How To Subscribe and Unsubscribe is at the end of this note. Mailing List Trouble? See http://www.langa.com/help.htm
Questions about the advertisers? See the end of this note. Please also see legal notices at the end of this note. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

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
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-06-07.htm

The LangaList
Standard Edition

2001-06-07

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

1) How Much Protection Is Enough?

Reader Blain discovered--- in a disturbing way--- how online security products can fail:

I've been using BlackIce [a desktop firewall] for around a year and a half. It's quite interesting to see how often I am "hit" and what people will try.

[Then] I purchased a Dlink 704 firewall/router. This model has a four-port hub built in and requires no extra software to install or change settings. With a flick of a switch on the back of the unit, you're on or off the Internet. Nice feature.

Last week, BlackIce on my primary desktop began flashing. I had someone breach my firewall and hit my machine! I'm glad I kept the BlackIce program installed. The intruder was, as far as I can tell, unable to access anything. --Blaine

While it's possible that Blaine's attack was a false positive--BlackIce has somewhat of a reputation for false alarms--it's also entirely possible it was real. Even an excellent hardware firewall can be misconfigured, spoofed, or otherwise made to fail.

In fact, security tools and techniques fail all the time, and that's a major, major problem for people who have just a single-layer defense protecting them from hackers, crackers, and other online miscreants. With a too-shallow defense strategy, any single point of failure can fundamentally compromise your security, perhaps disastrously. In contrast, with multilayered defenses, a problem with any one security layer won't necessarily affect the other layers.

This week's InformationWeek.Com "Langa Letter" deals with what I believe is the best blend of defenses: not too shallow, not too complex, but "just right." <g> Come check out the column and compare your defense strategy to mine, and then join in the ongoing, week-long discussion!

The column is available right now at http://www.informationweek.com/840/langa.htm and the discussion is at http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa

Please join in!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

2) Firewalls For Dial-Up?

Dixie Diamond  writes about a question shared by many dial-up users:

Hi Fred, got your Plus edition and am impressed. Got a question for you. Last year you had instructions for checking and closing ports which included something about bindings? It was really good and we followed your directions to the letter. Man, we were wide open and probably being scanned. One of our computers had to be upgraded and now I don't know if I have to do this again... can you direct me to those instructions? Also still am dealing with a 56K dial-up internet connection. Zone Alarm Firewall is for Cable and DSL but can it be used if you have a dial-up? Thanks for your newsletter. $10 bucks is pretty cheap for the amount of information I glean from it. I'd have to pay my nerd friend $40.00 bucks an hour on the side. Keep it coming Fred. Thanks, Di

Glad you like it, Di. 8-)

The article you're remembering was actually a four-part series. Part Four is here, and from there you can click to the earlier parts: http://content.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/2000/07.htm

With the information in that series, and the current InformationWeek.Com column (see above) you can be very well-protected indeed.

As for ZoneAlarm, most personal firewalls simply monitor the TCP/IP (Internet) traffic entering and exiting your machine, and don't care whether your connection is via Cable, DSL, LAN, modem, or whatnot. Firewall vendors stress "always on connections" (cable, DSL, etc) because the longer you're connected, the greater the risk of hack attack. But ALL systems connected to the Internet by ANY means are vulnerable, and should be protected with a firewall.

ZoneAlarm does just fine with dial-up connections, and can go a long way to keeping the bad guys at bay.

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

3) Oh No! *Hardware-Based* Phone Home Apps!

It's true: Phoenix, the BIOS people (they make the Phoenix and Award BIOSes), recently launched PhoenixNet, which will work with an advertising-based phone-home app built right into the hardware of your PC. Although the announcement is couched in careful terms, the gist is clear. "...system builders and resellers... can use PhoenixNet's services to distribute... products and services to millions of users."

Millions of captive users, that is. According to the PhoenixNet site:

The PhoenixNet Internet Launch System (ILS) is a patent-pending technology built into the firmware of your PC. PhoenixNet's technology resides safely within ROM (Read Only Memory). PhoenixNet is activated automatically at the initial launch of your new PC....

