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1. Using my personal web space to build a personal website.
Every subscriber to MobileTel Internet has 5 MB of space on our servers for FREE, for your personal home pages. Personal meaning that you can use this space to tell people about your family, interest, books, poetry, photos, and things along those lines. You can use this space for virtually everything EXCEPT business and/or advertising. Please read the Terms of Service before proceeding.

Businesses are required to lease the space they wish to use from MobileTel Internet, but every subscriber that has a business can get a FREE banner ad from MobileTel Internet. The Business may also be placed in our Business Listing. Please see our Web Design and Hosting page for details.

The area where you upload your pages to is called your "home directory", inside of your home directory is a folder labeled "public_html". This is the folder that you must place all of web page files into. You can create files as you wish under the "public_html" folder, as long as you have them linked correctly.
**Keep in mind that any sub-directories have to be under the "public_html" directory in order for our servers to find them**
***Microsoft FrontPage extensions are not supported, so please avoid using them as your website will not work properly***

A NOTE ABOUT FILE NAMES: it is best to use files names in all lower case letters.

The most common and correct way to publish web sites is to use an FTP Program (File Transfer Protocol). Some Web Site program allows you to upload web pages (one way, UP). They do not allow you to create new folders and/or remove folders and files.

Here are some instructions for using CuteFTP, but you can use many other FTP programs like this one:
1) From the FTP site manager, click on Add Site.
2) Fill in the following boxes as follows:
Site Label: MobileTel
Host Address: ftp.mobiletel.com
UserID: your username
Password: your password
3) Hit connect.
4) Once connected, double click on the public_html folder, which is where
you will place all your files. (Or create it if necessary by right clicking and choosing make new dir...)
5) Upload and delete your files as needed.
You will have to name your homepage file index.html in order for our server to recognize it.

To view your page you would type http://www.mobiletel.com/~yourusername in your web browser's location bar and your page will come up in the window.

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What is it?

FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is a method of transferring files between computers on the Internet. MobileTel Internet customers often use FTP in the creation and maintenance of their Web sites, transferring files they've created on their personal computers to their accounts on our servers, and vice versa. FTP allows you to: list files and directories; create new directories and delete old ones; upload and download files, as well as delete old ones; rename directories and files--in short, do everything you would normally do on your local machine, except create new files from scratch, and change the contents of old ones while using your MobileTel Internet account. FTP also supports uploading and downloading large groups of files at one time. If you have a graphical FTP program, transferring files is as easy as pointing and clicking with your mouse. There is even a program, which integrates FTP into the Windows File Manager, so that you can use your MobileTel Internet directory just as though it were another hard drive on your Mac or PC, or your local network (LAN).

How do I do it?

The FTP (File Transfer Protocol) file transfer system is versatile as well as extremely useful. You can rename your files, upload, download, and manage most aspects of your MobileTel Internet account via FTP. The following instructions assume that you are dialed up to your ISP as you normally are when browsing the Web. You will first need to get an FTP client (program) before you can start using FTP. We recommend using CuteFTP, as it is very user-friendly and has some very nifty features. You can download the latest version of CuteFTP from their Web site at http://www.cuteftp.com . Typically you can download a free trial version of the program and if you like it, you can later purchase it for a fee. The file you will download will be executable, meaning you can just double-click on the file once it is downloaded to begin the installation process. Once the installation has been completed, open the program and follow these steps to access your FTP account:

Bring up the program
Click on FILE, and then click on SITE MANAGER.
When the site manager comes up, click on the NEW button.
Look on the right and fill out the information as seen. In the box labeled "FTP site User Name:" type in your username. In the box labeled "FTP site Password", type your password, and then click connect. Now whenever you want to connect your MobileTel Internet FTP account, all you do is bring up CuteFTP, bring up the site manager, and click on the "ftp.mobiletel.com." connection.

Now whenever you want to connect your MobileTel Internet FTP account, all you do is bring up CuteFTP, bring up the site manager, and click on the "ftp.mobiletel.com." connection.
To transfer files between the two computers, you simply click and drag the filenames from one window to the other. One of the key advantages of using CuteFTP is this simple interface, which is very similar to the way the Window's File Manager / Explorer works.

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Some are as benign as the common cold, and others can be as deadly to your hard drive Ebola. We're talking computer viruses, and with more than 30,000 known strains, the chances that your computer will contract one at some point are pretty good.

