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Table of Contents - Vol. 18 No. 1 - October 2001

  1. Pearls of URLs
    This monthly item will highlight Internet web sites which are considered "gems" by educators.
  2. Notes and Quotes
    This regular column provides information on a potpourri of technological "tidbits".
  3. "Random Acts of Kindness" Revisited
    Mike Rennick, of Stanley Knowles School, first shared this practical classroom activity with us in October 1999. In light of the recent terrorist attack on New York, this article has much more relevance and applicability. Mike's ideas are further enhanced by a list of web sites that Ron Lambert of Sargent Park School contributed. These sites, together with this practical writing activity, may help educators work with students to understand better the events and follow-up to the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. 
  4. The Teachable Moment - Virus Protection
    Brian Metcalfe shares how his computer became infected with the "Magistr" virus even though it was running virus protection software. Once the computer became infected, the virus automatically generated and sent out infected e-mail to recipients whose e-mail addresses had been removed from his built-in address book. This article outlines steps that responsible Internet users can take to avoid viruses and actions that our Division has taken to reduce the amount of infected e-mail attachments that pass through our WSD1 e-mail server. 
  5. HOW TO ... Uninstall the "Old" Access Report Program
    Signy Stewart, from Prairie Rose School, has compiled a list of steps that educators may take if they wish to remove the Elementary Stand-Alone Report Card software used by some educators last year. This product, which was based on a run-time version of Microsoft Access, can be removed to free up hard drive space on computers at school or home.  
  6. Food for Thought: "Attitude"
    This quote by Charles Swindoff, may cause you and your students to reflect upon the importance of attitude. 

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Pearls of URLs

  Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) at: http://timssonline.cse.ucla.edu/
     Ron Banister and Meagan Mutchmor have recommended this web site. "TIMSS provides a comparative
      international assessment of educational achievement in these two subjects and the factors that contribute to it." 

  Awesome Library at: http://www.awesomelibrary.org/
     This K-12 educational directory organizes the web with 17,000 carefully reviewed resources, 
      including the top 5 percent in education. 

  Canada's SchoolNet - Learning Resources at: http://www.schoolnet.ca/home/e/resources/
     This page includes over 5000 quality educational materials evaluated and approved by professional educators. 

  AAA Math at: http://www.aaamath.com/
     An interactive, on-line basic math skills resource site.    

"Bits and Bytes" is an educational publication for the students and staff of The Winnipeg School Division No. 1
Brian Metcalfe - Editor - E-mail: bitsandbytes@wsd1.org                                Copyright © 2001 (ISSN 1195-5864)
Last revision date: October 24, 2001                                                               Information has been shared with Hit Counter

Notes and Quotes

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education



Are you lazy @ logging out?
Many staff and students in our Division prefer to use either the Internet Explorer or Netscape web browser to check their electronic mail on the Winnipeg School Division mail server. Most select the "Email Management" link off our Divisional web page and then click on the "On-Line Web Messaging" link at: http://mail.wsd1.org:8383/  Authorized users must login with their "userid" and "password" to begin reading and sending e-mail. Please note that it is VERY IMPORTANT that all users click on the "Logout" button (at the top right of the web messaging software) when they are finished processing their e-mail. Users who fail to logout of the web messaging software but choose to enter a new URL address or go to a bookmark or favourite site slow down the system. Furthermore, if you are using a computer at school and do not logout of the web messaging server software, it is possible for students or others to simply back up through your history and read your confidential mail. So remember, proper logging out of web messaging maintains your confidentiality and speeds up e-mail access to other users.

Here's a practical tip from Ron Lambert at Sargent Park School to help you to remember to always logout when using our web-based mail software. When you login to our Division mail server, click on the "Personal Account Options ..." pull-down menu at the top of the screen and select the "Edit My Preferences" option. Find the menu item entitled "Menu buttons in read message screen:" and change the radio button from the default setting of "Bottom" to "Top". Click on the "Save" button in the bottom right corner to complete this change. Now the user will always be directed back to the top of the message to take further action. Being in close proximity to the "Logout" button, in the top right corner, should help remind users to use this procedure always upon ending an e-mail session.

Is there any way you can still gain information from a web site that is no longer on-line?
With the recent rash of viruses a number of school divisions, like ours, have taken their web servers off line temporarily. However a colleague e-mailed me wanting to get information from an article in the June issue of "Bits and Bytes" when our web server was not on-line. If you know the URL of the web site, you may be lucky if you used the Google search engine. Here are the steps I recommended to find the information even though our web server was off-line at the time.

