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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2001-07-30

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) A Free Connection-Sharing Proxy/Firewall...

Here is a free Java program that purports to serve as the internet connection for all network machines, when run on the computer that is connected to the internet. What do you think of it? It is supposed to provide firewall protection. http://www.servlet.com/soho2/  --- Bill Fletcher

Cool, Bill; thanks.

This program is interesting because it's a formerly low-cost ($10) item that turned to freeware; and also because it's Java-based, and thus is theoretically platform-independent. The developers also state that it "includes SOCKS4 and 5 [including UDP support] as well as protocol-specific proxies. It also acts as a DHCP server and DNS for your LAN."

I haven't tested this myself, but the Usenet chatter is mostly positive, so if you're looking for a no-cost way to share an internet connection, this might well be worth a look.

But after installing any and all software that alters the way your PC connects to the world, be sure to verify your online security with services such as Shields Up ( http://www.grc.com ), DSL Reports ( http://www.dslreports.com ) or the other security-testing sites/services listed here: http://www.informationweek.com/841/langa.htm

2) ... And A Free Startup Editor

Hello Fred. really enjoy your PLUS EDITION. Worth much, much more than you charge.... Back to what I'm writing about: I found a new program that is  available as Freeware called IBS Startup Editor 0.3 This program shows you what is running at startup when windows loads and starts up. It also enables you to delete , temp. remove, restore or add programs for startup. What I like best about this program, is that if you want you can temp. shutdown running startup programs so you can defragment your system. Perfect because it removes running programs so your defragmenter in windows doesn't shutdown because there are running programs. Thank you, keep up the good work and thanks for all the tips your site gives us all this time. --- Jim Kelly

Thanks, Jim. Despite the humility of the program's author (he refers to himself as "an idiot" on his own site!), this actually is a cool tool, combining into one simple interface the ability to effortlessly edit--- and restore, if you change your mind--- items in the Startup Group and the Registry.

Yes, MSConfig (bundled with Windows) lets you at most of the same things, but the IBS Editor also exposes a few "run" items in the registry that MSConfig may not always reveal. I like it!

http://www.ibservice.com/startedit.htm

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3) Tech Support Runaround

I have a lot of sympathy for good support techs: They somehow manage to be part geek, part guru, part diplomat... and part telepath. 8-)

But I have a lot of enmity for bad support techs: They too often combine condescension, ignorance, and a literal-mindedness that rarely yields good results. Look at what happened to reader Ken Dooley:

You're right, Ken, those figures are absurd. Windows9x will work reliably down into single-digit resource numbers. The problem is not "low resources" but when you run OUT of resources.  If you have, say 20% resources left and start an action that requires 30% resources then, you'll have trouble.

But if you have 40% resources left and start a 30%-consuming action, you'll still run fine with 10% resources left, as long as nothing consumes the remaining 10%.

I normally run with many apps and tools open, and routinely have 20- 30% resources free, and yet my system is quite stable. Twice a week, during some intense web/business sessions I have to do, I'll run resources down to around 10%, or sometimes less. (During those intense sessions, I'll run Eudora with 7 active mail windows, two browser instances displaying form-heavy pages, FrontPage with two web sites open, Access with an 11MB database, Excel with an 8MB spreadsheet, plus the normal complement of 7-8 other tools/tasks running. Things still run fine and stably.)

In your case, the support techs are being lazy. They want your system to be running nothing but their software. That simplifies their job (and your setup) and indeed may make your machine more stable by limiting interactions among programs. As such, they may be looking at free resources as a shorthand way for them to ensure your system doesn't have much other software running. But your problem is NOT resources per se, and they shouldn't represent it as such.

What's more--- and this is a huge clue--- your system works fine with other ISPs. If resources or intrinsic software conflicts were at play, you'd be having trouble with all connections.

So, the problem is most likely within the things specific to your connection to Worldnet, and nowhere else. My guess is that it's maybe your modem itself (especially if it's older; it may only be marginally compatible with AT&T's modems); or with your phone line (if you have a marginal phone line, their modem may not "hear" yours well enough maintain the connection); or in a simple error in the AT&T software; or something entirely on their end (a bad modem, for example).

