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The LangaList
13-Jan-00
A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa About BrowserTune,
HotSpots, Columns, Tips & Tricks, and Other Activities
1) Loving/Hating Windows 2000
First impressions are lasting ones. Win2K is due out in a month, and based on late betas, I've already developed a list of likes and dislikes about the new operating system. (Maybe you have too.) In this week's column on InformationWeek Online, I focus on five things I like a lot about the new OS, and in the next column, I'll tell you the five things I most dislike.
One of the things I like most is the relative speed and stability. Merely being fast isn't enough: A system that runs and crashes at lightning speed is hardly worthwhile. Likewise, a system isn't very useful if it offers rock-solid stability but is as sluggish as the proverbial molasses in winter. But Win2K offers speed *and* stability--- and that's a welcome combination.
Even in beta, Win2K is noticeably faster than NT, and it seems significantly faster than Windows 98, too: In fact, Microsoft claims it's up to 40% faster than Win98. In any case, Win2K performs admirably on relatively inexpensive Celeron-class systems with 64MB RAM or more.
As for stability, Win2K has reduced the need for reboots after system configuration changes, has better protection of kernel-mode writes, and has a new driver-verification tool that should help prevent errant third-party drivers from introducing instabilities.
NT was already more stable than its Win9x cousins; Win2K ups the ante and looks as if it just may be the most stable Windows ever.
But what's your take? What are the things you most like about the new OS? What are the most-welcome (or most-needed!) improvements over NT4 and Win9x? Come check out the rest of the column, and then voice your likes and dislikes about the new OS--- in the discussion area.
Click to http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter !
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Last issue's coverage of three
serious issues with Norton products (see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/jan-10-00.htm)
brought a flood of email--- so much so I've started a separate file and am
trying to sort things out. The "open port" issue
is perhaps the most complex. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/jan-10-00.htm#1
) Closing a port is like closing and locking the door to your house. In fact, on
a computer, a closed port is actually invisible to the outside--- hackers can't
even see the "door" to your PC, and thus cannot get in. And that's
what you want. But several readers wrote
directly to Symantec/Norton and got back very strange replies to the effect that
"yes, the port is still open, but that's OK because only NAV2K can use
it." This is like leaving the door to
your house visible and open, but hiring someone to watch it to make sure no bad
guys enter. If that sounds rather clumsy and even silly to you, then you and I
are in total agreement. 8-) Remember, this is not a firewall
product: It's an email virus-scanner. Designing it to open a port, and then have
it monitor and block intrusions through the port that it just opened, seems
rather convoluted. Plus, if the intrusion-monitoring is less than perfect , then
you can end up with a far worse problem than an email virus. (And Norton scheme
originally did have a "buffer overrun" problem hackers could
potentially use to crash Norton "protected" systems.) In a way, opening a port is like
opening Pandora's proverbial box. I don't think Symantec has this right yet.
Stay tuned--- I'm sure there'll be lots more to discuss in a future issue. Meanwhile, Steve Gibson is all
over this: See his excellent explanation here: And Dave Methvin at WinMag has a
good overview at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//fixes/nav2000.htm Click to
email this item to a friend Reader Ian Sorensen used a port
monitor and saw someone trying to hack into his system. He asked: Can you please advise
where I can find out the owner of an IP address and where I can report a
possible hack into my computer? The answer to the first question
is to use a "whois" site; the one I usually go to is http://www.allwhois.com/
. "Whois" is a command that tells you "Who Is" behind a web
site or registered IP address. If you get spammed, or are hacked, or have
trouble with a site, you can use a whois lookup to see where the spam or hacker
came from, or to track down a contact for a web site. Then, you can write either to the
listed contact or to any of several common addresses (such as
"webmaster," or "abuse," or "sales") at the
spammer/hacker's ISP or website to communicate your problem to a human. Click to
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Just when you thought it was safe
for forget about date-related bugs, along comes the leap year. Yes, this year's
February has 29 days, but no, your software and hardware may not know
that! There are actually three rules
for figuring leap years. (Most people only know the first or second rule.) A year is a leap year IF: 1) the year is divisible by 4 All this is due to rounding
errors caused by the untidy fact that while the true year is about 365.2422 days
long, our calendars can deal only in whole numbers. The addition of the extra
day every four years makes the calendar year effectively equal to 365.25 days
long, and that helps keep things in synch. But 365.25 still isn't 365.2422,
and the small residual difference means we need further fine adjustments. That's
where Rules 2 and 3 came from. Alas, Rule #3 is not well known,
and many programmers used only Rules 1 and 2 in designing their hardware and
software. This led them to the INCORRECT conclusion that the year 2000 is not a
leap year. Systems with the leap year bug
will fail to recognize February 29, 2000 as a valid date; they'll roll over from
February 28th to March 1st and thereafter permanently will be off by a day.
