How To Subscribe
and Unsubscribe is at the end of this note. Mailing List Trouble? See http://www.langa.com/help.txt
Questions about the advertisers? See the end of
this note. Please also see legal notices at the end of
this note.
Want an easier-to read formatted HTML version? See http://www.langa.com/whats_new.htm (The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [GMT-5] of the issue date.)
Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000 !)
The LangaList
28-Feb-00
A Free Email Newsletter from Fred
Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware,
Software, and Time Online
-------------( Please Visit This
LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
If you've already taken the
essential steps outlined "Four Myths of Online Security," (see http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/04.htm)
you've already closed the worst security holes found in most PC networking
setups. Now that you have good basic online security from hacker attacks, you're
ready to add the final touches that will make your PC safe from virtually all
the common, casual types of attacks, and quite resistant to even highly-skilled
or devious attacks as well. This combination of an inherently safe setup PLUS an
add-on security product also means you have two levels of defense; and if
anything goes wrong with one level, you'll still have the other to protect you. But before you add any security
products to your system, use an external test to verify that your setup is still
OK: In fact, it's a good idea to schedule routine checks of your system's
security (say, weekly or monthly) to ensure nothing has altered your basic
security setup, and your PC is still basically safe. Long-time readers know we've
previously discussed three excellent, free sites that will try to probe your
internet connection from the outside, helping you to detect and correct
potential security problems: http://grc.com/intro.htm I've been using the three sites
in series: they test similar things (so there is some overlap) but with
different methods and emphases. By running tests on the three sites one after
the other, you can sniff your system's Internet connection for all the most
common security trouble spots. If you pass all three tests, you can be pretty
sure that you're secure from the most common types of hack attacks. The Gibson Research site ( http://grc.com/intro.htm
) also has extensive help files that are worth reading. In particular, if you
find you have trouble closing a specific port (such as the infamous Port 139/NetBIOS),
Gibson has extensive step-by-step instructions on ways to ensure the port gets
closed and stays closed: See http://grc.com/su-bondage.htm. Once your PC passes all the above
tests, you're ready to add a security-boosting application. There are many, many
choices, but perhaps the hottest category of all right now is "Personal
Firewalls." Regardless of whether or not
you're behind a corporate firewall, network address translator or proxy, these
local firewalls sit on your PC and monitor your Internet traffic to block
inappropriate access from hackers. Some go even further and watch for unusual
outbound activity--- the sort of surreptitious "phoning home" that a
Trojan Horse program might do, sending information about you or your PC back to
some third party source, without your knowledge or consent. In this week's column at
WinMag.Com, I'll present a mini-roundup of a full dozen(!) free and low-cost
personal firewall products That's a *lot* of choices, so you're almost almost
certain to find one that will fit the bill and boost your security to very high
levels. Come check out the column, and
then join the discussion: What firewall products have you used? What's your
experience been? Which one(s) do you recommend, and which aren't worth the
trouble or the price? Join in, starting Monday midafternoon (GMT-5; 28-Feb-00)
at http://content.techweb.com/winmag/. Click to
email this item to a friend -------------(
Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
It's time to call the shot on
Win2K. In two previous columns, I discussed the ten things I liked best and
least about the new OS. (See http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter/011200langa.htm
and http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter/012600langa.htm.) Starting last week, I invited
you, your fellow readers, and the readers of InformationWeek Online to vote in a
live, interactive poll. The voting is still going on, but the results are
already interesting! Now it's your turn: Please click
on over to http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter
and cast your vote in the live, interactive poll. When you submit your vote, you'll
be able to see where your vote falls in the range of responses collected to
date, and also will see the percentages accumulated to date by everyone else
who's voted. It's interesting stuff! After you've checked out the
votes, please click over to the discussion area to discuss whether it's
"Yea or Nay for Win2K!" Click to
email this item to a friend Last week I told you how I'd been
contacted by a group of lawyers handling a class-action suit against AOL for the
problems its Version 5 software can cause. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/feb-24-00.htm#5,
