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Please note: Older issues may contain information that is now out of date. How To Subscribe
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read formatted HTML version of this newsletter is available on line at The LangaList 2000-07-13 A Free Email
Newsletter from Fred
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In response to the Four-Part
"Memory Leaks" series on the WinMag site ( http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/14.htm
) many readers wrote in to mention "WinTop." For example, Cory Strom
said: Hi Fred, I
know it's a little late, but last month you asked for suggestions for free
memory and resource monitoring apps, and I have one! It's part of the Windows95
Kernel Toys and it's a Windows process watcher (Unix-like), and it's called
Wintop. Just download the Win 95 Kernel Toys from the Microsoft website to a
folder on your desktop, double-click the exe to expand the files, right-click
the Wintop.inf file, and choose install. (Be sure to look at the readme file). http://www.microsoft.com/Windows95/downloads/contents/WUToys/W95KernelToy/Default.asp Even though it's a Win95
program, (and it says right on the website that they're not intended for Win
98),I've found that many of the Win95 Kernel Toys (including Wintop) and the
Win95 Power Toys (with my fave,FlexiCD), work with Windows 98 and Win98SE.In
Wintop, you can kill processes, view how much memory each one uses or is
allocated, and change priorities. You can also see what percentage of the CPU
the program or thread uses, and although it doesn't actually show System
Resources, you can still get a pretty good idea which programs are resource
hogs. A very useful lil' program! Love your column! ---
Cory Strom Thanks Cory (and all who wrote about
it!). I'd written about WinTop before--- it's officially called the
"Windows Process Watcher," although the app window title still says
"WinTop." It does seem to work just fine under Win98, showing you
what's running and what percentage of your CPU's time each app is taking. It's
handy--- and it's free! Check it out! Click to
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I've already told you about Sun's
"StarOffice;" a free, full-featured office suite that's enough for
some people to abandon Microsoft and WordPerfect's suites. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-07-03.htm#5
and http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=staroffice&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000
) This week, reader James McLeod tips
us off to another newly-free suite--- one I hadn't heard of before: Heads up!! Software 602 is
now offering their office suite free. Its predecessor cost $49.95. This is
version 2000a. The photo editor alone is worth the 13MB download. Regards, ~Jim~ Thanks, Jim. I took a quick look at
the suite, and it seems pretty decent. I don't know if it's a full replacement
for a heavy-duty office suite (although there are for-a-fee add-ons you can buy
to extend the functionality), but for some it might be just fine, as-is. And,
unlike the Sun suite, you don't even have to register to download the file. (You
are supposed to register the software at install.) Nice find, Jim. Thanks. Click to
email this item to a friend Last issue, we discussed COPPA, the
USA's "Children's Online Privacy Protection Act" which just went into
effect in April; it requires a site owner to verify the ages of participants in
many online activities, such as chatrooms. One way a site owner can verify age
is by requesting a credit card number. And that's where it gets murky because a
COPPA-related age verification can look similar to a credit-card-theft scam. Kevan Judah did some digging and
found some sites that explain the new law. Because these are government sites, I
guess we may assume this info is from the horse's mouth--- although much that
goes on in Washington DC actually emanates from the other end of the beast: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.htm http://www.ftc.gov/os/1999/9910/childrensprivacy.pdf In short, "If you operate a
commercial Web site or an online service directed to children under 13 that
collects personal information from children *or* if you operate a general
audience Web site and have actual knowledge that you are collecting personal
information from children, you must comply with the Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act." By "personal information"
they mean "...individually identifiable information about a child that is
collected online, such as full name, home address, email address, telephone
number or any other information that would allow someone to identify or contact
the child. The Act and Rule also cover other types of information -- for
example, hobbies, interests and information collected through cookies or other
types of tracking mechanisms -- when they are tied to individually identifiable
information." Whether you're a consumer, parent,
or web site owner (or, like me, all three!) it might be worth the time to read
the above links so you'll know what's going on---and so you can help identify
legitimate COPPA age verification from the scams. Thanks, Kevan! Click to
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The item "To Reboot Or
Not?" in the last issue ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-07-10.htm#1
), prompted several readers to write along the lines of this email from Ezra
Ben-meir: A fortnight ago I read a
report which said that Windows MUST reboot at least once every 50 days,
otherwise it freezes up. How badly, I do not remember, nor where the report
was.... Sorry about that- if I come across it again, I'll email you the info.