The one thing it almost surely is NOT is a problem with your system having too few system resources.

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4) Can "Good Guys" Go Bad?

Reader Randy Tishkoff had a disturbing thought:

Hi Fred, I love your newsletter and appreciate all of your tips. Several times a month you recommend a very useful site for protecting our computers from virus', ads or malicious hackers. I use several of your recommendations such as ZoneAlarm and Steve Gibson's products. All work great now, just as promised. But here's my question. Once millions of us users trust a site like the two I mentioned above, how do we know that the original software author isn't really planning to wreck all of our computers with a vicious "update" sometime in the future. In other words, at present I allow my system to accept updates from Symantec, ZoneAlarm, AdAware etc as well as many trusted applications like Peachtree and ACT. But if the owner (such as Steve Gibson) or a dishonest employee of Steve's or ZoneAlarm wanted to send out a malicious update millions of us would automatically allow it onto our hard drives because we have become accustomed to getting valid, honest updates from these individuals or respected companies. Any thoughts?

Your concern is valid, Randy. Any time you add anything to your system, there's a chance for something to go wrong. The only 100% safe option is to disconnect your PC from all outside influences. 8-)

But what would the motivation be for, say, ZoneAlarm to wreck your system? The company would go out of business. In the case of a Gibson, where his personal name *is* his business, any malicious app from him would ruin his livelihood forever.

While the "disgruntled employee" scenario is possible, it's not likely because it would usually be possible to track the source of bad code to the culprit, and malicious hackers *don't* want to be caught! (That's why they use silly pseudonyms, and take care to hide their tracks.)

So: Could a once-trusted source turn malicious? Yes, but it's not likely. The far more common problem with software is simply one of plain old human error. Software is a human product and therefore imperfect; there's always the potential to cause unintentional problems.

But all these worries recede if you have solid, reliable, frequent backups. Then, no matter what the cause of a software problem (malice, error, phase of the moon...) you can quickly restore your system back to a known-good condition.

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5) Last 24 Hrs To Enter July's FREE Drawing

Tomorrow, July 31, I'll choose another monthly winner of a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... 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 shopping spree! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

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.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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6) Now, *This* Is Cool

Mike Elgan (yes, the Mike Elgan of http://www.mikeslist.com/ ) sent along a very cool link to a page maintained by the University of Albany.

When you describe the page, it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as it really is, so let me give you the link ( http://library.albany.edu/internet/choose.html ) so you can see it for yourself.

Someone put an amazing amount of thought and research into that page. I'm betting that when you see all that's there, you'll probably want to bookmark it--- at least if, like me, fast, accurate web searches are something that matter a lot to you.

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7) 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

The Weekly Camera
http://leftowrite.tripod.com/index/id12.html

CompuKid's Computer Centre
http://compukid.cjb.net/

Cat Lover's Site
http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/thelovesofmylife/

Andean and Tiwanaku Archaeology (archaeology of the Andes)
http://www.geocities.com/alvhighar/

Computer Corner (WSGS-FM Hazard, Ky.)
http://users.mis.net/~sphere/stuff.html

Step Tech
http://www.stepstech.com/

NuVerb (software)
http://www.nuverb.com/

Townies (personal portal)
http://clix.to/townies

Rainbow Crystal Shoppe
http://www.rainbowcrystalshoppe.com/

Greenleaf Web Design
http://greenleafwebdesign.tripod.com/index.html

Theater Talks and Walking Tours
http://cinetalk.net/

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8) Gator Fan Has Misgivings

Fred, I am curious as your opinion of the program "Gator." I've been running this program for approx. 7-months, and I feel a certain self-assuredness that I could not exist without it. What say you? --- Michael Gaul

Gator has a ton of fans. It fills in forms for you, remembers your passwords, and can encrypt data on your system.

But it also "compares prices for you when you shop," and "delivers special deals and information based on the web sites you visit."

