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
<a href=" http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-04-08.htm ">here</a>

The LangaList
Standard Edition

2002-04-08

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) More Filter Weirdness

I should have known--- the last issue (which mentioned content filters) was itself blocked and bounced by a number of filters that thought they detected "bad" words or evil content in the text. (Sigh.) But I'm in good company: Readers sent in examples of filters that blocked the news pages of the New York Times, the Library Of Congress web site, and many other perfectly innocuous sites, too.

But some readers are OK about filters. Christopher Harris, for example writes:

Our local elementary school complies with CIPA using Esafe Enterprise. It provides the school with both anti-virus and content filtering protection all for $10 per seat. Sure it's not perfect. Hmmm, how come I couldn't get far into www.hp.com unless I bypassed the filter? However, it does allow us to be eligible for federal funding assistance. This is very important at this time due to several special needs kids. It works for us, but clearly we have less demanding needs.

Yes, filters can block the bad stuff--- and that's their sales pitch and appeal. But you can do the same thing by ripping the internet cable out of the wall: Presto, no more bad stuff!

Of course, no more good stuff, either--- and that's the problem with filters, too.

Then there are legal issues. Libraries often stock magazines like Playboy or Cosmopolitan: They're freely available for all patrons. But the same patrons can't get to the Playboy or Cosmo web site if a filter is in place. That's dumb. You can't have different standards for print and online text.

Plus: Filters on public computers also block for everyone. It's one thing to try to block 8 year old Johnny from going to "BreastsRus" but it's quite another to prevent a 50 year old woman from visiting a site on breast cancer. Filters that use simple word lookup tables will mindlessly block both. That's wrong, and I can't see a way to condone the latter--- preventing a valid search on "breast cancer"--- just because unsupervised little Johnny might see a naughty site. Where are Johnny's parents in the mix? Why should valid adult web searches be blocked because some kid is running around undisciplined and unsupervised? Why should the rest of us be restricted because of Johnny's--- or Johnny's parents'--- shortcomings?

Perhaps the focus on sex in these examples colors the argument too much: A reader from Ireland wrote in about broader first-hand experiences overseas:

I applaud your campaign against the silent censorship of filters. During my career as a journalist, I worked under varying degrees of censorship in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), in South Africa and in Bahrain (Arabian Gulf) and, in my experience, it is a dangerous tool that can rarely, if ever, be justified. Cliff Hutton, Dublin, Ireland

And, to me, that's the larger point: Once the government--- any government--- starts deciding what's OK for its citizens to see or not, things get very funky very fast. In fact, control of content in media is a hallmark of every repressive regime on the planet. Once a government has control of content, it has control of everything. Talk about Big Brother.

As an aside, this made me smile: I've gotten about an equal number of emails lambasting me for (on the one hand) my "socialistic" views and (on the other) my "right wing rhetoric." I guess censorship is in the eye of the beholder--- or the censored. <g>

But what's your take? What's *your* experience with filters? Do you use filters, and if so, which ones have you found good or bad? Do you use tools to circumvent filters? Please click to read the column ( http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020328S0008 ) and then join in the discussion!

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

return to top of page

2) Clean*.bat Takes Off

Yow, what a response! Tons and tons of readers have grabbed a copy of the new cleanup batch files. The servers are smokin'! <g>

In fact, some of the Techweb servers smoked so much they choked: Some readers had trouble accessing the older WinMag articles I referenced. But the links were OK and the articles are there--- it's just that when the CMP servers (including InformationWeek's, too) get too busy, they give a bogus error message that makes it seem that the URL was bad. In fact, it's just that the servers can't handle the load. (It's not something I have any control over--- sorry!) Usually, if you just try again a little later, you'll get to the page just fine.

A number of expert readers also wondered why I didn't use "environmental variables" in CleanXP. These variables are system-wide aliases that substitute a simple term for a long path and folder name. For example, the long path "C:\Documents and Settings\fred\Local Settings\Temp" may be represented by a simple variable called %Temp%. In XP and 2K, there's also a %USERPROFILE% variable that should--- should--- always contain correct path information.

