Welcome to our Law Enforcement and other sites of interest LINKS PAGE. In addition to WEB sites, this page also lists E-Mail links to some Department Officers, so please feel free to drop them a line to say hello. Also since this site can only be visited via computer, I decided to devote the end of this page to some computer tips and information to help some of our visitors enjoy safer computing... This page was revised: Jan. 5th 2005.

We are limited on space, so our LINKS site won't be by any means very large,( Can't say it's very short tho) so hopefully some of our links here will lead you to other sites you may be seeking.

I have attempted to break down sites by type and give a brief comment on each one. Before I do this, I wish to list the following few links which I feel are the priorities we should all be sure to bookmark...

PRIORITY SITES:

Network For Good Organization - Web Links to Disaster Relief Agencies

WARNING: THE FBI ADVISED AT THIS TIME THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SCAMS GOING ON VIA E-MAIL AND SOME WEB SITES BY CON ARTISTS WHO ARE TRYING TO MAKE MONEY OFF THE TRAGIC DISASTER IN SOUTH ASIA. PLEASE DO NOT FALL PREY TO THESE PEOPLE BY ANSWERING THESE E-MAILS. IF YOU WISH TO DONATE, PLEASE USE A RECOGNIZED RELIEF ORGANIZATION LINK SUCH AS LISTED ABOVE ! THANK YOU...

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children2101 Wilson Boulevard,

Dovette's Home Page - DOVE Domestic Violence Shelter

OUR SUGGESTED LINKS AND COMMENTARY

LAW ENFORCEMENT SITES:

MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICE Is a well designed and thought out site and has excellent information and numerous site links. I think you will enjoy it, so check it out.

Houghton County Sheriff Web Site Is a site that joined our links page in Oct 97 and I am happy to have added it since it is one of the few Sheriff Departments from Upper Michigan to make it's presence known on the WWW. It is a well designed and enjoyable site to visit and I hope our visitors make a point of stopping by to visit this other U.P. site. Their site uses frames and is fairly fast loading and has some interesting pages including a tour of their Dept. My hat's off to Sheriff Brian McLean for the nice job he did with this site.

Oakland County Sheriff's Department, Oakland ... Is another MI Sheriff's Dept now online. Oakland Co is one of the States largest Departments. Well worth checking out how the bigger Departments work. I must note that I found the site loaded a bit slow for me, but it probably has something to do with the old prehistoric computer that I use for our web site, (runs off kerosene and a magic lantern projector for the screen display!) For those of you running state of the art systems (Everyone has one except me) you should have no problem with this site...

NATIONAL SHERIFF'S ASSOCIATION Is the place to go to find out more about the office and duties of Sheriff's throughout the United States. The NSA also wants to link any Sheriff Dept.'s nationwide on their links page, so if your Dept has a site, please stop by and ask them to add it.

Michigan Sheriff's Association Home Page is now back online. I had to remove their site for awhile as my link had gone dead and I couldn't find them online for awhile. I am pleased to see them back up and running again and they appear to have done some renovating to their site since I was last there...

Crawford County Sheriff's Department located in Grayling Michigan is another new MI Sheriff site now on the net. I haven't yet been able to review all of their pages, but from what I saw, it appears the web master there did a great job in setting up a very comprehensive site.

Trenton Police Museum (on-line) Is a great site I learned about in Sept 98 and did a little browsing on. It is a fascinating look at their Department over it's history with many fascinating photos of days gone by. It is quite easy to browse with various periods of the Departments history linked to their own pages. Please make this one of your stops and while there make sure to sign their guest book.

CalibrePress Web Site Is one site we in Law Enforcement should all bookmark. Home to the Street Survival Seminars that have trained many officers over the past few years. This site also carries many training manuals and books of interest to Law Enforcement. Also, Officers can obtain a free subscription to the CalibrePress Newsline which has many valuable articles and officer safety information.

Officer.com - Police Officers Resource Site Is a site which has news, job listings and products for officers. It has been around for some time and undergone some changes. Has some useful links as well.

COPNet & POLICE RESOURCE LIST In another major Law Enforcement site with extensive listings much like the previous site. As I understand, they have been doing some major work on their site recently so even if you have been there before, maybe it's time for another visit to see whats new..

