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New Sites:

Check out some new sites produced in the Granite Web Design Studio this month

Rennie Hotel

Carnation Corner

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Previous Issues:

Happy Halloween!!! Oh Yeah - it's almost here! My favorite holiday! Yes, you guessed it, this witchy webmistress just loves Halloween and is there any reason not to? What other holiday can you think of that is all about dressing up and eating chocolate! All the other good holidays include cooking and cleaning and planning. Not Halloween, though. Just buy a few bags of candy, let your creative juices flow while getting dressed that day, and you're done - ready to go looking for a good party and all that wonderful chocolate. So what's there to do here at Granite, on the net and in our region this year? To start, enter to win your very own Granite T-shirt right here, right now. Hidden all over this page are parts of my partner (please don't tell anyone, but the chain saw slipped and...). I've hidden him, of course, and you have to find him - as much as is left, anyway. Find all four parts and gather clues to the answer to our Halloween Riddle. Send your answer to the riddle to the webmistress@granite.mb.ca. All the correct entries will be entered to win one of three Granite t-shirts (hey, they're really cool t-shirts!) Around the region, make sure and check out some of the great Halloween bashes going on. In Pinawa, Jalapenos will be ghoulish on Saturday night with live music and a deal at the door for everyone in costume. I'll be there! The Thalberg Community Hall will be the site of their 5th annual Halloween Dance. Casey's is featuring "Slyder" on Friday night. There will be prizes for best costume, drink specials and best of all - it's Friday so you can hit Jalapeno's the next night! There's probably just a few more parties happening around that I don't know about. And now for on the net. Start your Halloween Surfing by visiting this haunted house. The kids will love this. For tons of activities, graphics, sounds and more visit http://rats2u.com/halloween/halloween_clipart.htm. Type Halloween into any search engine and you will be amazed at the amount of information you will find. Happy surfing! Recent Visitors to the Granite Offices

Customer Satisfaction Survey

So, the result from the survey indicate that you all seem to be, for the most part, pretty happy customers. Dick and Carl, our Customer Service Representatives, should feel pretty good when they leave this office for the day after reading your comments. The technical help-line received rave reviews from the survey. Here's a few comments from our survey result:

"help-line: I was unable to login, as my daughter in-law had changed my pass word without realizing this I was trying to get on the internet but could not. With a call to the tech help line I was able to get back on in a very short period of time."

"Very good. I have used the service on more than one occasion and have found the staff to be very knowledgeable and patient with someone who is not too computer literate."

Now, don't get me wrong - we're not screening the bad ones - we didn't get any bad comments about our technical help-line. Not one! Way to go Dick and Carl.

100% of our respondents felt the Granite homepages were excellent. Okay, so I'll go home with a smile too.

Our customers felt the access fell somewhere between excellent and very good. There were no complaints regarding busy signals. Our Pine Falls customers have some e-mail problems. We are working on that one.

For your interest, only 6% of our respondents ever advertised on the Internet, but it appears as though e-commerce is evolving as predicted with 35% of respondents having made purchases through the Internet and 28% of them using a credit card.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who took the time to respond to this survey. The last time we ran this survey we responded with a new account type. This time around we have been told by you, our customers, that we're doing our job, and that makes us all go home happy. Here's just a few more general comments from the survey:

"The personal touch is terrific"

"I love the Internet, and without Granite I couldn't use it!"

"I no longer use your service because I have moved away, but I would pay any amount for the type of access I used to get with you guys. I can't find it with any other ISP!"

Hackers, it Really Can Happen to You Too!

Recently I was sitting at my PC, logged onto the Internet, when my Hard Drive light started flickering, and it continued to flicker for some time.

I pondered:
Would it be my screensaver cutting in, no I had it disabled;
Would it be my virusscan software, not likely, there was no indication on the bottom bar which usually notes that the virus checker is starting;
Was my computer going to perform a scan/defrag, no because I have that set for midnight and this was around 8:00 p.m. in the evening.

Well, what could it be? I didn't actually find out at that time, but after going through this exercise a couple of times I had a sinking suspicion that I was being scanned or hacked into by a perpetrator looking for a cheap thrill on my Hard Drive, which could be very expensive for me.

I searched for and found a piece of software called "Jammer" on the net, (no, not the music related Jammer software, but another Jammer type of software), actually it is available from a web site in Russia, would you believe. On the next occasion when a Hacker tried to scan my Hard Drive, Jammer picked up the attempted intrusion, Jammer cleans the Hard Drive so someone using a Back Orifice Host, can no longer gain access to the Hard Drive by finding a Back Orifice Client on the Hard Drive. I now know what was causing my Hard Drive to flicker. At that time, unknowingly, I did have Back Orifice embedded on my Hard Drive, through a silly piece of email coming to me from a computer pal, someone I trusted, but it was not done with their knowledge, they only sent me an item which they received elsewhere. From now on, I do not open an attached file which ends in "exe" which stands for executable file.

