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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2002-06-17

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) What's Bugging *You*?

Ever wonder what's the buggiest type of software, overall? Have you ever wished you could band together with your fellow readers and make a loud public statement about software quality? Have you ever wanted to reality-test your opinions about various software companies to see if your experience matches your cohorts'?

I'm embarrassed to say that the answers to all the above, and much more, have been at our fingertips for almost a month, but I missed 'em. There're on a large website that I visit almost every day. But--- probably like you--- I tend to frequent a few familiar portions of large sites, and thus sometimes miss some really good stuff going on in other parts.

This habit caused me to miss a large group of related surveys, articles, case studies and research presentations focused entirely on software quality--- an issue that costs every one of us time and money: Due to bugs, you may have to re-do your work; or spend time finding a workaround for the bug; or have to locate, download, and install a patch for the bug. Even then, you may not be done, because those selfsame patches often introduce new bugs into the mix, perpetuating the cycle. It's a mess.

So, when I heard of a "Rate Your Software Vendor" article, I clicked there posthaste. But when I got there, I found much more--- a veritable gold mine on the state of software quality.

• Rate Your Software Vendor (fast, free, fun survey)

• What's the Buggiest Software? (a statistical look at how common bugs are in 18 major software categories, including operating systems, desktop productivity software, email clients, anti-virus software, and so on.)

• Learning To Live With Bugs (includes an amazing pie chart near the end that shows one of the reasons why software quality is such a fuzzy issue)

• Software Quality Quiz and Resources (see how your answers stack up against those from some 800 business technology professionals)

• "The Case For Results-Based Software Management" (an interesting way to look at software management in terms of "software economics" rather than the more familiar "software construction"' or "software engineering")

• And  "In Search Of... Software Quality" (a meta-page that links you to a variety of resources--- organizations, software testing tools, academic resources, methodologies, and weblogs--- all relating to software quality.)

I've listed fuller descriptions and direct links to all the above items at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020614S0002

 Please click over and take a look! Then join the discussion: What do *you* rely on to gauge software quality? (Word of mouth? Benchmarks? Formal reviews by testing labs? Etc.) Do you do any formal personal testing or benchmarking yourself, or do you just "dive in" and see what a new piece of software has to offer? Do you think software quality has improved, declined, or stayed about the same over the last few years? Who produces the best software these days--- and who churns out the worst? Join in at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020614S0002 !

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2) Quirky Tool, Fabulous Name

Lol! The software--- which seems to be done partially tongue-in-cheek--- is called "Dead Man's Switch." It gets its name from a safety device that used to be installed a century ago in locomotives: A spring-loaded pedal or lever the engineer would have to stand on or pull to operate the train. If the engineer left his assigned position--- or if he fainted or died while at his post--- the pedal or lever would be released, and the train would automatically stop.

The "Dead Man Switch" software brings this steam-age technology and sensibility into the age of the Internet: It addresses the problems caused if we were unexpectedly to "shuffle off to that Great Motherboard in the Sky:"

[It's] software which would act as a proverbial "Dead Man's Switch," , which is basically a system that, if not reset by a given time, will automatically carry out a series of tasks, such as posting messages to websites, sending e-mails to loved ones (or hated ones), and encrypting or destroying sensitive files....

I love this concept, and the twisted minds that created it. Lol!

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3) Another "Lost Gem"

While reading the question about DELAGE.EXE [see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-06-06.htm#5 ] I remembered a set of utilities I used everyday (back in the DOS days) called PCOPY and PDEL. Among the many things PCOPY could do, was copy a group of files using the largest file first and then the next largest file that could fit in the remaining available space on the diskette. PDEL could delete read only and hidden files, delete before, after, and between dates, and much more. These and other utilities were written by Norm Patriquin of Patri-Soft. They saved the company I worked for many thousands of hours preparing diskettes with software updates. They have not been updated in a while, but I am sure some of your LangaList readers can utilize their features. They are hard to find but I found both at http://www.surfmadison.com/$webfile.files.UTILITYS.PCK31.25

Thanks for a great newsletter.--- Clay Teague

Thanks, Clay. Some parts of the Internet are like your grandmother's attic--- full of forgotten items. A lot of it may be junk, but there are some real treasures in there, too. 8-)

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4) A Seasonal Reminder (For The Northern Hemisphere)

Hi Fred, I have been a subscriber for almost two years now and I just love your newsletter-keep up the excellent work!