PoliceWorld.Net - Which I believe had been originally the Hit Law Enforcement Links page on AOL is now primarily a web forum for officers, family & friends. Back when they were the Hit web site we were honored with one of their awards. Please check them out if you have time.

COPS ON LINE Is just one more fascinating site on the WWW dedicated to Law Enforcement and is another site for our bookmarks.

LAW ENFORCEMENT SITES ON THE WEB - Part 1 Is an incredible site I ran across while reviewing our links on Sept 25th 98. It is the brain child of Ira Wilsker's and could be one of the ultimate Law Enforcement sites on the WWW. Part 1 is just that - page 1 of 8 that Ira has put together. Don't let the "only 8" pages fool you. The pages are very long and loaded with all kinds of articles, links, chatline, etc. (Hence a bit of a long download time for those with old systems / slow modems)

Police Guide Is one of the older sites we have linked to and is well worth an extended visit. It boasts 230 pages at this time and it sure looks like they have it. In addition to large numbers of links, they also have stories on law enforcement, information on badges and collectors links. The Police Guide also has honored us with another of the awards we value so please take time to visit this site.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION No Law Enforcement Links page would be complete without this site. A very well done site with plenty of information to browse through. It also includes articles from the FBI's Law Enforcement Bulletin to browse.

Military Police is a site I added in April of 99. It is a nice site with quite a few links and was devoted primarily to helping Military Police Officers find jobs with Police Departments when they leave the service. It is a nicely laid out site and fast loading. As of January 2001, I noticed it is more Military Police oriented and it appears they are in the process of re-working a portion regarding employment for ex-military.

Captain Jackson - Crimefighter Website Is a fun and informative website showing the public how you as a citizen can help fight crime in your community. Captain Jackson is a colorful caped crusader who works in the Jackson Michigan area and with the support of local officials has done quite a bit to fight crime and support local law enforcement in the area. Having created this persona in the late 90's, Capt. Jackson is now a common sight on the streets and making appearances with his partners throughout the Jackson area. Although his identity is unknown - much like Batman of comic book fame, the Captain appears to be a well known and welcome figure in his community and has even made appearances at officer's retirement dinners with his partners Crimefighter Girl and the Queen of Hearts. Please check out this fun and extensive well designed web site.

Michigan Public Sexual Offender Query is a fairly new site (1999) set up by the Michigan State Police to allow the public access to the Michigan Sex Offender Registration files. These are the same SOR listings you can obtain from your local Police Department but now available online 24 hours a day. All you need to do is enter the ZIP code for the community you live in and it will list all of the convicted sex offenders within the community as well as their addresses.

NOTE: I feel it is important to mention 2 things about the PSOR files. First of all, the information within the listings is only as good as the information entered into the system. Even though a listing may show a convicted sex offender living at a particular address, if he or she failed to register a change of address upon moving this information might not be accurate. It should be noted that a sex offender who fails to register a change of address is in violation of the law and could recieve up to 4 years in prison for this violation.

Also, PSOR files reflect all sex offense convictions and the specifics of the crime are not listed in the PSOR files. In other words, use due consideration in viewing these files as these files list the sexual predators who are a serious threat to our neighborhoods as well as the 18 year old youth who was charged and convicted following sex with his 14 year old girlfriend. Both are serious violations of the law, but as a rule the sexual predator is the type of person who would be considered as a greater threat to the community... We wish this information to be informative for the public safety but we do not wish this to create a community ruled by fear...

( SPECIAL NOTICE - THE MI SOR INTERNET SITE WAS OFFLINE FOR A FEW MONTHS AFTER A COURT HAD SHUT DOWN PUBLIC ACCESS TO IT TEMPORARILY - WE ARE PLEASED TO NOTE THAT THIS COURT DECISION AFTER REVIEW WAS CHANGED AND PUBLIC ACCESS IS AGAIN PERMITTED TO THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATIONAL SITE )

OFFICERS HOME PAGES & E-MAIL LINKS:

Davey Family Home Page Is your Web Masters own family home page - (Working on this department, site, I have not gotten around to updating my own home site forever, so bear with me if some of the information is a bit out of date) - As of 01-03-2002 our family web site is no longer with AOL. This will accomplish two things for me and our visitors. It will allow me to put more content on our Dept pages with the FTP space I have gained with this ISP and my family home page with our new ISP will be able to be much larger and hopefully I will be able to add some interesting color photos of the area to my family pages. Keep checking as hopefully this new site will be growing in the coming months.

