Winter 2004 Vol. 5, No. 1

RX for PCs

BY WENDY TAVARES

There has been a lot of focus lately on computer viruses. They are complex creatures that sneak in, find our weaknesses, and exploit them.The average computer virus can make us feel truly vulnerable in a world where human interaction has become increasingly reliant on sophisticated technology. There are many different types of computer viruses. First, let's define the word virus in this context: A virus is software hidden inside other software. For example, a virus might attach itself to a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs as well. The virus can then corrupt files or reproduce itself by attaching to other programs or files. Below is a list of the most commonly encountered types of viruses: • Email virus—moves around in email messages, and often replicates by mailing itself to people in a user's address book. • Worm—a program that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm finds a network connection and searches for another computer. It then copies itself to the other machine and repeats the process. • Trojan horse—a program that says it does one thing (like open a Web site or run a game) but what it really does is cause damage, such as erase your hard disk or corrupt programs. Trojan horses do not replicate automatically. The latest threat is the Mydoom worm. Computer sites and news reports estimate that Mydoom can infect approximately 200,000 computers in a single day. In 2000, the ILOVEYOU virus forced many large organizations, including government offices, to shut down their email systems, as did the Melissa virus in 1999. Ironically, both of these viruses were extremely simple. The Melissa virus had a program inserted into it, called a macro, which would run automatically whenever the file was opened.The problem began when the virus's creator uploaded a Microsoft Word file with this macro to an Internet newsgroup; anyone who downloaded the document and opened it would automatically become "infected.” The virus would seek out the email address book and send itself to all addresses in the list. The Melissa virus also inserted itself as a core file on each computer called NORMAL.DOT. The result was that any new Word file saved on the computer would instantly become infected. This method made Melissa the fastest-spreading virus ever seen at that time. Microsoft applications have a feature called Macro Virus Protection.The default option stops any programs inserted into a document from running automatically. When a macro attempts to run, a message warns the user. Unfortunately, many people ignore or don't understand this warning so the virus runs anyway. Some people turn off this protective feature to avoid pop-up messages while they work. This allows macro viruses to continue to spread. The ILOVEYOU virus was even simpler. The virus email contained an attachment that was really a piece of computer code, a program that ran when a user double-clicked it. When executed, the code sent copies of itself to everyone in the user's address book. It would also begin destroying files on the machine. However, instead of using a macro to run the virus code, ILOVEYOU relied on human curiosity. If a person did not try to open the attachment, the virus did not run and the computer did not become infected.The virus spread when people who received the attachment simply could not resist opening it. Protect yourself against computer viruses with a few simple steps: • Install and run virus protection software on every computer you own. Keep it updated! Most programs that you buy come with free updates that protect your computer from any new viruses. • Avoid programs from unknown sources (like the Internet), and instead stick with commercial software purchased on CDs.This will eliminate almost all risk of installing infected files. It is generally a good idea to avoid opening documents and programs from sources with which you are not familiar. • Be sure that Macro Virus Protection is enabled in all Microsoft applications. Never run macros in a document unless you know what they do and understand that they are supposed to be there. Never open an email attachment that contains an executable file, such as an .exe, .com, or .vbs file.Word files (.doc), spreadsheets (.xls), images (.gif and .jpg), and so on are just data files that don't run any code (with the exception of in Word or Excel as described previously). As computer technology continues to advance, so too does the spectrum of malicious acts. Yesterday's prank phone call is today's computer virus. But no amount of technological advancement can replace human common sense and logic.

ICC Macmillan EARNS MCGRAW-HILL'S 2003 SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARD At the McGraw-Hill Higher Education Vendor Summit, held in Chicago in October, 2003, ICC Macmillan was the recipient of the Service Excellence Award. This honor is given to the composition vendor who exhibits the strongest customer service during the publishing production year. McGraw-Hill staff vote on which vendor they believe deserves this award by rating each on a scale of 1 through 5. Some of the anonymous comments from MH staffers included: "In my eyes they work as an extension of McGraw-Hill instead of as a separate company” and "The pagers did an excellent job and they impressed the authors with the intelligence of their queries." This is the third award in three years given to ICC Macmillan at the McGraw-Hill Vendor Summit. In 2001, ICC Macmillan received the Partnership Award, for most improved vendor; and in 2002, the company earned the coveted Star Vendor Award, given to the compositor who rates the highest in all categories.