As such, Gator is adware; it collects data about you (such as what you buy, and what sites you visit); the Gator folks use that data to sell advertising that targets you specifically.

That may or may not bother you. But the thing that makes me stay far, far away from Gator is that it *does* store your passwords and other information you fill out on web forms. I absolutely refuse to entrust sensitive data--- and that includes passwords, form data, and such--- to any app that's busy collecting information about me, periodically reporting back what it's found to some outside agent.

I'm not alone. See: http://www.cexx.org/gator.htm

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9) About That Zip-File Virus...

I've just finished your most recent Langa List Plus issue, and am wondering about item 2 ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-07-26.htm#2 ), the one dealing with the large zip file that [can cause your entire hard drive to be filled with bogus data]. How on earth do they get the file to compress to such a small size? --- Aman Singer

Data compressors work by looking for repeated data; the repeated patterns are replaced by small "tokens" that occupy little space. The more repeated data, the higher the degree of compressibility. 

In simplified concept: Imagine you had a document that consisted of one thousand repetitions of the letter "A." If you wanted to save space, you could represent the exact same thing by writing  A*(1000), or A*(10^3). Those eight little characters take the place of 1,000 separately-written-out characters.

Now imagine a document a full order of magnitude larger--- one with 10,000 A's. This can be represented as A*(10^4). The original document may be larger by a full order of magnitude, but the compressed version is still just eight characters long. Going up by yet another order of magnitude to 100,000 A's still requires just an eight-character expression: A*(10^5). In fact, a full billion A's--- a gigabyte of highly repetitive data--- is *still* only eight characters long: A*(10^9)

Now imagine that a faked zip file contains an expression amounting to, say, A*(10^99). When expanded, that tiny nine-character expression will--- by far--- more than fill any hard drive on the market today!

While the above is oversimplified, it illustrates the point: It doesn't take a lot of space to represent a huge amount of highly compressible/expandable data.

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10) Just For Grins

Regular contributor/writer R. Dan Park sends along this description of "... a condition often found in folks of my age. The scientific world is frantically searching for a cure."

This is an ailment many of us suffer from and may not as yet have been diagnosed. However, now you may be able to discuss it with your loved ones and try to explain what really happened to you all those times you tried so hard to accomplish something and didn't. It's called the "Butfirst Syndrome."

It's like when I decide to do the laundry - I start down the hall and notice the newspaper on the table. Okay, I'm going to do the laundry -- Butfirst I'm going to read the newspaper.

After that, I notice the mail on the table. Okay, I'll just put the newspaper in the recycle stack, Butfirst I'll look through that pile of mail and see if there are any bills to be paid. Now where's the checkbook?

Oops! There's the empty glass from yesterday on the coffee table. I'm going to look for that checkbook, Butfirst I need to put the glass in the sink.

I head for the kitchen, look out the window, notice my poor flowers need a drink of water. I put the glass in the sink, and darn it, there's the remote for the TV on the kitchen counter. What's it doing here? I'll just put it away, Butfirst I need to water those plants.

Head for door and Ack! I stepped on the dog. The dog needs to be fed. Okay, I'll put that remote away and water the plants. Butfirst I need to feed the dog.

At the end of day Laundry is not done, Newspapers are still on the floor, Glass is still in the sink, Bills are unpaid, Checkbook is still missing, The dog ate the remote control. AND, when I try to figure out how come nothing got done all day, I'm baffled, because I KNOW I was BUSY ALL DAY!

I realize this condition is serious....and I should get help, Butfirst I think I'll read my email...

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11) A Plus! A Reader's Well-Honed BS Detector;
Easy (And Cheap!) Fix For Scratched Screens;
Accessing New And Old Plus!-Site Features

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: A reader's reactions to, and Fred's analysis of, an ad that's making the rounds that claims there's a "hidden encrypted database within your computer;" a way to fix scratches laptop/pda/cellphone screens in seconds, and for pennies; and news about newly-added features and services at the private Plus!-subscriber-only web site.

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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