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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2002-03-21

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) Free OSes / Windows Alternatives

Man, what a response!

In the last issue, I said, "If only in self-defense, we all need to at least begin thinking about Windows alternatives; perhaps even actively exploring non-Windows options." And then I asked for your suggestions and experiences with non-Windows operating systems. Wow, did I get a reaction! <g>

Some replies I got were like the tip of an iceberg--- superficially short, but with much more underneath. For example, reader Tan Siong Hua simply suggested  http://www.freeos.com . It turns out to be a huge and excellent site to pick up info, downloads, etc. on a wide range of alternative OSes.

And Esther Schindler--- an editor working for InformationWeek---  pointed out that "... the 'prefered' form of OS/2 right now is eComStation ( http://www.ecomstation.com/ ) -- which includes the latest drivers, builds in the latest bug fixes, and includes a pile of applications. Unlike IBM's flavor, eCs's OEMed version is updated regularly and sold with joy to consumers...."

Still other readers--- like "John B"--- went into detail so you really could get a thorough feel for their experiences:

Hi Fred, About a year ago I took the plunge to get my butt away from M$ products.  So, having never even *seen* a Linux system and a Mac only once, I bought Linux Mandrake 8.0. The installation was actually extremely easy, and the desktop(s) weren't difficult at all to figure out, the similarities in how things *worked*, were very close. A problem with Linux though, was that many winmodems just are too hard to find Linux drivers for and won't work in Linux, the best solution (IMHO even for M$ Windows) is to get an external modem (a hardware modem if you will). My Mandrake was fairly easy to use and do whatever I needed to do, it took just a little more learning, but if anyone's afraid to *learn*, then they shouldn't have a computer in the first place.

After about 3 months with Mandrake, I got curious to try a different  'flavor' of Linux, so I Got SuSE Linux 7.3. Not to put Mandrake down, but the SuSE is quite a bit more polished than the Mandrake. The installation isn't quite as easy with SuSE as it was with Mandrake, but once it's done, things worked a good deal smoother. In Mandrake, nothing I did (and there were a *lot* of people who tried to help) would get my Zip 100 drive to work...in SuSE, it worked right out of the box...no need to set it up or anything.

So, for those new to Linux, my advice would be to try Mandrake (8.2 is  almost out now if not already), or SuSE (8.0 can now be preordered from the SuSE website, coming out near the end of April) or even Peanut Linux (a small distro that can even be downloaded from the 'net by a dialup account...it'll still take a while, but can be done). Me, I always 'buy' my version of Linux,  just to help out those great programmers, and I always buy the Professional version (SuSE), because it comes with literally *thousands* of apps, and for $80 (SuSE), it's a price that can't be beat.

Remember too, Linux isn't anywhere near as insecure as M$ products, and can  be tightened up like a bug in an amethyst. If you want one that's supposed to be 'super' secure, heck, try the NSA's version of Linux! --- John

The above is just a tiny sampling: You can gain a lot more info on what your fellow readers have found in non-Windows OSes by clicking to the main article at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020314S0038 and then joining in the associated discussion at http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa . Please come share your opinions and experiences.  See you there!

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2) Slick and FREE 3-D Visual Trace Route Tool

Hi Fred, Thought you might enjoy knowing about this (freeware) http://www.hlembke.de/prod/3dtraceroute/   Best regards, Dave Miller

This traceroute tool *is*  very slick, visual, and 3-D. It also performs a series of repeated tests so you can see changes over time. It has a built-in Whois function so you can see who's running the hardware at each hop; and all the info is presented in an engaging format.

And it's really free: The software author says: "It's free. No money, no postcards, no beer. Just free. (Sometimes I have the feeling that this no-beer-thing was an error.)"  <g>

Thanks for the pointer, Dave!

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3) Rosetta Stone For Outlook Email Filters

Fred, I thought you might be interested in this...

I recently started using Outlook's Junk Email feature (Outlook 2002, that is, but probably works same for other versions) and discovered that your newsletter, and some other email, was filtered out and placed in my Junk Email folder by mistake.

I reviewed the list of Junk Email senders to see if I had inadvertently added your name and my other missing email senders to Outlook's list of Junk Email offenders. I had not.