Spring Valley Ranch Is the family home page for Sgt Rod Passuello - the Web Master of IPSD's prior Web site. Note: This is a newly updated site as of Jan. 99 as Rod just changed servers and his new E-Mail address is now on this site.

Deputy George Beninghaus E-Mail is the E-Mail address for Deputy Beninghaus of our Dept. and is a recent addition to our E-Mail list. George has been with the Dept. for quite a few years and currently works as our Animal Control Officer / Desk Corrections Officer, although George is Road Certified and also works part time for the Marenisco Twp PD.

Deputy Ross Solberg E-Mail is one of our road patrol officers now online who allowed me to add his E-Mail link to our page. Ross has been with the Dept. for several years now and in addition to working the road is one of our 2 PPCT Instructors within the Dept. Hopefully some of our other online officers will soon join him on this links page.

Deputy Mike Livingston E-Mail is another one of our officers now online. Mike has been with us for several years now. He works road patrol at the Department and came to us originally from the Ontonagon County Sheriff Dept which is located in the next county. (NOTE: THIS LINK TEMPORARILY DOWN AS MIKE JUST IN PROCESS OF CHANGING ISP SERVICE - I WILL ADD NEW LINK WHEN I GET IT.. THANKS...)

Deputy Scott Voit E-Mail is the latest addition to our officers going online. Scott is a Desk & Corrections Officer who originally started with the Department a number of years ago as our Marine Patrol Officer. As you can tell from Scott's E-Mail address he is a Glock fan like several of our officers within the Department..

JAILGAL's Correction's Links is a good site to check out if your interest runs toward jail and corrections with lots of links to help you find resources in the corrections field. It should be noted though that I checked out this site Jan. 5th 2005 and it appears jailgal updates her site less than I do. Last update was May of 2004.

Bryan Reid's Home Page Is another small web site for Law Enforcement worth checking out. Bryan is one of the SYSOP's who runs AOL's Public Safety / Law Enforcement forum area.

FOR AOL MEMBERS ONLY: Friends - Badges on Break is a great chat area to check out in the evening hours if looking for something to do and to meet fellow officers. We do have the occassional trouble makers come into the room like any chat area, but for the most part this is a relaxing place to spend some time. If you stop to visit, be sure to say hello to DoNotPasGo - GO is the unofficial "Mayor" of Badges and a nice lady so be polite.

WEB Masters note: My special thanks to my fellow officers within the Department who have allowed me to add their E-Mail links to this page. One of the most important aspects of the Internet is promoting e-mail and other communications between people of various groups and agencies who share common interests and duties and for the sharing of information..

But keep the SPAM to yourself... So please, do not forward any e-mail to people regarding fund raising, new virus information, etc. unless you personally have first hand knowledge that this information is accurate. Most of these chain letters making the rounds are nothing more than hoaxes and take up bandwidth and waste your time and ours... A recent example was one police dept. that faxed out copies of a letter they got over the Internet regarding a child collecting business cards to try and make the Guiness Book of World Records. That well meaning department who faxed us had even transposed it onto their department letterhead. The story was that the child was ill and was being sponsored by the Make a Wish Foundation. A number of our officers were running around collecting business cards until I did some research on this and found it to be a hoax based loosely on an actual incident from almost 10 years ago (That "child" is now in college and the Make a Wish Foundation does not endorse any collecting of items or chain letters via the Internet and never did.)

GOGEBIC COUNTY AREA WEB SITES:

The following sites are links to WEB Sites within Gogebic County such as local Government, Chamber of Commerce sites, businesses, etc. I hope you find some of these of interest or assistance...

NOTE: AS OF JAN 2005 I HAVE NOTICED THE IRONWOOD, BESSEMER AND WAKEFIELD LINKS ARE DOWN. THEY ALL APPEAR TO SHARE A COMMON DOMAIN SO IT IS NOT CLEAR IF THIS TEMPORARY OR NOT. I AM LEAVING THE LINKS HERE FOR NOW IN CASE THIS IS JUST A TECHNICAL PROBLEM AT THIS TIME...

Ironwood Michigan - Home Page Is a local site that has information regarding the City of Ironwood on it including History, Upcoming Events. Etc. For more information on Ironwood please make this one of your stops while checking out our links page.

City of Bessemer Home Page Is another page that I discovered while doing updates to our WEB site and will give visitors a little better insight into our County Seat.