http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/02.htm
and http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/03.htm
). In last week's issue, I explained
why I chose to decline to participate in any legal action. Amazing, the very next day I was
contacted by a second group of lawyers also starting class-action procedures
against AOL. (Can you say "Blood in the water?") Again, I declined to
participate. Many readers wrote to say they
agreed with me when I said I had ethical qualms... ...about the
too-litigious society we live in. AOL didn't force anyone to install or upgrade;
people chose to do so. I don't think it's correct to say "I choose to
install a piece of cruddy software, and now I want someone to sue the software
vendor for me." I think lawsuits of that sort are silly and serve mainly
only to enrich a small number of lawyers who look for companies with deep
pockets to sue. It seems, to me, that their motive is rarely to right wrongs;
it's more often to get themselves rich. But other readers disagreed,
saying that AOL is a defective product (which I agree with) and that the company
should be legally liable for damages. But note the AOL "Terms of
Service:" MEMBER EXPRESSLY AGREES
THAT THE USE OF AOL, AOL SOFTWARE, AND THE INTERNET IS AT MEMBER'S SOLE
RISK....AOL SOFTWARE...[IS] PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS
AVAILABLE" FOR YOUR USE, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED... AOL'S ENTIRE LIABILITY AND YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY WITH RESPECT TO THE
USE OF ANY SOFTWARE PROVIDED OR USED BY AOL SHALL BE THE REPLACEMENT OF ANY AOL
SOFTWARE FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY OTHER
DISPUTE WITH AOL IS THE CANCELLATION OF YOUR ACCOUNT.... IN NO CASE SHALL AOL BE
LIABLE FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF AOL, THE INTERNET OR
FOR ANY OTHER CLAIM RELATED IN ANY WAY TO YOUR MEMBERSHIP WITH AOL. There's lots more, too. If you
have an AOL account, check keyword TOS. Note how carefully worded the
language is: *IF* the AOL software can be proven to be defective (and we're
talking "defective" in a legal sense), then AOL promises to replace
the software with a non-defective copy. So, AOL makes some changes, rolls out an
improved "Version 6" or some such, and it's end of story. Big deal. Yes, some jurisdictions don't
allow such broad-brush "no remedy" clauses because they can be used by
sleazy companies to foist bad products on the world and escape the consequences.
But even so, I think the odds are vanishingly small that any end users will
actually gain anything meaningful for these anti-AOL suits, anywhere. But maybe I'm wrong; we'll see.
In any case, I still feel my original suggestion of voting with your
dollars---ceasing to do business with any company you feel has given you a bad
deal---and convincing your friends to do the same, is actually the best course
of all. See the next item, below, for a
slight (and funny) revision of this suggestion. <g> Click to
email this item to a friend -------------(
Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
Reader Scott Slayman writes: LOL! Thanks, Scott! Click to
email this item to a friend Tomorrow (Feb 29),
I'll choose another monthly winner 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): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 Either way, thank
you, and good luck! Click to
email this item to a friend Reader Dennis Peek sends this
along: Fred, below is a web
site for a company that claims to have figured out how to get broadband data
transmission through the power grid. The November 9, 1999 press release
announces a patent for this technology. And there is a link "In the
News" to several news stories on the topic. Have you heard of this?
It sounds too good to be true. But I thought you and the readers might be
interested. As a rural resident whose one and only broadband choice is DirecPC
(expensive and broadband in one direction only), I'm always on the lookout for
something better. Thanks for doing such a great job on the Langa
Letter.---Dennis Thanks, Dennis. I believe a
Canadian company was performing tests a year or two ago, as well. It'd be nice
to have this option become widely available because for high-speed digital
services such as DSL and ISDN to work, you have to be within a couple miles of a
phone company "switch" with no repeaters or amplifiers between you and
the switch. For cable modems to work, you have to have cable access (obviously)
and your cable company must have a digital (usually fiber optic) two-way
infrastructure. People who live in or near urbanized areas usually can get at
least one kind of fast access, but people in deep suburbs or rural areas have
been out of luck for any high-speed land-based service. Maybe that will change; it'll be
worth keeping an eye on this technology. Click to
email this item to a friend -------------(
Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
Like to see what your fellow
readers are up to? Here's an eclectic selection of reader sites--- some
professional, some very personal--- from among the many readers who have taken
me up on my "Load the Code" offer. Do you have a home page or website?
