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The LangaList

29-Jul-99

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa About BrowserTune,
HotSpots, Columns, Tips & Tricks, and Other Activities

In This Issue:
BT2K Full Beta (Finally!)
More Win98 Second Edition Answers!
Is Win98 Second Edition Unfit For The Enterprise?
Final Words (Ha!) On Office 2000 Install Problems
Sherman, Set The WayBack Machine
Security Update
Scam O' the Week
Slooooooooow Log Ons
Free Palm III
Just For Grins
More!

BT2K Full Beta (Finally!)

Have you ever felt jinxed? You probably have--- I think everyone’s had the experience of working on a project where last-minute obstacles keep arising. 8-)

For me, working on BT2K, a recent snag was the shutdown of Windows Magazine’s print edition. Since WinMag pays me (I’m a freelancer) to produce and maintain BrowserTune, the fate of the BrowserTune2000 ("BT2K") project was temporarily unclear. OK, that glitch passed, and the project moved forward again.

Then Netscape released Communicator 4.61 and changed some of the guts of Communicator’s scripting engine. BT2K is heavily dependent on scripting to run the automated tests, keep score, and so on. And guess what? Pages that ran perfectly on Communicator 4.60 suddenly started failing on 4.61. Sigh.

So I figured out what was wrong and made the changes. And now, finally, barring meteor strikes, floods, wildfires and other uncontrollable acts of nature, it looks like the full beta of BT2K will finally go live on Monday August 2, midday EDT (GMT-4).

Many of you have seen the BT2K demo site at http://www.browsertune.com/bt2kdemo/ . That site comprises 513 files in 2.3 MB; the full beta is 2,022 files in 21MB. The demo was just a taste of what the full BT2K has to offer!

There are two versions: a "Two Minute Tune Up" option (similar to the demo version) and a "Professional" version that lets you explore your browser and internet connection in enormous detail.

Monday’s issue of the LangaList will contain more details and a link to the live full beta: Stay tuned!

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Is Win98 Second Edition Unfit For The Enterprise?

WinMag’s focus is on small and medium businesses, and on individual end users. WinMag’s sister publication, InformationWeek, moves upstream a bit and focuses on medium to large businesses, IT pros, and the like.

Over the last two weeks, all the Win98SE controversy made me wonder if SE was fit for these larger installations.

It’s time for a reality-check: Have you installed any of the Win98SE variants in your medium to large business? If so which one(s). What were the results? Is Win98 a worthwhile upgrade/update for larger businesses---or is it just a can of worms waiting to be opened? Join in a separate week-long discussion focuses on high-end Win98SE installations going on right now at http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter !

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Final Words (Ha!) On Office 2000 Install Problems

The good news is that Microsoft is starting to populate its KnowledgeBase with fixes and workarounds for Office 2000 problems. The bad news is that it needs to. 8-)

Reader Mark Caldwell found two early posts there that relate to two problems we discussed in past issues:

Dear Fred,
I really enjoy the LangaList newsletter. It's the most helpful and useful newsletter on the internet. Referring to your recent articles about "Not Enough Disk Space" during Office2000 install, I recently ran across the following information/url on this subject:

OFF2000: Not Enough Disk Space Message When Installing Office (Q217585) http://technet.microsoft.com/reg/support/kb.asp?ID=217585

OL2000: Startup Error Indicates Problem with Recently Installed (Q199823) http://technet.microsoft.com/reg/support/kb.asp?ID=199823

Thanks Mark!

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Sherman, Set The WayBack Machine

It was my great good fortune to be the Chief Editor of BYTE from 1988-1991. BYTE reached all-time highs in circulation and global readership then, and thrived in a world that was rapidly changing.

I took copious notes then and still have them available, some ten years later. They’re part of BYTE’s history, and interesting in that regard. But they also offer a glimpse into the world as it was a decade ago--- a time like no other in this century.

In these notes, you’ll find lots of very familiar names, companies, and places: These notes provide a snapshot, or a kind of time-capsule, of what the computing world was like then.

But these notes are also in the form of a very personal and informal journal. Don’t expect polished prose: These are my notes as I typed (or in one case, dictated them). And because they’re personal and on-the-spot, you’ll see and hear and smell what it was like to be in those places at that time--- and what it was like to have the incredible good fortune to be BYTE’s Editor then.

It was an amazing time, and I’m very glad to be able to share them with you and to return these notes to the BYTE archives--- their rightful home.

Check out the notes via the front door of BYTE at http://www.byte.com/ and while you’re there, sign up for the BYTE newsletter to stay informed: http://www.byte.com/newsletter/

(And: How many of you get the reference to Sherman and the "WayBack Machine?" 8-) )

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Security Update

Microsoft previously reported on a "vulnerability in Microsoft(r) Data Access Components (MDAC) that could allow a web site visitor to take unauthorized actions on a web site hosted using Internet Information Server."

But Microsoft's original fix-it info was incomplete, and it’s possible to still have the problem even after performing the fix as it was originally described. If you or your company is running IIS, check this out for more info and a later, better fix:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/MS99-025faq.asp.

