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/2002/2002-07-29.htm ">here</a>

The LangaList
Standard Edition

2002-07-29

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) Another Goodie From Jason's Toolbox

Frequent contributor Jason Levine has added another little gem to his collection of freeware/donationware at http://www.jasons-toolbox.com :

Hey Fred: Last week on PC911 there was a thread about computer tricks and secrets. (There are some nice ones in the thread. If you're interested, the URL for it is http://www.pcnineoneone.com/dcforum/computer/43606.html )

Anyway, one tip by "daterminehtor" [about adding "Copy To" and "Move To" to the operating system's context menus] struck me as being extremely useful, but it involved modifying the registry which the novice users might shy away from doing. So I made a Windows Scripting Host script to "install" the registry modifications (as well as an uninstaller script in case you want to get rid of them). The script adds "Copy To" and "Move To" to the right-click context menu of all files and folders.

You can try it out by going to http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/ScriptRepository/   ---Jason Levine

Thanks, Jason!

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

return to top of page

2) Cool Freeware For Recovering Lost Image Files

David Cox was the first of many readers to give a "heads up" about some freeware I'd previously never heard of:

Hi Fred, I just read the article "Recover Data From Erased Memory Sticks." ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-07-22.htm#8 ) I too had a similar situation where I needed to recover some files from a 32mb. memory card. I searched and finally found one. It is freeware (although you can donate). The site includes instructions and some possible problems.
http://home.arcor.de/christian_grau/dir/index.html ---Dave

Thanks, Dave. It looks great: "Digital Image Recovery is a data recovery tool for digital images. The program is designed for media used by digital cameras. Common media types are: Flash Card, SmartMedia, SONY Memory Stick, IBM Micro Drive, Multimedia Card, Secure Digital Card and Compact disc."

I have nothing to try the software on right now, but the volume of reader mail suggests the program does exactly what it claims--- and unlike the software we previously mentioned, this one's free!

Thanks to all who wrote in!

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

return to top of page

3) Evaluating Firewalls

Hi Fred, I'm a happy Plus! subscriber. Just FYI a helpful page I came across.

FREE Firewalls for Windows:
http://www.iopus.com/guides/free-firewall.htm

Free to download - Free to keep:
After the success of ZoneAlarm dozens of new firewall software programs are published every year. Only some of them are worth your time and your money. Especially for private and non-profit organization many excellent products are available for FREE. This web site attempts to list, test and rate the best FREE firewall products for Windows. This is a FREE service of iOpus Security and Internet Software...

---Greg Rice

Thanks, Greg. With all the competing firewalls out there, any new source of independent evaluation is welcome. (Most of the major computer publications also cover the free firewall category now, too.) I was glad to see that the iOpus site generally agrees with the recommendations we've discussed here (Sygate and ZoneAlarm remaining top dogs). But strangely, iOpus' list of the "top five" firewalls only lists four!

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

return to top of page

4) Health/Status Update Re: Derlan

Remember Derlan? He's a young boy who lives in a farming community in Brazil. The per-capita family income is less than US$50.00 per month.

A year ago, Derlan became one of the children supported every month through LangaList Plus! subscription contributions. (These contributions do not increase the cost of a Plus! subscription in any way; the donation is taken "off the top" of any profits.)

Derlan has written to us several times before, but this new note comes from the aid agency that's on the scene, helping there. It includes information on Derlan's health, schooling and other activities, plus a new photo and drawing. Click here to see a scan of the report: http://www.freetune.com/newsletters/2002/derlan200207.htm . In short, Derlan's doing fine now. <g>

So far, we've been able to offer sustained, ongoing help to six impoverished kids around the world, aided emergency earthquake relief efforts in India, and helped those hurt in the Sept 11th terrorist attacks on the US. (To see all the donations so far, click to http://www.langa.com/plus2.htm#kids )

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

return to top of page

5) XP Privacy Hole?

Hi Fred, This one is from The Register. It talks about a possible privacy intrusion when searching the hard drive on a WinXP machine.

You may like to take a look:
http://theregister.co.uk/content/archive/24815.html

I really enjoy your newsletters. Thanks, Karthik Venkatesh

Thanks, Karthik.

The Register is an odd duck--- it's often great, but also fairly often awful; the above article is an example of the bad side of that balance sheet. In this case, the guys at the Register freaked out because XP's Search function connects back to Microsoft. Egads! Is it a privacy breach? Is evil Microsoft snooping on your searches?

