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Please note: Older issues may contain information that is now out of date. How To Subscribe
and Unsubscribe is at the end of this note. Mailing List Trouble? See http://www.langa.com/help.txt Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000 !) An easier-to
read formatted HTML version of this newsletter is available on line at The LangaList 2000-10-23 A Free Email
Newsletter from Fred
Langa --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---
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It's been a long haul and we've
covered an enormous amount of ground, but we're finally reaching the end of our
"Save Your Butt With DOS" series that's been running on the WinMag.Com
site. And it's a spectacular finish,
offering 84 free reader-written batch files you can download and use for system
maintenance, as general utilities, as teaching tools, and more. As you may recall, the "Save
Your Butt With DOS" series was and is designed to help you create a
DOS-based maintenance/repair/recovery toolkit you could stick on a shelf against
future need; a toolkit that can help you get yourself out of system trouble even
if you can't run Windows itself, or if you end up in a DOS-free version of
Windows (such as Windows 2000) or a reduced-DOS version (such as WinMe). Along the way, we discussed how to
create your own batch files, and I invited you to send in the best files you'd
created. Many, many of you did just that, and I received hundreds of sample
files to try out: Some were small utilities that
performed one function that could be used as-is or within other, larger files
(such as a tiny batch file that stores the date as separate year, month, and day
system variables that can easily be accessed by any other program). Others were
extremely sophisticated, such a batch file used as part of a corporation's
nightly ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) processing; or a batch file that
collects, sorts, and automatically faxes a day's messages to a geographically
scattered workforce. Some even rivaled commercial apps, such as a batch file
technique that uses the DOS version of PKZip to perform a complete, compressed
system backup. I spent several days last week going
through all the submitted files, and it was an amazing experience. First and
foremost, thanks to everyone who participated! All the submitted files offered
something of interest--- a clever technique, an interesting application, an
unusual approach. It wasn't easy, but I finally boiled down the entries to 84
files. I chose these particular files because they all can be extremely useful
either as-is, or as teaching tools that will spark ideas that you can modify for
your own particular needs. The 84 top submissions fall into
seven general categories: Some of the submissions are
ready-to-run; others contain information (and links to information) that you can
adapt as you wish; and still others (especially the more complex ones) show the
batch file in plain-text form that you can cut, paste, and edit to suit your own
specific needs. The column, and the
descriptions/links to all the batch files, will go live midday [UT-4] on Monday
October 23rd. The column will appear under the "Explorer" heading on http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/
; if you arrive early, you'll see the previous column "Save Your Butt With
DOS: Pulling It All Together;" just try again a little later. If you want to try a direct link,
once the column is posted, it should be at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/22.htm
. (If you arrive early, the link won't work.) Check out the batch files, and then
join the discussion! Click to
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Remember Windows'
"HyperTerminal?" You probably have it installed somewhere on your
system, but you may never have used it. With dial-up networking and always-on
network connections, Terminal-style apps--- although they once were the primary
means of connecting to online services--- have largely gone the way of the
dinosaur. I haven't used my copy in years. But Hyperterminal is in every copy
of Win98/SE/ME, and Win2k; and it contains a common "Buffer Overflow"
vulnerability that could "allow a malicious user to execute arbitrary code
on another user's system." More Info & FAQ: Patches (there are brand-new URLs
from Microsoft. If you have trouble linking, see the FAQ above): Windows 98 and 98SE Windows Me Windows 2000 (Gold and SP
1) Click to
email this item to a friend Er, that's "mirror image." Last issue's "How Spammers
Obscure Their URLs" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-19.htm#3
) contained a very weird error: The concepts discussed were fine, but I
deconstructed the URL from left to right when I should have done it right to
left. The weird part is that the final
numeric URL worked just fine on my primary system here, although it should not
have; that's why I didn't catch the error. I have no clue *why* it worked, but
it's such an obscure problem, I'm loathe to spend a lot of time tracking it
down. But the bottom line is I got the numbers in the wrong order. (And thanks
to Al Jack, who was the first to point out that my explanation was turned
around.) Reader Tony Melius also suggested: In relation to your article
on "How Spammers Obscure Their URLs", there's a "Quick'n'dirty
IP-to-DWord Converter" page at http://www.fichtner.net/tools/ip2dword/
that might be worth mentioning. I found the URL in an article "How to
Obscure Any URL" at http://www.nwi.net/~pchelp/obscure.htm
on the PC-Help website. A number of other readers also
mentioned the http://www.nwi.net/~pchelp/obscure.htm
site. If you'd like more detail on obscured URLs, it has a very thorough
explanation indeed. Wish I'd seen it before--- it would have spared me some
left/right embarrassment. <g> Reader Kenn R. Fagans also pointed
out that: There is a wonderful whois,
trace, DNS, NTP, etc tool called Sam Spade ( http://www.samspade.org/
). One of the tools is a URL "decoder". It does a fine job ... even
decodes those pesky URL encoded URL's. Reader Wayne Quigley suggests using
Ping, the simple app that lurks in most \Windows folders: There's an easy way to get
the true IP address when it is hidden like your example http://3522045567
: Just ping it. Open a DOS window and type ping 3522045567 and it will return the
(normal-format) IP address. (Remove the "http://" part first.) !ni etorw ohw lla ot sknahT Click to
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"Oinkage" (piggish files
and apps that consume way too much disk space) has been a steady theme of
late--- partly because there are so many porcine programs out there! (See http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=oinkage&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000
) Reader Howard Merrill found Oinkage
in several apps I don't use, and so would not otherwise have been able to tell
you about: Hiya Fred, Great
newsletters! Wanted to pass along a few
of my own oinkages.... Freeware, trialware, shareware.... I have a trialware
version of NetSonic and Freeware version of Gator. NetSonic (A surf enhancer
via "advanced" caching) creates its own cache directory. It has
default values and can be tailored to whatever amount of disk space you would
like. It pays to check out the options since you may not want the default
directory or space usage (I use a separate partition of my hard drive for temp
files, cache etc to reduce fragmentation to my other partitions). Gator can be your best
friend or worst enemy! It fills in passwords and other forms for you
automatically. Very useful, but, it maintains sub directories for every
*&^*&^%*& site you visit even if you tell it not to
"remember" the form data you supplied! This gets to be a tremendous
amount of space! The options/settings allow you to piece by piece through every
site you ever visited and delete what you don't want. It's time consuming and a
real pain but if you like the fact that it remembers the stuff you want, you
have to deal with it. I've yet to get it to put the additional sub directories
on that same partition so it's eating my C drive right now. I might deinstall it
and reinstall it to that "temp" partition just to minimize the issue
some. Thanks, Howard! Click to
email this item to a friend With so many new readers (10,000
just last month alone) many topics keep coming up again and again, so please let
me take a moment to show you how you can dig up answers to many questions
without the delay of an email query: For example, reader Wes McIngvale
asked: A few issues ago you laid
out what you had implemented on your system to increase Internet Security... Distinctly remember
it.....and I implemented on my system..and it worked fine.. Problem is I had a
crash.....and can't seem to locate that article... Keep up the great
work...enjoy your column better than the 6 industry books am currently
subscribed to...because you deal with practical and current issues .......
