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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2002-11-21

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) Anti-Spam Tools That Work

Our current discussion of "Real-Life Spam Solutions" ( http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021115S0018 ) is generating even more reader comment than usual, which makes for interesting give-and-take.

Some of the reader comments are about anti-spam tools and techniques that they've found to be useful. For example:

Hi Fred: I just started to use http://www.spamrecycle.com/ . Apparently what they do is to forward all the spam to the appropriate State Representative to prod him/her to do something about the spam issue. I label my email with my State abbreviation first, then UCE and the subject line from the spam. I also include the "Source" page with headers and "CC" to "abuse@" the offending ISP. Not sure how much good it is doing, but the spam has dropped to 2 or 3 a day from 10 or more. Thanks for the great newsletter. --Rod Padrick

Dear Fred, Just a note to tell you how pleased I was with the IW article "Real-Life Spam Solutions..." about the Bayesian approach to Spam. I hadn't realized the software attempts were even at the alpha stage yet. I went and installed POPFile ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/popfile/ ) immediately after reading your article. Now, I'm using POPFile and loving it. For an Alpha it's damn good and getting better and smarter by the minute. I was surprised with how fast it learned. After the first training run it batted about 95% and you could see it getting smarter with each use. I use it with Eudora. I just let POPFile separate out the spam in one bucket which I filter to a spam folder. All the good stuff goes in another bucket which just passes it through and my regular Eudora filters handle everything as normal. It's actually fun to see a complicated long email with some normal red flag word's in it, be okay'd and pass right through. You kind of scratch your head and try to figure out how it knew that. Even though I understand how it does it, I'm still impressed with how slick it operates. I read a bunch of posts in your forum. Unfortunately it seems some of your readers are very happy with their blacklists and weak solutions because they don't want to try... an alternative solution [that's] vastly superior. Oh well, I guess people are entitled to their opinions. Thank you for a very helpful newsletter. --- Joe Davidson

Different tools work (or don't work) for different people and different reasons--- and that's the great part of sharing information this way: You get to see a range of options and can choose or reject from among them according to your own needs and preferences. So:

What anti-spam tools have YOU found useful, or not useful? How do you combat spam? How much time do you spend dealing with spam? Please check out the article at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021115S0018 and then join in the discussion http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa !

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2) More Scumware-By-EULA

Fred: Your recent discussion of spam made me think of a recent incident that your readers may appreciate being made aware of.

I received an email recently from a friend, which claimed that an e-greetings card was awaiting me and all I needed was to click the quoted link. The associated site required me to download an ActiveX element. I was a little reluctant but checked the digital certificate, which checked out. On accepting the download an EULA (End User Licensing Agreement) appeared. And this is where I made my mistake - I didn't bother to read it.

The e-card appeared but with no personal message. In another window I noted that Outlook was receiving lots of messages from the server announcing failed sendings. I thought 'virus' and turned off the computer. On restarting my system without the email software a virus scan showed no problem. Unconvinced I checked Google which led me to a series of articles/warnings about Friendgreetings.com

The EULA contained a notice indicating that I gave permission for the 'card' to be mass-mailed to everyone on my address books. In addition, it gave the company the right to add other software to my system and even an apparent right to prevent me from removing such software! Popup windows had started to appear advertising products. I located the removal instructions and cleared my system of the offending software. I then emailed all my address book entries to warn them of the problem, apologise and gave removal instructions including the McAfee URL http//vil.nai.com/vil/content/v%5F99760.htm to verify that my email was not itself a hoax virus. I finally wondered how I was going to repair my monitor from the repeated head bashing that I'd been giving it.

Contacting our technical people revealed that this 'attack' is not counted as a virus because of the EULA and so the virus software doesn't check for it. Obviously the message here is to read the EULA with care, but also that people out there are getting pretty nasty in order to sell online advertising.

Regards and thanks for the list and plus --- Mike Robertshaw

"Friendgreetings" is nasty--- a combination of spam+trojan. But, as many have found out, although it's unethical and scummy, it's technically legal because users are agreeing to let it do its thing when they accept the EULA.

In my opinion, companies that behave this way should be driven out of business.

More info: http://www.google.com/search?q=Friendgreetings

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3) Managing Cookies?

There are many tools that let you explore existing cookies to decide which ones to keep or trash. For example  see http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/cookiejar.asp or
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptcookie.asp .