1. Go to the Google search engine at: http://www.google.com
2. Enter the URL of the web information you want. In this case, the user enters the URL address for the June issue on "Bits and Bytes" (http://www.wsd1.org/bitsbytes/0001/bbjun01/default.htm) (without the brackets) in the search location field and clicks on the "Google Search" button.
3. Google will not be able to find this web resource because the web server is off-line but, if you are lucky, Google may have cached the web site information that you are hoping to research.
4. If you see the link "Show Google's cache ...", click on the link to display the website information and if you wish print out a "hard copy" for future.  

Quote of the Month
"Strike a match in a dark room and you will understand teaching. Light a lamp with that match and you will understand knowledge. It is human nature to seek the light. Find a way to present knowledge as the antidote for the darkness.
                                                                  - from the Emerson School retirement  party for
                                                                                                Lorraine Forrest & Denise McWilliams -  June 19, 2001

[Table of Contents]

"Random Acts of Kindness" Revisited

a compilation by Mike Rennick - Stanley Knowles School and Ron Lambert - Sargent Park School

Do you remember what you were doing when you first learned that terrorists had hi-jacked passenger aircraft and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York on Tuesday, September 11? I was on my way to work when the radio station I was listening to was pre-empted to bring a special report from New York.

On Tuesday, September 11, I was working in the Audio Visual and Computer Repair department of the Prince Charles E.R.C. At work, I had the opportunity to witness the horrific images that were shared through the television media. However, I found it very interesting that we were able to get a more reliable Internet feed from the BBC in London, England than from the various web cams or the North American web sites of ABC or CNN.

That same evening, I received a telephone call from Richard Burkett a Grade 5 teacher in Emerson School in the River East School Division. Richard, like many teachers, was attempting to help his students get a perspective on what was happening in New York. He found that his students wanted to become involved in some manner and he was searching for a meaningful activity or process that would help his class. In the past, Richard remembered reading something in "Bits and Bytes" about "random acts of kindness" and wondered if this activity might be meaningful for his Grade 5 class. I briefly described what I could remember about Mike Rennick’s motivating article and went on-line to find that Mike's contribution initially appeared exactly two years previous in the October 1999 issue of "Bits and Bytes". I thank Richard for reminding me of this “random act of kindness” article and Mike for initially writing and sharing it with us. No doubt it’s relevance is much greater in light of the attack on America and our need to understand better the religious beliefs and cultures of other countries world-wide. I include the original “random act of kindness” in the highlighted area below:

Random Acts of Kindness 

[Editor: Mike Rennick is a very dedicated and creative educator who is willing to take risks as he integrates technology into his grade 7 & 8 classes. The following article is a combination from two e-mail messages that Mike sent to me last May and June. In the first message, Mike shares his strategies for creating the "teachable moment" (following the Columbine and Taber high school incidents) and in the second message Mike takes a reflective look at this activity and shares some insights into how the process can be improved.]

E-mail message - May 4, 1999
This morning I combined my computer class with an LA writing assignment. Using the Microsoft Works Task wizard (for the letterhead) the students were given a Friendly Letter writing assignment. After going over the main parts of a Friendly Letter, we talked about some of the random acts of violence currently affecting schools and teens.

We agreed that there is probably a lot more going on with students that is good or positive but it never seems to get the same media attention.

Next we discussed something that the Oprah Winfrey show has set up. She calls it "Random Acts of Total Kindness" and we briefly looked at a written transcript of the show at http://www.cadvision.com/intouch/oprah.html

[Editor: In this transcript, Oprah introduces Chuck Wall, a professor at Bakersfield College in California, who actually coined the phrase "Random Acts of Kindness". After listening to a newscaster say, "Today we have another random act of senseless violence to report.", Chuck decided to replace the word "violence" with "kindness". In doing so, he took a well-known negative phrase and turned it into a positive phrase.

Oprah decided to focus an entire show around the "Random Acts of Kindness". To demonstrate the trickle-down affect, Oprah televised the reactions of several motorists who immediately followed her through a toll booth on the interstate highway on which she was traveling. Oprah informed the toll attendant that she not only wanted to pay the $2.00 toll for herself but also wanted to pay for the next several motorists in line. She instructed the attendant to inform the following motorists that as a random act of kindness "a stranger wanted them to have a nice day and didn't want them to pay the $2."  

