Lots of people are checking out the "Resource Leaks, Part III" column ( http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/13.htm ). It's all about "memory leaks" and "resource leaks;" memory problems that can cause system instability or crashes, no matter how much RAM you have. In Part III, we pull together all the information that's been presented so far and lay out a 5-step process for preventing most leaks, and managing the rest: A more-stable, faster Windows is the result.

Windows' "Virtual Memory"  is rich area for tweaking. A separate article here http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/1999/0913.htm runs through all the whys and hows of setting up a swap file that's faster and requires less housekeeping than the standard Windows variety. Spend some time getting your swapfile right and you'll reap the rewards for a long time to come.

Check out the excellent reader posts in the discussion areas associated with bolth articles: You'll find pointers to more information from Microsoft and other sources, reader input on other ways optimally to set the Virtual Memory, additional steps some readers have taken to tweak their system so they'll run for weeks without requiring a reboot, and more.

In all--- it's TONS of good info. Check it out at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/13.htm .

[Geek Trivia Quiz: Who can tell me where the wonderful phrase "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" comes from? I'll give the answer in the next issue.]

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2) The Missing Link

Reader Mike Freiman asked:

Fred, I do appreciate your newsletter very much. One minor plaint You often refer us to "the Explorer section of Winmag.com". Pretend (if you can) that you don't know how to get there from Winmag's entry page. Try and find simply the word Explorer on that page. I went there shortly after you stated that Resource Leaks, Part 3 would be posted. I visually searched for the word Explorer. A Find revealed that the word Explorer was not present on the page (unless it's in a graphic, which I don't find either). After hitting links for Help, Columns, Newsletters and a couple of others, I finally hit the Windows link and concluded that Part 3 wasn't up yet.

Now that the column is posted, the word Explorer appears only once in tiny black text after the article listing under the Windows heading. This amongst a great deal of text and graphics on a relatively long, scrolling page.

Perhaps you can see now that, while you evidently feel obligated to point us to the front door of Winmag, more explicit directions from that point would be appreciated. <g> Off to read the column ...

Partially in response to the "missing link" problem (see above), I've reworked the "HotSpots" page so that--- like the LangaList home page--- you'll get one-click access to the latest columns and newsletters, as soon as they're available. The LangaList home page is at http://www.langa.com . The HotSpots home page is at http://www.browsertune.com/flanga/hotspots.htm .

HotSpot's motto is "Every Day, The Best, Most Interesting, Most Useful, and Strangest  Sites the Web has To Offer!"

Here's a sampling of recent HotSpots:

11 June 2000: These can't be real! http://www.nbc.com/NBCconan/index.asp?section=actualitems

12 June 2000: Lots of great info! http://servercc.oakton.edu/~wittman/find/internet.htm

13 June 2000: Tons of space, for free!
http://www.webwizards.net/useful/wbfs.htm

14 June 2000: USB Trouble?
http://www.usbman.com/

15 June 2000: Interesting!
http://www.unimobile.com/

16 June 2000: Automated fixes for HTML woes. http://www.svcc.cc.il.us/admin/drhtml/htdocs/intro.html

17 June 2000: New Version of WinMag's free "WatchDog" antivirus app!
http://content.techweb.com/winmag//fixes/watchdog/default.htm

(To avoid triggering email filters, I'll replace the letter "e"  with an asterisk in sensitive spots in the following item:)

By now you've heard of  the "IRC/Stag*s.worm." It's a script that spreads via Pirch, Outlook, and mIRC, and also spreads to available mapped drives. It arrives as a message describing  "Th* mal* and f*mal* stag*s of lif*" and comes with an attachment called LIF*_STAG*S.TXT.SHS . (Depending on how you've set up your system, the SHS file extension may or may not be visible.)

"SHS" is a "scrap" file; it's one of many formats that can carry virii. (See http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter/102099langa.htm )

But here's the key thing: As with all attachment virii, if you don't click on it, it can do you no harm.

Remember, the 100% certain way to avoid ALL email attachment viruses of ANY type is simply never to open or run any unknown/unscanned attached file. What could be simpler?

As for scanning them: Adjust your antivirus app to scan for SHS (if it doesn't already); or do what I do, and tell your antivirus app to scan *all* files, with NO exceptions. That way, you don't have to worry about any new or unfamiliar file types; if it's on your system, it can be found.

Despite the breathless news reports, virii of this type are EXTREMELY easy to defeat. With the simplest precautions (don't click; always scan) you'll be 100% safe.

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5) Outlook Patch Woes

If you recall, when I first told you about the new Outlook security patch, I told you it was going to be draconian.

Well, it is. 8-)

Reader Henkjan Olthuis writes from the Netherlands:

Thanks for a great newsletter. 3 thoughts that relate to the outlook upgrade:

#1: You may want to point your readers tot WOW ("Woody's Office Watch" http://www.woodyswatch.com ), they have looked at the outlook patch in detail and did not like what they saw (in fact they advised their readers not to use the update!). In addition to this, they have made there own little program "cure for love" which will change the security settings just like the patch, but won't cripple the contacts.

