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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2001-07-16

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!

1) Last Words Re: Spam

Although the topic of Spam is too large and important to be done with forever, we've covered it a lot recently, so we'll be leaving the topic for a while. But these final items are *definitely* worth seeing:

Writer/columnist John Woram ( http://www.woram.com ) pointed out a spectacular anti-spam resource I'd never seen before: http://combat.uxn.com/  It's an awesome site with just about all the spam-tracking tools you'd want all on one page, right at your fingertips. I bookmarked the page about 20 seconds after I saw it: It's that good. Thanks, John!

Reader Roslyn Blyton wrote to tell us of a truly horrible new service being offered to ISPs who can use it to "wrap" your emails in spam. Yuk! See:
http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa?comment_id=35076&threaded=1

And check out this *astonishing* letter from a reader who's a businessman in China: He can be jailed or have his business shut down for involuntarily having spam from porno sites on his PC! It's amazing reading, both for its discussion of spam, and for an eye-opening look into a tech side of a culture few of us have direct contact with: http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa?comment_id=35149&threaded=1

There's lots more good reading on spam--- causes, cures, and repercussions--- at http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa Check it out!

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2) Web Page Harvester

Hello Fred. Entering the void left by iHarvest (and, earlier, CatchtheWeb) when they switched to online functionality only, there's a new product that few people seem to have heard of RipClip ( http://www.ripclip.com ). It operates a little differently from similar products, and is faster and appears more stable than SurfSaver. (SurfSaver always crashes my online sessions, for some reason.)

The company's privacy statement indicates that aggregate info is collected, and perhaps more, but they appear (so far) on the up-and-up. Installation is...interesting. I'd be interested in your view of it.--- Jonathan Bocknek

Thanks, Jonathan! I still use SurfSaver, which works fine for me, and whose database functions allow very easy searching through saved materials. ( http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=surfasver&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 ) But RipClip looks good, too; plus it stores pages as basic html, so it's a little simpler than SurfSaver.

Also, in checking the privacy policies associated with RipClip, I also didn't see anything alarming there. 8-) Thanks for the pointer!

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3) OK, It's An "a" After All

Last issue, we discussed "ZoneAlarm's Mysterious Blinking 'Q'" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-07-12.htm#7 ).

In trying to track down an answer, I'd captured and enlarged the icon, and it sure looked like a capital Q to me. But some readers thought it was a lower case "a," while others suggested even more fanciful items--- such as a lasso or a key or "@" symbol or even a magnifying glass! (Maybe it's really a Rorschach ink blot...  <g>)

But reader Randy Miller was first to find the full, complete, and definitive answer:

Love your newsletter (especially the Plus edition)! A comment, if I may, regarding the item "ZoneAlarm's Mysterious Blinking "Q" in the 11 Jul 2001 issue ... the following Q&A is from the ZoneLabs FAQ ( http://www.zonelabs.com/services/support_general_faq.htm#12general )

12. What is the small blue "a" within the ZoneAlarm logo in my task bar? The flashing blue "a" you see in the system tray is ZoneAlarm and ZoneAlarm Pro's silent alert indicator. In ZoneAlarm Pro, you can suppress the "a" from flashing by clicking the "Advanced" button in the Alerts panel and then click on the "Suppress Alerts" tab. Check any boxes for the type of alerts you do not want to see. Bear in mind this will prevent alert logging in the log file (if you have the log file enabled). If alerts are suppressed, they are never generated and don't appear as pop-ups in the alerts panel or in the log. If pop-up alerts are disabled (as opposed to suppressing alerts), then the alert will show up in the alerts panel and in the log.

Thanks, Randy! So, it's a lower case "a" after all--- but an ugly and malformed "a," if you ask me. 8-) 

None of this affects our discussion of what the Q---er, A--- means or does (as we said, it's a silent alert), but at least we all now can call it the same thing!

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4) Free And Easy Drive Letter Assignment Tool

Most people and most PCs have no problems with drive letter assignments. But for those who do have trouble, man, what a hassle. For example, reader Chuck Conrad had a dual-boot system where the different OSes each "saw" his drives differently. But then he found a solution, which speaks entirely for itself:

When I added a hard drive to my dual boot 98SE/2000Pro system, I found the 2 operating systems looking at the drive letters differently.

I have apps duplicated on both OSs that shared their data on the old D drive (2000), ClipMate, Eudora, Time & Chaos, etc. and knew I could redirect the sharing, but was less than enamored with the idea of having a guide hanging on the wall to tell me what each drive was on the other OS because I could smell a disaster in the making. At best a huge pain!

I went to the forums at [a help site], read up on what happened, understood what happened, and couldn't find anyone who could tell me what to do, a friend suggested I find a drive letter changer.

After striking out on Tucows, I went to CNet and finally found [this] utility yesterday. When I looked at your screen shot at http://www.v72735.f2s.com/LetAssig/Screenshots.html I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

I'll do everything I can to spread the word about [this] freeware utility. It's just what I needed.

Thanks, Chuck!

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5) Last Chance To Pre-Sign For New Archives

Plus! subscriber Bronson Elliott emailed me a surprise a while back: He took the entire LangaList archive files going back to 1997(!) and packaged them as a standard Windows Help File.