Take into account that many PC owners don't use current anti-virus software, and that viruses can spread to your system easily from the Internet, bulletin boards, or e-mail attachments, and we're talking epidemic. Luckily, though, there are some powerful preventative measures and some equally effective antidotes once you've contracted a bug.

What Is A Virus?
A computer virus is a piece of software that has been written to surreptitiously enter your computer system and "infect" your files. Some viruses are benign and won't harm your system, while others are destructive and can damage or destroy your data.
Typically a computer virus will replicate itself and try to infect as many files and systems as possible. If your system is infected, when you save a file to a disk you will probably infect the disk, and in turn whoever uses that disk will infect their system. As you can see, it's a vicious cycle, not unlike the viruses that plague us humans.
New computer viruses are being written all the time, and it's important to understand how your system can be exposed to them, and what you can do to protect your computer.

Types Of Viruses
Computer viruses are categorized into four main types: boot sector, file or program, macro, and multipartite viruses.
Boot sector viruses are usually transmitted when an infected floppy disk is left in the drive and the system is rebooted. The virus is read from the infected boot sector of the floppy disk and written to the master boot record of the system's hard drive. The master boot sector is the first place your system reads from when booting up from the hard drive. Then, whenever the computer is booted up, the virus will be loaded into the system's memory.
Program or file viruses are pieces of viral code that attach themselves to executable programs. Once the infected program is run, the virus is transferred to your system's memory and may replicate itself further.
Macro viruses are currently the most commonly found viruses. They infect files run by applications that use macro languages, like Microsoft Word or Excel. The virus looks like a macro in the file, and when the file is opened, the virus can execute commands understood by the application's macro language.
Multipartite viruses have characteristics of both boot sector viruses and file viruses. They may start out in the boot sector and spread to applications, or vice versa.
While not technically viruses, other malicious programs like worms and Trojan horses usually get lumped in there too. They typically have the same type of results as viruses and are written to create havoc on your system or networks, or both.
A worm is a program that replicates itself, but does not necessarily infect other programs. Examples of recent worms are Melissa and ILOVEYOU, both of which caused widespread havoc. These worms replicated themselves by e-mail, making use of any Outlook address books.
Just like in the Greek myth, Trojan horses contain a concealed surprise. A Trojan horse program resides hidden in another seemingly harmless piece of software until some condition triggers its awakening

How Your Data Gets Infected?

Viruses can be written into almost any type of file, so it's important to be aware of this when you add software to your system. There are known instances of viruses being accidentally included in licensed, shrink-wrapped software, but generally you are safe when installing legally purchased software that you've obtained through normal channels.
The two main ways viruses enter your system are through files added to your system from floppy disks (or other removable media like Zip disks) and from downloading from the Internet. You can also get a virus through an e-mail attachment, but not from a plain text e-mail message alone.
A common myth regarding viruses is that they can only be passed into your system through executable program files, or files that are actually programs, not just data. You'd also think, then, that infection couldn't take place unless the program holding the virus is launched. With the advent of "macro" viruses, though, this distinction is getting blurred. Macro viruses can exist inside any document whose application uses a macro language, such as Melissa, which was passed in Microsoft Word documents. In this case, a user can have a clean version of Microsoft Word and simply open an infected Word document, which will then infect the application.

How To Check For Viruses?

Some common symptoms that could indicate your system's been infected are:
Unusual messages or displays on your monitor
Unusual sounds or music played at random times
Your system has less available memory than it should
A disk or volume name has been changed
Programs or files are suddenly missing
Unknown programs or files have been created
Some of your files become corrupted or suddenly don't work properly

There are many programs (called virus protection software, anti-virus software, or virus checks) that will check your system for known viruses, scan incoming files, and warn you before any infected files are let in. An important fact about these programs is that they are only as good as their database of known viruses. Since new and different viruses are being introduced all the time, anti-virus databases need to be updated often.
If you have a system that is not currently running virus protection software, the first thing you should do is get your hands on one of these programs and have it scan your hard drive. It will identify any files that have been infected by any virus it recognizes and offer you the option to repair the file if it can. In some cases infected files can be "cleaned" by your virus protection software; in others, the files will have to be discarded.
Once you have determined that all the files in your system are virus-free, this would be a good time to do a complete backup of your system. If you get infected in the future, you will really appreciate having clean copies of your files.
Another method you can use to detect viruses is to monitor the byte size of the programs installed on your hard drive, particularly .exe and .com files. If you notice any unexplained change in file sizes, this is a good indication that your system has become infected. This can be a difficult and tedious method of checking your system, however, and installing anti-virus software is a better alternative.

