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The LangaList
10-Jan-99
A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa About BrowserTune,
HotSpots, Columns, Tips & Tricks, and Other Activities
In This Issue:
More on List Hosts
What's Your Best Win98 Trick?
The BeOS = Wow!
Catching Up!
Death to Batch Files!
YAISB (Yet Another IE Security Bug!)
Other "Critical Updates"
D-360, and Counting
Browser Fraud?
Locked Out Of Her System!
Just for Grins
More!
Better and Better?
You may notice some changes in this week's newsletter: For one thing, it's no longer hosted on eGroups, a free list-hosting service I've written about in the past.
The folks at eGroups had assured me when I signed up that their service could handle huge mailing lists; they even tried to get me to have one of my clients move a mailing list of over 250,000 names to their site.
I'm glad I didn't because my own "LangaList" (although not in the quarter-million subscriber class---yet! 8-) ) broke the eGroups service last week.
Few, if any of you got last week's issue. The eGroups web-based list-management interface slowed to a crawl, and eGroups' tech support went dark on me. I think the LangaList just was too big for the service.
It was free, so I can't complain. And the service was great when my mailing list was smaller; for lists of anywhere from a few names to a few tens of thousands of names, eGroups could be fine. But for larger lists, it just can't cut it.
Fortunately, several new lower-cost commercial list-hosts have opened up. Chris Pirillo (a.k.a. the "Lockergnome" at http://www.lockergnome.com ) told me about Dundee Internet Services ( http://www.dundee.net ), which offers the commercial Lyris list management package at very reasonable rates.
I signed up: This issue is coming to you from Dundee. It's possible there will be some start-up glitches, and if so I thank you in advance for your patience while we sort them out. The folks at Dundee are very capable and on the stick, so if things go wrong, they should get it straightened out fast.
You'll find new subscribe/unsubscribe addresses at the end of this note, and if you need it, the LangaList help files (http://www.langa.com/help.txt) have been updated with new info.
I've also changed some of the formatting and navigation of the List itself, although you'll need to view the HTML version to see that. As always the HTML version (and all past LangaList issues) are archived at http://www.langa.com/whats_new.htm.
More On List-Hosts
My "Explorer" column in the January issue of Windows Magazine has lots more on list-hosting services. Plus, I've assembled a web page with lots more information for you. Check out the column in your print issue, or at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//library/1999/0201/ana0011.htm and check out the web extras here: http://www.browsertune.com/listhosts.htm
What's Your Best Win98 Trick?
We all have 'em: favorite tweaks, tricks, and alterations we use to make our OS work better or faster or more solidly. Here are some of mine, and a place to share yours!
Almost all of us invariably change some of Windows default settings when we first set up or reinstall Windows. Sometimes, it's because the defaults are dumb. Other times, it's because of a particular need or circumstance that warrants deviating from the Microsoft-dictated norms. And sometimes---let's be honest---it's, well, just because.
In this week's WinMag "Dialog Box" column, I'll give you specific, detailed examples of tweaks I always do when setting up a new system or reinstalling Windows. Here's one example:
Windows retains some internal performance settings that are carry-overs from the days when RAM was expensive. For most systems today, the default settings are obsolete and even counterproductive. Check it out for yourself: In My Computer/Properties/Performance/File System the "typical role" is usually "desktop computer." But if your PC has more than 32Mb of RAM, it'll operate slightly faster if you select "Network server" even if it isn't really a server. All the "Network server" setting does is use a little more RAM as disk buffers (a kind of mini-cache); this speeds disk operations. In today's desktop systems with abundant RAM, there's no reason not to use the "network" setting on every desktop machine.
But there are many, many other examples, of course. I'll share some more, and then I invite you to collaborate with me on a killer list of tweaks, tricks, and alterations to Windows98! What are your favorite/best ways to improve Win98, and to make it run better? Join in starting around noon on Monday Jan 11 1999 at http://bbs.winmag.com/columns/archives/011099/monday/column.asp/frames=yes!