I have a small question for you. I have a Blaster PC by Empac that runs great, however I was concerned with whether or not to upgrade from two stock fans to three.

Is this a concern that I should be worrying about or should I just leave it be (not broken-don't fix it). Also if an extra fan is a good idea, how much of a technician do I need to be to install it?

Thanks for all the great reads! --- R.Wynn

As the northern half of the planet tilts into Summer, heat-related issues will become more and more important here: Overheating is actually the #1 life-shortening factor for electronics, including PCs! (Apologies to our friends on the bottom half of the planet, for whom this information will be more relevant in half a year. <g>)

It's easy to know how hot--- or cool--- your CPU is running: It's a function built into almost all new systems over the last few years, and is easily added to many older systems. In newer systems, you can access a built-in temperature readout as part of the BIOS setup screens (usually available by pressing DEL or some other key during system startup). To access your system's temperature info from within Windows and without rebooting, all you need is a piece of free software.

More info on the hows and why of thermal issues in PCs, plus links to monitoring and thermal-regulation software: http://www.informationweek.com/LP/columnists/langa/2001/06.htm

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5) WUpdate Problems For Win2K/XP Users

Last week, I started getting a lot of emails like this, from XP and Win2K users who suddenly couldn't access the Windows Update site: It seems that Microsoft changed the way the site worked, and broke it for many users:

Fred,  Am writing to see if any other subscribers are unable to access the "Windows Update site"? I get the following error message while running XP-PRO... This is the page message:

Thank you for your interest in Windows Update
Windows Update is the online extension of Windows
that helps you get the most out of your computer.
The latest version of Windows Update is only available on computers that are running Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

Go Figure! --- Jerry Whaley

Reader Chuck Joseph encountered the same problem, but also dug out a fix from Microsoft's support system:

Dear Fred, Microsoft has recently updated their Windows Update Site and in the process has made it unavailable to thousands of XP users. This bug seems to effect those XP users who have a broadband connection or users who are behind a corporate network....

Microsoft again has kept this problem quiet while trying to develop a fix for a problem they have created. However, they do have a work around with further options if needed (see below, forwarded from Microsoft). I have always enjoyed your newsletter and thought your readers might find this information useful since it is unavailable at Microsoft's support site.

Yours truly, Chuck Joseph

I'll link you to the official Microsoft fix in a moment, but you may not need it: If you can access the Update site normally, you do NOT need to do anything further.

On the other hand, if your system is set up to check for automatic updates, you may have missed updates and not known it; you may have the site-access problem and not realize it.

So: I suggest that you take a moment and click to the Update site. It's usually available via a link on the Start menu, or via the Link menu of Internet Explorer. If you can access the site normally, you're OK.

If not, the following fix will get you going again. The fix is long--- involving 18 separate steps!--- so rather than load it all into the newsletter, I've posted it on the web:

Windows Update Access Fix:

Plus! Edition Subscribers (private, high-speed site):
http://www.langalist.com/plus/extras/broken_updates.asp

Standard Edition Subscribers (public site):
http://www.freetune.com/extras/broken_updates.htm

Thanks, Chuck!

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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) Free Offline Registry Help File

The WinGuides site has a lot of good info, with a special focus on managing, tweaking, and optimizing the Windows Registry.

The folks at WinGuides have bundled much of their Registry info into handy help files you can download and run on your PC: With these files, you have access to the info even when you're not online.

The downloadable version of the Windows Registry Guide contains all the tricks, tweaks and hacks for optimizing, enhancing and securing the Windows operating system. While the Windows Security Guide contains details of the latest security vulnerabilities for the Windows platform.