How the MIS helps ICC Macmillan Expedites the estimates and quotes process Allows close monitoring of job costs, producing timely alerts to customers on jobs that may result in additional cost Allows real-time workflow tracking Provides centralized information and materials inventory Creates flexible billing structure (less time-intensive invoicing) Endables detailed real-time reporting and analysis tools on workflow and efficiency How the MIS helps ICC Macmillan's customers Expedites bid turnaround Helps customers make informed decisions Provides live status throughout production, including aroundthe-clock job progress at ICC Macmillan's India office Expedites feedback and answers to questions from ICC Macmillan project managers Enables customers to closely monitor project costs throughout the production cycle Helps customers evaluate project costing, which enables them to make better decisions on future projects

Enhancing the "I" in ICC Macmillan ICC Macmillan embarks on an exciting new chapter with the MIS (management information system) conversion, which launched in December 2003. The upgraded system is a production management tool designed to improve organizational efficiency in job tracking, information flow, and communication. A seamless MIS conversion effort was the result of ICC Macmillan's strong project management and highly dedicated teamwork, not to mention the investment of long hours. For the last thirty-two years, ICC Macmillan's services and technology have evolved with the publishing world. As the company has grown in traditional publishing and new media capabilities, our family of clients has expanded as well. However, our highest priority remains caring for our customers as team members. Behind the fast-moving pages, queries, and revisions, ICC Macmillan's process development teams continually evaluate workflow and technology to help customers reach their objectives. HOW DOES THE NEW MIS HELP OUR CUSTOMERS? Due to an increasingly competitive publishing environment, costeffective measures, efficiency, and information flow are key to the success of our customers.The new system enables us to continue development of personalized solutions-based customer service and quality products on which our customers have come to depend. The MIS serves as a management tool that streamlines organization and efficiency in every facet of a project's lifecycle: estimation, workflow, information gathering, and real-time project status. MIS (Management Information Systems) = Meaningful Interactive Services ICC Macmillan plans to research more efficiency tools to help our customers develop high-quality, cost-effective products. In creating this "wish list," we invite our customers to participate in the planning process. We would like to hear from you on ways that would improve all areas of projects: planning, estimates and bids, job tracking, costing, technology competency, and information flow. Please email your suggestions to jade@iccorp.com. Stay tuned for more exciting technological plans in the works at ICC Macmillan.

Special Section: Moving Toward a Paperless Office

Files Without Discs

BY WENDY TAVARES

"Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night, shall keep the mailman from his appointed rounds."

As an unexpected winter freeze in the Portland area demonstrated this past January, this postal dictum doesn't always hold true.The tremendous buildup of ice and snow led to the closure of numerous main streets and highways. Many shipping companies were forced to delay service. Portland International Airport was completely closed for three days. And mail delivery was cancelled in some areas. However, that didn't mean the work stopped for ICC Macmillan. File transfer protocol (FTP) is a great way to keep the work moving no matter the weather. Computer files can be transferred from your desktop to ICC Macmillan. It's direct and quick, without the long wait of sometimes unpredictable delivery services. It's also free. You can't say that about shipping. There are numerous reliable FTP programs that can be downloaded at little or no cost, such as ACEFTP or LeapFTP for PC, and Transmit or FETCH for Macintosh. Once you are logged in to ICC Macmillan's FTP site (ftp.iccorp.com), you will see two folders. One is called "incoming" and the other is "pub" (for public). The incoming folder is where you can upload files for ICC Macmillan. When ICC Macmillan has files to be returned to you, we post them to the pub folder for you to retrieve. These folders are accessible twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, so you can post source files, such as Quark,Word, or Illustrator files, or download PDF proofs at your convenience.Talk to your ICC Macmillan project manager and learn how FTPing files rather than shipping proofs can improve your schedules.

Paperless Proof Possibilities

BY ROSE RUMMEL-EURY

The use of annotated portable document format (PDF) files by authors, publishers, editors, and proofreaders is becoming more and more popular. Our customers are discovering the benefits of softproofing Adobe Acrobat PDF files versus working with hard copy. • Annotated PDF files streamline the editing and reviewing process. • They reduce the need for paper. • Using Adobe Acrobat PDF files saves money. • Best of all, they're easy to use. Handwritten queries on Post-It notes are becoming obsolete. Now proofreaders, editors, authors, and compositors can use the comment tools available with Adobe Acrobat. No longer will reviewers spend valuable minutes deciphering someone's bad handwriting off a sticky note or in a tiny margin. Also, authors and editors can read and respond to queries on the same easy-to-interpret file. The highlight tool enables you to see exactly the location of the query; say good-bye to "see 2nd column, 15th line from the bottom… ," a common example of directions found on hand-written explanations. Most beneficial is the expeditious transfer of files from composition to customer. Shave a day off that schedule; there's no reason to wait around for FedEx to arrive. Speaking of shipping, when editors, authors, proofreaders, and reviewers have the software in place, the demand for numerous copies and added shipping time is reduced.That translates to less reliance on paper as well as trimmed shipping costs. ICC Macmillan is committed to saving money for our customers. If staff or authors don't know how to annotate PDF files, Acrobat provides numerous ways to attach notes and request edits. The process is quite simple to learn.A proofreader can add comments and use graphics, highlights, strikeouts, and underline