Are you involved in a School’s programmes?

If so tell us about it. Perhaps start a discussion in the Forum. We have a resource there which is underused, and could be a good avenue for sharing experiences and promoting ideas. Please start to use it and help to bring the membership of ICUFR back to life. Plans are underway to restructure it, so be patient till then.

The end of July saw the closing of the schools around London for the Summer Break. It also saw the celebration of student achievements at end of term ceremonies. I was fortunate to represent Ernie’s Club at two local Primary schools for their special assemblies.

Some years ago, a young member of the club died suddenly and left in his will a legacy for the club to use for a local cause. The club wanted to do something that would be a lasting memorial to the member, and so set up the special awards in his memory.

The member had been a young man often beset by problems which with perseverance he would overcome, therefore it seemed fitting that the award should honour young people who through perseverance managed to overcome adversity.

It started as a project with four secondary schools involved, and the young people – nominated by their schools, are invited to a Rotary Dinner in Spring, accompanied by parents and teachers, to receive their awards. More recently the scheme has extended to three Primary schools, but the presentations take place in their schools.

The scheme has been going on for over ten years, and during that time I have met and heard the stories of some remarkable young people. Children with disabilities and life limiting illnesses who insisted on carrying on their education in main stream school, and doing their utmost to match the achievements of their able bodied classmates with a minimum of support.

Children who were main carers for disabled parents or siblings, those who had been refugees, arriving in this country alone, with no belongings and no knowledge of the language, and yet had struggled and worked hard to become outstanding pupils. Children who had lost family members in tragic circumstances, but had been strong and helped their families cope with their loss. Children who give their time unstintingly to assist those needing their help in the community, and others who act as mentors for younger pupils in the school, helping them to settle in or cope with stressful situations.

The Primary school children’s achievements are generally for greatly improved behaviour, overcoming learning difficulties or just coping with the problems that life might throw at them today. At the Graduation Celebration of one school, two eleven year old girls had been selected to receive the Rotary Award.

The first child honoured, Harmony, comes from a large family of six children, which mother copes with alone now. They are very poor, yet the children are all well-behaved and well cared for, and Harmony, the eldest is a great little mother to them all. They have had a traumatic time, and Harmony is really true to her name. The other little girl also came from a large family where the father has a tendency to violence (she witnessed her mother being physically abused) and he regularly disappears, leaving the mother to cope with yet a another new baby on the way. The girl has had counselling and is now more confident and happy, and works hard in school but there is no sparkle in her eyes when she smiles at you.

When we were listening to the teachers telling of the children’s achievements, both academic and personal, and realise that these youngsters are our future, it’s important to ensure they maintain the values they have learnt as they go through the next stages in their education. Around the world, Rotarians are involving themselves in projects like this, or becoming School Governors, or volunteer readers, mentors, advisers on preparing for employment. The schools where Rotary is involved appreciate the added input.

Stella Russell

Chairman

It has been a busy couple months:

The planning for the booth at the RI Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah was difficult, and this is one of the prime expenses that your dues cover. The costs seemed to be very high for electricity, tables & chairs, wi-fi, projector and screen etc. Had we rented everything from the Convention Center, we could have spent more than it would have cost to buy all the equipment. Even a wastebasket was $17 and it turned out to be a cardboard throwaway. Total cost could have easily been well over $2500USD, but we managed to keep it close to $800 by bringing some items and renting locally for others.

RI requires that there be at least one person in the booth at all times when the HOF is officially open, and the majority of the staffing was done by Stella and Ernie Russell, Steve Henderson, Irwin and Arlene Taranto, Jim and Virginia Soudriette, and myself. In addition there were many other members old and new who signed in and spent some time in the booth with us. I had Robin post pictures of many of them while the Convention was in progress so you can see them in the July Newsletter.

Personally, the minute the Convention was over, I took Stella and Ernie for a "quick" 2,000 mile, 5 day tour of the 6 major National Parks in the South West USA, and they never complained once: Bryce Canyon, Zion Nat'l Park, both the North and South Rims of the Grand Canyon, (Las Vegas one evening), Death Valley (It was 118 degrees F so we didn't stay long), Yosemite Valley, and Sequoia Nat'l Park to see some of the Giant Redwood trees, followed by a couple days at my home for rest and recuperation. They saw everything from 10,000+ feet altitude down to -282 feet, the lowest point in the western hemisphere, and temperatures from 118F down to very low 40F.