Her television crew, recorded the reactions of the following motorists and the transcript of the show demonstrates how the simple act of kindness fosters more kindness.]

One of the Random Acts includes just writing a Thank-you note to someone who you really appreciate for doing a great job but rarely get a chance to tell. They could choose a friend, parent, coach, teacher, neighbour, sibling, stranger, etc. etc. Just someone that they appreciate. 

E-mail message - June 15, 1999
The writing assignment didn't quite have the results that I was looking for, but nevertheless I'm glad I did give it a shot.  Next year I am working closer with the teachers in the afternoons so I will do it again but with a lot more pre-reading discussion on the subject (should make a worthwhile LA assignment).

Part of the reason I didn't get the results I wanted was perhaps because at this grade level students don't have enough life experience to "thank a total stranger" or someone who touched their lives.  The majority wrote to their best friends just to keep them informed on what's been happening but since part of the assignment was the art of "Friendly Letter writing" we did succeed in this "Ancient Art Form". (a little different from chatting with slang).

The other reason was that 90% of the them asked if I was going to read the letter since most felt a truly personal letter should only be read by them.  I respected this request and only glanced at their work making sure they contained the correct form etc. etc. etc.

As soon as I said I wouldn't be snooping in on their notes to friends it seemed to unleash a greater creative force since almost everyone immediately began working and seemed to enjoy this communication. Mother's Day was around the corner and I know a great many of them wrote to "Mom" and of course Junior High students didn't want to get caught writing some sentimental stuff to a parent.  A few of them went so far as to turn the brightness down on their monitors to black (they could barely read it, but the person next to them couldn't) just to preserve their privacy.

I did get to see a couple of interesting notes like: a thank-you to a clerk at Polo Park for treating teenagers like human beings when being served (since apparently most adults treat teen shoppers like criminals or loiters),  another wrote to the local fast food manager and thanked him for his patience with dealing with so many noon hour teenagers (who do tend to get loud and hyper at noon).

Since every year is a challenge to incorporate computer skills with what children are doing in daily life or school I continue to try new approaches and assignments so this one will be modified and tried again next year perhaps with entirely different results.  

[Editor: If you would like to initiate your own random act of kindness and observe the trickle-down affect, consider some of the following which have been excerpted from Rebecca Ryan Resources at: http://www.cadvision.com/intouch/oprah.html]

Some Acts of Kindness!

  • Smile at the bus driver.
  • Just really listen to someone.
  • Compliment a stranger sincerely.
  • Return shopping carts to the store.
  • Include a note or joke in your child's backpack.
  • Shovel your neighbor's sidewalk or mow their lawn.
  • Hug your dog, stroke your cat and feed your fish.
  • Put a quarter in a parking meter that has expired.
  • Write something nice about the waiter or waitress on the back of your bill.
  • Give out cinnamon hearts on Valentine's Day to your co-workers and friends.
  • When you see something that is perfect for someone you know, buy it for them, even if it isn't Christmas or their birthday.
  • Put little notes in someone's dresser drawers that will brighten up their day.
  • Give up your place in line at the grocery store to the person with just one item.
  • Donate one hour of your time if you offer a service for a living, or one product, or one seminar, or one class, or just one of whatever it is that you do as a gift to someone else.
  • Share a comic strip or something funny with someone else.
  • Put a chocolate under someone's pillow.
  • Make copies of this page and give to all your friends.

"Perhaps we're too embarrassed to change or too frightened of the consequences of showing that we actually care. But why not risk it anyway? Begin today. Carry out a random act of seemingly senseless kindness, with no expectation or reward or punishment. Safe in the knowledge that one day, someone somewhere might do the same for you." -- Princess Diana

"Pay It Forward" - A movie with a message

When Richard Burkett called me to discuss ideas that might be used to help his Grade 5 students better cope with the tragic events of September 11, I recommended that Richard might consider investigating a movie that my wife and I rented this summer called "Pay It Forward". This movie was directed by Mimi Leder and was based on the best-selling novel by the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde. The movie "offers a noble premise which speaks of the need to improve the world, and which redefines the responsibilities of teachers, parents and children." On the first day of school, students in a middle years school in Las Vegas are challenged by their teacher to "think of an idea to change the world -- and put it into action.” Trevor McKinney, the Grade 7 star of this movie, designs a process in which a person who benefits from someone else's act of kindness or good will must "pay it forward" to three more people who, in turn must pay another good deed to three other people. Educators will definitely find this movie thought provoking. 