The cost of this Jammer software is somewhat trivial, if it performs the tasks it states that it can do, and yes it does all those stated. A piece of software which is installed on a PC, with an "eye" sitting in the taskbar while you are logged onto the net. This software in conjuction with virus scanning software (McAfee/Norton, etc.) cleans your Hard Drive of, some say, the virus called Back Orifice. It really isn't a virus in the true sense, it only sits quietly on your Hard Drive, waiting to respond to a Hacker wanting access to the contents of your Hard Drive. Another like it, is called Net Bus, but let's look at Back Orifice, for now. This Back Orifice software is available from a site which should remain nameless, unless someone really wants to know. Back Orifice can be a very useful piece of software if used intelligently and for good cause, but it can be a vicious hacking tool when used for the wrong purpose by someone intent on gaining access to unauthorized computer systems.

Back Orifice comes in two parts (a host and a client), it can come to a PC near you through email where someone has attached an executable ("xxxxx.exe") type of file. It can also come to your PC in various other ways, such as trading software, (none of us do that) but via email is most common. When you see an attachment to an email message from someone you may or may not know, you normally click on it and let the file execute on your system. Sometimes this ".exe" file produces an animated picture, sometimes a joke, or it causes some activity on your monitor screen or other activity. One way I saw it come to a PC was with a little file called "Coke Gift" (yes some of you will remember that one) which when you click on the attachment, your CDROM tray opened. That is exactly the trick, you think it only opened your CDROM tray, you chuckle and say "Is that ever neat, I think I will send it to Joe or Jane". And so, on the problem goes, and all your friends and acquaintences end up with the same invisible problem for the future. It can and will be a problem if you let it get out of hand. Back Orifice has now been installed on your system, without your knowledge through that little trick. Look out, because you are now a likely candidate for a Hacker to penetrate your PC without your knowledge while you are logged onto the net, but only so long as you are logged on.

This Jammer software can be found at http://www.jammer.comset.net. From my own experience it does what it says it should. For example, following my installation of this software, I was logged onto the net, and within a few hours, I saw the "eye" on the taskbar start blinking, exactly as it was stated that it would do if a Hacker was attempting a penetration of my system. I clicked on the icon, whereby there is a menu which details the Hackers date, time, origin (server address), TCP/IP address 205.200.16?.1??. This is all the information your Provider needs to trace the offender and commence disciplinary action. There is also an email button which attaches a log of this attempted penetration, and you can fill in the Internet Provider's email address, normally "abuse@provider.com" and send the log file with all the details.

Sample log file generated by Jammer:
Type of attack: TCP port scanning
Time: The time is Mon Oct 18 13:06:10 1999 [Local GMT bias -5:00]
Hacker IP: 205.200.32.64 (gimlas5a-p02.mts.net)
Ports: 1068-13223
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Type of attack: TCP port scanning
Time: The time is Mon Oct 18 13:59:48 1999 [Local GMT bias -5:00]
Hacker IP: 205.200.32.187 (slkras7b-p13.mts.net)
Ports: 1091-13223
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Type of attack: TCP port scanning
Time: The time is Mon Oct 18 16:04:14 1999 [Local GMT bias -5:00]
Hacker IP: 204.112.135.219 (userBd199.videon.wave.ca)
Ports: 1812-13223

The Provider in most cases, will review the log files and search out which user was performing such a scan of various systems on the net through your Local Provider's Server. Then action is normally taken against the Hacker which can result in some disciplinary action leading to discontinuation of the Hackers account, or more severe action if warranted by the Provider. Between October 1, 1999 and today, October 18, I have had 9 attempts made on my PC, three of which occurred while I was sitting in front of the monitor, the others occurred while I had left my system logged onto the net, and was away from my PC momentarily. Yes, it can really happen, and it does happen to us all. These Hacker attempts were not, to my knowledge, made specifically against myself or my PC, it was a matter that the Hacker has software which s/he uses to scan a series of TCP numbers on the net, and if someone whose PC being scanned has an active copy of Back Orifice, or Net Bus, on their system, this is an automatic Back Door to allow the Hacker full access, identical access as you the user has while you are logged on the net. The hacker can peruse your Hard Drive for bank account numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, software which may contain some very private and personal details, or the hacker can be disruptive and actually delete your whole Hard Drive simply with the traditional delete wildcard commands (most experienced users will know that simple command). Now that is dirty! I have Jammer installed on my PC and I would never leave home and go on the Internet without it.

