James Derk, Scripps-Howard News Service computer columnist, recently wrote about a “security gap” issue with Windows XP.

Rather than try to paraphrase Derk’s article, which was published in our local newspaper, the Globe-Gazette and risk losing the emphasis, I’m posting the article in its entirety. Except for the link to the Microsoft Support Web site. Mr. Derk used a “tiny url” link. Instead, I have included the whole link.

The article is as follows:

“Microsoft has taken the unusual step of releasing information on a security hole in Windows XP that it hasn’t fixed yet, so I am using my space to help secure your computer.

First things first. Microsoft has acknowledged that a gaping hole in Windows can allow a malicious user to take over your PC All you need to do is visit a hacked Web site using Internet Explorer to allow this to happen.

While MS works on a patch, the company recommends interim steps to ward off hackers. You can get the fix for this very serious exploitation at Microsoft Support.

I strongly recommend applying this fix to every Windows XP machine you have as soon as possible.

I strongly urge you to take a few other steps.

First, copy the contents of your “My Documents” folder to another hard drive. (I assume you have a flash drive, an external drive or even a DVD burner. Just do something to protect your data.)

Second. Go the “Start” menu and run “Windows update.” Let it run and install all of the “critical” updates. Your machine may have to reboot a few times. Microsoft may ask you to install Internet Explorer8; if you have a home computer with 1GB of RAM or more, go ahead; on a business computer I would not install it until told to by your IT department.

Finally, I assume you’ve installed an anti-virus product. If so, run a full scan. (Most products are set to run” quick” scan as to not annoy you.) If you do not have a product, go to free Avg.com and install the fee version of AVG.

The bottom line; you must run an anti-virus product if you run Windows. As the saying goes, when you go online you’re interfacing with every computer that computer has ever interfaced with. And you can’t do that without protection.

James Derk owns CyberDads, a computer repair firm. Email him at Jim@cyberdads.com”

Last week I posted that I was working on an ebook to help the “beginner” who wants to start an online business.

It’s finished now, so I’m making the link live. You can get in line right now for your copy.

Read all about it here. You’ll also be able to access the “Get it now” button from there.

And if you have questions, be sure to contact us.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

It’s the age-old question that still hasn’t truly been answered. And it’s much like the question of “how do you build a list”? There are many solutions from which to choose, some of which I’ve included here:

E-Courses

You’ve seen it yourself! People are hungry for information, so a free e-course will persuade people to part with their email address. Create at least a seven-part course that is delivered every few days into their Inbox. Of course, the e-course also subtly sells your product!

Articles

Write articles and distribute them to article directories. Include your newsletter sign-up in the resource box, and if you have provided good quality content you will get the visitors who will sign up to learn more.

Free Books

A free e-book is an excellent way to build your list. It doesn’t have to be an epic rendition of some great happening, just valuable information for which people will exchange their email address. You can write it yourself or get have a ghostwriter step in for you.

Make sure, though, that it is information your visitors will want to have, and be sure you have included (clickable) links to your products and sites in the book.

And to further “accentuate your positive” and increase your potential for earnings, include Affiliate links.

“You’ve Got to See This!”

My friend just sent me this link and it cracked me up. As an Internet Marketer, you may feel like nobody outside your online buddies understands exactly what you do all day at home. And, sometimes you feel a bit like an alien trying to tell people stories about your day-to-day life.

Well, Jimmy D. Brown hit a home run.

He’s created 15 comics about what it’s like to be an Internet Marketer. Some will make you laugh out loud and some will make you groan, but all are worth taking a minute to peek at.

Totally free and totally funny.

Check them out here.

Congratulations to Jeannine Clontz, Accurate Business Services, for winning the Thomas Leonard Virtual Assistant of Distinction Award and to Jef Keep, Daily Planet Virtual Services for winning the Janet Jordan Achievement Award at this year’s International Virtual Assistant Day (IVAD) Celebration, May 15, 2009.

The Online International Virtual Assistants Convention, (OIVAC) has been rescheduled to October 1-3, 2009. The Speakers’ lineup and topics are at OIVAC.

Mini-conference sessions leading up to the Convention will be held throughout the summer at the OIVAC site. check there often for details.

I’m pleased to announce that the International Virtual Assistants Day will be held as originally planned tomorrow, May 15, at 5 p.m., EDT.

However, the IVAD will be a “stand-alone” event instead of as part of the OIVAC as originally planned.

The link to attend the festivities and to enter the event room are at the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention site, http://www.oivac.org.

At this year’s IVAD, two outstanding Virtual Assistants will be honored for their contributions to the Industry.

Please join us as Friday, we celebrate these VAs and this very special day.

If you read here regularly, you know we’ve often posted about the upcoming Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC).

Unfortunately, today we are relaying a bit of unfortunate news regarding status of this month’s Convention.

The Steering Committee of the OIVAC has made the decision to postpone the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC) until October, as this year we have not received the same high level of registrations as previously experienced. As we can see no logical reason for this, we are putting it down as yet another statistic of the economy.

The new date for the convention is 1 – 3 October, 2009, and we will continue to market the event during the coming months to ensure increased attendance is achieved.

We will not let the economy damper deter our efforts to recognize VAs and the celebration of our contributions to businesses located around the world. As a result, we will conduct the International Virtual Assistants Day (IVAD) celebration, on Friday, May 15, 2009, at 5:00 p.m. EDT, as previously planned. This is OUR annual day of recognition, and we encourage VAs from around the globe to continue to participate in this celebration.

The Thomas Leonard Virtual Assistant of Distinction and Janet Jordan Award winners will be announced, and we will be providing tons of FREE giveaways to attendees.

The link to the meeting room for this gala event will be distributed next week. So please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

In addition, we will host several FREE pre-event activities between now and October, so look for future announcements about these dates.

Thanks again for supporting us and we are sorry for the inconvenience. Having said that, we are extremely excited to now be working towards a more positive and energetic convention in October once the “doom and gloom” of the economy has eased.

Kind regards,

Sharon Williams
and the OIVAC Steering Committee