We did not have a Board Meeting since May, but will be having one very soon for the new year, and we will report them as they occur. The Board still has some old timers to keep dragging us back, and some new members to keep dragging us forward, and a couple middle types to try and drag us both ways. Seriously, it looks like a great Board and a new year.

As you can see from Stella's Chairman's message, we would like to increase the use of both our Taranto Mail Lists, and the Forum. We can do a much better job of fulfilling your needs and desires if we can hear from you from time to time. Having both the mail lists and forum gives you a choice to use the type of communication form you desire, so please check in once in a while to see what is going on, and to tell us what you would like to see. You will find that both places are run very informally, and you are welcome to start any new topics, or to jump into the middle of one you find of interest. Please do so. Instructions start on the main page of the website for both the lists and the forum, but if you have any trouble getting started, don't hesitate to email me, and I will be more than happy to help.

Keep in mind that the ICUFR Conference this year will be in Lancaster, UK Sept. 21-22. If you didn't get the instructions, email Stella at stella.russell@btconnect.com and she will send instructions. We always have a great fun and learning time at our conferences. Come join us.

And finally, a big Welcome to all the new members.

Carl P Cardey

Editor - Director ccardey@verizon.net

We seem to be getting into lots of fun on both the Taranto Mail ChatList and the Friends & Fun Section in the Forum: http://www2.icufr.org.

On the ChatList, lobsters have taken a back seat to a big sports discussion. Would you believe that there are some northerners who still feel that the Red Sox will win the pennant race? >G< They even sacrificed their lobster war to collaborate and belabor the Yankees. Since the people across the pond haven’t been contributing too much, Gord Hankin is usually the first to post there. He represents the earliest time zone this side of the Atlantic.

We did have some interesting discussion about RI going through some difficult financial times and how they rescued themselves. This topic was initiated by Norm Winterbottom.

On http://www2.icufr.org, there are still the same stalwarts who are now discussing the many styles of rice. Bob Collins and Galen Coffman appear to be the epicures. Galen’s avatar seems to have disappeared leaving him to wonder what gremlin is involved. CPC will have to help him out.

Speaking of Carl, he brought a borrowed laptop to the RI Convention and it appears his thumbs got in the way. He managed to post the daily results on www.icufr.org, but couldn’t maneuver his way to http://www2.icufr.org or the ChatList. What happened to Dave Flinn?

Terry Harper got out of Friends and Fun to tell us about his club’s Community Service activities. One has to check the entire Forum, not the one segment to be aware of Rotary and the good that it does.

These two Internet areas deserve a lot of credit for keeping the Rotary spirit alive.

Later:

With the warm weather, the ChatList seems to have put the lobster wars away. Chatting has started a battle of one liners; some hate them, some love them; for others ..like me .. it is a battle of wits. Of course some think we are not whole wits but ½ wits. They do keep people coming back and even joining in the frivolity.

This led to a frustrating occurrence that Dan Mooers encountered. While there have been some jibes in response, Dan did touch upon a very difficult situation and asked for suggestions about solving them.

Over on http://www2.icufr.org not only is Friends & Fun active, but Club Service>Membership as well. Problems relating to the ‘clique’ tendency are discussed with Stella Russell coming up with an interesting solution used by hubby Ernie’s club.

Regarding the Forum.

Once you have looked the forum over the first time, if you open your "Profile" and then in the "Preferences", if you put a check in the "Yes" box for "Always notify me of replies: Sends an e-mail when someone replies to a topic you have posted in. This can be changed whenever you post" You will then get an email notification if there are any replies, which saves one from having to check into the Forum every day, and yet not miss a reply.

Carl P Cardey

Editor - Director

1. Remove your phone Number from searches

From "The Kim Komando Show"

Once it's online, personal information spreads quickly. There's no shortage of sites offering up phone numbers, most for free. Most searches require only a last name and a city.

Fortunately, the search sites usually allow you to remove your own listing. Focus on the biggest search sites to virtually eliminate your number's exposure on the Web. Below are simple steps for removing your number from major online directories. If your number is public information, however, it may eventually reappear online. To counter this, consider making your number unpublished. Most phone companies will keep your number unpublished for a fee.

Google - http://www.google.com To remove your listing from Google's PhoneBook search, you must first find it. To invoke a PhoneBook search, enter any of the following in Google's search box:

First name, last name, state or city First name, last name, ZIP code Last name, city, state Last name, ZIP code

If you find your listing, visit Google's online "PhoneBook Name Removal" form - Then enter your information as it appears in the Google listing. Google won't allow your number to reappear in its listings.