Well, no. The XP "Search Companion" automatically will query the search engine of your choice as part of your basic searches; what the guys at the Register saw was the search engine setting itself up for a possible external query. By default, MSN is the selected search engine, but nine others are available. In addition, by default, the XP Help engine's search function also sets itself up to automatically query the Microsoft Knowledgebase for your system Help search terms. This is actually a very useful thing, often saving an entirely separate search.

None of this is a secret: It's all fully explained in XP's search and help settings and documentation, which I guess the folks at the Register didn't bother to read.

I'm first in line to cry "foul" when Microsoft does something sleazy, but man, I get really tired of these false alarms when someone grabs an easy headline by playing off public paranoia about Microsoft. Sigh.

In any case, the Help and Search functions of XP are two of its really nice points. Unlike the anemic Help and Search available in previous versions of Windows, XP's are much more powerful and quite well done. The integration with external search engines and databases is a plus, not a minus, IMHO.

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

return to top of page

6) Last Days To Enter July's FREE Drawing

On 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!

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

return to top of page

7) Intel System Monitor, And Others

Intel doesn't just make CPUs--- it makes motherboards, too, many of which show up in mainline systems from major vendors. If your system uses an Intel motherboard, this may be of interest:

Hi Fred, Lately you've shared info about system monitoring tools, software coolers. I found this at the Intel site and it may help Intel Motherboard users out there to keep tabs on their system. Keep up the good work. Regards, Mark

http://intel.com/design/motherbd/active.htm

The Intel tool displays temperature and fan-related information, and other data indicating your hardware's status.

But there's lots more software out there that does the same thing, and not just for Intel motherboards. Check out: http://www.informationweek.com/LP/columnists/langa/2001/06.htm

Thanks, Mark.

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...

Over 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

Security Realm
http://securityrealm.netfirms.com/

Online Business Info
http://www.palleterra.com/

Eclectic Personal Site
http://www.steveniverson.com/main.htm

Web Design
http://www.nbsldesign.com/

SORT: A Bates College On-Campus Band
http://abacus.bates.edu/~mpooley/

Frugal Shopper
http://www.thefrugalshopper.com

Help2Shop
http://www.help2shop.net/index2.html

PDC Web
http://www.pdcweb.net/index.html

FMS Computer Training
http://www.barrett.net/

Danjon PC Help & Tips
http://www.danjon.net/index.php

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

return to top of page

9) An Odd British Use Of GPS

I've mentioned GPS--- global positioning systems--- several times of late, which prompted reader Gred Landerkin to send in this note about a decidedly eccentric British application of the technology:

Fred, A month or two ago you had a few articles related to GPS and it's uses. Here is a link to an article ( http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52989,00.html ) about something called GPS drawing. Basically, these two guys drive their car around the streets of different English cities and translate the GPS data into pictures (see http://www.gpsdrawing.com/Gallery/belephant.htm for an elephant in Brighton). I doubt the designers of the GPS system could have predicted something like this... cheers, Greg Landerkin

Thanks, Greg!

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

return to top of page

10) Just For Grins

Reader Bret Hegmann sends along this "Investment strategy for today's market:"

If you had bought $1000.00 worth of Nortel stock one year ago, it would now be worth $49.00.

With Enron, you would have $16.50 of the original $1,000.00. With Worldcom, you would have less than $5.00 left.

If you had bought $1,000.00 worth of Budweiser (the beer, not the stock) one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the 10 cent deposit, you would have $214.00.

Based on the above, my current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

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

return to top of page

11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Search Engine Help Site
• "Freeloader" Bulletproof Linux
• LangaList Archive Update En Route

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: A great site that can keep you up to date with the world of search engines; a version of Linux that requires no installation and that makes no changes to your current setup, so you can explore the new OS with zero risk to your existing files; and info on a coming update to the LangaList help file & archives that's available to all Plus! subscribers. This one will include all the LangaLists ever published from 1997 through last week, all in one compact file you can place on your hard drive for fast, local searches.

Plus! Edition info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

Click to email this item to a friend
  http://www.langa.com/sendit2.htm

return to top of page

Best,

Fred
( editor@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.

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 newsletter is SPAM PROOF and requires two levels of subscriber confirmation before delivery begins: 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