Some of the later versions of Clean9x.bat did, in fact, use environmental variables, but even with elaborate safeguards and precautions, they caused problems for some readers if the readers (or some software they'd used) changed their variables incorrectly. We even had cases where readers--- who knows why?--- had their %Temp% variable set to point someplace where it never should, like C:\ .  You can imagine what happened when they did a "DELTREE /y %Temp%"  --- Clean9x obediently did exactly as it was told to do, and deleted everything in the place specified by %Temp%, except that in this case, that meant the entire contents of their C: drive. Ouch!

Handling the file locations manually---the long way--- is harder, but it always works and is safer. And I also believe that knowing the real (not aliased by a variable) location of your temp files is a good thing. In fact, I believe that anything that makes your PC less of a black box--- so you really know what's going on inside--- is a good thing.

But if you want to substitute variables for the explicit locations, of course you can! <g> (See http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-09-18.htm#1 for more info.) That's the other beauty of batch files: They're incredibly easy to modify to whatever purpose you wish!

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

return to top of page

3) "Yahoo Service Changes Baffle Customers"

We recently mentioned a confusing change in Yahoo's handling of Pop mail, but that wasn't the end of it: Yahoo followed up with a nasty policy change in which all members of Yahoo groups apparently had their "opt-out" preferences reset to opt-*in*--- in effect, telling the system "Yes, Yahoo, please spam me!" If you have any Yahoo membership, it'd be a good idea to check your member settings or you may soon get inundated with unwanted email and paper mail: Sign in to Yahoo, click on Account Info, and then on "Edit your Marketing Preferences." Be sure to save the changes when you're done.

But there's at least a little more clarity on the email side of things: Reader Wil Gee sent this along with a note stating, "Sad, but true -- I'll be sending mail from my personal email account because of stuff like this."

Full story: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-875322.html

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

return to top of page

4) Using Kazaa? Watch Out!

The headline says it all: "Stealth P2P network hides inside Kazaa." You see, Kazaa--- the popular file-sharing tool--- has included a sneaky addition to the latest releases of its software:

More info: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-873181.html and
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-873416.html

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

return to top of page

5) "Fred, Stop B*tching About SPAM..."

That was the subject line in a note from "Larry," who went on to say:

I know what you mean, Larry. Common usage has made the meaning of the word "spam" vague. In discussion groups, someone making multiple posts may be accused of spamming; while annoying, it's not spam. Some people consider *any* unwanted electronic communications--- including chain letters from buddies--- to be spam. But that annoying behavior also isn't spam.

Spam is indeed "UCE," or unsolicited commercial email, and that's actually not a vague term at all. In the US, abundant First Amendment law has established a clear differentiation between commercial speech and noncommercial speech. Spam has nothing to do with "email threads" and "political speech" because they are noncommercial.

In fact, the solution to spam may be in the precedents already in place for commercial speech in the form of paper-mail advertising: For example, it's perfectly legal for a company to send you advertising flyers by paper mail. BUT you are not obligated to receive the paper mail (you must be able to opt out) and--- this is key--- this mail is sent at the advertiser's expense.

Here's where it gets interesting: It is quite illegal for a business to send you something by snail mail, unasked for, that you must then pay for. In fact, if a company tries to fool you into making a purchase by sending you a product you didn't ask for, you have the legal right to treat the unrequested product as a gift and to keep it without paying for it. (Really!) No business can make you incur costs by sending you something via physical mail without your prior consent, and then try to make you pay for it.

To me, this is key: Email spam DOES incur a direct cost to the recipient (bandwidth, electricity, ISP charges...). Conceptually, spam email is like getting a collect call from a telemarketer!

If spam-mail costs were borne by the sender, I'd have less objection to it: If each spam arrived with a micropayment of a few cents to offset the costs of downloading and processing the spam, my objections would mostly go away. Of course, most spam also would mostly go away: The only reason it exists is because it's inexpensive to blast out emails via disreputable bulk-mailing firms.

So, spam isn't just any email or posting that you don't like or want: It's a very specific thing---  unsolicited commercial email. And even that narrow definition covers a lot of ground: By some estimates, about 30% of all email traffic is spam! But that narrow definition may also hold the key to controlling spam, if the "cost must be borne by the sender" logic of the paper mails can be extended to email spam as well.

