The LangaList

2) Hold Onto Your Wallet---Here Come The Lawyers

What a hot button! Hundreds of readers are posting comments, pro and con, about my InformationWeek Online article that talks about how antitrust lawyers have filed suit "on behalf of consumers" to recover unspecified damages and to remedy the harm that Microsoft supposedly had inflicted on these hapless users. 

I personally feel that, despite other punishable excesses, a balanced view will show little if any real consumer harm on the part of Microsoft. For example, some say that Microsoft should have been reducing the price of its OS over the years.

But Windows 3.0 (circa 1990) was 6 Mbytes total code. My current copy of Win98SE, not including the samples and demos that ship on the CD, comprises 339 Mbytes. In other words, today's Windows ships with 57 times more software than in 1990, yet the software costs more or less the same now as it did then. 

But reader Michael Galos pointed out something I'd overlooked: 

Your 57x number between Win3.0 and Win98SE is actually low since Win98SE's files are compressed into CABs and Win3.0's files were uncompressed.

And reader Darwin Montie said:

I just read your 2 Dec Langalist on the value added to Windows over the years. Here's another example: I have v1.04 of windows on three 720K discs in the original packaging [including the shrink wrap :>)]. The outer retail box shows a copyright of 1978. 

Assuming the disks are totally full, that's a bit over 2MB of code.

But Reader Chris M thought I was all wet when I suggested that free browsers were good for consumers.

Are you really that naive or is this just a ploy to incite controversy so you can make as much as that big computer guy, uh, what's his name? Uh, oh yeah, Dvorak.

Of course this harms consumers, it's called dumping. Ever heard of the DRAM problems with Japanese state-subsidized manufacturers years ago where they underpriced RAM to drive US competitors out of business?

I have a problem with that argument because software ain't hardware: Chips require astronomically expensive manufacturing "fabs" and exotic raw materials. Once the initial chip masks are made, the costs have only started, and every chip carries an ongoing nontrivial cost to manufacture.

With a browser, once the original code it written, the cost of making more browsers is essentially zero: You post it on the web, and let people download it. 

So I think applying iron-age thinking---"let's melt another ton of ore!"---really can't be applied well to software. But what's *your* take? And do you think you will actually benefit from any class action suits? Do you feel that on balance, Microsoft actions actually and directly harmed you? Does having more lawyers involved increase or decrease the chances that all this will be settled in a just---and not merely legal---way? 

Come check out the other specific examples I give, and then join in the discussion at http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter !

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3) Plague Alert! Nasty New Viruses Are Circulating! 
(The W32.Mypics.Worm)

A few issues ago, I wrote "I expect all of next year to be a kind of 'Plague Year' online: The growth of high-speed, highly interconnected networks is creating fertile ground for hackers and a new breed of fast-spreading, virulent, Internet-based viruses. "

Even at that, I may have understated things: I was writing about Prilissa (see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/nov-29-99.htm#pril ) but in the short time since then, three new viruses have cropped up and two of them are *extremely* hostile. 

The nastiest is called the "W32.Mypics.Worm." It arrives as an email with the subject line "Here's some pictures for you!" and with an attachment called  "pics4you.exe."

When you run it, nothing seems to happen, but what goes on behind the scenes is (1) the worm infects your system with a deadly bug that will cause major trouble on January 1, 2000; and (2) it sends itself to 50 people on your Outlook address list.

The New Year's "payload" is ugly: Even if your system is Y2K compliant, the worm will simulate a BIOS problem and cause your system to halt with a "CMOS Checksum Invalid" message. That's not too bad in itself--- you can easily fix that by re-entering the BIOS values using the built-in BIOS setup program on your PC. But when you reboot, the real nastiness starts: The worm reformats your hard drive. No doubt about it: This is a bad one; a worm created by a genuinely ill person.

