the year and I would love to discuss some new and cutting-edge ideas. If you have a website, you might want to start thinking of some small changes/additions to the homepage letting people know that you are in the holiday spirit. Contact me for more information.

IT'S ALIVE!!!
It recently dawned on me that most people don't understand the significance of having a fresh looking website for new and repeat visitors. A website is not your traditional form of advertising. You are not limited to size, content or space. You are not confined in a box. There are no boxes. A website is a living form of advertising and should be treated as such. A living thing does not stay idle. It constantly changes and grows. So should your site. If cost is a concern there are several inexpensive things you can do to make the site "look" new without spending alot of money the best of which is simply rotating a few photos on your homepage. For more ideas on sprucing up your site, please contact me.


ARE YOU IN THE SPOTLIGHT I continue to spotlight those wonderful businesses who have referred me. This is another way to say thank you. Your referrals mean alot and are greatly appreciated.



Because of recent problems with several of my clients computers due to viruses, I am re-running the dezinNOTE on computer viruses from the June 2004 issue.

COMPUTER VIRUSES The viruses are rampant and going wild. While receiving no less than 150 emails a day with viruses attached, here are some tips that might help:

Don'ts

• Never use disks from an untrustworthy source
  
• Never download files from a site or person that you don't trust
  
• Never open an email that looks unusual or suspicious
  
• Never open an email attachment from a person you don't know
  
• Never open an email attachment that looks unusual or suspicious
  
• To check email attachments against known infected attachments, see About.com's Infected Attachment Names
  

Do's

• Disable preview screens when using Eudora or Microsoft Outlook
  
• Scan disks and zip disks before using them
  
• Use a real-time virus scanner or frequently check your system with an online virus scanner
  
• When using a real-time virus scanner, upload virus updates every week
  
• Backup important files often
  
• Use personal firewall software to prevent unauthorized Internet access to and from your computer
  
• Use of the RTF (Rich Text Format) file format preserves document content and formatting AND reduces the spread of viruses. The Word .doc format has been a popular target for those creating viruses
  

Also, I like to verify the accuracy of my Norton Anti-virus with a weekly back-up scan using an on-line virus scan site such as www.trendmicro.com. It's sometimes surprising the viruses this free on-line scanning program will find.