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LangaList 2002-04-11 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!
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1) Readers Suggest Sane Approach To FiltersThere's still lots of reader-posting activity in the discussion area associated with the recent article on "Silent Censorship" (email filtering) at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020328S0008; and lots of good email coming in on the subject. For example:
What a sound, simple, and effective idea! Instead of trying to use some half-baked software to filter sites, this lets the simple fact that the librarian is watching help the users to modify their own behavior. Not only will it prevent most kids from trying to access inappropriate material, it does so in a way that's self-directed and that helps them to develop their own social conscience about public behavior. Elegant! Reader Michael Bell reacted to my question about "Where are the parents?" of the kids--- the "little Johnnies"--- who are accessing those materials. Tongue firmly in cheek, he wrote this cutting parody:
Of course--- Michael's deliberately-oversimplified parody aside--- many parents would love to spend more time with their kids but simply can't: Many families absolutely *need* two paychecks to survive today, and the resulting time constraints are truly horrible. It's a trap, not a choice. But even when not physically present, I have to believe that a parent who's doing his or her job will have an impact on their kids' behaviors--- that the kids will have some sense of right and wrong, some sense of what's acceptable public behavior or not. And that comes back to John's suggestion: A kid with some rudimentary sense of right and wrong will feel embarrassed about surfing for porn if the librarian "in loco parentis" ("in place of the parent") can see them. And then this whole issue of filters for kids in public places goes away. 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
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 2) Time Out! (Finding Old WinMag Articles)
Thweet! Time out! <g> There are two entirely different things going on here: (1) the links to Techweb pages that I publish here in the newsletter; and (2) the internal links on the Techweb site that take you from article to article and to other pages. I check all the links I publish here in the newsletter. They're *all* OK and working when I send out an issue. The recent links to the Techweb articles on batch files were (and still are) all good. However, as I said in the last issue, during periods of heavy use, the Techweb servers may be temporarily unable to deliver the pages. I have no control over that (I neither own nor manage those servers; I'm not a Techweb employee). All I can do is ensure that the initial links I give you are OK, and I do that. Honest! <g>. However, once you're on their site, using their internal navigation links (not the ones I publish here in the newsletter, but the internal links you see on Techweb's own pages), the second factor kicks in: Techweb's internal linking to older articles is very spotty: Once you're on the Techweb site, *their* links (not the ones I send you in the newsletter) may turn out to be dead ends. There's nothing I can do about their internal site navigation, but there's an easy workaround *you* can use: You often can find "lost content" on Techweb (or on any site) by using Google, which is better at digging out content than many sites' own native links and search engines. We've covered this before, but let me briefly recap: For example, using Techweb's own "advanced" search engine and looking site-wide for any articles with the terms "langa dos batch file" yields this: "Sorry! Your search for 'langa+dos+batch+file' returned no results." That's nuts: We all know the articles are there. (I wrote them!) But the Techweb search engine is horrible. Instead, go to Google, select "advanced search," enter "langa dos batch file" as "all the words" search terms, enter "content.techweb.com" as the only domain to search, and hit Search: Google will spit back no fewer than 35 files that were buried on the Techweb site that contain all the words "langa dos batch file," and that were unavailable to Techweb's own search engine. Man, I love Google. <g> Click to email this item to a
friend 3) Speaking Of Google...
Thanks, Bob! Even in beta, it's already working pretty well. It's a nice complement to another group of advanced Google features many people don't know about: the "Topic-Specific Searches." They're at the bottom of the Advanced Search page, and they offer pre-filtered searches of: Google Catalog
Search - Search and browse mail-order catalogs online Google just gets better and better. Click to email this item to a
friend 4) Free "Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer"Last Monday, Microsoft released a new WinXP and 2K tool called the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA):
Although I have every security patch that Windows Update has ever offered to me, the Analyzer is just a 2.5MB file, so I downloaded and ran it as a "what the heck" thing. Surprise! It found two missing security patches, both rated "critical," that the Windows Update "wizard" had never told me about! I was able to then download and install the missing patches using the direct links provided by the Analyzer's report. That immediately switched me from skeptic to believer: Even if you've been religious about applying security patches on your own or through the Update service, grab a copy of the Security Analyzer to make sure something wasn't overlooked. Download: More info: Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 5) And Speaking Of Patches...If you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5 or 6.0, check out http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-015.asp for updated information on a previously-released "Cumulative Patch for Internet Explorer." Likewise, if you're running Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server or the Datacenter Server, check out http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-016.asp for revised security patch for those systems. Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Don’t Make Me Beg! 8-)If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just
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friend 7) Update to "Free Favorites-To-HomePage Converter"Remember Robert Perry's "Free Favorites-To-HomePage Converter?" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-03-14.htm#1 ) It's a free script that parses your Favorites folder, and places the URLs into a custom web page that resides on your own system. Using that web page as your Home Page means you have instant access to all your Favorites in a format that's easier to navigate than via the Favorites menu. Well, Robert has a new version and a new home page for his free software:
Thanks, Robert! Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 8) They Loaded The CodeDo 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 Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites
Starting At An STL Error Message Decryptor For C Welcome To Mike & Cindy's Web Site circle in square Buy A Home Music, spinning, knitting, soapmaking and
ham radio... Backdoor Homeschool Tools Parish of Cayton with Eastfield (UK) Burakowski Web Site PBow Enterprises Obscure News Click to email this item to a
friend 9) Fred Treads On Thin IceReader Allen Whitehead asks:
Ink prices *are* nuts: Most cartridges hold about 10ml of ink--- literally about 150 drops--- and yet cost something like $25. Although the cartridges and packaging cost something, there's clearly a *huge* profit margin built into OEM ink pricing. But I've avoided this topic in the past because it seemed like walking on thin ice: I have several advertisers who sell off-price cartridges, and I didn't want to seem like I was shilling for the advertisers. But I have gotten mail from happy readers who have bought ink from one or another of my std edition sponsors, and gotten good results. If the reader email is an indication, those off-price cartridges can be OK. In fact, I've used some myself, with good results (on an Epson color inkjet printer that's my office hardcopy workhorse). Two such vendors are http://www.mrinkman.com/?AID=804997&PID=820469 and http://atlascopy.com/cgi-bin/U/clickthru.cgi?id=langa . Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For GrinsReader WynneC sends along this sign of the times:
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 11) Plus! Edition Highlights
Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: A tool (not an exotic dancer!) that requires no download or installation, and that can clean up the messy formatting of forwarded emails; a second source to get the late, lamented--- and amazingly compact and powerful---"NewDeal" office suite; and a way in which we try to help a reader out of a horrific virus infection that's taken down an entire office full of PCs, and that can't seem to be stopped with normal Anti Virus tools Plus! Edition info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm Click to email this item to a
friend See you next issue!
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