WhitePages.com supplies information to MSN, Verizon's SuperPages, YellowPages.com, PhoneNumber.com and 411.com. Start by finding your listing on WhitePages.com. At the bottom of your listing is a small link that reads, "Is this you? Remove your listing." Click the link and then confirm the removal. That's all there is to it.

Yahoo! People Search - To remove your listing from Yahoo!, you first must find it. You can do so using Yahoo!'s People Search. Then use the online "Remove Phone Listing form" Enter your name as it appears in the listing.

AnyWho - AnyWho is owned by AT&T, but the directory is not limited to AT&T customers. AnyWho requires you to request removal by phone. Also, you must make the call from your listed number. Visit "AnyWho's Privacy Listing Process" page for details before you make the request.

Intelius People Search - Intelius accepts removal requests by mail or fax. Include your listing information as it appears on the site, or include a printout. According to the site, listings reappear if your number is public information. Here is the fax and postal information: Intelius fax number: (425) 974-6194 Intelius, Inc. 500 108th Ave. NE, 25th Floor Bellevue, WA 98004

Switchboard.com - is part of InfoSpace, which runs the Dogpile.com search site. First, find your listing by searching Switchboard. Beside the listing is a link that reads, "Remove this listing." Click the link and provide your e-mail address. You'll receive an e-mail including a confirmation of removal.

2. ZoneAlarm now supports Vista, offers free extensions

By Scott Dunn

For months, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite has claimed on its box to be "Vista ready," but users found otherwise.

Fortunately, the company has now released a Vista version of the suite and promises to make it up to customers.

Free sub extension for ZoneAlarm customers

In the June 7 issue, I responded to reader complaints that the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite (which I'd discussed in the May 24 issue) did not support Windows Vista, despite its product labeling saying so. Soon thereafter, I received a phone call from Allison Wagda, director of public relations at Check Point, the maker of ZoneAlarm products. She announced that Vista versions of the suite and its products would be available immediately, and apologized to customers who were affected by the delay in getting the products out.

"We are offering anyone who purchased the suite a six-month extension on their subscription to make up for the loss," Wagda told me. Check Point is also offering a refund to customers who would rather return the product. To take advantage of these offers, customers in the U.S. should call 1-877-966-5221. Those outside the U.S. should call +49 1805 104777 in Germany.

From the 'Windows Secrets' email newsletter which you can subscribe to at https://windowssecrets.com/info Thanks to Marlene Mackesy for sending it to me.

Carl P Cardey

Editor - Director

3. It was bound to happen -

Trojan impersonates Windows activation Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, from ZDNet

This was so bound to happen - A Trojan which impersonates the Windows activation process and asks the users to enter their credit card details. The Trojan, called Trojan.Kardphisher, has been spotted in the wild by Symantec researchers. The Trojan isn't all that clever, instead it relies on social engineering to get users to part with their details.

Here's the scam. The Trojan installs itself onto a PC and presents the user with the following message:

Your copy of Windows has been activated by another user. To help reduce software piracy, please re-activate your copy of Windows now. WE will ask for your billing details, but your credit card will NOT be charged. You must activate Windows before you can continue to use it. Microsoft is committed to your Privacy. For more information, www.microsoft.com/piracy. Do you want to activate Windows now?

It looks pretty convincing too check out these images:

If users select "No," the PC shuts down while clicking "Yes" takes the user to a second screen which asks for the victim's name and credit card details.

Symantec offers the following advice:

This Trojan teaches us all a good lesson - Trust No One. This is the slogan from the TV show The X-Files, and very much applies when it comes to protecting your personal information. Sometimes the creators of Trojans attempt to impersonate Microsoft, a bank, or even a government organization. Whatever the warning or message says, we must make very sure it is genuine before giving up any personal details, financial or otherwise. It's far better to doubt a genuine request until proper verification is provided, than it is to blindly place your trust in a communique simply because it appears to have come from a trusted source.

4. Get a Free Mac on Your PC

Download FlyakiteOSX, which goes beyond skinning to transform your entire XP interface into a near-perfect replica of Mac OS X. It converts sounds, cursors, title bars, icons, startup and log-in screens, and more. It even has an OS X-like dock for launching and managing running applications, and it's FREE! Browse to: find.pcworld.com/57343 for the download.

Thanks to PCWorld Aug.