Once running, the PhoenixNet software will use your Internet connection to force-feed you downloads, advertising, "sites to see," and support services. The PhoenixNet utility apparently integrates with Windows; it's controlled--- if that's the word--- via a system tray applet. However, because at least some of this code is operating at the firmware/BIOS level, it's possible for this code to run "below the radar" of the OS or of local desktop firewalls. It could be difficult to know just what this code was doing, or when it's doing it.

Why is Phoenix doing this? The PhoenixNet site ( http://home.phoenixnet.com/about/index.html ) spins it one way:

New and experienced users alike face some tough hurdles when trying to get running on a new computer. From connecting to the Internet to learning about and managing their PC. How do they get started? ... Now, thanks to PhoenixNet, the solution is only a mouse click away. Save time and effort by using PhoenixNet built into the PC.... PhoenixNet services can be individually customized to meet the needs of any user. This service continues over the life of the PC. And it's free.

But despite this happytalk explanation, to me this doesn't look like an impartial third-party advisor to end users, but rather an advertising vehicle. The PhoenixNet site says, "... we select the best providers of these products and enter into partnerships with them in order to provide these tools directly through our network," To me, this sounds like: "Vendors pay us, or give us a cut of their action, to get their stuff listed on PhoenixNet."

PhoenixNet may be hard to avoid: A number of motherboard makers have already agreed to start using PhoenixNet: They include AOpen, Chaintech, ECS, EpoX, Giga-Byte, Jetway, Legend-QDI, MSI, Soltek and Zida.

For biased info on this, see the PhoenixNet FAQ at http://home.phoenixnet.com/about/index.html#fre ; for third-party, independent views, see Steve Gibson's GRC newsgroup on 'spyware:" Point your usenet/newsgroup reader at news.grc.com, and join the grc.spyware discussion.

(Special thanks to readers Brad Griffin and Michael Steiner, who were the first of many to sound the alarm about this.)

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

4) Synchronizing Multiple Mail Clients

If you use a laptop and a desktop PC, you've probably encountered the same problem that reader Peter R. Adler ran into:

The following scenario is probably common I occasionally take my laptop on a trip and use it to access the Internet. I will download emails, trash some, file some, forward some with comments, reply to some. I may also add email addresses or bookmarks.

If I remember, I copy my User files across to the laptop before I go. I frequently forget. When I get back, I have a small nightmare updating, on my desktop, by hand, all the files I've amended while I was away. I would love to be able to plug the laptop into my network, click an icon and sit back while some friendly utility updates and synchronizes browser files across my computers. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find such a utility....

I also don't know a utility that does *exactly* what you want, but you can come close:

I use Eudora; when I'm back from a trip I use LapLink to synch the entire Eudora directory of both machines. You could do something similar for any mail client. The nice thing with LapLink is that it does "intelligent" transfers in that it (1) only transfers files that have changed, and it transfers them in *both directions* so both machines end up with the newest/most-recently-accessed files; and (2) only transfers the *portions* of files that have changed. This saves you from having to transfer huge numbers of files or huge amounts of data that may not have changed at all.

But perhaps a simpler approach would be to use Windows "Briefcase" feature. Either create a "mail" briefcase or add your email directories to an existing briefcase; synch the briefcases, and you're done. The Briefcase isn't nearly as smart as LapLink, but it's already included in your copy of Windows.

But neither approach solves the problem of two systems where portions of files--- say, individual records within an address book--- have been used and updated on both systems; I know of no simple way to seamlessly, automatically, and perfectly blend the data from both systems. (Some handheld/palmtop synching tools can do this, but I don't know of a similar app for pc-based email.)

So, you do have to enforce the discipline of using one system at a time, or at least one file at a time, and then synch the files before you start using the other. But with something like LapLink, this process is fast and easy, so you're more able to keep up with it. 8-)

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

5) Free CD Rippers

Long-time reader and regular contributor Chet Kolar writes:

http://www.cdex.n3.net/

Cdex is a free CD ripper, and very, very good. It uses the best algorithms available for ripping CDs and converting the resulting Wav file to an mp3 file. Cdex also can insert track titles. It is very simple to use, and as good as any CD ripper (probably better in most cases)

Recall, mp3's involve psychological acoustic filtering that is, two adjacent sounds, one following the other within milliseconds, with the second sound 3 dB or more down, means that the average ear can not hear the second sound, and so the second sound can be deleted.