(It doesn't matter what size.) Please click on over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm,
and maybe your page can be featured here too! http://www.up-link.net/~jim-d/ Click to
email this item to a friend Here's a *very* clever and
interesting suggestion from reader Padraic Renaghan: I just recently started
receiving your newsletter and am impressed so far. I have been reading about
how-to opt out of Doubleclick tracking in a number of online sources, and that
it may or may not actually work. I have a better, simplier, more effective
method for blocking doubleclick for MSIE browsers. Add *.doubleclick.net to the
list of sites in the "Restricted Sites" security zone in the
Tools->Internet Options-->Security window from the MSIE menu. The
Restricted Sites zone has cookies, both permanent and session, disabled by
default. Doing this means double-click cannot put any cookies on your PC. You
should also find your cookies folder, usually under c:\windows, and delete
anything with doubleclick in the name. Using restricted sites does not effect
the sites that include doubleclick banners, just the doubleclick banner itself -
I used http://www.cnn.com/TECH/ to test this method and it worked like a charm. You can use this method
to add other advertisers that use cookies as well: admaximize.com Great idea, Padraic, thanks! Click to
email this item to a friend Reader "Fprunier" sent
this in--- from his AOL account! If AOL built cars: 1. The AOL car would
have a TOP speed of 40 MPH yet have a 200 MPH speedometer. Click to
email this item to a friend -------------( Please Visit This
LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------( the above is an
advertisement )--------------
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
only two ways to get on the list (direct email request or via the WinMag mail
list signup page) so if you're getting this newsletter; your name came to me
through one of those channels. SUBSCRIBE (it's free!): Send email to subscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net About
the advertisers: Langa Consulting LLC will never knowingly accept
advertising for a fraudulent product, company or service. However, Langa Consulting LLC makes no implied or explicit warranty, recommendation or endorsement
of or for the products, companies or services mentioned in the ads. Disclaimer:
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) Making Your PC Secure Online, Part 2
http://www.dslreports.com/r3/dsl/secureme
http://www.antionline.com/
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page2)
Votes Are Coming In: Yea or Nay on Win2K?
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page3)
Wow! Heavy Response to AOL Class-Action Suit Item!
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page4)
Nothing Funny About Lawyers?
>If you're angry about AOL (or Microsoft, or any company) then
my
>suggestion is for you to avoid using their software, and use your
>influence to convince your friends and business associates to do
>likewise. Consider this: If each of the 100,000 LangaList readers
>could convince just three cohorts to drop software product X, and each
>of those three found three more friends who'd drop the system, you're
>talking 1.3 million people dropping the software. For each additional
>generation of software-droppers, the number grows....
Fred I have better idea:
If you're angry at lawyers then my suggestion is for you to avoid using lawyers,
and use your influence to convince your friends and business associates to do
likewise. Consider this: If each of the 100,000 LangaList readers could convince
just three cohorts to drop lawyers, and each of those three found three more
friends who'd drop the lawyers, you're talking 1.3 million people dropping
lawyers. For each additional generation of lawyer-droppers, the number grows....
Notice in the above paragraph I did not mention where to drop these
lawyers. That's up to each individual.---Scott!
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page5)
Last Day For February's FREE Book Drawing
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page6)
Help For People Who Can't Get Fast Access?
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page7)
More Reader Sites
http://www.cableyorkton.com/users/gbraun/batch/
http://go.to/nt-2000
http://www.togetherworks.net/
http://www.ginetworks.com/~johns2rt/compute.html
http://www.bbits.co.uk/
http://www.geocities.com/claire_booth35/
http://www.dakotamotorsports.com/
http://www.cableyorkton.com/users/gbraun/other/repairs.htm
http://www.ctaz.com/~bdonwen/
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page8)
DoubleCross DoubleClick?
admonitor.net
link4ads.com
sitetracker.com
valueclick.com
ads.web.aol.com
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page9)
Just For Grins
2. The AOL car would come equipped with a NEW and fantastic 8-Track tape player.
3. The car would often refuse to start and owners would just expect this and try
again later.
4. The windshield would have an extra dark tint to protect the driver from
seeing better cars.
5. AOL would sell the same model car year after year and claim it's the NEW
model.
6. Every now and then the brakes on the AOL car would just "lock-up"
for no apparent reason.
7. The AOL car would have a very plain body style but would have lots' of pretty
colors and lights.
8. The AOL car would have only one door but it would have 5 extra seats for
family members.
9. Anyone dissatisfied could return the car but must continue to make payments
for 6 months.
10. If an AOL car owner received 3 parking tickets AOL would take the car off of
them.
11. The AOL car would have an AOL Cell phone that can only place calls to other
AOL car cell phones.
12. AOL would pass a new car law forbidding AOL car owners from driving near
other car dealerships.
13. AOL car mechanics would have no experience in car repair.
14. Younger AOL car drivers would be able to make other peoples AOL cars stall
just for fun.
15. It would not be possible to upgrade your AOL car stereo.
16. AOL cars would be forced to use AOL gas that cost 20% more and gave worse
mileage.
17. Anytime an AOL car owner saw another AOL car owner he would wonder, M/F/age?
18. It would be common for AOL car owners to divorce just to marry another AOL
car owner.
19. AOL car owners would always claim to be older or younger than they really
are.
20. AOL cars would come with a steering wheel and AOL would claim no other cars
have them.
21. Every time you close the door on the AOL car it would say,
"Good-Bye."
http://www.langa.com/sendit.htm
return to top of page
Fred
(fred@langa.com)
UNSUBSCRIBE: Send email to unsubscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net
LIST TROUBLE? HAVE QUESTIONS? NEED HELP? See http://www.langa.com/help.txt