We recently installed a new mail server. This server performs the anti-spam and anti-virus filtering for all mail addressed to the cove.com domain.

This new server is even more robust than our old mail server and should be able to handle the ever-increasing load of spam for at least another year.

We are now seeing a 1,000 percent increase in spam from this time last year and expect the load to increase more than 8,000 percent by this time

new server. Strategies always involve trade-offs and are never 100 percent effective. The goal is to deliver all your “real” mail while identifying as much spam as possible so you can deal with it as you wish.

We no longer block all mail coming from a specific network from reaching our servers. The only mail that is now rejected comes from computers known to recognized experts as being

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Our new TimeCheck software is almost completed and will become available to you within a week or so.

The new TimeCheck will enable you to

view your dial-up usage (i.e., number of calls, total time spent online and the total amount of traffic sent and received) by entering your login name and the month you want to view, going back as far as

January 2004.

You will be able to access TimeCheck from its link on our Administrivia page.

sources of spam. The result is that you will not have any “real” mail bounced back to the sender, but you will receive more spam.

Our policy on tagging spam

has also changed. The rules for identifying spam have been relaxed. Our goal is to have no “real” messages tagged as spam. This will increase the probability that only spam messages are being tagged as

spam, but will also allow some spam to get through without being tagged. Messages containing viruses or having an unusually high probability of being spam will be removed.

We are closely monitoring the accuracy of our new rules on incoming messages.

It was a quiet month at the help desk.

Most calls were for setup information.

If you ever need help, please select tech support (Option 2) if you call our main office. This

will enable you to get our dialup access numbers, email settings or our toll-free help desk number.

Please remember, our help desk team is available to you 24 hours a day and the direct, toll free number is
877-221-2116.

This was a quiet month on the network.

Our upstream providers reported no outages. Our radius server was erratic once on the 19th and twice on the 21st. The problem was isolated and corrected.

We are closely monitoring ournew mail server and fine-tuningthe anti-spam rules for maximum effect.

Work has begun on a new network monitoring server which will manage all traffic, uptime and security reporting for our network and servers.

Are you pleased with our service? Do you know someone who is unhappy with their current Internet or On-line service?

Why not do them and yourself a favor?

Just recommend our service. If they subscribe, we'll give you a free month of access!

They will appreciate your advice and you'll save a little money.

Again this month, over a dozen subscribers are getting their access in May for free - just by referring new subscribers.

Everybody wins!