The Archives

The Saugus Area Non-Profit Organizations Information page was updated today.

The Computer Information page was updated today.

By now you've probably seen some of the articles in the Boston Globe (here's another), the Boston Herald, the New York Times (registration required), the Chicago Tribune, CNET (here's another), CNN, Wired, and Slashdot advocating the use of a browser like Firefox over the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer, but did you realize that even the United States Department of Homeland Security has recommended using another browser? We at Saugus.net would like to strongly encourage people still using Microsoft Internet Explorer to upgrade to a more modern, more secure browser like Firefox.

There are several benefits. One of the most important is security. You may not be aware of it, but there are other people interested in your computer and there is a chance someone will try and break into every time you're connected to the Internet. If you're a Microsoft Windows user (especially if you have a cable or DSL connection) then you're at high risk. Besides stealing personal information like bank account numbers, credit card numbers, and you-name-it, they can use your machine to send spam to other people, or even use your computer to help attack another computer. This means that if your computer is not secure, you can be indirectly responsible for some of the spam that others get or an attack made on someone else's machine. Likewise, your neighbors' insecure computers are indirectly responsible for some of the spam that you get plus attacks made on other machines that affect you. If everyone made their computers more secure, everyone would suffer through a lot less spam and computers would be less likely to be attacked, making the Internet a safer, friendlier place. While using Firefox will not magically make your computer completely secure, it will make your computer a lot more secure by closing up many holes left open by Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Besides the increase in security, you'll be able to take immediate advantage of some of the advanced features we offer at Saugus.net including our RSS feed and Mozilla Search Plug-in, plus with an optional calendar plug-in you'll be able to see the Saugus Community Calendar in a whole new way through the wonders of iCalendar technology. You also may notice that due to Firefox's superior support of modern standards, many pages on the Web will look distinctly better (especially if you're currently an AOL user). Built-in features like the automatic blocking of pop-up advertisements will make surfing the Web faster and more fun.

In addition to the link on the Guide to Free Software, you can download Firefox directly from here, or take advantage of the new public-service button we've added to the sidebar. It's right beneath the Amazon.com search box and iTunes free download button. While we're thinking of it on this craziest shopping weekend of the year, why not do some of your shopping online? Supporting our sponsors (Amazon.com, the iTunes Music Store, and Simply Audiobooks) through the appropriate link will save you money, time, and aggravation plus help us provide you with more free services.

To summarize: if you're currently using Microsoft Internet Explorer, you'll not only make your computer safer by upgrading to Firefox, you'll even help make the Internet a little better for everyone else. The upgrade is free and easy; why not try it out this holiday weekend?

The office will be closed today and tomorrow for the Thanksgiving holiday to allow everyone at Saugus.net to spend some time with their families. However, the Community Events Calendar and other like pages will continue to be updated.

Even though MSIE is rapidly becoming less popular, we're now testing a new Saugus.net MSIE Channel that we think some may find useful. This provides facilities similar to what are already provided by the Saugus.net Sherlock Plug-in & Channel and Saugus.net Firefox Plug-in.

The local business Digital Aviation Images has just gone online. Its direct URL is:

http://www.digitalaviationimages.com/

and it'll be listed on the Miscellaneous Information page.

Behind the scenes we've added RDF metadata all throughout Saugus.net. This will not be too visible now, but advanced search engines will be able to make use of it to make information more accessible.

The Guide to Free Software was updated today with several new entries and a completely new section.

For all you Mozilla Firefox users out there we're now providing a Saugus.net Mozilla Plug-in. With this plug-in enabled, you'll be able to incorporate the Saugus.net search facilities in with the other search engine facilities that Firefox already provides. In a co-ordinated effort we've also updated the related Saugus.net Sherlock Plug-in.

The Computer Terms Glossary was updated today.

Tonight is the awards ceremony for the annual Halloween Ghost Story Contest. It's on a weeknight due to the cutbacks in library hours. We'll be posting more information about the winners as it is made available to us.

The Saugus Local Cultural Council site was updated today.

The Saugus Area Educational Resources page was updated today.

The office will be closed today for the holiday. However, the Community Events Calendar and other like pages will continue to be updated.

The SAVE site was updated today.

The Saugus Historical Society site was updated today.

The local business All Sports Images had its web site updated today.

The local non-profit organization Saugus Business Partnership has just gone online. Its direct URL is:

http://www.saugusbp.org/

and it'll be listed on the Organizations, Clubs, and Places of Worship page.

A few photographs from the recent grand opening of the new World Series Park baseball field have been posted.

You've probably already seen the overall results of the election, both local and national (with various news stories available that go beyond the raw results). The national race remains interesting, with it being quite close (259 - 252 in terms of electoral votes with a couple of states currently favoring Bush still not finished counting) and an independent third-party audit possible.

We've started to post local election results. We'll continue to add details throughout the night.

Don't forget that today is election day. If you live in Saugus and are unsure of where you should be voting, you can look it up online via the Saugus Town Clerks' site. Also, remember that you can see answers from particular State Representative candidates to the questions you sent in to us on the "Questions to the Candidates" page (assuming that the candidate you're checking bothered to answer; if not, that of course says something too).

If you're interested in following the latest in the U.S. Presidential Election, you can see the predictions from the latest polls (as well as state-by-state results as they come in) on the Electoral Vote Predictor site. This is superior to the televised polls as it takes our electoral college system into account.

This is just a final reminder for candidates to submit their answers to this year's "Questions to the Candidates"; we'll continue to post responses up through tomorrow's election itself.