5. Email Rules

Brevity is the soul: short descriptive subject line; many small paragraphs rather than one long one; If you must send jokes, put the word Joke at the beginning of the subject line; trim the junk from the previous messages that accumulates at the bottom, when replying; change the subject line when FW a Digest; number each topic with complicated messages; delete all the header lines; and finally kill the brackets first before sending with EmailStripper (find.pcworld.com/57377) before forwarding what's left.

Thanks to PCWorld August - Steve Bass

(It's a little 454kb free program that I installed, and it works just great. Highlight & copy, open it from the desktop, click "strip it", copy and paste into your own new message - Carl P Cardey, Editor - Director)

6. How to Encrypt your emails.

It's well known that it's easy for someone to read their emails and to impersonate one. Emails are commonly sent in what is know as cleartext. It isn't well known that there are methods of protecting them, but IF you send emails that really should be protected, here is one solution that solves both problems is public key encryption, which encrypts the date as well as identifying the sender of the data, in this case emails.

Public key encryption uses two keys: a public key that is freely distributed and a private, secured key that should never be shared. Here is how it works. Carl sends Jane an email with his 'public' key. Jane verifies that it is really from Carl. Then she sends Carl an email with her 'public' key, which Carl verifies as coming from Jane.

Next Carl composes his email to Sally, and has his email client encrypt the email using Sally's 'public' key. Then he sends the email on to Jane who uses her 'private' key to decrypt the email into cleartext so she can read it. She composes a reply, encrypts it using Carl's 'public' key, and when he receives it he uses his own 'private' key to decrypt her reply.

Keys (often referred to as certificates) are issued by CAs (Certificate Authorities). One of the more prevalent certificate authorities is Thawte (www.thawte.com), which provides free personal email certificates. When you request an email certificate from Thawte, you will eventually receive a certificate that is vouched for by a notary.

One you have your email certificate, you'll want to configure your email client to use it. The most common tactic is to attach your certificate as a signature in your emails. This won't encrypt your email, but it will provide a digital signature signifying your identity as well as showing that your message wasn't tampered with in transit.

To encrypt your email, you'll need to have your recipients' public keys. Send them to Thawte to request an email certificate, and once your have their public keys, you can exchange encrypted email.

If you use a Web-based email provider, be sure to take advantage of the encryption services it offers.

Thanks to Smart Computing , Tech Support - Q&A June 2007.

7. Secure purchases while online.

The little yellow lock displayed in the lower-right corner of the screen when visiting sites that claim to be secured, are a minimum level of security for a safe online transaction. At the same time, check to see that the URL showing in the Address window has the "s" at the end of http, i.e. https:// etc. That indicates a secure web site.

8. Firefox 2.0.0.2 Issues

Mozilla has identified several security issues in earlier releases of Firefox 2. In addition, some changes were necessary to bring Firefox 2 into better compatibility and operation with Windows Vista.

Resolution: Download Firefox 2.0.0.2 from www.mozilla.com/firefox. Click the green Download Firefox - Free button. When the Opening Firefox Setup 2.0.0.2.exe dialog box appears, make sure the Save To Disk radio button is selected and click OK. Locate the 5.7MB file you downloaded (Firefox Setup 2.0.0.2.ext) and double-click it to install the update

Please send any articles/photos etc. by the 15th of each month.

Carl P Cardey

Editor - Director

41 THE THIRD ROTARIAN

The first Rotary meeting was held in the office of the third Rotarian, Gustave Loehr, a mining engineer. The tempestuous and volatile Loehr only attended three meetings of the club before resigning due to business commitments. On his death on 23 May 1918, neither newspaper in his home town of Carlinville, Illinois mentioned his part in Rotary’s founding.

42. THE FOURTH ROTARIAN

The Fourth man at the first Rotary meeting was Hiram P Shorey, a manufacturing tailor. He attended only a few meetings. He returned to his native Maine for some time before moving back to Chicago, but did not rejoin the club, although he maintained an interest in its activities.

43. THE FIFTH ROTARIAN

Printer, Harry Ruggles, who joined the Chicago club at its second meeting on 9 March, 1905, introduced singing into Rotary meetings. During a dull meeting at the Sherman Hotel, he stood up and said, “Gosh, Fellows, let’s sing,” and launched into “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” After the sixth meeting which was held in Harry Ruggles’ printing shop, the Chicago club ceased meeting in members’ offices and began meeting at hotels and restaurants. Ruggles died on 23 April 1959.

44. The Cost of Rotary membership

The Rotary Club of Cincinnati received Charter Number 17 and was admitted into Rotary with eight members on November 18, 1910. Dues were $3.00 per year.