Thank you for your time and enjoy the net. Jammer really works for me.

Editor's Note:
This type of illegal activity is not tolerated on the Granite Network. Report any abuse of this type to abuse@granite.mb.ca immediately.

A West Coast Adventure

An article in a BC Travel magazine about a trip on a small working freighter perked our interest and after visiting their web site,www.marinelinktours.com we were anxious to book our fall holiday. Warren and I were 2 of the 12 passengers who boarded the "Aurora Explorer" on October 6th at Campbell River, BC for a 4 day trip up the Inside Passage. The deck of our vessel was loaded with machinery, vehicles, lumber and food to be delivered to remote logging camps and settlements.

"Casual" was the name of the game on this cruise. The staterooms were compact and comfortable, the meals were delicious (no fancy clothes needed for dinner), the crew of 5 were friendly and answered unending questions .......... and the scenery was beyond compare. As we travelled from destination to destination we enjoyed the rugged coastal scenery on narrow deep inlets framed with high mountains topped with glaciers. As a bonus we were treated to several dolphin performances, circling eagles, playful otters and resting sea lions. The skillful crew timed their deliveries with the ebb and flow of the tides. Passengers were always welcome in the wheel house where they could track the voyage on the radar and GPS.

Each day our floating home would pull up to a beach or other area where we could get off and go for a walk. My brother in law took advantage of these times to drop a fishing line off the back of the boat and at one stop caught a red snapper which the cook prepared for dinner.

The 4 days passed by all too quickly. The group of 12 had "bonded" so well that they are going to try and find a similiar trip on the East Coast of Canada. Visit the Marine Link web site and if you choose to go, you will not be disappointed!

More Bill Payment Options and Our New Billing Schedule

CU@HOME, Internet banking through the South Interlake Credit Union will be available for Granite Bill payments. Log in at https://cuathome.net/. Mastercard and Interac are on their way as well. These options are expected to be available this month.

It's getting so easy.....

We are changing the date of our billing from the first of the month to the 15th. This will be the ONLY month you receive two bills. After this month, you should be expecting your bill on the 15th of every month instead of the 1st. We appreciate you're patience in this matter.

Y2k or Not Y2k, this is the Question!!

As the new year approaches, most computer users have turned their thoughts from New Year's parties and Millenium celebrations to "Is my computer still going to function after midnight December 31, 1999?". Granite, like most other companies, has been kept busy assessing hardware and software programs for the two noted problems; the year 00 is read as 2000 not 1970, 1900 or something else, and that there is a 29th day in February in the year 2000.

Granite started to make its systems Y2k compliant in April, but slowly stopped checking because a lot of software vendors still had not finished their Y2k testing (Microsoft included). It has been very frustrating to find your system Y2k compliant in May, and then finding out in July there were more software patches; and you had to start all over.

The most frustrating Y2k testing was Microsoft Window 95/98. Not only are there OS patches, but software patches for Internet Explore, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office, ……. I was amazed the certification date on some products was October 10, 1999.

But we have somehow managed to get our shop in order; well at least until someone reports that something needs more patches. Our PC's are Y2K hardware compliant, Windows 95/98 have been patched, Internet Explorer is at service release 2, etc. Our web servers have had patches installed to make them Y2k compliant, and our routers and modem pools are Y2k ready.

Is Granite ready for January 1, 2000? At this point, yes. Will everything work flawlessly; I hope so but we also depend on MTS for telephone service, Manitoba Hydro for power, Escape Communications Corp. for our Internet access and who knows what mother nature has in store for us!

by David Hnatiw

LAC DU BONNET - The main router to the Internet had an operating system upgrade. Access was unavailable for approximately 1 hour on Sunday October 17, 1999. Three DOS attacks occurred this month. Our web server was rebooted on October 27, 1999. Year 2K patches were installed on our web server and mail server.

WHITEMOUTH - A modem failed in Whitemouth on October 13, 1999. It was replaced on October 14, 1999. Impact was minimal because it was the last modem in the modem pool.

PINE FALLS - The operating system was to be upgraded on October 12, 1999. Access was unavailable for about 20 minutes. Something is still not performing as expected. Granite, Cisco Systems Inc, and MTS are looking into the problem. Some progress has been made over the past month but the issue has not been completely resolved. The biggest performance issue seems to be when information is requested from our servers in Lac du Bonnet.

November Upgrades/Maintenance

LAC DU BONNET - Mail server will be rebooted to complete Y2K patch installation. Date yet to be specified.

WHITEMOUTH - No planned maintenance.

PINE FALLS - No maintenance planned; just continual monitoring and work with Cisco and MTS to solve unresolved problems. Testing of the circuit may cause an outage. A message will be posted on the homepage.