"The Teachable Moment" - Web Supports for Educators

Ron Lambert of Sargent Park School willingly shared a variety of web sites that he felt educators could use, in light of the terrorist attacks, to help students and staff  with their own personal understanding of the events and days following September 11. They are included below:

PBS America Responds

The New York Times

CBC

  • CBC TV has a definitions page on Racism, prepared for the Racism Conference, that should be helpful in discussions relating to the September 11 public reactions.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/background/racism_definitions.html

National Institute of Mental Health

[Editor: As I get older, I am beginning to appreciate more and more the sage advise that I learned many years ago as a Cub and Scout. Perhaps if we all adopted the Cub promise "to do a good turn for somebody every day" and the Scouting custom of  "always leaving a campsite in better condition than when you found it", people and our environment would be better for it.]


[Table of Contents]

The Teachable Moment - Virus Protection

by Brian Metcalfe - Technology Education

As many of you know, I believe very strongly in what educators often refer to as "the teachable moment". It's that, sometimes rare, occasion when a variety of circumstances and conditions prevail to afford an opportunity to learn something that will have a profound impact on the individual. For me, a recent teachable moment involved having my computer laptop becoming infected on September17th. with a nasty computer virus known as "W32.Magistr.b@MM". 

Immediately a number of questions undoubtedly spring to your mind? 

  • How do you know you were actually infected?
  • Weren't you running any virus protection software?
  • Was your virus software "turned on"?
  • What e-mail software do you use?
  • Were your virus signature detection files up-to-date?

Unfortunately I did not immediately realize that my laptop was infected. Although I was running McAfee's VirusScan, I was not fortunate enough to have the virus protection software immediately alert me that a virus was detected in one of the e-mail attachments sent to me. Furthermore, even though I know that the virus scanning process can slow down the computer's operation while it is scanning files, I had my virus software running. It was not temporarily disabled to allow me more speed. The question remains ... how do I know that my laptop was infected?

It was informed computer users who quickly used e-mail and the telephone to warn me that they had received a somewhat cryptic e-mail message from me containing an attachment that was infected. For example, here are two different infected e-mail messages that were sent from my laptop:

Subject: Use a Theme
Message: "Choose from more than 30 predesigned Themes that include varying graphical elements such as backgrounds, bullets, text formatting, and color options."
Attachment: pages.com (infected)

Subject: Realize that if you cut a sound
Message: "When you click on a sound or add a sound, you can change its name and choose the sound file. You can also test the sound using buttons. When you are done click the button labeled Close."
Attachments: refer.com (infected) & Game_Maker.doc (not infected)

Another friend received an e-mail from me in which the Subject stated: "There are pens o f different". He didn't open the attached "multiple.bat" file (which was indeed infected) but emailed me immediately asking why I had sent such a cryptic message and also wondered why I hadn't attached a signature file, my name or my standard closing of "Take care & keep smiling (:-)". However those who really know me and my writing style are aware that it would be very difficult for me to write a succinct message containing three or fewer sentences (:-).

However, it was up-to-date virus protection software and supportive colleagues and friends who quickly e-mailed me back to indicate that software on their computers had trapped or quarantined infected attachments containing the "W32.Magistr.39921@mm" virus (which is just another alias for the "W32/Magistr.b@MM" virus). 

So ... my laptop was indeed infected and the virus was forwarding attached files from my laptop (which the virus was infecting and propagating). However I began wondering how I contracted the virus and why hadn't McAfee's VirusScan warned me when I had originally acquired the virus infected file. 

The first thing I did was visit McAfee's Virus Information Library at: http://vil.mcafee.com/default.asp I entered "Magistr" (without quotes) into the search field and learned that the strain that infected my laptop was created on September 3 and that a removal process was established on September 12, 2001. 

The next task was to inspect the McAfee's VirusScan software on my laptop only to find that the last time that it had updated the virus protection DAT file (used to identify viruses) was in late August. Unfortunately, my virus scanning software was working but it was unable to detect this new virus because it was approximately one week out of date. However, thankfully my fast-acting friends and colleagues alerted me to the fact that my laptop was sending out cryptic e-mail-laden infected attachments. I quickly updated my DAT files, scanned my laptop, removed the infected files and then analyzed how the virus had tried to infect others using my laptop as the virus distributor.