BeOS = Wow
(and it's only $4.00!)
It's been a long time since any operating system gave me an honest-to-goodness "Wow" experience. I'd had high hopes for Linux, but the 5.1 version of Red Hat Linux was more of an "Ow" than a "Wow," with numerous rough spots and incompatibilities. (See http://www.cmpnet.com/voices/archive/100798langa.html and http://www.cmpnet.com/voices/archive/101498langa.html.)
Be, Inc., has been lurking in the background of the computer industry since its founding in 1990 by former Apple Exec Jean-Louis Gassee. With the new Release 4.0, the BeOS is finally hitting its stride.
I installed the BeOS on the same Intel-based system that had given Red Hat's Linux implementation so much trouble, and---surprise!---the BeOS recognized and worked with all my system peripherals.
The BeOS also avoids many of the other problems that Linux presents, and is, all in all, a nicely polished, fully commercial-quality OS with enormous promise.
A full version of the BeOS version 4.0 costs $100, but you can test drive a BeOS demo for just $3.95! ($9.95 if you're outside the US.) At that price, you can't afford not to at least take a look.
You'll find lots more info, including links for the $4.00 demo offer and other goodies, in my InformationWeek column starting Wednesday Jan 13th. I'll continue to explore and discuss the BeOS this week (see the threads area for the ongoing discussion), but I'd love to hear your opinions, too. Grab a demo CD and join in the discussion at http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter!
Catching Up!
Because almost no one saw last week's issue (thanks to the eGroups failure), here's a reprise on what you missed:
Another IE4 bug---The "Frame Spoof" vulnerability. This one can let a malicious site owner masquerade as a legitimate site and (perhaps) trick you into revealing sensitive information. See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/Jan-4-99.htm#YAISB for more complete information.
Death to Batch Files! I've found a couple of Windows-based products that (finally!) give you unprecedented control over your system. Perhaps---just perhaps---we can finally get rid of those ancient batch (*.BAT) files we have on our systems! For more information, check out http://www.langa.com/newsletters/Jan-4-99.htm#bat .
New "Critical Updates:" New patches and bug fixes have cropped up on the Microsoft site: They can fix random-seeming hangs and crashes. See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/Jan-4-99.htm#updates .
D-360, and Counting: With the year 2000 just 360 days away, you can't escape the Y2K buzz. But I confess I'm beginning to take a very Darwinian view on Y2K: The harsh way of saying this is simply this: Any person or business with his/her/its head in the sand about Y2K probably deserves whatever happens. What possible excuse for inaction can there be? What possible rationale for delay is there? For more, see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/Jan-4-99.htm#y2k, and join in the discussion that runs through Jan 12th at http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter.
Browser Fraud? A Canadian reader sent me urgent email with the heading "Browser Fraud?" Is Microsoft's IE4 designed to interfere with downloads of Netscape products? Check out http://www.langa.com/newsletters/Jan-4-99.htm#Fraud .
Locked Out Of Her System! Another reader has a friend who entered, and then forgot, a "Supervisor Password" on her system. She was completely locked out! Find the fix for this and other related problems at http://www.langa.com/newsletters/Jan-4-99.htm#Locked .
Just For Grins: Ten Thoughts For The New Year
Peter Higbee (pgh@earthling.net) sent these to me. And as you'll see, there's more to these than "just" a grin! 8-) Nice list, Peter!
1. Never judge a day by the weather.
2. The best things in life aren't things.
3. Tell the truth -- there's less to remember.
4. Speak softly and wear a loud shirt.
5. Goals are deceptive -- the unaimed arrow never misses.
6. He who dies with the most toys -- still dies.
7. Age is relative -- when you're over the hill, you pick up speed.
8. There are 2 ways to be rich -- make more or desire less.
9. Beauty is internal -- looks mean nothing.
10. No rain -- no rainbows.
See you next issue!
Best,
(fred@langa.com)
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