This is why an mp3 is never as good as a Wav file, as those with "golden ears" can and will hear the difference. It is also why and how a 30 Mb Wav file can be compressed to a 3 Mb mp3 file. That is, in any given split second, many frequencies have simply been left out in the resulting mp3 file. One thus can not re-capture the original Wav file from the mp3 file.

The algorithm for converting the Wav file into a mp3 file has varied over the course of time. For some time, the Blade routine was considered the best and thus preferred. Now, there is another routine preferred (believe it is the Lame routine ???). Cdex was always very good and always used the best routine

Exact Audio Copy is another CD ripper. It supposedly is the best available. One that is used and preferred by CD Traders. Exact Audio Copy (EAC) will read a track up to 80 times to get it correct. It often can read a damaged audio CD. But it, of course is slower. http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ [EAC is "cardware;" there's no cost, but the software authors want to collect postcards from users all over the world!]

I use Cdex. When a track comes out bad, which is very, very rare, I then re-do the track with EAC

Thanks, Chet. I use my CDR heavily, but only for data. Thus, my audio CD skills are, well, let's say "fallow." 8-) Nice to hear the opinions of an experienced audio CD maker. Thanks for sharing!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

6) "PassThisOn" Start Page Hijacking Alert

Reader Carol Belcher ran afoul of a site that not only changed her start page, but left behind persistent code that made her start page revert to the forced one, even if she changed the page to something else. It was a start page that wouldn't stop!

I have tried everything and asked everybody I know, with no luck. 'Passthison' someway, somehow has gotten stuck in my computer and attaches itself to my start page (every time I go on the internet). Changed my password, erased any reference to it. Cannot get rid of it. Are you familiar with it and, if so, can you help me??? Cleaned out my cookies 1,000 times, plus temp files...

Google the rescue: a Google search ( http://www.google.com/search?q=PassThisOn ) shows you not only what "PassThisOn" is--- ostensibly a joke site--- but also warns you about it, and tells you how to get rid of the tenacious little bugger: http://wizardscc.com/passthison_warning.asp

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

7) George Holzman Got His Gift Certificate. Want One?

Reader George Holzman just got his no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys, and more. He got it by using the "Recommend" link at http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm .

If you use that link to recommend the LangaList to a friend, your friend may find a new source of useful information, I may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win a gift certificate, just as George did. (Full details are available via that link.) 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 (really!), try this link (full details also available here): http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

8) Meet Derlan, of Brazil...

Derlan is a young Brazilian boy who lives with his parents and a younger brother, in a farming community located in the arid Jequitinhonha Valley, northeast Minas Gerais, Brazil. Their self-built adobe-walled home has dirt floors, a clay roof and only rudimentary sanitary facilities. Derlan's father is a day laborer in agriculture. The per-capita family income is less than US$50.00 per month. The local social service workers there describe Derlan as "friendly and cheerful. He helps his mom around the house. He likes playing soccer and with toy cars along with his brother Dernion and friends. Derlan is considered to have good health, in spite of the poor living conditions and diet. He attends a public school and his favorite subject is math. His big dream is to be a soccer player when he grows up."

Well, Derlan's future just got a little brighter, thanks to LangaList Plus! subscribers.

You see, those of us with computers and Internet access are vastly better off than most of the world's population. Because of this, I decided that a portion of the LangaList Plus! subscription fees would be donated to registered/legitimate charities helping the underprivileged around the world. The contribution does not increase the cost of a Plus! subscription in any way; the donation is taken "off the top" of any profits. (This is described in the pages at http://www.langa.com/plus.htm )

Derlan is the third child sponsored for a full year (via an international relief agency) by the collective generosity of LangaList subscribers. LangaList Plus! subscribers also have collectively contributed to emergency earthquake relief efforts in India. (To see all the donations so far, click to http://www.langa.com/plus2.htm#kids )

As the year goes on, and as more readers sign up for Plus! subscriptions, I hope we'll be able to sponsor more children and assist other charities around the world.