But with "thousands" of cookies already on your system, it can take a long time to sort them. It might be simpler--- and faster--- to empty out your cookie directories manually and start over clean, using something like the tools above, or your browser's built-in cookie tools, or any of the myriad tools available through http://www.google.com/search?q=cookie+manage , to keep your new batch of cookies to a reasonable number. (Before you toss your old cookies, visit any sites where you now use cookies to login in or otherwise control your access, and write down your login/password info.)

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4) Correction, Discount and Donation

The author of the recently-mentioned "Outlook Tool From Fiji" wrote:

Dear Fred: Thank you very much for publishing my letter in your newsletter...the download is actually a 30 day fully functional version that needs to be registered after the trial period for $39.95. There is a special reduced registration price of $29.95 until 30th November.

I understand that LangaList supports children around the world from its paid membership. [See http://www.langa.com/plus2.htm#kids ] I would like to offer 10% of any sales (that we make from LangaList readers) as a contribution to help your worthwhile efforts with underprivileged children.

To readers .. while registering your license, please let me know in the comments section that you are a LangaList reader. If you have already registered, please send me an e-mail and I will make sure 10% of your sale is sent to LangaList.

So far the response from most LangaList readers has been very positive and I hope that any funds we contribute together can go towards giving children a better life and a better Christmas this year. Regards, Sanjay Singh

http://www.addins4outlook.com

Thank you, Sanjay. I'm sure readers will appreciate the discount, and some needy kids somewhere will appreciate the extra donation.

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5) Old Networking Method Still Useful

Networking issues continue to be a major source of trouble, as shown by this letter that references a problem many readers have. (Although the letter specifically mentions XP, the basic info applies to all versions of Windows.)

Fred, A common problem I come across and read about in newsgroups is how to network XP Home with a computer setup with a domain, but no one seems to have an answer. I know XP Home cannot join the domain, but I think they can share files/printers. How do you set up, as example, a company laptop setup to connect to a domain in Win 2000 to share a printer which is connected to a home desktop running XP Home and also to share files? Normally you set both/all computers on the network to the same workgroup, but you cannot do this because one is on a workgroup, the other on a domain. How do you get a common denominator? Good newsletter.. Thanks, Len

Although you can use more elaborate methods, the one I recommend is to use the ancient, much-maligned NetBEUI protocol. (See "Argh! It's The Return Of Evil NetBEUI!" http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-12.htm#9 )

You can think of a networking protocol as a kind of language. TCP/IP is the "language" of the external Internet. If you also use TCP/IP for Print and File Sharing on your internal LAN, then you've created a potentially easy way for outside hackers to have access to your files and printers.

NetBEUI went out of fashion because it's an older "non-routable" networking language that only works locally--- but that's exactly why I like it. When you set up your networking, if you use only NetBEUI for Print and File Sharing, then your network will speak two "languages:" When you talk to the external world of the Internet, you'll use TCP/IP. When you speak to local PCs for print-and-file sharing, you'll be using a completely different language--- NetBEUI--- that cannot be accessed from the outside. Thus, using NetBEUI as the internal, local protocol on your LAN helps increase security.

Interestingly, some networking mavens are starting to come to the same conclusion, and although I haven't seen (and don't expect to see) a resurgence of interest in old-fashioned NetBEUI, there's more and more chatter and networking articles on the limits of TCP/IP, and how a single protocol really can't do everything we need.

Until there's something better, NetBEUI remains a relatively safe and simple way to provide a "lingua franca" for workgroups and small LANs.

More networking info: http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-11-07.htm#2

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6) Thanks!

Fred, Was pleased to see you listed in PC World! Way to Go! Pat on the back! ---Lowell Fuher

Thanks, Lowell! If you didn't see it, Lowell's referring to an article called "Info In Your In-Box" in PC World ( http://www.pcworld.com/features/article/0,aid,105857,pg,2,00.asp ) where they rated 15 e-newsletters and info sources. The highest rating they awarded was four stars, earned by just four of the 15 publications. And yes, the LangaList was one of those top four, ranked equally with the likes of the tech newsletters put out by The New York Times and the San Jose Mercury News. The LangaLIst also was ranked higher than the newsletters put out by Wired, ZDnet, Cnet, and a bunch of others. It's kind of a hoot--- and a sign of how powerful the Web is as a communications medium--- that a one-man operation like mine can compete with (and in some cases, beat!) huge publications like those. <g>

On a more personal note--- and in a way more meaningful because the rankings come from *you,* the readers--- the LangaList also remains among the ten most-recommended "Computing & Internet" web sites from among the 140,000 sites tracked by the folks at Recommend-It! (See http://www.recommend-it.com/rec/sitecenter/RecCtrCategorySearchCntrl.jsp?formSiteSearchCategory=10  .) It's a great feeling to know that this newsletter (and Langa.Com) is useful enough for many, many of you to have suggested it to friends and colleagues.

