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The LangaList
18-Jan-99
A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa About BrowserTune,
HotSpots, Columns, Tips & Tricks, and Other Activities
In This Issue:
IE5 Bugs
Microsoft's Unintentional April Fool's Bug
"Picture.Exe" Is A Trojan Horse
List-Host Update Reminder
A Recommendation?
Reader Suggestion
Halftime! (No, not the SuperBowl!)
Unclothed Systems
Just for Grins
More!
BrowserTune 2000
I hope you all know about BrowserTune: It's perhaps the world's most popular browser test and tune-up tool; it's 100% free, and it's incredibly thorough.
I wrote the first version of BrowserTune, many years ago, as an unnamed personal tool: It was a way I could test my own web pages to make sure they'd work OK on different browsers. After a while, it finally occurred to me that others might find them useful too (duh! OK, so sometimes I'm a little slow...). A short while later, I posted the pages as the original public BrowserTune.
BT has gotten big. That first public version of BrowserTune (now called "BrowserTune Classic") required about 300 web pages and consumed 1.25MB of disk space. BrowserTune97 was 550 pages, and 3.5 MB. The current version, BrowserTune98, is 1200 pages and a bit over 5 MB in size: it actually tests over 300 separate features and functions of today's browsers. (Of course, not every user has to view all the pages: various sections are displayed selectively depending on how you go through the tests, and (to a degree) by what browser you're using.)
BT also has gotten popular, with far in excess of a million tests served up each month! Part of that is due to the fact that, alas, browsers aren't exactly paragons of stability: The more you use a browser, the more add-ons and plug-ins you use, the more likely you are to experience trouble. So many BT users are repeat visitors, coming to give their browser a quick tune up every few weeks or months, trying to ensure that everything's still working properly. That's very smart.
Although I continually refresh and improve BrowserTune, once a year around this time I start work on a new, from-scratch, completely recoded version.
Well, last week, I left the whiteboard/flowchart phase and actually started writing new pages for BrowserTune 2000--- BT2K. It's a huge project that will take several months to complete. (BT2K should debut in late Spring.)As I began work on BT2K, I wanted to retain what's made the current version so successful and popular, but without turning BT into bloatware: BT2K had to be no longer---and ideally, would be shorter and faster to run---than BT98.
And there are other design goals, too: I'm pretty pumped about the new version, and think it'll be useful, cool, and fun to use.
But I'm biased, so I'll list the design goals for your comments and criticism in this week's online column on the WINDOWS Magazine site. I'd love your feedback on these goals, and also to hear your suggestions on other ways to make BT2K as good as it can be.
Please check out the current version of BrowserTune (http://www.browsertune.com/bt98/) and let me know what you think. What tests do you consider essential? Which aren't that valuable to you? What's missing? What could be streamlined? And so on.
Please join in the discussion starting midday Tuesday Jan 19, Via the WinMag Web home page at http://content.techweb.com/winmag/! This is your chance to have a hand in shaping the next version of the world's most popular browser test and tune up tool!
IE5 Bugs/Rough Spots
Speaking of BrowserTune, lots of readers have been using it to test-drive IE5.
It's beta, so you expect bugs. But just so you won't tear your hair out trying to resolve problems that aren't fixable (until the final version ships), please note that you may expect problems with IE5 in these areas:
- Active-X
- "Channel" displays
- Embedded Shortcuts Security
- VRML
Check it out for yourself!
Microsoft's Unintentional April's Fool's Bug
April 1st, 2000 falls on a Saturday, and that apparently confused the folks at Microsoft who were building the start-date algorithms for Daylight Savings Time (called "Summer Time" in some parts of the world). As things stand now, your system will switch to Daylight Savings Time a week later than it should.
It's not a huge deal, but it's an annoyance. You can manually change your clock, but then you'll have to change it again a week later when the DST routine kicks in. Or you can create a custom time zone using the Resource Kit.
Or, you can wait for Microsoft to release a patch. The date routine is contained in a single DLL called "MSVCRT.DLL," so downloading an updated version will fix the problem--- once the patch is available.
Although this isn't a major deal, it does make you wonder what else they've missed....
"Picture.Exe" Is A Trojan Horse
If you get email with an attachment called PICTURE.EXE, just delete it. The EXE file is actually a trojan horse--- not a virus, but another kind of malicious program that sneaks onto your hard drive under false pretenses.
In this case, when you run PICTURE.EXE, it places two small EXE files on your hard drive, and rewrites your WIN.INI file so that the new files (called "NOTE.EXE" and "MANAGER.EXE") will be automatically activated the next time you start your PC.
When they run, they search through your hard drive looking for stored usernames and passwords; it seems to target the names/passwords for AOL and for password-protected web sites you may belong to. It encrypts these names and passwords, and then tries to establish an internet connection and---believe it or not---sends the data to a site in China.
The same trojan horse is sometimes also known as Backdoor.Note and URLSnoop.
Trojan horse programs are relatively rare, but this one is real. All the major anti-virus apps either have been or are being modified to detect and stop this one. Check out your anti-virus vendor's update site!
(And thanks to the many, many readers who sent me email to alert me to this problem!)
List-Hosts Update Info
If you're a Winmag subscriber, please note that there's newer and more complete information online to supplement my "Explorer" column in the February issue. You'll find the original column at
http://content.techweb.com/winmag//library/1999/0201/ana0011.htm and the updated information here: http://www.browsertune.com/listhosts.htmA Recommendation?
May I ask a favor? It'll take only about 60 seconds of your time; honest! Can you recommend this newsletter to at least one other person?