I purposely moved from Outlook/Outlook Express to Eudora e-mail software last February in order to reduce the possibility of becoming infected with viruses that were written to attack Microsoft products. I even went as far as to remove all data from the Outlook Express address book. Even though I was not planning to ever use Outlook Express again, this precaution was taken because I knew that viruses had been known to send out infections to others using the infected microcomputer's e-mail address book.

Imagine my surprise when I received "bounced mail" back from four individuals who alerted me to either the cryptic e-mail message that I sent out or the fact that e-mail sent by me contained the "Magistr" virus. However, I was shocked when I did some investigation to learn that three of the four individual's e-mail addresses WERE NO LONGER IN MY ADDRESS BOOK. I had deleted their addresses, along with the entire Outlook Express address book, last February!.

I then searched my complete hard drive looking for the four e-mail addresses of colleagues who had notified me of receiving the virus only to find the e-mail addresses in the Outlook Express Outbox.dbx file. Although I had deleted all address book references, I had not deleted e-mail received in Outlook Express' "Inbox" or e-mail messages that I had send out and still remained in my "Sent Items" folder. It seems the virus attempted to spread itself by sending out fictitious e-mail from my laptop to ANY E-MAIL ADDRESSES THAT IT COULD FIND ON MY LAPTOP!

As you can imagine, this virus infection process can proliferate widely when a person shares e-mail with a wide circle of friends or colleagues. We all have received e-mail in which we are one of several recipients in the TO: field or there were other e-mail addresses in the CC: field. If, like me, you tend to leave these messages in your "Inbox" or keep the messages in your "Sent Items" or "Out Box", some viruses can search out any e-mail address stored anywhere on your computer (not just the Address Book) and share their destructive attachment with many of your friends or colleagues and even others with whom you have never directly communicated. These other individuals may also receive a virus because their e-mail address was listed as an additional recipient on an e-mail message that was sent to you and although their names don't appear in your address book, their e-mail address is on your computer as part of an in-coming e-mail message. It is this e-mail address which could be a potential target of an e-mail virus which is clever enough to search out any e-mail addresses on the infected computer's hard drive.

What can responsible Internet users do to avoid viruses?

1. As, illustrated in the previous material, it is not sufficient to have virus software installed, one must be diligent in keeping it updated on a regular basis. If you have Internet access, visit the home page of the developer of your virus protection software and ensure that you have the most recent version of the product and it's related virus signature files.

2. Check to ensure that your virus checking software is properly configured to detect viruses. For example, Internet users should visit the European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus
Research (EICAR) Online web site at: http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm  This web page allows visitors to download an anti-virus test file. There are four possible download files that can be accessed which are all obviously non-viral but which your anti-virus software, if set up properly, will "detect" as though it were a virus. One may wish to copy the "EICAR.COM" file to a floppy and double-click on the file name to see if a message similar to the one shown on this page appears indicating that your virus software is working. Obviously you should click on the "Delete" button as indicated to remove this test virus as well as any real viruses that may be identified with your anti-virus software.

3. Since most viruses are acquired through e-mail attachments, never open any e-mail attachments from e-mail addresses you do not recognize or in messages that seem somewhat cryptic.

4. Disable any e-mail settings which automatically checks or sends e-mail. Set the e-mail software so that the individual has to click on a button manually to check for mail. This way, the individual can immediately taken precautions if a virus or a strange attachment is detected rather than have the potential virus begin infecting your computer and potentially sending out viruses from your computer undetected.

5. Be aware of "double dot" attachments. Kevin Druet, in Information Services, passed along this tip. As many of you know viruses tend to be transmitted through executable files. Such files end with file name suffixes like ".exe", ".bat" or ".com". However, if one was to right click (to see the properties) on an infected e-mail attachment file, one might be surprised to see traditional pictures files with names such as: "vintage car.jpg.exe", "B&B.gif.com"  or ", "cartoon.bmp.bat". However if one attempted to open each attachment expecting to see a rare "Rolls Royce", a  "Bed & Breakfast cottage" or a "political cartoon", no image would appear but rather a computer virus might be released into your computer. Unfortunately Windows/DOS looks at the "first" three characters following the dot which in these cases represent traditional picture format files. However virus creators have been know to infect picture files by tagging an additional "executable" file name after a second "dot separator". Should you ever encounter any attached files with two dots, immediately delete the files as they could have potentially damaging viruses imbedded within the file structure.

6. Do not automatically open e-mail into a viewing pane. Configure your e-mail software so that you have to open each individual piece of software in order to view its contents. Some of the newer viruses can spread through your computer if they are automatically loaded into a viewing pane.  

