zipped file.

A menu will open from which you can save individual files to your computer. Just click & drag or copy the file you want and drop it in the desired location. It's that easy!

Also, in the left-hand column there is a link to "Extract all files".

This will open a wizard to guide you through the extraction process. You can choose where you want the files to go, etc.

Did you ever imagine that unzipping file could be so easy?

~David

Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm

Tip of the Day

Yee-haw! Lasso Like a Computer Cowboy

Have you ever noticed that you can make little "boxes" on your desktop by holding down your left mouse button and dragging diagonally? Although it can be an entertaining distraction when you're on a boring phone call, it actually has a purpose.

Here I am, lassoing icons:

You can use the technique on your desktop to make multiple selections by "lassoing" icons. Hit the Enter key and you'll launch all those lassoed programs at once. Be careful though. If you lasso too many programs it can take forever for your computer to get them all loaded (trust me :-)

In addition, this little trick works in both My Computer and Explorer for lassoing files. Handy if you need to open or delete multiple files.

Just one quick hint - make sure you lasso OUTSIDE of (next to) the icons. It doesn't work if your mouse click starts ON the icon.

~ Steve

Have an original tip for the newsletter? Submit it below:
http://www.worldstart.com/writers-guidelines/index.htm

Cool Sites - Talking to Kids About War

We just wanted to pass along some helpful sites for parents, caregivers, and teachers with kids who are worried about the war in Iraq.

Mister Rogers Neighborhood has RealVideo clips of everyone's favorite neighbor talking about "Dealing with scary news" and more. http://pbskids.org/rogers/parents/war.html
There is also an article by Mister Rogers written in 1991 during Gulf War I with helpful tips for helping children during a time like this.
http://pbskids.org/rogers/parents/war-thoughts.html

Nick Jr. has information on its parenting site for soothing kids' worries.
http://www.nickjr.com/grownups/parenting/parenting_expert/kids_worries.jhtml

Sesame Street can help you talk with children during stressful times with age breakdowns up to 11 years old. There is also a reading list of books that can help start a discussion on what your child is feeling.
http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/advice/article.php?contentId=8354163

Parenting.com can help you answer your preschooler when she asks, "What is war?"
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/experts/sears/news031303.html

Parents.com offers expert answers to urgent questions about kids and war. Some of the topics include, "How should a normally 'anti-war' parent explain the idea of violence for a justified cause?" and "What are common differences boys and girls experience in response to violence and war?"
http://www.parents.com/articles/ages_and_stages/3259.jsp

Listen to your kids and help them feel safe.

~ David