Upon investigating, I found a Microsoft Junk Email Filter Readme at http://office.microsoft.com/Assistance/9798/newfilters.aspx  which details what the junk email filter uses to determine junk email (and adult content email). To my surprise, it wasn't just who was listed as the sender of the email, but lots of keywords in the body of the text and elsewhere!

Apparently, you're using something in your email newsletter that is triggering its Junk Email status, according to Outlook. I haven't spent the time determining the culprit text, but thought you would find it interesting. ---Chuck Smith

Thanks Chuck. That link is eye-opening, and illustrates why filters so often run amok.

For example, if the body of an email message contains the phrase "for free" followed by an exclamation point, it'll trigger the junk filter and the mail will be trashed. I'm in awe, thinking of how many times I've used that phrase when describing cool freeware to you: Every time I said that you could get some nifty software "for free<exclamation point>", that entire newsletter issue was automatically discarded as junk by Outlook. Man, oh, man.

The rest of the list is amazing, too: Even the phrase "dear friend" can trigger the Outlook filter and cause an email to end up in the trash.

The *idea* of email filters is good, but I have yet to see one that really works well; a look at  http://office.microsoft.com/Assistance/9798/newfilters.aspx shows you why filters are so crude, and why they so often toss out the good with the bad.

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4) Meet Reyna, Newest Member Of The LangaList Family

Reyna is a 12-year-old girl who lives in Guatemala in the town of Coatepeque, 118 miles (190km) west of Guatemala City. According to the note we received from the people running the "Mundo Infantil" aid project there:

Reyna comes from a Latino family that speaks the Spanish language and wears westernized clothes. She has six siblings; her aunt and uncle live at home, and they work to support the family since the father passed away. The mother is illiterate; she does the house chores. The family's monthly income is below US$100 which is not enough to provide for their basic needs. They own a three-room dwelling, built of metal sheets, roof, wood walls, dirt and cement floor...

For a photo of Reyna and more information on where and how she lives, along with information on how LangaList Plus! subscribers are helping her, click to this: http://www.freetune.com/newsletters/2002/meet_reyna.htm

What's this all about? Very simply this: 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 )

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5) "...the most user friendly search engine in the world"

Dear Fred: Thank you sooo much for this newsletter. I can't tell you how many times it has kept me from throwing my computer through the window! :-D

I ran across an article on best free stuff on the internet and found something I haven't heard anyone mention. It's called iLOR Search.

According to their site: "ILOR Search gives each search result four ways to interact. In addition to just clicking on the link you can browse through all the results and put the links you think are the most relevant in a List Box for later viewing. You can make any of these links Favorites, or email them to anyone. You can anchor the page you are currently on, click through on the link, click the anchor icon and immediately return to the anchored page. You can open the link in the taskbar, or even in a new window with one click. ILOR is a new and unique way to search the web. " It's Google without the back button. 8-)

They also offer a search toolbar (it is consider a beta). You can find it at http://www.ilor.com/ . ---- Dede

Thanks, Dede. It looks as if iLor started as a slicker front end to Google, but they're now using Ask Jeeves as their primary engine. They have something called "Hydralinks" (the downloadable searchbar that Dede mentions) that still works with Google, and that's a good thing --- I've found Ask Jeeves to be very spotty in the past.

The way iLor presents search results is nice, especially the abbreviated headings grouped near the top of the page. For me, it's probably not quite nice enough to make me stop using Patrick Deal's free and enormously-customizable SearchBar ( http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=patrick+deal&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000  ), but  search engine preferences are very subjective, and what feels "right' to one person may not feel right to you.  It's good to have alternatives. Thanks again, Dede.

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6) $10,000 For Your Trouble?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. You just may win $10,000(!), your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber (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... (Full details available via this link):
http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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7) Historical Footnotes

Bradley Munsen offers these interesting links:

Hey Fred, I recently ran across these articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base and (being a DOS/Windows 3.x user) thought they looked interesting. They contain the version history for all versions of Windows before Windows 95. Maybe somebody else will be interested to know what the features and system requirements were for Windows 1.01. ;)

Windows 1.x-3.x Version History
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q32/9/05.asp

Windows for Workgroups 3.x Version History
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q126/7/46.asp

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8) They Loaded The Code

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

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

Huge site, tons of info
sample page: http://www.mepowers.net/rs/eval_req.htm

Policeweb
http://www.policeweb.com/

Personal Portal
http://www.seeknlink.s5.com/

Service Tech/Consultant for networks (Delaware)
http://davesworld.bizland.com/

Fish Haven farm
http://www.fishhavenfarm.com/links.php

pceasymoney
http://pceasymoney.com/

Student's Site
http://www.seants.btinternet.co.uk/seansweb/favorite.htm

Ted's Web
http://www.zingolink.net:81/

Kamloops Coffee Reader
http://www.javachat.biz/

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9) Cheap, Cheaper...