#2: the best safeguard against most viri (it would have stopped Melissa) was (and still is) available for download at Microsoft's site: the word viewer (also available are pp and xls viewers). there even is a word2000 viewer for 16 bit (yes win3.x!) OSs. install this on a system that all ready has word installed, and it will ask (during install) what you want as default dor opening .doc files: word or wordviewer. unless you have a good reason to do otherwise (see the kb article on this) choose wordviewer as default. you can still open any .doc in word by rightclicking and selecting word from the list. none of the viewers will run macro's, so no way you can catch a macro virus using these babies. and in addition it is much faster to load the viewer to look at a .doc that it is to start full blown word (especially so on slow machines like the 486 I use to send/receive my mail).

#3: can you convince people to start sending plain e-mail messages instead of attached word files for plain text (so containing no tables or other formatting)? it's ridiculous to receive a 60k message that contains less than 1 page of text.....

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6) $10,000 For Your Trouble?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. You just may win $10,000(!), your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber (full details also available via this link):

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

Or, win a copy of "Poor Richard's E-Mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Bulletins, Discussion Groups and Other Powerful Communications Tools." This book has been described as "An excellent, straightforward manual on email publishing, banner ads, driving traffic and especially ethics." (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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7) More HotMail Hassles--- And WorkArounds

HotMail's been having a lot of trouble lately: A whole pile of users were locked out of their own email for about a week recently, and when they got back in, they found their accounts had been entirely offline--- any emails sent to the HotMail account during the outage were apparently lost! (Reader Dana Puopolo was one of the affected users, and sent this link with more info: http://betanews.efront.com/article.php3?sid=961081011 )

Reader Gregg Bodell also found another workaound for the "dead link" problem within HotMail messages:

Greetings Fred;

As an avid reader of the LangaList and a Hotmail user, I have seen first hand the flawed format and bad links that others have mentioned. But I think I found a cure that you might want to share with your Hotmail readers.

Open the Langalist and then click on REPLY. Go to the To: and insert your own Hotmail address; ie: yourownname@hotmail.com Then click SEND. The result should be a newly formatted second copy of the LangaList with working links.

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8) They Loaded The Code

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm, and maybe you can join the hundreds and hundreds of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://www.langa.com/link.txt )

Due to the length of the last few newsletters, I've been unable to present as many new code-loader sites as before--- but the normal number of sites will return in the next issue! Meanwhile:

• View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site (click as often as you wish)
  http://www.langa.com/cgi-local/rand_link.pl
• Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
  http://www.langa.com/readersites.htm

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Just FYI--- it's not even in general beta yet, but there's a new version of ZoneAlarm in the works; it should be in preview very soon. Stay tuned.

If you don't already know about ZoneAlarm, you're missing something good. Check out:
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=zonealarm&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000

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10) Just For Grins

I'm sure you've all see the bonehead-obvious warning labels many products now carry, such as "Caution: Liquid is hot!" on a cup of coffee or "Heat before eating" on a frozen dinner. Duh.

Reader and frequent contributor A.Q. (Tony) King found this wonderful list of potential product warnings that are all could be used because they're 100% true and for-real, based on our best current understanding of Physics:

WARNING: This Product Warps Space and Time in Its Vicinity.

WARNING: This Product Attracts Every Other Piece of Matter in the universe, Including the Products of Other Manufacturers, with a Force Proportional to the Product of the Masses and Inversely Proportional to the Distance Between Them.

CAUTION: The Mass of This Product Contains the Energy Equivalent of 85 Million Tons of TNT per Net Ounce of Weight.

HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE: This Product Contains Minute Electrically Charged Particles Moving at Velocities in Excess of Five Hundred Million Miles Per Hour.

CONSUMER NOTICE: Because of the "Uncertainty Principle," It Is Impossible for the Consumer to Find Out at the Same Time Both Precisely Where This Product Is and How Fast It Is Moving.

ADVISORY: There is an Extremely Small but Nonzero Chance That, Through a Process Known as "Tunneling," This Product May Spontaneously Disappear from Its Present Location and Reappear at Any Random Place in the Universe, Including Your Neighbor's Domicile. The Manufacturer Will Not Be Responsible for Any Damages or Inconvenience That May Result.

READ THIS BEFORE OPENING PACKAGE: According to Certain Suggested Versions of the Grand Unified Theory, the Primary Particles Constituting this Product May Decay to Nothingness Within the Next Four Hundred Million Years.

THIS IS A 100% MATTER PRODUCT: In the Unlikely Event That This Merchandise Should Contact Antimatter in Any Form, a Catastrophic Explosion Will Result.

ATTENTION: Despite Any Other Listing of Product Contents Found Hereon, the Consumer is Advised That, in Actuality, This Product Consists Of 99.9999999999% Empty Space.