Regards, ezra ben-meir No matter where you saw it, Ezra,
it's out-of-date info. Yes, Windows 9x had a very silly bug caused by a bad
internal timer on one VXD that caused Windows to hang every 49.7 days(!). Sad to
say, the bug went unnoticed for a long time because few people could keep their
Windows system running that long. <g> But over a year ago, the bug came to
light as information such as that presented in the four-part memory leak-fix
series at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/14.htm
allowed users to get their systems tuned well enough to run for very long
periods indeed. They ran smack into the "49.7 Day Hang" bug, and an
embarrassed Microsoft scrambled to fix it. If you've been keeping your system
up to date with all patches and bugfixes, you probably already have this problem
corrected. But if not, or if you'd just like more information on one of the
stranger bugs to come to light, you can find it in the MS Knowledgebase in
article Article ID: Q216641: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q216/6/41.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0 Click to
email this item to a friend The Recommend-it site
gives away up to $10,000 as an incentive to use their service to recommend
newsletters like this one! 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
information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win $10,000 or
other prizes from the folks at "Recommend-It:" http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 Or, win a copy of
"Poor Richard's E-Mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Bulletins,
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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! Click to
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We recently discussed how you can
add various items to Windows' free "Task Scheduler" or a batch file to
have almost any tool or application run at a preset time and perform certain
predetermined functions. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-07-06.htm#1
) But reader Scott had a question
shared by many: Fred, I know you have gone
into length about batch files, however, I have a question ... how do you figure
out what the command line should be for a function in a specific program (if at
all)? i.e.. I use a Voice over IP/Internet phone program and it allows me to
save 'Speed Dials' ... how could I determine what the command line would be for
those Speed Dials to be executed in a batch file? Thanks, Scott First, manually launch the app and
open the help file: Search the help file for "command line" or
"DOS" or some such. If that doesn't help, open a DOS box
(Start/Programs/MS-DOS Prompt) and type the name of the app, followed by a
space, a slash, and a question mark, like this: nameofapp.exe /? Not all winapps support command-line
actions, though, so it's possible that neither of the above methods will get you
what you want. And if that's the case--- if the command-line options simply
aren't available for some app you're trying to use--- there's no way to use the
Task Scheduler's command line options. Click to
email this item to a friend 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
) Speaking of which: Here's another
eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal: Click to
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Use The
Same References That Fred Uses--- At Up To 20% Discounts! Check out
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David Fessenden writes: Fred, I am an avid reader
of your Langa List and I loved your recent piece on Resource Leaks. To that
point, I absolutely *love* Netscape Communicator 4.7 (using 4.73), but I have a
problem. I tested my system per your suggestions in your first segment, and
noticed that Communicator is a *huge* resource hog (not to mention it crashes on
me a lot). I can't bring myself to switch over to Internet Explorer *anything*
due to the number of security issues I would instantly inherit. I was
considering switching over to Opera, but then I loose a lot of Java and
Shockwave faculties. In addition, all of my mail in in Communicator, and I like
the integration of browser and email. As you can see, I have my reasons for
keeping Communicator, but it is becoming more of a problem. Any suggestions
would be greatly appreciated! Please pass this on to other readers, I know they
have suggestions as well. Thank you, David Fessenden All browsers are a tradeoff; all
have strengths and weaknesses. All you can do is find the one whose flaws least
impact you--- sort of picking the "least bad" solution. <g> You can get a reasonably
comprehensive and current list of browsers spotted "in the wild" (that
is, surfing the web) at http://browserwatch.internet.com/stats.html
. You'll probably see some old familiar names there--- but you may also find
some lesser-known browsers too (such as the "Science Traveller
International 1X" browser!). Check 'em out! [ FLASH: As this issue was
being completed, Microsoft released IE 5.5; no longer in beta, this is the
for-real, shipping version of the new browser, and is the same browser as is
built into Windows Millenium. Info/download available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.htm
] Click to
email this item to a friend Reader "JW" combined the
US' Independence Day celebrations with the DOJ/Microsoft news to yield: Microsoft Addresses Justice
Department Accusations REDMOND, Wash. - In direct
response to accusations made by the Department of Justice, the Microsoft Corp.
announced today that it will be acquiring the federal government of the United
States of America for an undisclosed sum. "It's actually a
logical extension of our planned growth," said Microsoft chairman Bill
Gates, "It really is going to be a positive arrangement for everyone." Microsoft representatives
held a briefing in the Oval Office of the White House with U.S. President Bill
Clinton, and assured members of the press that changes will be
"minimal." The United States will be managed as a wholly owned
division of Microsoft. An initial public offering is planned for July of next
year, and the federal government is expected to be profitable by "Q2 2001
at latest," according to Microsoft president Steve Ballmer. In a related announcement,
Bill Clinton stated that he had "willingly and enthusiastically"
accepted a position as a vice president with Microsoft, and will continue to
manage the United States government, reporting directly to Bill Gates. When
asked how it felt to give up the mantle of executive authority to Gates, Clinton
smiled and referred to it as "a relief." He went on to say that Gates
has a "proven track record," and that U.S. citizens should offer Gates
their "full support and confidence." Clinton will reportedly be
earning several times the $200,000 annually he has earned as U.S. president, in
his new role at Microsoft. Gates dismissed a
suggestion that the U.S. Capitol be moved to Redmond as "silly,"
though did say that he would make executive decisions for the U.S. government
from his existing office at Microsoft headquarters. Gates went on to say that
the House and Senate would "of course" be abolished. "Microsoft
isn't a democracy," he observed, "and look how well we're doing." When asked if the rumored
attendant acquisition of Canada was proceeding, Gates said, "We don't deny
that discussions are taking place." About Microsoft: Founded in
1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software
for personal computers, and democratic government. The company offers a wide
range of products and services for public, business and personal use. About the United States:
Founded in 1776, the United States of America (USA) is the most successful
nation in the history of the world, and has been a beacon of democracy and
opportunity for over 200 years. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the United
States is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation. Click to
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