What can our school division do to help reduce the spread of viruses?

1. The Division has negotiated a licensing arrangement to utilize McAfee's VirusScan anti-virus software to protect all Division computers. Furthermore, a process has been initiated to ensure that this software is updated on a regular basis. 

2. With the recent Nimda virus attacks, Technology Education took a pro-active step to shut down our Divisional web server, even though it had not been infected. This web server contains more than 6.5 gigabytes of educational resources which receive in excess of 24 million "hits" per month. We felt that if one of our local school web masters inadvertently posted a Nimda-infected file to our server, this web computer could potentially infect many visitors. Shutting down this server and scanning it with the most up-to-date virus software preserved the integrity of this valuable resource.

3. Division employees whose e-mail address ends with "@wsd1.org" are fortunate in that steps have been taken in an attempt to strip off known viruses as they pass through our e-mail server. This software will automatically scan the attachments of all incoming and outgoing e-mail. If an e-mail attachment contains a recognized virus, the attachment will be cleaned of the virus or deleted if the entire attachment is a virus. The sender of the e-mail message will automatically receive a notice from the "POSTMASTER" that the e-mail contained a virus similar to the following: 

"The WSD1 anti-virus software on wsd1.org has reported that you sent an E-mail to "johndough@wsd1.org" (and any other e-mail addresses found in the carbon copy field as well), containing the: virus name in the sample file attachment. 

The subject of the E-mail was "Sample E-mail Subject".
The E-mail containing the virus has been quarantined to prevent further damage.  Please notify your computer technician."  

You may wish to contact a technician to have the virus cleaned from a computer at school if you receive a similar notice to the one above. This new procedure of scanning e-mail attachments for viruses on our Divisional e-mail server does not mean you will not get a virus on your computer as there are several ways to infect a computer with a virus. This procedure simply provides an additional level of protection and will help to warn employees who may not know their school or home computer is infected. If this should happen to you, please act responsibly and arrange to have the entire system scanned and cleaned of all viruses before using the computer again. 

[Table of Contents]

HOW TO ... Uninstall the "Old" Access Report Program

by Signy Stewart - Prairie Rose School 

[Editor: Last year, the Elementary "Stand-Alone" Report card program was based on a run-time version of Microsoft Access. This year, Patrick Logan, with input from many educators, has created an enhanced Elementary Report Card program which still runs in a stand-alone format but incorporates a built-in text editor and spell-checker in the anecdotal component. This enhanced product now prints report cards in an 8½" x 11" format and is created using a run-time version of "FileMaker Pro".  Educators, looking to recover valuable hard-drive space, may want to uninstall last year's version of the Elementary "Stand-Alone" Report card program from school and or home computers following the steps that Signy has identified below.]

Uninstalling the old Access “Stand-Alone” report card program is a three step process.

Step One

1. Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel.
2. Double click on “Add/Remove Programs”.
3. Scroll down the software list and select “The W.S.D. No. 1 – Elementary Report”.
    Click on “Add/Remove”.
4. Are you sure? Yes.
5. You will be shown a series of messages that begin “This is a shared component…”.

          - Click “Keep” for anything in the System folder
             i.e. C:\\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\Something or Other
          - Click “Remove” for anything in the WSDReport folder
             i.e. C:\\Program Files\WSDReport\Something or Other

6. If the following messages appear, click “OK”.

          “Unable to remove the directory C:\Program Files\WSDReport”.
          “Some components could not be removed from your computer”.

Step Two

1. From the software list in “Add/Remove Programs”, select Microsoft Access 2000 Runtime.
    Click “Add/Remove”.
2. Click on “Remove Microsoft Access 2000 Runtime”.
3. Are you sure? Yes.
4. Completed successfully. OK.
5. Cancel Add/Remove Programs.
6. Close Control Panel.

Step Three

1. Open Explorer or My Computer
2. Double click C:
3. Double click Program Files.
4. Look for the WSDReport folder.
5.      If it does not exist, you are finished.
6.      If it does exist, select the WSDReport folder and press delete on the keyboard.
7.      Are you sure? Yes.

Now, the "Old" Access Report Card program has been successfully removed from the computer.

[Table of Contents]

 

Food for Thought: "Attitude"

by Charles Swindoff - http://www.sidelinescanada.org/articles/attitude.htm

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skills. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day.

We cannot change our past ... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our attitudes. 

[Table of Contents]

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