Please visit the LangaList Home Page

Please note: Older issues may contain information that is now out of date

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

An easier-to read formatted HTML version of this newsletter is available
<a href=" http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003-08-25.htm ">here</a>

The LangaList
Standard Edition

2003-08-25

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!

Contents:

1) Batten the Hatches
2) Excellent Online Spyware Detection
3) A Bit Off Topic, But Very Worthwhile
4) Cable Modem Hardware Issue
5) PC Mysteriously Wakes Itself Up
6) Recommend This Newsletter And Win!
7) Another S.M.A.R.T. Monitor, And More
8) They Loaded The Code
9) "A Good Software Find"
10) Just For Grins
11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

 

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) ---

"Mr. Langa, your 'Plus' edition is the ONLY newsletter
that I have found to be worth more than the subscription fee.
I have signed up a friend as a gift to him,
and he is also extremely impressed. ---Michael Ludlum"

Thanks, Michael! The LangaList Plus! Edition costs just $1/month, and
is ad-free, spam-proof, and contains even more content---
 tips, tricks, advice, downloads---
than the Standard Edition you're now reading.

Get all the details:

<a href=" http://www.langa.com/plus.htm ">Click!</a>

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

1) Batten the Hatches

The spate of recent worms makes it clear that way too many people aren't keeping their PCs secure.

For example, the "Blaster" worm (the first of the recent bunch) spread itself by email or by direct infection via unguarded network ports. But any good AV tool, and some high-quality desktop firewalls like ZoneAlarm, defang hostile inbound mail attachments: This would have closed off email as an infection vector for this kind of worm attack. Any decent firewall--- even the simplest--- can block the port probes that worms like this use to seek new local victims, totally closing off that infection vector. And the better desktop firewalls also alert you to suspicious *outbound* activity from your PC, so even if your PC were somehow infected, you could still see what was going on, and prevent your machine from infecting others.

And here's the part that makes me just scratch my head in wonder. The worm was designed to take advantage of a Windows security hole for which a patch had been released (via a "Critical Update") a month *before* the worm surfaced! This is a worm that should have gone nowhere.

But clearly, huge numbers of systems were running unpatched, unprotected, and wide open; millions of PCs were thus needlessly compromised. Of course, the usual "it's Microsoft's fault!" cry went up. And while some problems *are* Microsoft's fault, I don't see how we can pin this one on them. People whose PCs  were infected in this outbreak had ignored a "Critical Update" AND/OR were running unprotected by desktop firewalls AND/OR were running without up-to-date antivirus tools. Those are voluntary choices, and (as many found out) ones with bad consequences.

Many readers of this newsletter are running very well-protected, so I don't want to bore you by "preaching to the choir." But if you have coworkers or friends who are leaving themselves open (especially if they were among the millions and millions who got bit by one or more of the worms)--- or if you're not well protected yourself--- this may help:

First, stay patched. I know some users worry about applying Critical Updates, because they sometimes do cause new problems. Up to a point, that kind of caution is a good thing.

Assuming you have a good antivirus tool and a good desktop firewall running to protect you from the most-frequent infection vectors, then it can make sense to wait a few days after a Critical Update appears to see if others have trouble with it. But it rarely makes sense to wait weeks or months before applying a Critical Update, and I can think of no reason just to ignore them: They're called "critical" for a reason.

And please note that you can apply the Critical Updates as soon as they appear, if you have a good backup process. Then, if something doesn't work out, it's no big deal because you can undo the change in a matter of minutes.

For that matter, you usually can apply Critical Update right away anyway: Although some Critical Updates have caused trouble, most of them work exactly as they should.

These links may further help:

How to easily set up a multilayered defense for your PC using free or low-cost software: http://www.informationweek.com/840/langa.htm

Safe ways to test your PC's defenses to make sure they're up to snuff: http://www.informationweek.com/841/langa.htm

How to weigh the risks and benefits of applying security patches to your PC: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=9901256

See the next item, too.

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

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

2) Excellent Online Spyware Detection

In reply to http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-07-31.htm#4 , where we mentioned a new online spyware detection service from PestPatrol ( http://www.pestscan.com/ ) , reader Jim Eshelman wrote:

Fred... I thought I'd mention that I've had free adware/spyware online scanning on my site for several months now at http://aumha.org/a/noads.htm .

All I've actually done is implement locally Andrew Clover's wonderful parasite scanning script, which your readers can also access directly at his goldmine-of-a-site http://doxdesk.com/parasite/ . My implementation is primarily a convenience for people already accessing my site, and also a page devoted to *nothing but* the parasite scan. In its second month it zoomed to be one of the most visited pages on my site. I've been using Andrew's scanning script for quite a while in a user environment of around 6,000 corporate users, and so far it has caught every single major spyware or adware item on the user machines. (Spot checking with more intensive software finds only a few cookies missed.) This is quite valuable in an enterprise setting because the popular and reliable tools, such as Ad-Aware, are only free for noncommercial use. Where an IT department is willing to budget for business copies, one is left to choose between cheating and using the freeware anyway (something not high on my list of favorite things to do!) or use an alternative tool. The Clover scanning script has covered the issue splendidly so far.--Jim Eshelman

Thanks, Jim. Well done!