City of Wakefield Home Page Is a recent addition to the WEB which like the Bessemer Home Page, I discovered while doing some updates to our own WEB site. This site also includes information on the Tax Free Zone that would be of interest to potential business people who maybe looking for a sight to establish a new business.

WEB MASTERS NOTE: Both the Bessemer and Wakefield Home Pages links are also on our map pages of this Department site. In addition to information on the 2 cities, these City Home Pages also include maps on them although for more detailed maps, visitors should rely on the maps we have included in our Department WEB site pages...



Ironwood Daily Globe is one of our newest additions to our links page (01-2001) It is nice to see our local paper on the Net and this is a nice site to check out for area news, etc.

Gogebic Range Directories is a new site I stumbled upon doing some research into my own family history. It has some interesting links to old records and city directories from days gone by in case you wish to look up some past family history. It was interesting to note they even use our Dept web site maps for some of the local street maps listed on the site.. It is a fun and educational site to visit and truly a labor of love for whoever is doing all of the research and transposing the information to this site.

The Range Animal Hospital of Ironwood, MI. Is a WEB site that I am pleased to add to our links page. One of the local Vet. Clinics in Gogebic County that we deal with in our Animal Control duties, the Range Animal Hospital is centrally located on US-2 between Bessemer and Ironwood directly across the highway from the Grandview Hospital. (WEB Masters Note - As of Jan. 2005 it appears the Range website has not been updated in awhile, but much of the information presented should still be helpful to pet owners)

Since Animal Control is a major part of our Department duties, we are happy to add this site and any other local Vets to our links page as they become part of the Internet. But we do wish to add that like any other commercial site listed on our links page or elsewhere on our site, that these listings do not constitute any official endorsement by this Department or your WEB Master. These links are presented as informational for the interest of our local residents and other visitors to our WEB site to help in identifying local services and resources.

OTHER GOVERNMENT:

MICHIGAN STATE GOVERNMENT Is a great site for people who want to learn more about the State of Michigan, it's Law's, etc. It has quite a few links to various MI Agencies.

OTIS is a new and rather remarkable web site from the MI Dept of Corrections which allows the public to search MI DOC Prison System files for current or past inmates. It gives inmate's charge information, their parole dates and even mug shots. This is a new link to our page as of December 2001.

Wisconsin Circuit Court Access is one of the most interesting sites I have found in a long time. Well worth checking out by Investigators and the public alike. This site allows you to search the WI Court system records for cases on individuals and covers civil, traffic and criminal cases. It is an excellant investigative tool for law enforcement but also can be used by the general public. I did some research on a subject who I knew was arrested in WI using this web site and I found 29 cases regarding just this one person. The sites include court information, charges, dispositions, etc. This is a must have site to bookmark for investigators. Those of us who work in the Law Enforcement profession have access to many criminal records in our duties, but this information is normally restricted. I was amazed that Wisconsin allows the public to access this information but on the other hand wish more states would follow Wisconsins lead in providing the public with more information on criminal records...

NOAA National Weather Service for those of us who always worry about the weather. Here is a site that takes us directly to the experts.

EDUCATIONAL / SPECIAL / UNUSUAL SITES:

DOVE Domestic Violence Shelter is a local site online devoted to the very serious concerns of Domestic Violence. Jan 2001 - Kim the prior director of DOVE and web master is no longer with them, but has informed me that this important web site is continuing to operate. Help us to put an end to the cycle of violence by supporting this important organization. NOTE: If you commit Domestic Violence in Gogebic County, you will be arrested and taken to jail - A point to ponder next time you and your significant other become angry at each other. Keep a cool head and don't let anger get the best of you...

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children2101 Wilson Boulevard, Is a site that all of us should bookmark. Our children should be the number 1 priority in our lives. We must all do what we can to aid this most important organization in protecting all the children of our nation from those who prey on the innocent... If you visit no other site on this links page, Please make sure you visit this one...

Vanderbilt Television News Archive Is the place to start for those who wish to do some research on old TV News Broadcasts of days gone by. Some interesting things here and of great help to the student doing research for that upcoming term paper.

CHEMTUTOR Speaking of students. Now that school is back in session some of our sons and daughters or even those of us brave enough to help our kids with homework may find this site of interest. Nothing fancy about this site, but just some down to earth information to help those of us who need some brushing up on our Chemistry lessons.