You see, all LangaList subscribers--- including you!--- already have access to the searchable online archives at  http://www.langa.com/archives.htm . In addition, Plus! subscribers can get their own local copy of the complete archives in the form of a Zip file that contains all past issues in their original formats. The Zip file can be expanded onto your local hard drive and then searched at high speed with whatever search tool you wish to use.

But Bronson's Help File version is *much* slicker: Everything's in a single file, and it can be self-searched, using the Windows Help Engine's standard (and familiar) interface. It takes only seconds to find whatever you're looking for, no matter how long ago it was published in the LangaList!

In a few days, I'll be releasing new versions of the archives files to bring them up to date. All Plus! subscribers will have their choice of getting their updated archives in the original Zip format, or in Bronson's slick Help File format. Plus! subscribers will be notified when the download is available.

If you're not a Plus! subscriber, there's still time to sign up and get on the list for your own copy of the complete LangaList archives in whichever format you prefer. And of course, you'll get all the other Plus! benefits too. <g>  http://www.langa.com/plus.htm

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6) More Home-Page Hijacking

Fred, My start page was recently upgraded by Excite. Previously I had as my start page Web Crawler and I customized the way I wanted to. Now without any input from me, Excite has changed my start page and it's now loaded with ads. Is it possible to get rid of these ads? If so, please let me know how.  --- Paul R. Soucy

There are different kinds of home-page hijacking. The simplest kind is correctable by using your browser's Home Page tool. In recent versions of IE, it's Tools/Internet options/Home Page. In recent Netscape browsers, Edit/Preferences/Navigator/Home Page. (Other browsers/versions may differ, but you get the idea.)

Or, you can put a small Reg tool on your desktop, such as the one here: http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-07-10.htm#2 . One click of that tool will restore your home page to whatever you want, after it's been hijacked.

But there are more malicious ways to hijack a page, such as the one used by "PassThisOn." Pages like that actively re-set your home page even if you change it to something else, and take more work to disable. But even with those, there's help:
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-06-07.htm#6

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7) Don’t Make Me Beg! 8-)

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 for your trouble (full details also available via this link):
http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Or, win a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... and more. 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 $30 Gift Certificate! (Full details also available via this link):
http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming and Coming...

Almost 1,500 of your fellow readers have "Loaded the code." Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join them! (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
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

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

Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group
http://spcug.org/index.html

Adam's Western Michigan University Homepage
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~a0rasmus/

Scott's Home Page (Colorado)
http://hometown.aol.com/scottw469/index.htm

Golf Handicap Calculator
http://www.golfhandicapcalculator.com/

There ought to be a law...
http://www.BEALAW.COM

Grandaddy's
http://home.adelphia.net/~grndady/

Creative & Strategic Technology Solutions for Small Businesses 
http://www.csanow.com/

Scotland, Tenerife...
http://www.geocities.com/davepelinor/

Computer FixIts
http://pages.zdnet.com/docmo68/fixits/index.html

Privacy Portal
http://privacy.truepath.com/links.htm

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9) Free Security Tools, And More

Sometimes, the shortest emails are the best. 8-) For example, reader Alan J Jones sent in a note about an *extremely* rich download site:

Hi Fred: Whilst doing a security software search I came across this site containing a lot of free software. It may be of use to others. http://www.wilders.org/free_tools.htm

Wow, thanks, Alan. The Wilders site is a little spotty in its operation--- at times, it's very slow--- but when you can get to it, you'll find an amazing array of resources. And it's not a "kitchen sink" kind of site where good and bad stuff is jumbled together: There seems to be some careful selection at work there, which increases the site's value. Nice find!

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10) Just For Grins

OK, just one more Blues-related item, and then I promise I'll stop. 8-) "Jim" sends along this song, which he says he wrote and which proves that "... BMW, Gucci, AND a college degree can fit in with the Blues...."

Baby Boomer Blues

Don t drive a BMW, Don t have a big fine house
The only thing like a computer that I have is a mouse in the house
Don t have anything made by Gucci, just some raggedy old tennis shoes,
I got those wish I d done better, Dad, Damned old
Baby boomer blues

I've got a degree in General Studies, 30K a year job
Nothing special about me, Mama, Just a member of the mob
I wish I was doing better, had a little better news
I got those wish I d done better, Mom, Damned old
Baby boomer blues

Bridge

Well, I d like to be a doctor, a lawyer, a chief
But I seem to be stuck in this hole
If they ever made a movie about my life
I d end up in a supporting role

Now one of these days, I might make you proud of me
Maybe win the Lotto, that d be somethin to see
Don t understand that big-time finance, don t have any clues
I don t think it's gonna happen, folks, Damned old
Baby boomer blues

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11) Safely/Surely Rooting Out A Malicious Program;
Free Graphics File Tool;
Make Your Own PDF Files For Free

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: Free tools and techniques for safely and surely removing a malicious program so that it leaves behind no virus, Trojan or adware; a reader-created graphics file management tool that's free for the download; and a free way to make Adobe-style PDF files without the $99 Acrobat tool!

Plus! Edition info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

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See you next issue!

Best,

Fred

(fred@langa.com)

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

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