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Scam O' the Week

We have a family joke here in the Langa household: Whenever one of us performs some particularly boneheaded maneuver---it’s never me, of course! (cough, cough, shuffle)--- the others politely inquire if the hapless family member is suffering from "TBD," a familial acronym for an imaginary ailment: "Tiny Brain Disease."

TBD, however, knows no familial boundaries: Just look at the email scams that flood the wires each week. Sometimes, I think TBD is reaching epidemic proportions: Brains are shrinking so fast it's a wonder some peoples' heads don't implode. 8-)

Reader David Bisson also seems to think there's a serious shortage of grey matter out in email-land. He was on the receiving end of a patently bogus chain mail that a long list of previous readers had fallen for. "HOW DO PEOPLE FALL FOR THIS JUNK?" David asks. To which I can only reply: "TBD."

Here’s the email contents, mercifully stripped of the 9000 CC names and a whole font tray full of ">>>>>>>>>>" marks in front of each line. Check it out, and see how many clues you can find that identify this as a total hoax. (I can find at least 9 things wrong with this note.)

Hewlett-Packard and Gateway have just merged to form the biggest computer supplier in the world! Bigger than Dell, bigger than IBM, bigger than them all! In response to this amazing merger, IBM has set aside 250,000 free computers to reward and keep it's most loyal and trusted customers! I've already got mine, read on to see how you can get yours!!! This email has a special encoding (see below) which will let IBM know every time you send it to one of your friends or relatives.

The first 250,000 people who send this to at least 15 of their friends will receive a brand new IBM computer! After you send this to your friends, and qualify, IBM will contact you via email, and get your shipping address. Send them your address, and in a couple of days, a brand new computer, complete with a printer, and 19" monitor is sitting on your doorstep! You must hurry, because this offer ends July 31 of this year! Here's the catch, though. Each of your friends must send this to at least 5 people or you won't be eligible, so choose your friends along for you! That's all it takes, no strings attached! No purchase necessary!!! You don't even have to have previously purchased a computer from IBM! They want to earn or keep your future business, and they're willing to pay for it!!! Take Care, and let's get some new computers!!!

--------------9E7B67B41BF15ACCBE0CB9CE---------

This is a variation on the "Disney Free Vacation" hoax, of course, which itself was a variation on the "Bill Gates Wants To Give You $1000" hoax, which is a variation on any of about 100 other chain-letter scams.

You can bone up on hoaxes at http://www.icsa.net/services/consortia/anti-virus/alerthoax.shtml

You also can find a whole raft of anti-hoax sites here: http://dir.lycos.com/Society/Urban_Legends/Computer_Virus_Hoaxes/

In any case, if---or when---you get emails like these, just dump ‘em: TBD is highly contagious, and spreading email chain letters is one of the primary vectors for spreading this dreaded ailment. 8-)

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Slooooooooow Log Ons

I get a pretty steady stream of mail like this note from reader "Guillard:"

I have a fast machine (333MHz), fast, updated modem (56KV.90), and a fairly stable setup running Windows95 (4.00.950C w/USB). The problem is that it takes me much longer to log on to the Internet than my much slower 133MHz machines with a 33K modem running Windows 95 (4.00950a) and 98. During the wait, the modem is not active.

What is taking so long to log on? I don't think it is the hardware or the ISP. It seems to be some program or routine that times out or something. Any ideas?---Guillard

This one's easy to fix: Open "Dial Up Networking" and right click on the connection that’s giving you trouble. Click on the "Server Types" tab, and in the section marked "Allowed network protocols" UNcheck everything but TCP/IP.

Only TCP/IP is used for normal Internet connections, but Windows will try to make connections with every protocol checked. If you have (say) NetBEUI and IPX checked, your Dialup connection will try (and try and try and try...) to establish a NetBEUI link, and finally will fail. Then it will try (and try and try and try...) to make an IPX link, and finally fail. Then it’ll finally succeed in making a TCP/IP link---because that’s the only one that’s active in most normal Internet hook-ups.

The time Windows spends uselessly trying to make contact with unneeded protocols is perhaps the #1 reason for long delays in getting a Dial-Up connection going. If you’re suffering from slow startups in your DUN connection, try it with just TCP/IP, and you should see much faster connects!

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FREE Palm III Still Available!

Just use this link to recommend the LangaList to a friend, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a Palm III organizer (full details also available via this link):

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

Recommend-It is an ad-based site (you’ll see banners and such). The advantage to you of using the Recommend-It service (above) is that (1) you can win a Palm III and (2) you can add a personal message to your LangaList recommendation.

But if you’d rather use the tried-and-true, ad-free recommendation form, you’ll still find it at: http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2 . You can’t win anything there—except my thanks for helping the LangaList to grow!

In fact, either way, thank you!

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Just For Grins:

Man, you folks have sent in a ton of great epigrams. 8-) I'll present the best in future issues of the LangaList "JFG" section.

This week, it's reader James Boatwright with:

Eagles may fly high, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

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See you next issue!

Best,

Fred

( fred@langa.com )

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