What's Gnu? Gnutella has it all.
Sun Review July 28, 2001

Move over Napster, the Gnutella network is taking over the world! Marc Andreessen, Co-Founder of Netscape agrees: "Gnutella is a big deal, it can change the way businesses share information". Gnutella allows you to share all types of files, including MP3s, games and other software through a peer-to-peer network.

When you run Gnutella software and connect to the Gnutella Network, you bring with you the information you want to make public. That could be nothing, it could be one file, a directory, or your entire hard drive. Now type in your search terms, sit back and wait while your Gnutella program searches through the entire network, through all other users' hard drives, comprising thousands of gigabytes of information, to find the files that match your query. The Gnutella network is not owned by any corporation or individual and anyone can build software for the network. Popular Windows-based Gnutella software includes Limewire (www.limewire.com) and BearShare (www.bearshare.com). To download Gnutella programs for all operating systems, visit www.gnutelliums.com.

If you're worried about viruses, remember that using Gnutella exposes you to the same risks as downloading files from the Internet through any other means such as FTP, the Web, or even e-mail. Use common sense and scan all your downloaded files with an updated virus checker.

Speaking of e-mail viruses, the latest infection known as SirCam is making the rounds this week. It spreads by e-mailing copies of itself to everyone in the infected computer's address book. It also sends itself to any e-mail addresses contained in the Web browser's cache files, which store recently viewed pages. An added twist to this particular worm is that it sends a random file or attachment from the infected computer's hard drive, which means the worm could potentially send confidential business or personal information along with itself. The e-mail subject line matches the name of the file being sent. Although SirCam is only a mere inconvenience to most people, for some it is wreaking havoc on their computers, based on a combination of arcane PC settings and chance. For example, if the infected PC uses the European date format (day/month/year), there is a 1-in-20 chance that the worm will delete all files and folders on the hard drive on Oct. 16. You can detect and remove this virus using updated anti-virus software such as McAfee.com VirusScan and Clinic (www.mcafee.com) or use the Worm removal tool at Symantec (www.symantec.com).

Did you know that you can obtain a map to your home by typing your phone number into MyBC.com's White Pages? Using the "People Finder" located at www4.mybc.com/white, type in your phone number to view a printout of your first and last name, complete mailing address and a map pinpointing your exact location. Now if only they could help me find my keys...

Questions or comments? E-mail inge@ingenius.bc.ca

© 2001 Ingenius Webdesign