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4) Plague Alert #2: the Worm.ExploreZip(pack)

Only slightly less malevolent, the Worm.ExploreZip(pack) worm also is self-propagating. It arrives as an email with the message:

I received your email and I shall send 
you a reply ASAP.
Till then, take a look at the attached 
zipped docs.

The "attached zipped docs" are a file called  "zipped_files.exe."

When Worm.ExploreZip(pack) runs it searches all hard drives on your machine, and any it can reach via a network, and deletes all files containing any of the following extensions: .h, .c, .cpp, .asm, .doc, .xls, .ppt. 

This worm is a compressed variant of the original Explore.Zip work that arrived a while ago; because this version has been compressed, it may slip past your antivirus scans if your virus definitions aren't fully up to date.

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5) Plague Alert #3: the W97M.Melissa.AA

Then there's W97M.Melissa.AA, yet another variant of the now-classic Melissa virus/worm. It arrives as an email with the subject line "Duhalde Presidente <your name>" and with the message "Programa de gobierno 1999 - 2004."

It doesn't delete anything, but can clog your mail server by sending out 100 copies of itself, each of which will try to send out 100 more copies, on and on and on.

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6) Protecting yourself Against these New Viruses/Worms

Indeed, it looks like the "plague year" is arriving early. But here's what you can do:

First, you should never, ever run any executable file emailed to you unless you know absolutely, positively for sure what's in it; if you don't know what it is, simply delete the file or at least run an antivirus scan on the attachment using the very latest antivirus updates from your AV vendor.

And if, by chance, you don't yet have a fully up to date antivirus software app, give yourself an early holiday present and go get one now! I personally use Norton/Symantec, but there are many other excellent AV apps available as well.

By the way, I'd like to thank frequent writer Lanny Marcus who is always among the first to sound the alarm about for-real virus threats. Lanny always checks with a reputable antivirus site to ensure the threat is real before he fires off his warning emails; in this way, he avoids spreading any of the common virus hoaxes--- you know the kind that say something like "IBM and AOL today confirmed the existence of a terrible new virus---send this email to everyone you know!" Those kinds of emails are almost always false.

Lanny uses the Symantec Antivirus site to validate virus threats (all the major AV vendors have similar sites). It only takes a minute to check out a report of the threat. Taking the time to verify a virus report means you can either (1) take steps to protect yourself if the threat is real; or (2) stop the transmission of a time-wasting virus hoax.

For example, for more info on the three worms/viruses mentioned above, see http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.mypics.worm.html http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/worm.explorezip.pack.html and http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w97m.melissa.aa.html .

For information on virus hoaxes (there are many...) see http://www-sf-1.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html .

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7) Win A Palm III Organizer, or a Book

Win a Palm III by using the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win a nifty handheld tool (full details also available via this link):

http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1

Or, win a copy of a $30 book---reader Richard Murray won last month's book! (Full details also available via this link):

http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2 

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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8) Just For Grins

SCIENCE SILLIES FROM 5TH & 6TH GRADERS

The spinal column is a long bunch of bones.  The head sits on the top, and you sit on the bottom.

It is so hot in some places that people there have to live in other places.

Momentum is something you give a person when they go away.

Mushrooms always grow in damp places which is why they look like umbrellas.

The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard, and vinegar.

The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Indiana.

Thunder is a rich source of loudness.

Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun, but I never have been able to make out the numbers.

When planets run around and around in circles, we say they are orbiting. When people do it, we say they are crazy.

One of the main causes of dust is DIRT.

A monsoon is a French gentleman.

To keep milk from turning sour, keep it in the cow.

Genetics explains why you look like your father, and if you don't, why you should.

Water vapor gets together in a big cloud.  When it gets big enough to be called a drop, it does.

There is a tremendous weight pushing down on the center of the Earth because so many people are stomping around there these days.

The cause of perfume disappearing is evaporation.  Evaporation gets blamed for a lot of things people forget to put the top on.

You can listen to thunder and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind.

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