There's a freeware version and a more-elaborate version for WinGuides-registered members. They're both worthwhile.

http://www.winguides.com/guides.php?guide=registry

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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

Freedom From Spam
http://freedom-from-spam.tripod.com/

458th Transportation Company
http://leeshomesthree.homestead.com/pbr.html

Crycket Home Page
http://www.angelfire.com/wizard/crycket/

Forrest Ministries (Australia)
http://www.forrestministries.com/

"Links For Women," and More
http://members.rogers.com/theteapartyfan/index.html

Yannick et Alain Verglas, page perso
http://www.e-verglas.com/

JW Novelties
http://www.jwnovelties.com/

Kennedy's Standard Poodles
http://www.worldchat.com/~kevink/

"Small&Furries"
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jean.wright3/index.html

Leavenworth.biz
http://www.leavenworth.biz/

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9) At Long Last: Mozilla 1.0

Alex Lockhart was the first of several readers to write about the release of the long-delayed (we're talking *years*)  Mozilla 1.0 browser:

Fred, With your recent coverage of OpenOffice.org 1.0 (I'd been watching the project, waiting for 1.0, but heard about it from you first), I thought you might be interested in Mozilla's recent graduation to version 1.0.

With these 2 major apps just recently going 1.0, it seems this is a sort of "coming of age" for the open-source community they finally have mature competitors for Microsoft's 2 largest non-OS products.

Your readers might want to note a difference between the way commercial software and open-source software generally use the X.X.X naming system commercial software thrives on an appearance of completion, so they are quick to name immature, buggy software "1.0", and move them quickly to 2.0, after incorporating few major changes and fixing few bugs. AOL is the worst culprit of this. Open-source software, however, usually goes through an extensive beta period, and only is called "1.0" when its development community is satisfied with its features and reliability, which can take years in the case of a major app like Mozilla. Thus, Mozilla, at version 1.0, is in many ways superior to IE's version 6.0. BTW, your readers may also be surprised to find that Netscape is simply a commercialization (by AOL) of Mozilla every so often, they take a stable release of Mozilla, make their own fixes and tweaks, and release it as the next version of Netscape. Thus, Mozilla looks and behaves similar to Netscape, but is purer and has more tweakable options.

Personally, I use Opera for its MDI, mouse gestures, and tweakability, but I really appreciate the robustness of Mozilla.

Thanks for publishing the most informative newsletter on the 'net. --- Alex Lockhart

Thanks Alex, and all who wrote in. It's true that Netscape is built on Mozilla, but the Netscape version (soon to become the bundled AOL version, too, when AOL drops IE) is usually at least a few "builds" behind the Mozilla release, and also comes encrusted with all kinds of AOL add-ins, branding, and ads.

So, you can think of Mozilla as "Netscape, but with fewer bugs, and without AOL." <g>

BTW, the name "Mozilla" dates to the early days of the Web, when one of the very first graphical browsers was called "Mosaic." (Yes, there were text-only browsers in the *very* early days.) Some folks wanted to take Mosaic and pump it up--- to make it the "Godzilla" of browsers. Mosaic + Godzilla = Mozilla. Really!

Anyway, the browser's definitely worth a look! http://mozilla.org/

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10) Just For Grins

Ever been stuck on a mailing list you can't get off of? Marlene Dowell sends along this parody of "easy unsubscribe directions." 8-)

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• "Ethical Hacking" Tools
• Free Email Monitor/Manager
• Legit, Nondestructive Ways to Uninstall IE

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: Password-bypass tools that--- in the right hands--- can be real life-savers; a tiny, free email monitor/manager that helps guard against spam, worms, trojans, and more; and a discussion of several Microsoft-approved, legitimate ways to uninstall IE from Windows without ripping apart the rest of your operating system.

Each Plus! Edition issue costs just pennies! Info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

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See you next issue!

Best,

Fred

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

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