Keeping Your Computer Safe

You've purchased a computer, software applications, installed it all and everything is working fine. Is that the end of the story? Unfortunately no. Gone are the days when you could buy software off the shelf and still be happily running the same version 2 years later. Whether it's your operating system or your word processor, there are not only software bugs waiting to catch you out but also security flaws that hackers and virus writers are all too willing to exploit. Anti virus software especially can date rapidly and needs to be updated regularly to keep pace with today’s virus writers.

The internet provides a fantastic doorway to a world that contains vast amounts of information, but being connected also opens a window for others to peek into your PC. The growing popularity of fast internet access heightens the risks of unauthorised access to your data as your PC can be more readily identified. Broadband connections tend to have a static address, so once a hacker has this address they can use it to try and gain access anytime your PC is on.

To combat these problems software companies not only provide new versions of software, but also release free patches to existing versions to correct flaws that have been reported. The patches, also known as Service Packs or Maintenance Releases, provide you with a way to minimise the chances of becoming a victim of fraud, virus attack, or hacking. More recent versions of software now incorporate "Live Update" features whereby the software itself will advise you that an update is available. Patches are also available for older versions of software, and can be accessed from the appropriate software manufacturer website.

In particular you should check to see if there are patches available for:

Internet Browser - Especially important as many security flaws have been found in browser software that may leave your computer vulnerable. E-Commerce relies on having secure connections so you can pass on your financial details such as credit card numbers safely.

Email software - With most viruses now delivered via email, up to date email software is essential to limit any impact these could have.

Anti Virus software - With new variants of viruses discovered every month you need to ensure that your anti-virus software can identify them. The only way to do this is to ensure you have the latest version. Most anti-virus software has a paid subscription service that gives you access to the latest virus libraries and signature files needed to trap new viruses.

Operating System - Important for bug fixes as well as security patches.

Applications - Word Processors, Spreadsheets and Database Managers can all be exploited if not kept up to date.

While some of these updates can be quite large, and take some time to download and install, the benefits cannot be underestimated. Many of today's viruses still take advantage of security flaws that have been identified and fixed sometime ago. These viruses will continue to spread as long as there are machines running software that does not have appropriate service packs or patches applied. The effort of staying up to date will not only give you peace of mind but will also help stop the spread of many known viruses. Below are links to several sites that may be useful to you:

Microsoft Support
http://support.microsoft.com

Operating Systems
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Office Updates
http://office.microsoft.com/ProductUpdates/default.aspx

Service Packs
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];sp&

Internet Explorer
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp

Symantec
http://www.symantec.com/downloads

  Future Developments in SAS2000

With 2003 well underway, Human Edge's programming division has been busily planning and working towards implementing many of the great suggestions we have had for enhancing our software. We are looking forward to an exciting year with major developments occurring across all our applications.

Some of the key updates to look forward to over the next few releases of SAS2000 are:

	The ability to quickly select which creditor bills are to be paid in the next payment run and either generate a cheque run for all these bills or create an EFT file to send to the bank to pay these accounts
	The ability to set up multiple user defined note categories with security levels. The idea behind this is to allow you to record different types of notes in SAS2000 but be able to restrict who has access to see notes of a particular type. For example: Pastoral Care Notes only to be available to those with Pastoral Care responsibilities, Financial Notes to only be available to those in the Finance Department.
	The way the cascade address option works is being investigated to make it possible to select which address will be changed and whether the change applies to Residential, Account To and/ or the Mail address
	The Fee Category is being expanded to the Bill Items area. This will enable Bill Items to be included on the reconciliation reports.
	The Credit Report is being expanded to enable credit reports to be printed for all Fee Categories. Currently this report is only available for School Fee and Tuition fee categories.
	The ability to flag contacts as Deceased. Contacts marked as Deceased will be excluded from exports but the option to include Deceased contacts will be available on some student reports. Where the Deceased contact is a debtor the word Deceased will print after the contact's name on some financial reports, for example the Aged Trial Balance and the Outstanding Balances Report.

We are of course working on many other aspects of SAS2000 and the items listed above are only a few highlights! We are always happy to hear your feedback and if you have any suggestions for further improvements to the program we would love to hear from you. You can use the following link to send us your feedback:

Contact Us

  How Do I?

How do I get a listing of students grouped by their month of birth?

	Go to PEOPLE>ENHANCED EXPORT and select the appropriate fields you require for the student listing including the DATE OF BIRTH field.Eg: Code, First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Year, Class
	Click on EXPORT
	Select the folder to save the file to, give the file a name, and change the SAVE AS TYPE to be CSV WITH HEADERS. (Using the type CSV with header means the date of birth will export in a way that can be formatted in Excel to remove the time stamp on the date.)
	Click on SAVE
	Open EXCEL and go to FILE>OPEN
	Change the FILES OF TYPE field to be ALL FILES so CSV files will be visible
	In the LOOK IN field select the folder you saved the file to and find the file
	Open the file and go to an empty column. As we have headers in the spreadsheet, click on the cell that is on the first row of this column and type the word MONTH.
	Click on the cell that is on the second row of this column to highlight the cell
	Click on the FUNCTION button on the tool bar (the button has an Fx symbol on it)
	In the form that appears in the FUNCTIONS CATEGORY area select DATE & TIME and on the FUNCTION NAME area select MONTH and click on OK
	A box will now appear asking for SERIAL NUMBER. Select the first field that has a date of birth for a student and click on OK
	This will put the value for the month into this field. Copy this formula down the column so that it is beside each student's name. To do this click on the + at the bottom right corner of the cell with the formula entered and, holding the mouse button down, drag this down the column until you get to the end of the list of student names. Release the mouse button. This should copy the formula down for each student.

You are now ready to sort the students by the month in which they were born. To do this:

	Click on the square on the left top corner, which is between the A and the 1. This will highlight the whole spreadsheet.
	Now go to DATA>SORT on the menu
	The HEADER ROW option at the bottom of the SORT form should be selected
	Select to sort by the month column in ascending order and click on OK. This will sort the spreadsheet so that all the students born in the same month are grouped together.

  Website of the Week

Do you have wine stains on the carpet, hands smelling like garlic, or a tough screw to undo? Then you need the Tip King!

The Tip King is a good source of helpful advice to assist you with day-to-day tasks and small problems. Basically it’s the sort of advice that was probably common knowledge in our parents and grandparents time.

There are several different categories of advice, ranging from Beauty, Car Care and Cleaning right through to Pests, Handyman and Home Remedies. If you are not sure which category your issue falls into you can use the search feature to find it.

The Tip Exchange is an online forum where you can ask for advice on how to solve a particular problem, send in your own tip or just chat to other Tip King visitors. If you would like to receive regular tips via email why not subscribe to the Tip King Newsletter?

Some of the tips on the site do seem a little unusual, for example the suggestion that a cure for warts is to have someone buy them from you! But if you use a bit of common sense you should find quite a few useful hints to remember and pass on to your friends.

  Quote of the Week

"Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use. "
Emily Post, Manners Expert

For more information, please contact:

Heather McKay
Human Edge Software
Phone: 1300 301 931
Fax: +61 3 9690 2802
Email: sas2000@humanedge.biz

Human Edge adheres to a policy of not sending unsolicited (SPAM) e-mail. You are receiving this e-mail because you are listed as a contact for a product or service that our organisation provides or have requested that this service be activated for you. If you are receiving this message in error or wish to have our records changed please advise us via return e-mail or call us on +61 3 9690 5044