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The LangaList
2000-04-24 A Free Email Newsletter from Fred
Langa
(2000-April-24)
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware,
Software, and Time Online
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By now, almost everyone's heard
about the preview version of Netscape 6. Some are calling it Netscape's ticket
back to center stage in the browser wars. Others are calling it too little, way
too late. So what's it really like? You can try it for yourself by
downloading a copy from http://home.netscape.com/download/previewrelease.html
. But I don't recommend it; the "preview" is very buggy and
crash-prone, and you may place your system's stability at risk. If you're really
eager to give it a try, even Netscape itself says to make sure you have full,
current backups of all your essential data. Separately, the folks at
WinMag.Com and I have both test-driven the new browser for you. Their review is
at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//reviews/software/2000/04/0410_a.htm
, and it's a great place to start: It will walk you through the features and
even gives you a "survival guide" you can use to help minimize
potential troubles if you want to try the preview software for yourself. I took a different tack: I put
the beta browser through both the fast and full BrowserTune 2000
("BT2K") test suites (http://www.browsertune.com/bt2k/)---
just as I've done for every major beta release of earlier versions of Netscape's
and Microsoft's browsers. Testing beta software can be
instructive, but you have to regard the results with great caution: Beta
software is by definition unfinished and will definitely change before it's
released, As such, beta tests can give you a rough indication of how a product
is shaping up, but cannot and should not be regarded as the definitive and final
word on a product. The full results are too long to
include in this newsletter (you can get them online), but here's a sample: The BrowserTune general scripting
test results showed N6 running about 10% slower than N4.7. This kind of variance
is no big deal, and in fact is pretty typical of untuned beta code. But the
window-and-text scripting scores were *way* out of whack with N6 running a full
*70% slower* than N4.7. That's a huge difference, and hard to explain away as a
mere beta bug. Instead, it looks like something's very badly implemented there. There were other surprises,
too--- some good, some not so good. And although this is only a beta, the full
test results may give you an indication of what the finished product's strengths
and weaknesses may be. Come check it out via the "Explorer" link on
the front page of http://content.techweb.com/winmag/
starting midday Monday April 24th, 2000! Click to
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If you have RealPlayer (most
major browsers support it), you can hear a three-way discussion among Scot
Finnie, Paul Schindler (both of WinMag) and myself on the ins and outs of online
security. Scot and Paul asked me to join them for a phone interview last week in
light of all the recent security coverage I've been doing. You can listen
anytime via http://media.cmpnet.com/radio/winmag/war_0418.ram.
The show also includes a discussion of the merits---or lack thereof--- of using
instant messaging as a serious communication tool. Check it out! Click to
email this item to a friend Is your Start Menu getting out of
hand with way too many entries? So was reader Doug Graybill's: Fred, I very much enjoy
your newsletter and have just completed searching your Langa List database of
old newsletters. I can't seem to find the answer, though I'm sure it's there
somewhere. My frustrations stem from the fact that my "Start Programs"
menu list has gotten so long that I am forever having to scroll down to get to
some of the programs I use frequently. At one point Windows used to fold this
menu into a multi-column view that presented everything at once. That was
convenient and what I'd like to recapture....any ideas? I've thought about
rearranging the menu based on priority of use: moving the REALLY important items
to my desktop (done that already), grouping logical sets into folders so that
they are more readily available. All have one drawback or another. I'm sure
there is some tweak to the registry that will display that menu in multi-column
format. I just haven't found it yet. Thanks for whatever ideas you can provide. I'm not sure about the
multi-column option--- I haven't seen that trick. (Maybe another reader has.) But with a really aggressive use
of the other techniques Doug mentions in passing, I've been able to make my
Start Menu (which fits on my normal 1280x1024 pixel screen) fit even on my
laptop's tiny 640x480 pixel screen. You see, the Start Menu is really
just a specialized display of the contents of your C:\Windows\Start Menu
directory. If you navigate to that directory with Explorer, you'll see that the
directory contains shortcuts to all the items that appear at the top of your
Start Menu, plus a "Programs" subdirectory that contains everything
else on your Start Menu. You can add, move, delete, rename, or otherwise diddle
with these items to your heart's content, and you'll be changing your Start Menu
accordingly. As Doug suggested, one thing I do
is to create new folders within the Start Menu. For example, if I have a number
of similar tools on the Start Menu, I'll navigate to the For example, if I have (say) six
graphics tools on my Start Menu, I might name the new folder "Graphics
Tools" and drag all six tools into the new folder; what had taken up six
places on my Start Menu now takes up one. Selecting that one item--- the new
Graphics Tools folder--- on the Start Menu causes the Start Menu to cascade out,
revealing the six graphics tools I placed inside. With aggressive groupings of like
tools, you can pare your Start Menu down to size and make it *much* easier to
navigate. Now, about that multi-column
trick Doug mentions---any ideas? Click to
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A few issues ago, I told you
about "Web2Mail," (http://www.web2mail.com)
a service that aggregates the web pages you tell it to, and sends them to you by
email as HTML attachments. You can even schedule how often you want to have the
pages mailed to you. Reader Mark DeVries tells us of
service with the same name, but backwards: Fred, turning the name
around, do you know about Mail2Web (http://www.mail2web.com)?
