Hi all,

I've been away a while, thanks to a scare I had via someone hacking
into my ISP account.  If anyone has been trying to reach me via email
please try again at the new ISP below:

musik@tcsn.net (Mr. Musik)  ... aka Ron Yost

Hate to be so cryptic, but I've been far too lax and it worries me.
I've changed to a new, un-listed phone number too, so the number in MBS
and AMICA directories won't work.  If you'd like to call (please do!),
e-mail me first and I'll call you and give you my home phone.  And,
please don't worry...  everything is fine.  Thanks to my stupidity I
just had a minor scare. Thank you, and a BIG thanks to those that were
worried about me!

Ron Yost

 [ Editor's Note: I removed my street address from my telephone listing
 [ about 4 years ago.  I did this mostly to discourage "demographic
 [ targeting" of telphone solicitations, but come to find out that some of
 [ the solicitation databases have very long timeouts.  I'm currently
 [ getting a barrage of calls for the previous owner of my new phone
 [ number.  At least this guy wasn't a deadbeat, but I've been through
 [ that before -- calls at all hours of the day and night looking for Mr.
 [ Jerk.
 [
 [ I try to conduct my affairs on the Internet in such a way that I won't
 [ be embarrassed by what I've said some time down the line.  My domain
 [ registration has a phone number that essentially anyone that knows how
 [ can get, along with a P.O. Box.  Noone has _EVER_ used these to my
 [ knowledge, even when it might have been useful for me to get a "bug
 [ report" about some mail problem at foxtail.  I prefer to not advertise
 [ the physical location of my computers, so I use a P. O. Box.  I guess
 [ I'm not that concerned that someone would come looking for ME!
 [
 [ Over the years we've gotten our share of crank calls.  Mostly kids
 [ trying to see how long the answering machine will record before it
 [ hangs up.  I use hard-to-crack passwords (no dictionary words) and use
 [ differrent passwords at work and at home.  To be sure, you need to
 [ consider who might be "tapping the line" when you are logged in.
 [ An Ethernet monitor connected at the service provider would reveal
 [ all passwords, etc.  I'm not paranoid about it, but it helps to
 [ change your passwords periodically, especially just after returning
 [ from a conference that has Internet access terminals.
 [
 [ Many service providers are providing access using Unix systems, or Unix
 [ clones.  The "finger" command allows people to see who's logged in, and
 [ also a variety of information about the account holder even when
 [ he/she's logged out.  Some sites will allow this information to be
 [ retrieved via the net without logging in.  In the academic world, this
 [ is a wonderful thing.  In the business world, it has the potential for
 [ being a security leak.  You don't have to have phone number(s), and
 [ physical address, etc, listed, but your name, in my opinion is useful.
 [ I personally don't like anonymity and won't let anyone join the digest
 [ that won't let me know who they are.  If they post, then you get to
 [ find out too.  (I keep phone numbers and addresses private unless
 [ users explictly post them to the group).
 [
 [ To be sure, you _NEVER_ want your password to be anything that could be
 [ guessed from your "finger" information.  Avoid names, dictionary words
 [ or their plurals, etc.  Check with your service provider about their
 [ privacy policies.  This is especially important if they are "new" in
 [ the business and haven't had to address these problems before.
 [
 [ Jody