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

return to top of page

3) A Bit Off Topic, But Very Worthwhile

Reader Wayne Turner was the first of a number of readers to suggest that I mention something that's happening overhead--- a once-in-many-lifetimes event that peaks two days from now:

Fred, I thought you and the subscribers would be interested in this:

"CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH MARS  Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular! [In its orbit,] Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot....By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history.... Share with your children and grandchildren. No one alive today will ever see this again."
---Wayne

What that all means is that Mars has never been this big and bright before, in all of human history. And in fact, newer measurements suggest it really has been something like 60,000 years since it's been so prominent in out skies--- well into prehistory.

All you need are your eyes, but even a small 'scope will probably show you some surface features--- at least some subtle variations in color and shading. Although you won't see the kind of detail produced from space and from giant mountaintop observatories, even a modest backyard 'scope will show you more detail than was available to the early Mars observers like Galileo, and probably to Huygens and Sciaparelli (of "canali" fame) as well. Even Lowell in this century, who thought the surface markings were signs of Martian civilization, routinely stopped his 'scope down to a mere 6-inch/150mm aperture, the size of a modest modern amateur telescope.

Sample small-scope images, and lots more info: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030819.html
http://planetary.org/marswatch2003/observe.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=mars+close+approach+august

Don't worry if the weather's bad. Any night in the next couple weeks will still give a good view.

Thanks, Wayne, and everyone else who wrote in.

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

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

4) Cable Modem Hardware Issue

Fred, Here's a helpful hardware hint that might save folks one or more strands of hair on the head. Recently, I've had problems connecting with my cable modem. It's been one of those degrading type of circumstances - got worse and worse. I have a Linksys Etherfast modem, and I happened across the fact that it's got an HTTP interface.

You cannot change anything in the interface because of the DOCSIS standard - the cable company "programs" everything each time the modem boots by downloading a config file into the modem. However, you can see lots of operating characteristics, and one of them is downstream (received) [signal] power. I noted that my modem was receiving between -11 and -15 dBmv on the downstream. From my EE days, I remember that a 0dBmv signal would be considered good at the end of a transmission line and 15 dB down was quite a loss.

Of course, I blamed the cable company, but then on a whim, I unscrewed the cable modem tap at the splitter and installed a barrel connector from the feed and checked modem power -0.15 dBmv. This means a nearly 15 dbMv loss from the splitter! How can this be? Most splitters use a cheap tinned spring on the connector inside, which in a humid or corrosive environment build up an insulating corrosion quickly. Add the load of the other T.V.s on the other taps and you've got quite a loss.

How to fix? Temporary: Clean the inside of the F-connector with an abrasive wire. Permanent: Find a splitter that uses gold contacts, and don't get one with too many taps. After cleaning, I'm running at -6 dBmv. Now I'm looking for a good splitter. -- Randy King

Thanks, Randy. This is one of those hybrid problems that can happen when a new technology is built on top of older infrastructure. Sometimes, the simpler, older technology hobbles the newer.

I have a similar problem in my house which I've temporarily resolved with a broadband amplifier--- an ugly, brute-force solution that will have to suffice until I can open up a problematic wall and discover the cause of the signal loss. (It's probably also a bad splitter or a bad splice, but is in a totally inaccessible space. Sigh.)

BTW, Froogle can help you find tons of aggressively-priced cable wiring gear, including splitters, amplifiers, cabling, and more: http://langa.com/u/1f.htm

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

return to top of page

5) PC Mysteriously Wakes Itself Up

Fred: I have a customer that has reported an unusual problem with her computer and I was hoping that some of your readers may be able to assist in solving it.

The problem is the computer turns itself on!

Why? I don't know, I have checked to see if wake-on-call thru the modem is set up (it isn't) yet every now and then this computer will just up and turn itself on. Even after the client has checked to make sure it has turned off in the evening she sometimes comes into the office to find the computer merrily humming away!.

The only hardware changes recently have been a wireless mouse and approx 6mths ago we reformatted the hard drive and upgraded to Win XP Pro but nothing out of the ordinary has been done.

I even asked the client if she had a friendly ghost! cos I can t find anything wrong. So if any reader has seen or heard of this and knows how to fix it please let me know before I pull what little of my hair out! Regards, Arthur Smith

My first guess is that something in the Task Scheduler is set to "wake the pc to run," which is a standard setting option. In fact, I have several tasks (backups, for example) manually setup exactly that way on my system. Check the Help file for "scheduled tasks" for full info on accessing and altering any or all Scheduled Tasks on the system.

Similarly, if she has Windows Update set on autopilot, it will periodically contact the Update servers to see if new patches or updates are available. When enabled, the Update timer doesn't appear as a standard Scheduled Task. Instead, it has its own settings: Right click on My Computer, select Properties, and check out the "Automatic Updates" tab.