Incidentally, we covered various anti-spam tools in http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-07-09.htm#1 , and also discussed why it's called "spam" in http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-07-09.htm#2 . <g>

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

return to top of page

6) It's A New Month...

...and right now your chances are the best they'll ever be!

To have a shot at winning a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item
at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys, and
more--- 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 mini-shopping spree! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#2

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/sendit.htm

return to top of page

7) Free "StatBar"

StatBar packs a lot into a small space: battery status, CD door eject/close, CPU usage, exit/lock buttons, harddisk information, locks status, master volume control, memory status, RC5/OGR counter, time synchronization, Winamp controls, Windows uptime, and Windows version.

Plus, it runs on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP!

Thanks, Bruce! Nice find!

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

return to top of page

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

Almost two thousand 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

Win98 Tips and Info
http://www.geocities.com/brettmc2002/

Electric Scooter Parts
http://scooterparts.tripod.com/

DonutRockCity
http://www.donutrockcity.com/

Canadiana Connection
http://www.canadianaconnection.com/

Personal Portal/Alumni Site
http://dreamer.www2.50megs.com/coolsite.htm

Business Opp'y
http://linked2gold.tripod.com/index/index.html

Custom Baskets
http://members.shaw.ca/jtandsf/

"Add A Table" Tune-Up, Internet speed (Comet Cursor site)
http://moxietek.htmlplanet.com/tune.html

Affiliate Marketing
http://personal.palouse.net/ben486/lam/home.html

Gift Box (band site)
http://clik.to/giftbox

InBoxMagazine
http://www.inboxmagazine.com/

"spirit wear and things"
http://www.spiritwearandthings.com/weblog.htm

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

return to top of page

9) Free "FuzzPad" Aids In Learning HTML

Hi Fred. Firstly I have to say I just LOVE your newsletter and I've learned so much from you and your contributors.

Well, I thought it was time for me to make a contribution. I suggest FuzzyLu Multimedia's FuzzPad, http://www.fuzzylu.com/docs/html/js/home.htm as a GREAT site. It's extremely useful for people learing HTML. The page consists of 2 windows: you paste your HTML code into the lefthand window, click on 'Show It!!', and the righthand window shows your code as it would look on a webpage. As a newbie HTML person, I find it great for testing code and aligning pictures and text and for experimenting with new things I've learned. The learning curve is zero...not like most of the WYSIWYG HTML editors available (you don't LEARN HTML using those anyway). You can edit your code in the left window and click on 'Show It' as often as you want.  Debbie, Newfoundland, Canada

Thanks, Debbie. A tool like that, plus some judicious borrowing of code from web pages you visit, can help you figure things out in a hurry: When you see a web page you like, do a View/Source, and copy/paste the code to your system. You can then experiment with the live code in an HTML editor or in FuzzPad to see how the page you like was done, and learn from the example.

Of course, you shouldn't use someone else's copyrighted code in your own pages: It's one thing do vivisect a web site to see how it was done, and quite something else simply to lift the code for wholesale reuse in your own pages. Instead, you should use the borrowed code as a starting place to build your own unique pages. That way is 100% legal and ethical--- and fun too, especially when you take apart some really complex page and get to the "Aha!" moment when it becomes clear how the site creator did  it. 8-)

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

return to top of page

10) Just For Grins

Reader Keith Stammer sends the following item--- a new variant of a very old joke. The origin is murky (a web search didn't turn up where this came from) but one guess is http://bonehead.oddballs.com/ .

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

return to top of page

11) Plus! Edition Highlights

• Two Interesting Google Items
• Remember The "Visual Thesaurus?"
• New Life For Older Systems

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: Curious items from Google's present and past (such as when its disk drives were housed in a case made of Legos!); more dazzling visual navigation sites; and an inexpensive office suite as powerful as Microsoft's but that will run on almost any PC, including ancient 286s with just 640K of RAM!

As always, the Plus! edition is as inexpensive as I could make it--- literally just pennies per issue:  http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

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

return to top of page

See you next issue!

Best,

Fred

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 any information presented here.

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

return to top of page