intelligently... Thanks for the kind words, Wes. But
we've covered so much about security issues, it's hard to know which specific
item you mean. But the free Langa.Com search page
at http://www.langa.com/search.htm
probably can help: It has both simple and advanced search capabilities, and can
dig out literally *anything* that's *ever* been mentioned in *any* LangaList
issue. So, for this or any other question
you may have about any topic in the LangaList, please check the search engine
first: it can save you a ton of time! Click to
email this item to a friend On Oct 31, I'll choose two monthly
winners of 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." To have a shot at winning, 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 a book! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2 The more times you make a
recommendation, the greater your chances are of winning! Or, if you'd like to try to win
$10,000(!), try this link (full details also available here): Either way, thank you, and good
luck! Click to
email this item to a friend We recently covered AOL's email's
inability properly to handle URLs from external (non-AOL) sources. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-10-12.htm#9
) Reader Robs440 had some news: It goes without saying that
AOL's hyperlink email situation isn't the best. BUT WAIT! AOL 6.0 is due out in
30 to 60 days and supports HTML in the email! I've been beta testing it since
July and its working good so far. Only a few minor things here and there (most
of which has been fixed). I get HTML mail from windows media player page all the
time and it comes in full HTML. Also the new AOL address book is going to be on
AOL's server so no matter where you sign on it will be there. Plus the address
book looks more like outlook express letting you put phone numbers, snail mail
addresses for home and work, and even birthdays and anniversaries. The good news is that AOL members
will be far more easily able to exchange links with the rest of the online
universe. But the bad news is twofold. First,
there's a new version of AOL coming. The last version--- 5.0--- was/is so awful
it's sparked class-action lawsuits for ruining so many users' PCs. (See http://www.hagens-berman.com/html/ca-aca-content-aol.htm
, and thanks to reader David Miller for the link). I have *zero* confidence that
AOL will get version 6 done right, at least any time soon, and I *strongly* urge
all AOL users to avoid it until it's been tested and debugged in the real world.
By real users. Don't just take AOL's word that the new software is OK. The second problem is that, of all
the online services, AOL is by far the worst when it comes to protecting its
users from spam. Plus, AOL itself has been repeatedly accused of assisting its
advertisers to spam---er, excuse me--- to send "targeted advertising"
to its members. AOL, and AOL member accounts, also are a favorite target for
malicious hackers. The thought of placing all my
contact information, address book, etc., on AOL's servers gives me the willies.
No way, no how. 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 email this item to a friend --- ( Your
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Frequent flyer? Travel by air for
vacations? Pilot, or wannabe? From Canada, reader "Gerry V" sends
along these " RULES OF THE AIR:" 1. Every takeoff is
optional. Every landing is mandatory. 2. If you push the stick
forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller.
That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get
bigger again. 3. Flying isn't dangerous.
Crashing is what's dangerous. 4. It's always better to be
down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here. 5. The ONLY time you have
too much fuel is when you're on fire. 6. The propeller is just a
big fan in front of the plane used to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, you
can actually watch the pilot start sweating. 7. When in doubt, hold on
to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky. 8. A 'good' landing is one
from which you can walk away. A 'great' landing is one after which they can use
the plane again. 9. Learn from the mistakes
of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself. 10. You know you've landed
with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp. 11. The probability of
survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of
arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa. 12. Never let an aircraft
take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier. 13. Stay out of clouds. The
silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in
the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been
known to hide out in clouds. 14. Always try to keep the
number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you've made. 15. There are three simple
rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are. 16. You start with a bag
full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of
experience before you empty the bag of luck. 17. Helicopters can't fly;
they're just so ugly the earth repels them. 18. If all you can see out
of the window is ground that's going round and round and all you can hear is
commotion coming from the passenger compartment, things are not at all as they
should be. 19. In the ongoing battle
between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground
going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose. 20. Good judgment comes
from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment. 21. It's always a good idea
to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible. 22. Keep looking around.
There's always something you've missed. 23. Remember, gravity is
not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to repeal. 24. The three most useless
things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, and a tenth of
a second ago. Click to
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See you next issue! Best, Please recommend
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the advertisers: Langa Consulting LLC will never knowingly accept
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of or for the products, companies or services mentioned in the ads. Disclaimer:
(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
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