As a way of saying "Thanks!" there are two prizes you can win simply for making a recommendation. For example, if you use the Recommend-It service, you can win $10,000 (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... and more. 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 Gift Certificate! (Full details also available via this link):
http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

Either way, thank you and good luck!

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7) "Social Engineering" For Virus-Senders

Indeed, it's a problem when someone you want to treat especially well--- a boss, a relative, a friend--- is a likely vector for email-borne pestilence. There's no polite way to say, "Excuse me, but your email habits make you a menace to society." 8-)

One gentle approach: If it's a face-to-face relationship, then the next time you visit them, offer to malware-scan their PC for them; and let something like PestPatrol, Ad Aware, or a free antivirus tool scan their hard drives. ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-10-31.htm#1 ) The people who promiscuously forward emails almost always end up with one or more infections, and if you can show them how badly their system is compromised, it may be enough to get them to mend their ways.

OTOH, if their system comes up clean, then you can rest easier about the stuff they send you, as it's probably already been scrubbed before they send it on. Although the issue of simple mailbox clutter remains, at least you'll know it's merely an annoyance, and not a major danger to you.

If you don't have a face-to-face relationship with the sender, it will be harder to get them to change. But you might try sending back to them any reports of infectious agents in the stuff they're sending you. Or, lacking that, you might try forwarding them this article. 8-)

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8) More Reader Sites!

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 From Among All Listed
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

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

TeachingOnThe.Net
http://www.teachingonthe.net/

"Out Of My Mind"
http://www.0ut0fmymind.com/INTROONE.html

Focus On Catalonia
http://www.sveinsaure.com/

"Memory Map"
http://pages.sssnet.com/kenyost/

Iggyz
http://www.move2groove.com/

Personal Family Pages
http://users.bentonrea.com/~mcoffman/index.html

PACE local 7-63 (Minnesota)
http://pace63.topcities.com/

ShopSmart
http://www.shopsmartsuperstore.com/

Ken's Football Page
http://www.geocities.com/ken_kooiman/kenspage.html

comfort4adhd
http://comfort4adhd.tripod.com/

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9) Free Tools For Tracking What's On Your CDs

There are a number of tools you can use, including Karen Kenworthy's freeware directory-printing utility at http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptdirprn.asp , or this shareware tool ($15) http://www.softpile.com/Utilities/File_Management/Review_06337_index.html , or any number of similar tools you can find via Google or your favorite download site. Good search keywords are "print" plus "folder" and/or "directory" and/or "contents."

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10) Just For Grins

Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being a role model: "I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me."

New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when asked about the upcoming season: "I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."

And, upon hearing Joe Jacobi of the 'Skins say "I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl," Matt Millen of the Raiders said "To win, I'd run over Joe's Mom, too."

Torrin Polk, University of Houston receiver, on his coach, John Jenkins: "He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings."

Football commentator and former player Joe Theismann, 1996: "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

Senior basketball player at the University of Pittsburgh: "I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes."

Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach: "You guys line up alphabetically by height." And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle."

Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson hooking up again with promoter Don King: "Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter? He went to prison for three years, not Princeton."

Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartan training regime of heavyweight Andrew Golota: "He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morning regardless of what time it is."

Chuck Nevitt, North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice: "My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt."

Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player: "I told him, 'Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, "'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.'"

Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."

Amarillo High School and Oiler coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she is too d____ ugly to kiss good-bye".

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• A Free Test Document For Word Security

• Seasonal Changes Mess Up File Copying

• Do-It-Yourself Autorun CDs

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: info and a free test document on yet *another* behavior of Word that may compromise your security; information on a once-obscure (but now increasingly prominent) issue in copying files around the times we change the clocks to and from Daylight Saving/Summer Time; and ways to create autorun CDs on all versions of Windows.

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

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See you next issue!

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.

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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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