Fred: While I usually prefer to maintain my spectator status, I would like to recommend the following as probably the best price / value site for "pieces-parts". http://www.newegg.com/  I would hope that others have already mentioned them to you and I am just joining the chorus. I have enjoyed your writings in their various forms for longer than you may wish to admit to being around this business (I started pre 1980 myself). Keep writing and I for one will keep reading. -- Doug Troup

Thanks, Doug. I don't know where the bottom is, but prices are still dropping. As I write this, system prices are down about $50 since the last time we wrote about generic systems and parts, just a few weeks ago! (See http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020214S0003 ) Amazing!

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10) Just For Grins

Sometimes, the weirdest things trigger an email tidal wave, and last issue's item on "pooching" a hard drive was one such. ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-03-18.htm#10 ) But again, if you're easily offended by the cruder forms of WWII-era language, you better stop reading here.

Cecil wrote:

I really appreciate your news letter. I only subscribe to three. Yours is the only one I pay to get more of. But I am worried that you may have been exposed to the disease that has infected Microsoft. When they fix a security hole, they leave similar ones unfixed. So when you fixed your problem with "Pooch" by explaining it, you mention "FUBAR" with no explanation. Please seek a cure for this malady. We cannot afford to have you suffering from Microsoftotosis....

And "Terry M." goes further:

Indeed. FUBAR and SNAFU are now so common they can appear on license plates, in family publications, and be spoken in polite company. But yes, SNAFU does mean what Terry says, and FUBAR means (ahem) "Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition" or "Fouled Up Beyond All Repair." Of course, World War II soldiers didn't say "Fouled," using instead the past tense of a different transitive verb that starts with F.

Going further, a number of WWII veterans wrote to tell me that *I* was the one who screwed the pooch because the the phrase was much older than I thought; and that "screwing the pooch" itself was a highly modified and mellowed version of a much harsher original phrase:

Fred: I loved your explanation of "pooched" and its roots. However! You did not go back far enough. The phrase "screw the pooch" itself was derived from an earlier phrase that was quite familiar to those of us in the service in WW2. I was a Fire Control Computer technician (Fire Controlman) in the US Navy 1944-1946.

Anyone who has ever been in the military has spent an inordinate amount of time in a "stand-by" formation waiting for someone to get the orders to start some activity. Many man-hours were spent in an activity that was commonly known as "Effing the dog." [Note: They didn't really say, "Effing," but I'm sure you can figure it out.] Back home in civilian life this was cleaned up to the slightly more acceptable "screwing the pooch".  Love the LangaLetter, keep up the good work. ---Cleg, FC3C, USNR, 1944-46

Many other readers offered regional variants from around the world and across time; in all, it was linguistically fascinating (I *love* etymology). But by the time I got to an email from reader Louis Jezsik, writing from Kuala Lumpur to tell me of a "screw the pooch" variation he'd heard ("shaggin' the dragon...") while in Cape Breton Canada, I realized we were miles away from the original "pooch the hard drive" that started this whole thread; and even further from any possible connection to the normal content of this newsletter.

So, I think it's time to stop now. <g> Thanks to all who wrote in!

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Serious Tool With Toylike Name
• A Search Trick For Your Favorites
• A Support Tech ID's Performance-Killing Software

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: Information on a free diagnostic tool that helps reveal everything going on inside your PC; a clever way to search your Favorites to find what's there and to prevent creation of duplicates; and an insider's look at the three worst cases of software that will almost surely bog down your PC.

You get all that, minus the ads, and delivered to you in your choice of HTML, text or digest format, for about twelve cents. How can you go wrong? <g> 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)

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.

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

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