Map Machine @ nationalgeographic.com Is another one of those educational sites to help our students who maybe doing some research for school. Don't have a decent atlas at home? Check out this site for world and area maps...

Write Your Representative - Lookup Representa... Is the place to go if you have a gripe or suggestion or even a compliment to send to your U.S. Representative but aren't sure who or where to send it. This is the locator for the U.S. House of Representatives and by selecting your state and typing in your Zip code, you can find out who your Rep. is and how to contact them. It even has their E-Mail links.

Zip Code Lookup and Address Information Speaking of Zip codes... Have you ever had to try and locate a ZIP code at an odd hour when the Post Office isn't open. I know I have.. This WEB Site is the U.S. Postal Services ZIP code finder that will find a ZIP code for an address or if you happen to want to know where a particular ZIP code belongs it will search and tell you what city it comes from.

SEARCH ENGINES / PHONE LISTINGS:

Google.com Sorry guys, but I am hooked on this one as my favorite search engine nowadays. Having been on the Internet for many years, I have used many search engines - Some good, some not so good and I have now set my browser with Google as my home page. Just in case you think I may be biased, Google has also been getting rave reviews from many of the experts in the computer industry...

(Some people - my wife for one, like to use "Ask Jeeves" but personally, I don't like it, can't recommend it, and I am not about to list it here - Please -- No Nasty E-Mail from Jeeves Fans. Thank you!)

AltaVista: Main Page is probably one of my older favorite search engines out there. Finds a lot of information that many others miss.

Yahoo! is the grand daddy of the search engines on the WEB. It was the first or one of the first and is very extensive. Another nice thing about Yahoo is that you can get a free e-mail address from them and I have noticed their SPAM filter works quite well.

Excite Home Is another of the major search engines that we rely on to locate those hard to find sites. When you go to their site, it comes up with a HOMEPAGE as such for users with news, weather, etc. Although I didn't try it out, it appears you can customize the page to some degree.

Search The Internet with The Internet Sleuth is a search engine I recently learned about that is quite interesting. In addition to being a search engine, it lists yellow and white pages, city guides, etc.

Welcome to WhoWhere?! is one of the better known nation wide phone directories on the WEB to help you search for old friends, long lost army buddies, relatives, etc. It is now listed as LYCO but appears to offer the same services or even more then it did when I first reviewed this site.

Speaking of locating old friends or army buddies, etc. One site that is very worth while is Classmates.com website In addition to old classmates, they also have various groups you can register with such as places you worked, military units you served with, etc. Basic membership to get yourself listed is free. In order to access some features though you have to sign up for a paid membership. Even with a free membership, it helped me to connect with an old army buddy I haven't talked to in almost 30 years. It is well worth checking out this site and is quite amazing how many people are members.

Social Security Death Index (SSDI) at Ancestry.com Is an interesting Web site to check out if doing family history research as this commercial site allows you to search Social Security Death records by name to find information on people that have passed away in the U.S. The search is free. They also have fee based services for doing more extensive searches. Just recently I made use of this site to research some information for our Sheriff. If you are trying to put together your Family Tree this is a good place to start. NOTE: as per the other commercial sites we mention from time to time, this listing is not to be considered as an endorsement of this company or any of the services they offer for a fee. We just feel this to be a good research resource that should be mentioned. Also check out this local site for links to Gogebic Range History. Gogebic Range Directories.

RING!OnLine SuperStations .... Michigan Station - Although not a search engine as such, Ring Online is one of the most extensive Internet sites in the State of Michigan listing quite a few resources, information, area events, etc. You can also find chat areas, Michigan Lotto drawing information, etc. Ring Online is a one stop site for much of Michigans best of the Net. We are honored to be part of the Ring Online service and it is well worth repeated visits. You can access this site through this link or by clicking on their logo on our home page...

U.P. Wide Yellow Pages Is one of our older U.P. sites for locating WEB sites in Upper Michigan as well as a good source of information on the U.P. On request Tom & Margaret will also ship you a copy of their U.P. Wide yellow pages which lists the majority of businesses in Upper Michigan. Tom is always doing major changes to this site on a constant basis so I can't promise you what to expect from day to day when you visit their site.

