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Social networks are in the news a lot these days. One thing I’ve noticed recently is a website called Ning, which is   an online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free. With Ning, your social network can be anything and for anyone.

You start by choosing a combination of features (videos, blogs, photos, forums, etc.) from an ever-growing list of options. Then customize how it looks, decide if it’s public or private, and add your brand logo if you have one. People who join your network will automatically have a customizable profile page and will be able to message and friend each other.

I am seeing people who are creating their own social networks for the towns and cities they live in, their high school, clubs and organizations, and more.  http://www.ning.com/

[Link] I think this serves as a good reminder to Mac users not to get too complacent. As popularity increases, as it will, the OS will become a bigger target.

Hackers are reportedly sticking virtual razor blades into Apple computers this Halloween, as a Mac security vendor reports Wednesday that a Mac-focussed Trojan is reportedly loose on the internet costumed as an innocent video decoding file.

Mac OS X users visiting malicious porn sites are told to download a special codec that will let Apple’s Quicktime player to play the porn flicks, but instead of adult treats, users get a malicious trick, according to anti-virus vendor Intego.

The OS X Trojan, which infects a computer after a user chooses to download a proprietary codec, hijacks the infected computer’s DNS settings. Internet-connected applications use DNS settings to figure out how to translate URLs, such as Wired.com, into the physical address of a server, according to Intego’s alert. By hijacking the DNS, the Trojan is able to redirect visits to sites such as banks, eBay and PayPal to fake websites that attempt to harvest user’s logins and passwords to commit financial fraud.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers to be on the lookout for a new e-mail scam that appears to be a solicitation from the IRS and the U.S. government for charitable contributions to victims of the recent Southern California wildfires.

In an effort to appear legitimate, the bogus e-mails include text from an actual speech about the wildfires by a member of the California Assembly.

The scam e-mail urges recipients to click on a link, which then opens what appears to be the IRS Web site but which is, in fact, a fake. An item on the phony Web site urges donations and includes a link that opens a donation form which requests the recipient’s personal and financial information. [Link]

The Institute of Newspaper Technology has let me know they’ve had one spot become available for the Mac platform.
The Institute of Newspaper Technology will offer classes in InDesign, QuarkXpress, Photoshop, InCopy, Dreamweaver, Video on the Web, Dreamweaver, PDF Troubleshooting and much more!

If you’re interested, contact Kathy Hensley, Accounting Services Representative, Tennessee Press Services, Inc. by phone (865)584-5761 ext 103 or e-mail khensley@tnpress.com

Thanks to Marshall Ramsey for this link:

http://www.zipskinny.com/

Enter your zip code to see U.S. Census data and comparisons with up to 20 other ZIPS.

If you have a new MacBook or MacBook Pro you should check Software Update.

Apple has just released MacBook, MacBook Pro Software Update 1.0 which corrects an issue with Journaling on those machines. This update simply enables Journaling on your Startup volume if it had been left off at the factory.

According to tuaw.com, the pricing for 2008 Office for Mac will be:

• Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac: This is the one most of us use, which includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Entourage. Pricing is for $399.95 for the full retail version and $239.95 for an upgrade.
• Microsoft Office for the Mac Home and Student Edition: This version does not support Exchange for Entourage, but could still be used by many small offices. This edition only comes in the full retail flavor for $149.95.

Coming soon: a report on the state of public notices from Tom Andrews, MPA’s 2007-2008 board president

In the meantime, some quick numbers:

# notices uploaded to mspublicnotices.com
August 2007 – 2465
August 2006 – 1750
Approximately 1/3 of newspaper members participating.

Other states such as Alabama and Georgia are reporting 90%+ participation among their members.

National Newspaper Week is Oct. 7-13. This year, the theme will focus on the importance of public notices published in newspapers.

National Newspaper Week is a project of the Newspaper Association Managers, the group of state, regional and national newspaper association executives. NAM has sponsored National Newspaper Week since the 1940s.

Several items have been posted for National Newspaper Week at www.kypress.com/nnwkit. At the same time you can sign up to be notified as more items are added
to the media kit.

• Custom Maps For Community Newspapers Now Available