How To Protect Your System From Viruses?

Once you've scanned your system for viruses and determined it to be clean, it's a good idea to put in place procedures to protect your system. The number one thing to do -- be careful whenever you're installing software or downloading files.
Most anti-virus software can be set to scan all removable media inserted in your system and to scan files that are downloaded to your system, including email attachments. We highly recommended that you set up your software to do this. This is the most important thing you can do to protect your system. It's also extremely important to keep your anti-virus software current, and you should check regularly with your chosen vendor for updates to their product. This can usually be done at the vendor's Web site.

What To Do If You Have A Virus?

If you have installed virus protection software and it has detected a virus in your system, first try to get the software to "clean" or "disinfect" the files. If this doesn't work, you'll most likely have to delete these files from your system.
If you receive an e-mail attachment that your anti-virus software flags, delete it immediately. It is a good idea to play it safe with attachments in general and not open any that aren't from a trusted source. If you receive an e-mail message with an attachment containing a virus you will not infect your system as long as you do not open the attachment.
In extreme cases, it may be necessary to reformat your hard drive, destroying all of the data on it. Then you'll have to reinstall your software and data, assuming you have the original software disks and clean backups of your files. In this case, it's a good idea to install your virus protection software first on the empty hard drive, so that the integrity of your backup files and original software can be verified.
You might also want to contact all the people that you've recently exchanged data with -- via floppy disks, e-mail attachments, Zip disks -- and let them know your system's been infected and theirs may be infected as well. You'd want to advise them to check their system for the appropriate virus or symptoms.

Funny how these computer viruses mimic human life, huh? Be safe.

This report was taken from Zdnet, By Bruce Stewart

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A plug-in is an add-on program for your browser that will allow your browser to do certain "special" things. They are usually made to enhance your browser so that it can view multi-media online. For example, there are number of plug-ins for the Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer browsers that enable them to display different types of audio or video messages. Certain web sites will not allow you to view that page in its entirety if your browser is not equipped with the recommended browser plug-ins. You must download and install the recommended plug-in to enable the site's full potential. Some of the most common plug-ins are Macromedia Shockwave, Windows Media Player, and Real Networks RealPlayer. Usually a browser will inform you if you a certain plug-in is required to view a particular webpage. If you use Netscape Navigator or Netscape Communicator, it will require you to manually download and install the necessary plug-in. With Internet Explorer, plug-ins are a snap. If a webpage requires you to get a certain plug-in, Internet Explorer will usually automatically download and install it for you. Now that's technology working for the user!

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Windows updates are created by Microsoft to fix internal problems with Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, and XP. Windows updates improve the security of your computer while browsing the Internet. If your computer is not up to date with the latest security patches, your computer is more vulnerable to viruses, worms, Trojans, and spyware. All of Windows operating systems have critical updates that can be obtained directly from Microsoft and free of charge. Check for the latest Windows Updates every 2-4 weeks to keep your computer performing at its best.

HOW TO CHECK FOR WINDOWS UPDATES:

1. Open INTERNET EXPLORER.
2. Click on TOOLS, then WINDOWS UPDATES. This will bring you directly to Microsoft's Web site.
3. You may need to install software in order for Microsoft to scan your computer for critical updates, so click YES to install the software.
4. Click on SCAN FOR UPDATES or the green arrow.
5. Click on REVIEW AND INSTALL UPDATES or the green arrow. If the page says, "There are no critical updates available at this time," your computer already has the latest security and service packs
6. Click to INSTALL NOW, and your Critical Windows Updates will begin installing. Some updates need to be installed separately. In this case, repeat steps 1-4 until the page says, "There are no critical updates available at this time."
7. Click YES to reboot your computer to finish installation.

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Spyware is term used to describe advertising-supported software. (Adware) The downside is that sometimes tracking software and/or software that causes pop-ups, changes your homepage, and slows down your connection is installed. There are several programs that can be downloaded from the Internet that remove spyware and adware from your computer, such as Ad-aware and Spybot Search and Destroy. They can be downloaded from sites like TuCows.com or download.com.

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