COMPUTER INFORMATION LINKS:

Note: The inclusion of any commercial sites is for the information of our site visitors only and does not constitute any endorsment of these products or companies by the Gogebic County Sheriff Dept. These sites are selected as those of general interest to computer users by the Department WEB Master who makes no claims as to the quality or usefullness of any products or software listed on these sites...

LAW ENFORCEMENT SOFTWARE:

12-03-1999

ALEIR - Automated Police Reports Ok, so I said that I will not endorse any commercial product - In this case it was a little white lie which I can get away with since no public funds are used for the creation or maintaining this web site. Your webmaster pays for this site out of my own paycheck which usually leaves me with coffee money after I pay all my ISP bills. So I felt there are a few products out there that deserve a mention here with regards to police work and computer security software.

Back in 1999, we found ourselves in a spot awaiting the much dreaded Y2K event. The great destroyer of programmers egos, frightening to small children and which made otherwise rational people stock up on military MRE's by the truck load. Our Department had been using a much outdated police report program written by the Michigan State Police which in 1988 was not a bad program for use on an old 286. As time went on, I made changes to the program to allow for suspect searches, etc. and we also managed to get the program to run on a makeshift network which it had never been designed to do. But along comes Y2K and other than going back to doing our reports on typewriters or by longhand,(Not bloody likely) we were concerned we needed a new report program to bring us up to date and I started searching for one.

Having checked out quite a few programs including a new one by the state police, I found either the programs out there would not provide what we needed, or were too expensive for our limited budget. I then stumbled upon a program written by 2 police officers from St. Louis MO which seemed to be just what we were looking for. It was a program "Written for cops by cops" and very reasonable in it's price with no additional licensing fees. So I obtained a copy of the program and was duly impressed. The 2 officers that wrote the program will modify it for each departments needs, so they started working on our version. To make a long story short, we decided to go with ALEIR but due to other problems along the way, we never did get it up and running by Y2K and I again modified our aging MSP program to work for one more year. We finally did go operational with ALEIR in Feb. of 2001 and most of us have been fairly happy with the program (Can't please everyone). SPECIAL NOTE: AS OF THIS LATEST PAGE UPDATE, THE ALEIR SOFTWARE IS FREE - CAN'T BEAT A DEAL LIKE THAT!

COMPUTER INFORMATION AND TIPS:

VISITOR WARNING:( GO HIP BROWSER ENHANCEMENT ) Lots of us are always adding new web sites to our bookmarks, downloading new and improved versions of software, upgrading our browsers, etc. Recently an incident came to my attention at home that I feel I should share with our site visitors. Although I have my own user file with password for all of my own desktop items, my wife's desktop acts as the "Family one" which other family members use and two of our boys are on regularly. I had recently noticed that whenever going on the Net using the family desktop, that no matter what I did to change the default Home Page, that a Home page called GO HIP kept coming up and I also found it on the pull down menu for Internet Explorer even on my own desktop. To make a long story short, one of the kids had gone to the site and downloaded a file and unknown to them had also downloaded an ActiveX file that embedded itself in my system that I could not easily get rid of. Now the Go Hip search engine may have some nice features to it, but I did not appreciate this happening to my system and in doing some research found there has been quite a stink made about this site within the computer industry. It not only changes your browser, but just like a virus supposedly attaches an advertisement to all the e-mail you then send to people. So, I am presenting this information as a warning in case you are tempted to try out this GoHip site - be forewarned you may get more than you bargained for. In the end, I was able to find a removal program on their site to remove these changes to my system, but I did not appreciate all I had to do to get this accomplished. - This would not be a project easily tackled by the novice computer user out there. A way of preventing this type of thing is to also disable ActiveX features in the security settings of your browser.

That said, you must also watch out for some web sites that also can use scripting language to do things to your system it shouldn't be. In reviewing these links which I do from time to time, I had a link to a site called Virtual Spies with all kinds of fun gadgets such as spy cameras, police gear, etc. that was listed here for some time. When I checked it this week (1-2-02) My antivirus kicked in warning me about improper scripting on this page and it ended up crashing my browser - Needless to say this site is no long linked on our page. So web surfers beware.. Nuff Said... Your Web Master.