I've made it easy with a simple form available at http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2. You just fill in your name and your friend's name, and a script on my web page will automatically generate an email message containing the current issue. That's all there is to it---the script even composes a short note to your friend explaining what the LangaList is, and that you thought they might find it useful.
I'm dead-set against spam, so I won't sign up your friends unless they explicitly request a subscription. The form is 100% safe to use; neither you nor your friends will get any unsolicited email from me, ever.
If you'd prefer, you can just "forward" the email version of the LangaList to a friend! The drawback there is that most email packages embed a ">" character at the start of each line of forwarded text, making it hard to read. The script on my site avoids this and ensures your friends will get a clean copy.
But either way, if you could take just literally one minute and recommend the LangaList to just one friend, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Reader Suggestion
Several readers sent along comments about the "forgotten supervisor password fix" discussed in the last issue. For example, Larry McCrea (mccreal001@hawaii.rr.com) wrote:
Fred:
In your LangaList of 5 Jan 99, you referenced a question posed by Steve Waldron about forgotten system passwords input through the BIOS. Your recommendation to remove the battery to clear the CMOS works well, but a lot of the newer motherboards have jumpers labeled CPW (Clear Pass Word) near the CPU socket designed specifically to remedy forgotten user/supervisor passwords. To erase the forgotten password you only have to enable the jumper (cover it with a jumper cap) then reboot the system. You won't be able to retain a new password until you disable the jumper. The best advice for your subscribers with this problem is to have them check their motherboard (mainboard) manual to see if they are equipped with this convenient feature. Otherwise, pull that battery!
Regards,
Larry McCrea
The only advantage of the "pull the battery" method is that it works on virtually every system. But if you do need to reset the BIOS information and your system has the jumper available, it is easier and simpler.
Thanks, Larry, and to all who wrote in!
Halftime!
No, not the Superbowl: It's the halfway point in the Microsoft trial. It's not getting many headlines right now because of that other major trial going on in Washington. But the Microsoft/DOJ trial---a trail that may shape the computer industry's competitive landscape for years to come---is indeed starting its second half.
So far, it's been quite a ride. Disclosures of embarrassing emails, videos of a "forgetful" Bill Gates, Java-oriented legal sideshows, and a huge, blockbuster merger between Netscape and AOL have been just a few of the highlights (or lowlights, if you prefer).
Taking stock of what's transpired so far, it seems to me that the Government has the upper hand and has successfully portrayed Microsoft in an extremely unflattering light. (In fact, the negative focus has been so strong it may already have succeeded in altering Microsoft's corporate behavior: Witness Microsoft's recent rollout of a new version of IE for the Macintosh. This version has features that are not yet available on Intel-based systems, and can be viewed as an attempt by Microsoft to assist, rather than crush, a competitor.)
Of course, the trial's only half over: The Government has been in the driver's seat until just last week, when it rested its case. Microsoft is only now getting started with its defense.
I think we'll see two major themes in Microsoft's arguments:
I think they'll try to prove that the rapid emergence (and growing acceptance) of non-Microsoft alternatives such as Linux and the whole Open Software movement shows that customers still have choice, and that when a good idea comes along, there's little Microsoft or anyone can do to stop it. (Just ask a Linux fan!)
Second, I think Microsoft will seek to demonstrate that the AOL/Netscape merger proves that there's plenty of life left in the non-Microsoft portions of the industry. When a powerful mega-alliance can crop up overnight and change the competitive landscape at a stroke, how can it be said that Microsoft has the industry in a stranglehold?
But there's a lot more to this---and lots at stake.
What's your take? Does Microsoft really have the industry in a stranglehold, or can good ideas still emerge from non-Microsoft sources, and become accepted? Has the Government built an ironclad case, and if so, what will the outcome be: Splitting up Microsoft? A huge fine? Ongoing Governmental regulation? Or will Microsoft walk? Is the new "kinder/gentler" Microsoft a sham, or a meaningful change?
What's your take on it all? Join in starting Wednesday Jan 20th at http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter
Unclothed Systems
Well, not really. But "The Naked PC" is a pretty good email newsletter that you might find useful---it's full of tips, tricks, useful web sites, and more. Check out their site at http://www.TheNakedPC.com, and if you like what you see, sign up. (I did.)
Just For Grins: Y0K
Reader and frequent email correspondent rogergri@mail.freewwweb.com sent this along:
While browsing through some dust-covered archival material in the recesses of the Roman Section of the British Museum, a researcher recently came across a tattered bit of parchment. After some effort he translated it and found that it was a letter from a man called Plutonius with the title of "magister fastorium", or keeper of the calendar, to one Cassius. The text of the message follows:
Dear Cassius,
Are you still working on the Y zero K problem? This change from BC to AD is giving us a lot of headaches and we haven't much time left. I don't know how people will cope with working the wrong way around. Having been working happily downwards forever, now we have to start thinking upwards. You would think that someone would have thought of it earlier and not left it to us to sort it all out at this last minute.
I spoke to Caesar the other evening. He was livid that Julius hadn't done something about it when he was sorting out the calendar. He said he could see why Brutus turned nasty. We called in the consulting astrologers, but they simply said that continuing downwards using minus BC won't work. As usual, the consultants charged a fortune for doing nothing useful.
As for myself, I just can't see the sand in an hour glass flowing upwards. We have heard that there are three wise men in the East who have been working on the problem, but unfortunately they won't arrive until it's all over. Some say the world will cease to exist at the moment of transition.
Anyway we are still continuing to work on this blasted Y zero K problem and will send you a parchment if anything further develops.
Vale.
Plutonius
See you next issue!
Best,
(fred@langa.com)
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