Some antivirus tools also check back on a regular basis to grab new virus definitions. If she's running such a tool, you might want to check that software's settings.

If you can't find the answer in software, the BIOS may hold a clue: It probably allows for many different hardware events to wake the system: These "wake-on..." events may be listed in several places in the BIOS menus, including power management. For example, if the BIOS is set to "wake after power loss" and her office has less-than-reliable power, then a momentary power loss at night could trigger the system into waking up when power is restored.

The answer will almost surely be among the above. But if not, then--- I hate to say this--- I'd suspect human agency: Someone may be getting into her office at night and using the PC. If the BIOS offers a password-on-resume option, I'd enable that to prevent night visitors from being able to get into the machine. I'd also have a chat with the building security force or local police to see what might be done to either discover who's getting in, or to prevent future occurrences.

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

return to top of page

6) Recommend This Newsletter And Win!

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, maybe a friend would find it useful too! Just use the following link to recommend the LangaList---your friend may find a new source of useful information and you just may win one of three FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the LangaList Plus! edition given each month. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription will be extended by a full year.)

Check out the details at http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm . Thanks for recommending the LangaList--- and good luck!

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

return to top of page

7) Another S.M.A.R.T. Monitor, And More

Our recent discussion of S.M.A.R.T ("Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology") prompted this note:

Fred: another useful freebie: "SpeedFan" http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php It monitors and keeps conveniently available another dozen or so SMART data values (among its other talents)--- - jim bilderback

Thanks, Jim. The site says:

"SpeedFan is a hardware monitoring software that is able to change fan speeds according to system temperatures. SpeedFan can read S.M.A.R.T. values (and temperatures) from your hard disks and change the FSB speed."

And indeed, SpeedFan showed me my hard drive's SMART parameters very quickly and easily. Nice!

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

return to top of page

8) They Loaded The Code

Almost three 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

Hang Gliding
http://www.web.ms11.net/skyfun/

LaserCastle
http://www.lasercastle.com/

The P.A.S.A. Ltd. Home Page
http://hevy.tripod.com/index.html

Halloween Ideas
http://www.llund.com/halloween.htm

Fat Cat Curios
http://www.fatcatcurios.com/

Real Beef
http://realbeef.com/

J Madura's Comics
http://www.jmadura.com/index.html

Sodeman
http://www.sodeman.com/

GiftGalaxie
http://www.giftgalaxie.com

Tauranga, New Zealand
http://www.cityoftauranga.co.nz/

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

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

9) "A Good Software Find"

I recently came across "Ninotech Path Copy" from http://home.worldonline.dk/ninotech/ (click on Free Utilities). It is a Windows shell extension that copies the path of a file or directory to the Clipboard. You copy the path of a file or directory by right-clicking it in Windows Explorer and choosing Copy Path from the context menu.

I have seen several such 'copy path' shell extensions - but this one is the best.

It has nine copy methods such as copy just the filename, copy the full path, or the 8.3 path, or just the folder name or the UNC or Internet path.

It has custom methods so you can transform the filename, or as I used the custom methods, to rename its methods to names that I prefer.

It can place copy methods on the shell context menu instead of the submenu (or both).

You can turn off the display of methods you do not use.

You can select multiple files and copy all of their paths to the clipboard (most of the other methods I have seen can not do this).

It makes just a few registry changes (a hundred fewer changes than other 'copy path' shell extensions I have looked at).

I am not associated with Ninotech in any way. Just a happy user of this free utility.--- Rob Oppenheim

Thanks, Rob! I'll personally find the "copy the 8.3 path" convenient, as I have several old utilities that sometimes get confused by long paths and filenames. Nice!

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

return to top of page

10) Just For Grins

George Davis sends along this very clever, wonderfully done spoof site:

A programmer who works for a large well-known company in Rochester, NY is worried about that company doing outsourcing.... He sent me the following URL http://www.newtechusa.com/PPI/main.asp

If this is just for grins, it is a very elaborate hoax. And after years of being an unwitting, unknowing beta tester for companies like Microsoft and Symantec, I suspect that this really isn't a new concept, but is just now seeing the light of day.---[<G>eorge]

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

return to top of page

--- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---

--------------( the above is an advertisement )--------------

11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

  • Rating Your ISP's Mail Delivery Rates
       (some isps toss almost 40% of valid emails!)

  • Free, Independent POPmail for Yahoo
       (use any email client with Yahoo's email)

  • Best Test/Benchmark Tool Ever? (Free!)
       (perhaps the most comprehensive testing tool ever!)

Plus! edition subscribers not only get much more content in every issue (like the above), but also have access to a private web site with over 100,000 words of special content and features not found in *any* issue of the newsletter; along with dozens of private downloads and much more- -- all for just $1 per month!

Check out: 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

(Want to give a gift subscription to the LangaList Plus edition?
Click <a href= " http://www.langa.com/plus_gift.htm ">here</a>)

See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

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 © 2003 Fred Langa / Langa Consulting LLC. All worldwide rights reserved. LangaList: ISSN 1533-1156

return to top of page

Please visit the LangaList Home Page