GENERAL COMPUTER INFORMATION:

Kim Komando's Komputer Klinic - We make computers easy! Is a fascinating look at the world of computers. Kim Komando (Thats her real name by the way) is a renowned expert in the computer field and hosts radio programs, writes articles for various publications, etc. on computer use. Her site contains lots of helpful tips, software downloads, and she also has a free E-Mail newsletter you can subscribe to. Her links page and Kool sites can be very helpful when trying to find many sites not normally listed elsewhere. Several of the links on this page I found through Kim's WEB site...

FREE SOFTWARE FOR COMPUTER USERS:

We all love a great deal. Especially when it comes to our computers since software and hardware can get to be rather expensive. One of my favorite sites that I visit on a regular basis is the free software site at SNAPFILES previously known as WEBATTACK. Computer users from Novice to Expert can find some great software at this site from utility programs to audio and video programs, trace route tools, etc. They also have links to their shareware and purchase software pages. To check out this site go to: SNAPFILES Free Software

COMPUTER VIRUS AND FIREWALL INFORMATION:

A computer virus getting into your system is a real possibility that many people think always happens to the other guy. If you use a computer, you should have an anti virus program and use it. Also make sure you keep up with the latest updates on whatever program you do use - Many vendors provide for free downloads of signature file updates from their web sites. Although I do not have the room to list all of the good Anti Virus programs out there, 2 of the better known ones are McAfee Virus Scan and Symantec's Norton Anti Virus. You can obtain more info on these two programs and even download software at: Network Associates Downloads - (McAfee Antivirus) and Symantec Norton AntiVirus . Another great anti-virus program I have found and also use myself from time to time is AVG. They have a nice program which you can buy or you can download their free private home use version. Like many other anti-virus programs they update their virus signature files weekly. To download their free version, go to: AVG Anti-Virus free version site

Finally, before I conclude my discussion here with regards to great computer security products, I would like to bring up the subject of firewalls. In laymans terms, a firewall is a software or hardware device that controls what can go in or out between your computer and the Internet. This program or device is intended to prevent things such as spyware that may have gotten into your computer from sending out information to the Internet. It also blocks any improper incoming traffic from the Internet to your computer to help prevent crackers also known as hackers from gaining access to your system. A firewall is something anyone on the Internet should have but this is especially so if you use something like a cable modem which has you connected to the Net 24/7. Just like Anti-Virus programs, there are a number of good firewall programs and hardware versions out there. One of the best is ZoneAlarm - You can get a paid version of ZoneAlarm which can also include Anti-Virus software, etc. Or if you just need a good firewall they have a free version for home use. The ZoneAlarm products can be found at: Zone Alarm web site

TIP TO AVOID GETTING A VIRUS:

Do not borrow friends software and when in doubt virus scan all disks you use. I ended up with a Monkey Virus on my system 3 times in 6 months until I tracked the problem down to one of my kids using a floppy disk they got from who knows where. I am a "Fanatic" when it comes to computer virus safety - I download Virus Signature updates at least once every week or two. An out of date anti-virus program can be just as bad as not having any anti-virus software. New virus programs come out all the time. Anti-virus software works primarily by checking for known virus signatures. If your signature files are not up to date, a virus may get by your anti-virus software. Many if not most anti-virus programs allow you to schedule automatic file updates and most anti-virus venders update their signature files once a week. If a new major threat appears on the Net, often anti-virus venders will work quickly to get new signature files out as soon as possible. Just recently I had a virus sent to me via e-mail and luckily my anti-virus kicked in notifying me. If my software wasn't up to date, it may have done quite a bit of damage to my system.

Speaking of e-mail - Many of the newer viruses out there are now being written to attack your system through e-mail - especially through the Outlook Express e-mail program that comes with Windows. For some time now, many virus writers have had a grudge against Microsoft and their various operating systems and e-mail program, so a majority of the virus attacks have been to exploit security problems with some of these products. This is a reason that in addition to anti-virus and firewall programs that you should make sure you download any critical security updates from Microsoft if you are running a Windows based system.

With regards to e-mail problems, do you want to save yourself some grief - Pickup another e-mail program and use it instead of Outlook.. This is no guarantee you won't get a virus, but it can reduce the odds a bit. And don't think it can't happen to you! I know people who make their living off building and installing computers (aka experts) who have had their own home computers wiped out by a virus. All it takes is a nasty web site with some hidden Java Script or an innocent appearing e-mail from a friend or relative with an attached file, and you can have a real mess on your hands. Don't just assume that e-mail from a friend or relative is safe. Virus scan all incoming mail and especially be very cautious when opening any attached files. This is how most people get a virus from e-mail. If not from a known friend or relative, DON'T OPEN IT - JUST DELETE IT. If it is from someone you know, scan it carefully first with an up to date anti-virus program before opening. Even if it comes from a return address you know, it could be a friend or relative may have a virus on their system they don't know about. Or it could be a faked return address which is happening more and more these days where it appears the mail came from a friend but actually didn't.

