End of Term Ramblings - Fall started on this mountain almost 2 weeks ago paying little heed to the calendar, and as I sit here in the wee hours of the morning wishing I could sleep, my thoughts keep drifting to starting a fire in the wood-burning stove to take the chill out of the air. Interspersed among those thoughts is a little sadness too, because this is the last newsletter that Doug and I will be working on together, maybe for quite some time, but hopefully not forever.

Two years ago I had the good fortune to meet Doug (and Steve Kaden too) in Las Vegas to attend my first coin show and it was one of the most memorable weekends I've had in a long, long time. If ever you get the opportunity to sit down and spend some time with this man, don't pass it up. You'll remember it for years, hopefully with as many fond memories as I have. I've also had the pleasure of working with him on the newsletter for the last couple of years and while it's been a real hoot it pails in comparison to walking a bourse floor with him. Oooooh he's good, very good (and entertaining too). Thanks for all you've done for us Doug, and I'm ready to work on your next series of newsletters whenever you are. OK, on to business.

WINS Email Lists - We seem to be having some isolated difficulties on the Talk list that are affecting a small number of members. Unfortunately, the only cure I've found is to drop the member having a problem off of the lists and have them re-enroll. You must keep in mind that we have no server support where we are hosted and there is only so much that can be fixed from my end. If you are having any problem on the lists, contacting me directly is much more preferable to posting your problem on the list because other list members are not likely to fix the problem, and it does add clutter on the list.

IT News- The chances of a system becoming infected by spyware on the Internet today are growing. With this in mind, here are some practical common sense tips from Panda Software to help you reduce the chances of you computer being infected by this type of malware:

- A lot of spyware enters computers by exploiting software vulnerabilities, it is important to install the latest security patches supplied by software vendors.

- Carefully read the user licenses of each program that you install on your computer, in particular freeware and shareware versions. Very often, these types of programs install some kind of spyware on the system (in return for using the application).

- Take care when entering addresses in your browser. Some spyware creators are using web pages (designed to download spyware) with domain names similar to those of other famous sites (googkle.com is just one recent example). The aim is to take advantage of simple user typing errors to install spyware on their systems.

- Don't download pirate programs, music, films, etc. Regardless of any legal questions, these types of files are a rich source of all types of malware, including spyware.

- Stay away from underground sites (those related to illegal downloads, hacking tools and techniques, etc.). Not only are these pages often designed to download spyware automatically, but they may also contain applications which, when installed, can drop all types of malware onto systems.

Trojan/Worm Alerts that you need to know about:

- Fantibag.A is a Trojan which prevents access to a series of websites, mostly belonging to antivirus companies. It does this using a method based on RRAS (Routing and Remote Access Service) API functions, which provide packet filtering capacity.

- Banker.APM is a Trojan that aims to steal confidential information such as passwords, which it then sends to its creator. It tries to redirect websites of various banks to a server hosting spoofed pages so that users enter their personal details when they visit these pages.

- Mitglieder.EV is a Trojan which attacks certain security tools such as antivirus programs and firewalls. Specifically, it deletes essential files and removes Windows Registry entries that allow applications to run automatically, it blocks services and terminates processes associated to the programs that provide the antivirus updates.

Auction Update - Auction 31 is scheduled for October 1 - 8 and should already be underway about the time you read this. Happy bidding.

Christmas Auction Reminder - In Auction 25, I opened the auction up to the handiwork of members and other sort of related collectibles as long as each lot contained a hobby-related item. I promised I'd do it again and I think the Christmas auction is the perfect time so get your special coins, handiwork and collectibles together and let's have a great Christmas auction. If you're wondering if an item will be acceptable, let me know what it is and I'll let you know. If anyone is interested, here's one of the items I'm thinking of offering (with a coin of course) - "Sailor's Dream".

Thanks for readin' and "See ya' at the auction".