LET'S COMMUNICATE
Agriculture Communication Newsletter
June 2003, No. 90

CONTENTS

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD
HAVE YOU TANGLED YOUR WEB?
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPUTER SECURITY
HELP! I HAVE AN ERROR MESSAGE

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD

Here are a few grammar errors I've seen recently. The sources aren't identified since they're all from NDSU.

* A limited number of rooms are available.

The subject of the sentence is the singular "number," not plural "rooms." To test, leave out the prepositional phrase so it's "number is."

* The Human Resource Office will be holding it's blood drive...

Possessive personal pronouns never have an apostrophe: mine, ours, yours, his, its, theirs. Since so many of us have problems with its and it's, test this troubler every time. If you can't substitute "it is," use its. "Holding it is blood drive?" Obviously not.

* The addition of new NDSU employee's to our summer work force...

Plural words rarely include an apostrophe. In Associated Press style, only single letters do: Mind your p's and q's. The Oakland A's won. Some dictionaries and style guides say to use an apostrophe with figures, but AP says no: the 1920s, two 727s, temps in the 90s, size 7s.

* The only available low-cost remote sensing imagery is Landsat satellite imagery, however Landsat imagery is only 30-meter resolution.

These are actually two complete sentences that must be separated by a period or semicolon. "The only available low-cost remote sending imagery is Landsat satellite imagery. However, Landsat imagery..." or "The only available low-cost remote sending imagery is Landsat satellite imagery; however, Landsat imagery..."

Becky Koch

HAVE YOU TANGLED YOUR WEB?

Before sharing a Web address, please double-check that the link is correct. Many sites submitted to Ag Comm are incorrect due to problems such as a missing link in the path, case-sensitive letters or lack of the proper identifying domain name.

To easily confirm the correct URL:

1. Highlight the address
2. Copy
3. Paste into your Web browser
4. Hit the enter key.

If the site opens, the address is correct; if it doesn't, something in the path is wrong. Please save your receivers much frustration by testing URLs.

Agnes Vernon and Dave Rice

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPUTER SECURITY

Passwords keep others from accessing and using our computers without permission. We Ag Comm computer technicians have dealt with a number of computer intrusions where hackers accessed machines and turned them into their own personal filesharing systems. Not one of the hacked computers had passwords.

This can cause major problems with slow network access and legal liability issues over the copyrighted material that sometimes gets served from compromised computers.

Who is responsible? While the computer owner or user may not have put the files there, the owner COULD still be held responsible for what the machine is doing. This is especially true if the owner has not taken reasonable steps to secure the machine, such as using passwords and running Windows update.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is cracking down and taking action against individuals involved with illegal file sharing. This means anyone sharing files such as mp3s, movies or commercial software over programs such as Kazaa could be sued. If your computer has been compromised and is being used for these purposes, that someone could be you.

By following security policy that includes good passwords and routine Windows security updates, you can help keep your computer and yourself out of trouble.

For more information on passwords, updates and general tips on how to secure your computer, visit:

http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/granum/security/index.htm

Jerry Ranum

HELP! I HAVE AN ERROR MESSAGE

For most error message encounters, computer users can just click OK to let Windows know they got the message. At most, they may have to restart the computer.

But sometimes an error message just won't stay away. If you have one of those, use these steps to try resolve the problem:

1. Immediately save your work if possible.

2a. Click on the details button and write down the first couple lines of information provided.

2b. If it is a blue screen error, be sure to write down the first couple of lines of information.

3. Write down what software you were using and what you were doing EXACTLY when the error occurred.

4. If the error occurs while using certain software, check on the manufacturer's Website for updates to your program.

5. If all else fails, call the Computer Services help desk at 231- 9666. Be ready to provide the information mentioned above. The more information you have ready, the faster and easier it will be for Computer Services to help resolve your problem.

For more information, see our computer support pages at:

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/agcomm/comphelp.htm

Jerry Ranum