That's a service that lets you use the Web to get to your mail at your POP3
server. You can read your mail from anywhere. I used to get mail via an ISP that
choked when an attachment was bigger than 75K or so. The ISP sent me to
Mail2Web, where I read the troublesome message and then deleted it, which
allowed the succeeding mail to flow normally again. Very handy when you need it!
Thanks for the good service you provide us "out there." Thanks, Mark! Turns out they also
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but now they've upped the ante--- way, way up! If you think the
LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the
LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful
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Reader Dave Wilkenson sends this
along: Here is an easy
Double-click way to Restart Windows: Here are some more good
resources for quick shutdowns: Thanks, Dave--- I hadn't seen the
PC Mag stuff; there's some good info in there that can be used beyond just
finding ways to shut down fast. And reader Don Watson wraps it
all up with an ultra-simple, easy-to-implement suggestion: Hi Fred- I really enjoy
your Langalist and think you do a great service for the computing world. I, like
many others, have had my share of problems with Windows 98 hanging up on
shutdown. I have started using the "restart in ms DOS mode" option and
have not had a hang up on shutdown since. Once the DOS screen appears, I just
shut down the computer; there is no scan disk operation on the next start up. I
haven't seen this method discussed on your list, so I thought I would pass it
along. Thanks, Don---and to all who
contributed to this discussion! Click to
email this item to a friend Several readers sent in various
version of the following item: "How to Please Your I.T. Department" 1. When you call us to
have your computer moved, be sure to leave it buried under half a ton of
postcards, baby pictures, stuffed animals, dried flowers, bowling trophies and
children's art. We don't have a life, and we find it deeply moving to catch a
fleeting glimpse of yours. 2. Don't write anything
down. Ever. We can play back the error messages from here. 3. When an I.T. person
says he's coming right over, go for coffee. That way you won't be there when we
need your password. It's nothing for us to remember 700 screen saver passwords. 4. When you call the
help desk, state what you want, not what's keeping you from getting it. We don't
need to know that you can't get into your mail because your computer won't power
on at all. 5. When I.T. support
sends you an E-Mail with high importance, delete it at once. We're just testing. 6. When an I.T. person
is eating lunch at his desk, walk right in and spill your guts right out. We
exist only to serve. 7. Send urgent email all
in uppercase. The mail server picks it up and flags it as a rush delivery. 8. When the photocopier
doesn't work, call computer support. There's electronics in it. 9. When something's
wrong with your home PC, dump it on an I.T. person's chair with no name, no
phone number and no description of the problem. We love a puzzle. 10. When an I.T. person
tells you that computer screens don't have cartridges in them, argue. We love a
good argument. 11. When an I.T. person
tells you that he'll be there shortly, reply in a scathing tone of voice:
"And just how many weeks do you mean by shortly?" That motivates us. 12. When the printer
won't print, re-send the job at least 20 times. Print jobs frequently get sucked
into black holes. 13. When the printer
still won't print after 20 tries, send the job to all 68 printers in the
company. One of them is bound to work. 14. Don't learn the
proper term for anything technical. We know exactly what you mean by "My
thingy blew up". 15. Don't use on-line
help. On-line help is for wimps. Click to
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See you next issue! Best, (Please recommend
the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000!I) An easier-to read formatted HTML version is
available in the "what's new" section of http://www.langa.com.
(The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [GMT-5] of the
issue date.) All past LangaList issues are also available via the same link. Why are you getting this newsletter? There are
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the advertisers: Langa Consulting LLC will never knowingly accept
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(Please see full disclaimer here: http://www.langa.com/legal.htm.)
Abbreviated version: The tips and other information given in the newsletter are
researched and are believed to be accurate, but we cannot and do not guarantee
that all the information here will work on all systems, for all users, all the
time. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind.
Neither Langa Consulting LLC, nor its employees nor contributors are responsible for
any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application
of any information presented here. This newsletter is a free service of Langa Consulting LLC and is Copyright © 2000 Langa Consulting LLC. All rights reserved.1)
Torture-Testing Netscape 6.0
http://www.langa.com/sendit3.htm
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Web Audio Report: Online Security
http://www.langa.com/sendit3.htm
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Shrinking Your Start Menu
C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs directory, right click, select New/Folder, and
then put all the similar Menu items inside that new folder.
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Getting It sdrawkcaB
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Win $10,000! (Really!)
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7) The Final Two Fast-Shutdown Tips?
Create a batch file with the following line in it
@exit
Then create a pif for the batch file.
On the Program tab click Advanced...
Check MS-DOS mode and Use current MS-DOS config...
Shortcuts to Shut Down And Restart Windows
By Neil J. Rubenking - February 22, 1999
http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/stories/solutions/0,8224,1512838,00.html
http://www.langa.com/sendit3.htm
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Just For Grins
http://www.langa.com/sendit3.htm
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Fred
(fred@langa.com)
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