Want to learn more about Virus problems and security of computer systems? If so, check out the WEB Site of: International Computer Security Assoc.

E-MAIL VIRUS HOAX FORWARDING:

Another Internet problem that keeps cropping up from time to time are the E-Mail Virus Hoax's. When you get one of these messages warning you about a new virus in E-Mail and it asks you to forward it, PLEASE delete these and do not bother your friends with these warning messages. Most are just a HOAX and just take up bandwidth and server space. Look upon them as a chain letter that someone is trying to con you into forwarding. It is not only a waste of your time, but also an irritant to your friends who know better. Forwarding of these type messages is just another way the Internet slows down.

Also: Contrary to popular belief - At this time there is no way you can get a virus just by reading E-Mail although with some of the new viruses being written to attack Outlook Express, this is not going to last long. But be very wary of any attached files that may come with E-Mail. If you aren't 100% sure of who sent you the E-Mail and attached file and not sure of it's contents, do not open any attached files. (If in doubt, throw it out - Some of the newer worm viruses will actually infect a friends e-mail program and mail itself to you making you think the friend sent you the attached file) Just delete them if not 100% sure of the source and content...

For more info on Virus Hoax messages, check out the U.S. Dept of Energy Virus Hoax info page at: CIAC Internet Hoaxes - These guys by the way are the experts - They are the ones who do the research and put out the official warnings on virus attacks and system security flaws to Government Computer Systems. You can even subscribe to their E-Mail bulletins, although most of their bulletins concern mainframes and operating systems you will not be using at home. ( I get these bulletins and the majority of what I get is Greek to me )

WEB Master Computer TIPS:

Want to keep your system running smooth and fast. Learn to use the two programs that come with MS-DOS & Windows that many people don't even know they have. One is SCANDISK which searches for corrupted files and fixes and / or deletes them to prevent them from damaging other files and causing a major system crash. The other is DEFRAG which reorders your hard drive giving you faster access to your programs and files. I use both on a regular basis at home and on our Department systems . DEFRAG is very important to use just after you delete a number of files. Make sure you run SCANDISK before you run DEFRAG though.

NOTE: for those of you using Windows 9? and who isn't? Running SCANDISK and DEFRAG can get to be a bit of a pain at times. The reason for this is that certain applications running in the background such as an Anti-Virus, a screen saver, etc. can cause frequent read/write requests to your hard drive. When trying to run SCANDISK or DEFRAG, often these read/write to disk will cause the Scandisk and Defrag programs to restart over and over again - a somewhat aggravating situation at best. To overcome this problem, look to your system tools tray on the lower right hand corner of your Windows Desktop. Programs running in the background that are the biggest culprits with disk read/writes are often sitting there. - Disable these applications temporarily when you want to run Scandisk or Defrag. You may also wish to go to your settings menu and select DISPLAY and set NONE as your Screensaver temporarily. Just remember to reset everything when you are done scanning or defragging your drive...

PS: To really get your system in tip top condition, I would also suggest a good Utilities program such as Norton Utilities. You will be amazed how many problems a good program like this will fix in your system caused by the remnants of old programs in your registry, etc. (Personal Preference - your webmaster and quite a few people I know rely on Norton Utilities - I have had other utility programs actually mess up my computer and Norton had to come to my rescue to repair the damage) But like any software that makes changes to your system, do your homework first. Improperly used, any utility type program can do damage if you aren't careful!

We hope some of these sites are of help and we intend on adding more as time goes on. As your WEB Master, I feel it is my duty to "Check out" these sites in advance for our guests and give them an idea as to what they are going to find at each site rather then just listing countless URL's. So please bear with us as the Gogebic County Sheriff Dept. WEB Site and links pages are always under construction and revision. And if by some chance you discover one of our links is to a dead site, please tell us as we do miss these things from time to time... Thank you.

If you have any sites you would like to see added, please E-Mail us and we will consider adding it. Click on envelope above or use E-Mail link below. Thank you.