This icon has suddenly appeared on my Desktop without my intervention or
knowledge. A blue truck with a yellow box on the back. Is it benign or is it
a virus? There is no reference to it in MacHelp. It suggests I have to
update some software.
--
Any help TIA
Please reply to Newsgroup

<mutley> wrote:

> This icon has suddenly appeared on my Desktop without my intervention or
> knowledge. A blue truck with a yellow box on the back. Is it benign or is it
> a virus? There is no reference to it in MacHelp. It suggests I have to
> update some software.

I suspect you downloaded it by accident and without realising it. It's
an out-of-date system qualifier for a US ISP. Just delete it. It's not
doing any harm beyond wasting disk space.

By the way, why do you think that posting anonymously is a good way to
get help in a newsgroup? I usually ignore requests for assistance from
anonymous posters, and I don't think I'm the only one.

Daniele
--
Apple Juice Ltd
Chapter Arts Centre
Market Road www.apple-juice.co.uk
Cardiff CF5 1QE 029 2019 0140

D.M. Procida wrote in message
<1g3b5ck.x8wfus1gpvq7qN%real-not-anti-spam-address[at]apple-juice.co.uk>...
><mutley> wrote:
[snipped]>
>By the way, why do you think that posting anonymously is a good way to
>get help in a newsgroup? I usually ignore requests for assistance from
>anonymous posters, and I don't think I'm the only one.

You pose the question...
When I first obtained an internet connection and began to post to
newsgroups, I did use my real address. This was a big mistake. Within months
I was receiving 30-50 spam e-mails per 24hours.
I do now have filters and detection software but it's still there in my
Inbox
clogging up the system. Currently it's running at about 75% of all posts,
that's about 100 e-mails per 24hours. Without BB it takes my software about
15 minutes to deal with them all, longer if I don't download regularly. If I
go away for any length of time I have to go to the webserver and select out
those I want before deleting all the rest. Professionals may have ways
around this curse.
Now if my ISP would block at source all posts without a valid return address
I could abandon this policy. Some months back they held a user poll to see
if this would be approved: it wasn't, they must be hosting a load of
spammers. At least they now put in the headers if there is a faked or
invalid return address so it's easy for my detection software to identify
the spam.

OK?

Thanks for the reply, I'll delete MacQualifier.

In article <1067557084.49328.0[at]lotis.uk.clara.net>,
<mutley> wrote:

>clogging up the system. Currently it's running at about 75% of all posts,
>that's about 100 e-mails per 24hours. Without BB it takes my software about
>15 minutes to deal with them all, longer if I don't download regularly.

Using Eudora (for instance) it's simple and needn't take anything like that
long.

Just limit downloads to mails of a maximum size- say 40k. In practice that
means that mails come down at about one per two seconds on dialup. You can
easily mark any partial mails for full downloads if you want. Any you
delete locally will be deleted from the server the next time you connect.
It really does work.

--
Peter

<mutley> wrote:

> >By the way, why do you think that posting anonymously is a good way to
> >get help in a newsgroup? I usually ignore requests for assistance from
> >anonymous posters, and I don't think I'm the only one.
>
> You pose the question...

[...answer is the filthy spam menace]

I understand your reason. But you have an identity, and to the extent
that one conceals it in a public conversation it says that the others in
that conversation don't deserve to know it, and is damaging to the
openness of the conversation.

I'm not saying you have to plaster your email address all over the place
if you don't want to, though frankly I don't think I'd ever want to
cringe behind such cloakery. But, though you may not want your email
address to be easily gatherable by robots, it is polite to make it
available in such a way that human beings can piece it together if
necessary, and (unless you have some personal reason not to) to
introduce yourself with your actual name.

In many cases, newsgroups with large numbers of anonymous posters tend
towards the unpleasant, simply because people who feel hidden behind
their anonymity also feel freer to depart from the norms of civil
discourse with all the consequences you'd predict (as unfortunately this
particular newsgroup has experienced lately).

By all means protect yourself if you feel it necessary. But if you do
that in a way which says that you feel the need to protect yourself not
just from address-gathering software, but from the other human beings
reading this newsgroup, who may be ready and willing to spend their time
reading what you have to say and helping you with problems, you should
understand why they might decide not to bother with you.

Daniele
--
Apple Juice Ltd
Chapter Arts Centre
Market Road www.apple-juice.co.uk
Cardiff CF5 1QE 029 2019 0140

Peter Ceresole wrote in message ...
>In article <1067557084.49328.0[at]lotis.uk.clara.net>,
[snipped]>
>Using Eudora (for instance) it's simple and needn't take anything like that
>long.
>
>Just limit downloads to mails of a maximum size- say 40k. In practice that
>means that mails come down at about one per two seconds on dialup. You can
>easily mark any partial mails for full downloads if you want. Any you
>delete locally will be deleted from the server the next time you connect.
>It really does work.

Thanks for this, I have up to now just been using OSX Mail, but I see Eudora
Light is available for free download, and appears to support text newsgroups
as well. With the imminent arrival of BB (fingers crossed) it's time to
re-jig my system.


Richard
aka mutley
I'll attempt a disguised address, and see what happens to my spam count:
richard[at]clara.katsika.co.uk
(reverse ISP names to reply but I prefer replies to ng)

D.M. Procida wrote in message
<1g3oqx3.zaz8hh1tmr02qN%real-not-anti-spam-address[at]apple-juice.co.uk>...
[snipped]
>[...answer is the filthy spam menace]
>
>I understand your reason. But you have an identity, and to the extent
>that one conceals it in a public conversation it says that the others in
>that conversation don't deserve to know it, and is damaging to the
>openness of the conversation.
>
>I'm not saying you have to plaster your email address all over the place
>if you don't want to, though frankly I don't think I'd ever want to
>cringe behind such cloakery. But, though you may not want your email
>address to be easily gatherable by robots, it is polite to make it
>available in such a way that human beings can piece it together if
>necessary, and (unless you have some personal reason not to) to
>introduce yourself with your actual name.
>
>In many cases, newsgroups with large numbers of anonymous posters tend
>towards the unpleasant, simply because people who feel hidden behind
>their anonymity also feel freer to depart from the norms of civil
>discourse with all the consequences you'd predict (as unfortunately this
>particular newsgroup has experienced lately).
>
>By all means protect yourself if you feel it necessary. But if you do
>that in a way which says that you feel the need to protect yourself not
>just from address-gathering software, but from the other human beings
>reading this newsgroup, who may be ready and willing to spend their time
>reading what you have to say and helping you with problems, you should
>understand why they might decide not to bother with you.

A very reasoned argument which merits revision of my newsgroup practice.
Anyway, I have no wish to be included among the trolls and flamers! The
imminent arrival (I hope) of ADSL at my house means a change of ISP so with
any luck I shall be able to leave behind a 'dud' address on spammers' lists.

Richard
aka mutley
I'll attempt a disguised address, and see what happens to my spam count:
richard[at]clara.katsika.co.uk
(reverse ISP names to reply but I prefer replies to ng)

In article <1067979408.49178.0[at]demeter.uk.clara.net>,
<mutley> wrote:

>Thanks for this, I have up to now just been using OSX Mail, but I see Eudora
>Light is available for free download, and appears to support text newsgroups
>as well.

I do believe (although I don't use it) that Mail supports all the things
I've been mentioning.

--
Peter