(Even if you reset the clock to the correct date, the day of the week will be
incorrect.) Most Y2K fixes included a fix for
the leap-year bug, so if you got through Y2K all right, you're probably OK for
the leap year bug. But why guess? It's easy to check
on your own: Just use the procedures detailed in http://content.techweb.com/winmag//library/1999/0101/fea0061.htm
but use Feb 28th as the critical date, instead of Dec 31. If your system is OK,
you'll roll over to Feb 29th with no problem. There are other problem dates
coming up too: See http://content.techweb.com/winmag//library/1999/0101/fea0061k.htm
for a list of some of the biggies. Click to
email this item to a friend OK, OK! You can stop sending me
emails on this! 8-) In the last several issues, I've
presented both sides of the "when does the millennium really start?"
debate. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/jan-3-00.htm
and http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/jan-10-00.htm#5
) Many readers have eloquently
explained both sides of the issue. Perhaps the two most definitive sites in the
world for the *technical* explanation are: Royal Observatory Greenwich,
London: U.S. Naval Observatory (The USA's
official timekeeper): Thanks to all the readers who
sent me those links--- reader Louis Holobradek was first. But the bottom line remains that
all millennial reckoning is arbitrary because calendars are all based on
guesswork or mythology or tradition for their starting dates. Applying strict
numeric reasoning to a calendar whose starting date is based on raw guesswork is
a little silly. Likewise, arguing that there "had to be a year zero"
when there clearly was never a year zero also is silly. But it doesn't matter. *All*
dates and all calendars are arbitrary, and it's simply not worth getting hung up
on the details. Besides, why not celebrate it
both ways? Then you get another great New Years next year--- and without the Y2K
scares to dampen the fun. 8-) Click to
email this item to a friend Reader Diana Hudson got a free
copy of "Poor Richard's E-Mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Bulletins,
Discussion Groups and Other Powerful Communications Tools." This $29.95
book has been described as "An excellent, straightforward manual on email
publishing, banner ads, driving traffic and especially ethics." (Full
details also available via the link that follows.) All Diana had to do was recommend
the LangaList to a friend using the form at http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2
. Once a month or so, I draw one name, at random, from among those who have used
the recommendation form, and award a thank-you prize. (Note that this isn't some
big-company sweepstakes: It's just my informal way of saying thanks for your
help in spreading the word about this newsletter.) If you think the LangaList is a
worthwhile read, just use the link above 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! Or, if you'd rather try to win a
Palm III organizer, use this link instead: http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 Either way, thank you, and good
luck! Click to
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In addition to BrowserTune's
total of 15 separate speed-related measurements, I've also told you about
simpler tools, such as a Microsoft site that performs a quick-and-dirty speed
analysis. (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/jan-10-00.htm#4
) Reader Christophe Callens sent
along info on another simple tool: Hi Fred, You can try this speed
measuring for free during a month for 1 hour per day. I have already
downloaded it and I can see the speed of my connection with a graphic and
numeric screen. Thanks, Christophe. He's referring to "DU
Meter," a trialware (free for 30 days) application that gives you a
graphical representation of your up/download activity. DU Meter and similar tools can be
useful in a "blunt instrument" way to get a quick idea what's going
on. But, alas, none of these accounts for network latency, uses multiple
servers, and performs diagnostics to help you determine if and how you can make
things better. Only BrowserTune does all that! So, while "snapshot"
tools can be OK, you need to use them with caution because they may not be
telling you the whole story. For the whole story, you need
Browsertune: http://www.browsertune.com/bt2kfast/ Click to
email this item to a friend Reader Donald.Jewell sends this
along: "Why Engineers Don't Write Cookbooks:" Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients: 1.) 532.35 cm3 gluten To a 2-L jacketed round
reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an overall heat transfer coefficient of about
100 Btu/F-ft2-hr, add ingredients one, two and three with constant agitation. In a second 2-L reactor
vessel with a radial flow impeller operating at 100 rpm, add ingredients four,
five, six, and seven until the mixture is homogenous. To reactor #2, add
ingredient eight, followed by three equal volumes of the homogenous mixture in
reactor #1. Additionally, add
ingredient nine and ten slowly, with constant agitation. Care must be taken at
this point in the reaction to control any temperature rise that may be the
result of an exothermic reaction. Using a screw extrude
attached to a #4 nodulizer, place the mixture piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300 x
600 mm). Heat in a 460K oven for
a period of time that is in agreement with Frank &Johnston's first order
rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), or until golden brown. Once the reaction is
complete, place the sheet on a 25C heat-transfer table, allowing the product to
come to equilibrium. Click to
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See you next issue! Best, (Please recommend
the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a Palm III) 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.2)
The Symantec/Norton Plot Thickens
http://grc.com/faq-shieldsup.htm#017
http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm
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Speaking Of Hackers...
http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm
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The Leap Year Rollover Bug
2) UNLESS it's also divisible by 100, in which case it is not a leap year;
3) UNLESS the year is also divisible by 400, in which case it *is* a leap year.
http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm
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The Absolutely Final, Concluding, Closing, Ending, Ultimate, Terminating, and
Last Item I Will Ever Write On Y2K As The Start Of The New Millennium (Or Not)!
http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/new_mill.html
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA/faq/docs/millennium.html
http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm
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Diana Got Her Book. Want One For Yourself?
(Full details on both giveaways are available via the links.)
http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm
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Another Useful Speed-Measuring Tool
http://www.hageltech.com/dumeter/
http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm
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Just For Grins
2.) 4.9 cm3 NaHCO3
3.) 4.9 cm3 refined halite
4.) 236 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride
5.) 177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22O11
6.) 177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22O11
7.) 4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde
8.) Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein ovoids
9.) 473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao 10.) 236 cm3 de-encapsulated legume meats (sieve
size #10)
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Fred
(fred@langa.com)
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Please note: Older issues may contain information that is now out of date.
Please note: Older issues may contain information that is now out of date.