45. Rotary in Crisis

In 1915 Rotary was nearly bankrupt. President Frank Mulholland recognising the seriousness of the situation hit upon the idea of asking every Rotarian to donate a dollar. A considerable sum was collected and Rotary has never been financially embarrassed since.

46. Persistence Pays Off

Piqua,(Ohio) Charter Number 195, had the distinction of being one of the early clubs to be formed in a city with a population of less than 20,000. According to information in the Piqua Club History, Rotary International officials of that time did not believe that Rotary was a practical idea for a small city and were hesitant to issue charters. However, after a group of enthusiastic and resourceful men made several trips to Chicago, a charter was issued on January 1, 1915

47 Numbering of Clubs

"In the beginning, Rotary numbered the clubs in the order in which they became affiliated with Rotary International and they were assigned a charter number based on the date that they were elected to membership in Rotary International. After WWII in about 1951, Rotary stopped using the numbering system that it had before the war. Today's assigned numbers are for financial purposes and are not placed on the charter nor should they be considered for order of entry into Rotary International.

Continued from last month.

What were the challenges to
Rotary after the Second World War?

Certainly the challenges faced by Rotary did not end with the Second World War. The Korean Conflict effectively shut down Rotary in Korea for a time, the Cold War and the control of the Soviet Union of Eastern Europe drove Rotary out of many countries where it had flourished before World War II and for a period after the war. Rotary still faces challenges in the few remaining Communist Countries, like Cuba, where Rotary used to thrive, and in China where it also once thrived. And we face, seemingly at times impossible tasks, in Muslim Countries where Rotary is yet to be accepted.

And RI Presidents continue to have to make difficult decisions when a world crisis erupts. Imagine the difficult decisions faced by recent President Rick King when terrorism erupted on U.S. soil with the World Trade Center attack.

In spite of these continuous challenges, the idealism of Rotary has been, as E.L. Skeel said it would in 1912, "the one guaranty of long and useful life for Rotary." Maybe Paul Harris and the other Chicago Rotarians in 1905 did not at first embrace this idealism, and maybe at times, they even seemed to fight it, but there is no question that the base idea of this organization, the fellowship and friendship with other people - the base idea that brought Paul Harris, and Silvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey into Gus Loehr's office that evening, no matter which year it was - is the base idea that has carried Rotary strongly into the 21st century.

Let me just mention a couple of other Rotary facts you may not have heard about recently. The International Assembly, the meeting at which Rotary International trains all the incoming district governors, was held in Poland Spring, Maine, just before New England's only RI Convention in Boston in 1933. And in 1946, following the Atlantic City Convention, the International Assembly was held in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Maybe its time we bring it back to New England!

In his remarkable speech at that first convention of Rotary in 1910, Arthur Sheldon concluded his speech with this comment:

"And so tonight, it requires no great gift of prophecy to enable us to look ahead and see Rotary nationalized and in time internationalized, its present membership added to by new clubs throughout the world, become a river of beneficial influence which shall flow around the world. It cannot fail for it is fed by the eternal snows of truth."

One of the eternal truths of Rotary was contained in the Annual Report of President Paul P. Harris, at the conclusion of this Rotary presidency in September, 1912. In that report, he said:

"Whether we do much or little in the way of public work, it is apparent that there is a large and unique field of usefulness in Rotary. Possessing as we do red blood in our veins, it is fair to assume that we shall not be indifferent to the welfare of the communities in which we exist; nor unwilling to lend a hand to the doing of those things in the interest of the public which come within the proper sphere of our activities."

Ninety one years later, an RI President from a different continent, from a different background, and in a different time uses the same words as Paul Harris to define the work of Rotary. Such a simple term, "Lend a Hand", and yet it carries so much meaning, whether used in 1912 or in 2003, about the work of Rotarians.

So, bring on Rotary's next Century. Rotary will fulfill its destiny to become the most meaningful, most significant, most important non-governmental, non-sectarian, non-religious community organization in the history of this uncertain world.

Thanks Paul, and Silvester, and Gus, and, our Maine Man, Hiram, for those roots you planted so long ago. May we do you proud.

This completes the article written by Dan Mooers. As you can probably tell, Dan is a proud citizen of the state of Maine, and has enjoyed letting us know it too, subtly of course>G<. We hope you enjoyed it, and I would love to find another article that I could serialize.

Carl P Cardey,

Editor - Director