Graham Greene once said, "There is always a moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in...." If you're already a LangaList Plus subscriber, thank you! You can feel good about giving back a little to those less fortunate, and opening "a door to the future" for a child in otherwise-desperate circumstances.

If you're not yet a Plus! subscriber check it out: With a Plus! subscription, you can not only help yourself make the most of your hardware, software and time online--- but you also can help those less fortunate (like Derlan) make the most of their very lives. Thanks for your help!

http://www.langa.com/plus.htm

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

9) More Reader Sites!

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:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site From Among All Listed
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://www.langa.com/readersites.htm

InnardView (artistic PC Case Mods)
http://www.innardview.com/

Poasters Computer Forum
http://www.poasters.com/forum/default.asp

Calipso
http://cirrus.spaceports.com/~calipso/index.html

Jan G.M. Meijer's Home Page (Netherlands)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ovc30jrm/

A Minimalist, But Fishy Page
http://home.earthlink.net/~davepjcx/index.html

The Crashing PC
http://www.the-crashing-pc.org/

SeniorNet (Nacogdoches, Tx)
http://nacsnet2.virtualave.net/

Barges and Pile Drivers and Winches, Oh My!
http://www.angelfire.com/biz/gdbwestcoastsales/index.html

Devin Jeanel Stories
http://devinjeanel.com/default.htm

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

10) Just For Grins

Jane Robin sends this along:

Winners of a New York Magazine contest who were asked to take a well known expression in a foreign language, change a single letter and provide a definition for the new expression

RIGOR MORRIS
The cat is dead.

RESPONDEZ S'IL VOUS PLAID
Honk if you're Scottish

HARLEZ-VOUS FRANCAIS?
Can you drive a French motorcycle?

VENI, VIPI, VICI
I came, I'm a very important person, I conquered

VENI, VIDI, VISA
I came, I saw, I shopped.

COGITO EGGO SUM
I think, therefore I am ... a waffle

QUE SERA SERF
Life is feudal

LEROI EST MORT. JIVE LEROI
The king is dead. No kidding

POSH MORTEM
Death styles of the rich and famous

PRO BOZO PUBLICO
Support your local clown

MONAGE A TROIS
I am three years old

HASTE CUISINE
Fast French food

QUIP PRO QUO
A fast retort

ALOHA OY
Love; greetings; farewell; and from such a pain you should never know

MAZEL TON
Tons of luck

VISA LA FRANCE
Don't leave your chateau without it

CARNE DIEM
Seize the meat

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

11) More Free Font Tools;
Automatic Email From Your Web Pages;
More on Editing IE's Title Bar;
and a Free Utility To Test Your PC Hardware

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all items above, plus about 30% more content including: Free font management tools, including one that lets you see which fonts on your system you actually are using; a how-to on using automated mailers (like the LangaList's "send this item to a friend" service) on your own web pages;
more on how to make IE's Title Bar say whatever you want; and a free utility to test your PC's hardware. http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

See you next issue!

Best,

Fred

(fred@langa.com)

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000!I)

An easier-to read formatted HTML version is available in the "Current Issue" section of http://www.langa.com.  (The HTML version of each issue normally is available by 9AM EST [UT-5] of the issue date.) All past LangaList issues are also available at the Langa.Com site.

return to top of page

Administrivia:

UNSUBSCRIBE: From the same email account you used to sign up with), send an email to
unsubscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net

SUBSCRIBE (it's free!): Create and send a new email to
subscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net

CHANGE ADDRESS? LIST TROUBLE? HAVE QUESTIONS? OTHER PROBLEM? NEED HELP? See http://www.langa.com/help.htm

This is a 100% OPT-IN newsletter: See http://www.langa.com/info.htm

About the advertisers: http://www.langa.com/privacy.htm#ads

Disclaimer: http://www.langa.com/legal.htm  In brief: 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 your choosing to use of any information presented here.

This newsletter is a free service of Langa Consulting LLC and is Copyright © 1997-2005 Fred Langa/ Langa Consulting LLC. All worldwide rights reserved. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

return to top of page