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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2003-04-14

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) More "Linux Inside Windows" Options (Pt 1)

I've lost count of how many Linux types--- "distributions"--- there are. I wonder if anybody really knows?

But even though probably no one knows all the distributions there are, a number of readers are keeping up with some of them, including these interesting versions:

Cygwin is a UNIX environment for Windows. It consists of two parts: (1) A DLL (cygwin1.dll) which acts as a UNIX emulation layer providing substantial UNIX API functionality. (2) A collection of tools, ported from UNIX, which provide UNIX/Linux look and feel....

DragonLinux is a complete Linux operating system distribution that has been customized to install on top of versions of Microsoft Windows or any version of DOS....

WinLinux 2003 was designed and built to be the easiest to use Linux system. Its installation and configuration tasks are performed directly from Windows using graphical tools. If you have always wanted to have a powerful and reliable system on your computer, WinLinux 2003 was made for you. If you want to enter the Open Source world, WinLinux 2003 is the easiest path....

Another option--- see next item.

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2) More "Linux Inside Windows" Options (Pt 2)

Hi Fred, I've followed your recent increased coverage of Linux with great interest. Although I'm not all that technically proficient, I find the open-source philosophy behind Linux to be quite appealing, having gotten rather tired of the corporate attitudes of late in the computer industry. Even Apple is no longer what I'd call a nice company.

So I've been waiting and watching as Linux approaches usability for those of us who despise having to have arcane knowledge to use an OS and who are hoping for Linux to replace Windows and Mac sooner than later.

The biggest deterrent to Linux for me has been the lack of mainstream graphic design applications, like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and the like. (No, despite claims by its proponents, the GIMP does not cut it)

The next deterrent has been the needlessly complex way applications are installed.

And thirdly, when installed on the same PC as Windows, is having to put up with multiple booting and the hard drive space taken up for an OS that requires a separate partition or at bare minimum a large chunk of drive space just to have an OS installed that will only be played with.

Then I discovered Knoppix Linux, a German distro that boots and runs totally from a CD, comes complete with all the current popular Linux apps preinstalled, and is free for the download and cost of a blank CD.

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html

http://www.linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=44

All it takes to run it is the BIOS set to boot from a CD, putting the CD in, restarting, and less than 3 minutes later on my aging 800MHz PIII it has loaded itself, automatically detected everything, established a network connection, and opened an HTML info page in its browser (Konqueror). All this without ever touching the keyboard or mouse.

For a totally effortless 'installation' of an OS to only play with, I can't imagine it getting any easier than this. FWIW, Gordon

Thanks, Gordon!

Man, it'd be a full time job just to keep up with everything going on with Linux. No, check that--- it'd be way more than a full time job! But even just scratching the surface is fun. <g>

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3) Odd "Kitchen Sink" Kind Of Tool

Hi Fred... Just a quick note to, first, thank you so much for your LangaLists.... they are the only e-mails I honestly look forward to each week!

Second, I thought I'd bring to your attention an interesting program I just discovered. It's called "What's on my Computer." http://www.whatsonmycomputer.com/  If you have the time to have a quick look at it, I think you will find, as I did, that it's an interesting program....

It lets you check anything in your computer, including the start up programs, with a direct link to a Google search... helpful if you have no idea what's going on in your computer! ---Regards, David Hiscock, Australia

What an odd tool! It's a kind of EXE-, service- and DLL-sniffer, plus a search engine front end that helps you identify almost anything on your PC. When you run it, it displays a window that's sort of like the normal Windows Explorer view, but when you select something (anything) the tool tells you what it can discern about that item. For example, it may tell you that something is an OS component, or a file associated with a specific application, and so on. Then, with a click, it can launch a search of Google or any of about a dozen other search engines so you can see what information is out on the web about whatever item you're examining.

The web site explains:

What's this program that I've just downloaded from the Internet? Is it a virus? Is it legitimate software? Where I can find more information about it, about the company that produced it? Is it full of bugs? What are other people saying about it? What's On My Computer will help you get answers to these questions.

Do you want information on some program, component or file you have problems with? No problem - immediately find answers by searching the Internet with What's On My Computer. The results will also come from newsgroups, FAQs or Q&As.

Do you want to search for an update for one of your programs as quickly and painless as possible? Do you want to find the home page of the developer/software company of the product? Just select the program in What's On My Computer and search.

Find help for any item on your computer. Just select any file, folder, program, shortcut, Control Panel item, font, printer, disk, registry key, etc. You can use What's On My Computer to easily access various information regarding that item all over the Internet.

It's free to try for 30 days, and $20 if you keep it. I don't think I'll be keeping it, as it doesn't seem to provide any unique information on its own. For example, you can do your own Google searches for free about any item on your PC and get exactly the same info.

And it may be a little misleading. For example, the site makes it sound like the software is a security or antivirus tool, but it really isn't: It just lets you easily see if others--- running real security tools--- have reported issues with whatever it is you're examining. 

If you combine several free or low cost tools (all of which we've previously covered in this newsletter), you can totally duplicate the entire output of "What's on my Computer." But WOMC does give you an all-in-one integrated tool that may be easier than launching several separate tools. If that ease of use is worth $20, then WOMC could be a nice addition to your software collection.

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4) "Social Networking" Tools

Fred, I think it's time to make a contribution to your newsletter after benefiting from your columns for years.

I wrote yesterday a story, "New Social-Network Mapping Tools Are Emerging." ( http://tinyurl.com/92yw ) It was mentioned by Slashdot ( http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/03/15/2233217 ) and their readers sent me many comments and e-mails about other visualization tools.

So I wrote a new column based on their suggestions. It is called "More Social-Network Mapping Tools." ( http://radio.weblogs.com/0105910/2003/03/16.html )

I particularly enjoyed KartOO, a visual meta search engine ( http://kartoo.com/index.php3?langue=en ). It is similar to the TouchGraph GoogleBrowser ( http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html ), a site I previously commented about (check http://radio.weblogs.com/0105910/2002/12/02.html ). But it doesn't require Java and uses FlashPlayer to draw interactive maps. Dazzling! Try to put www.langa.com in their search box and you'll see what I mean.

Finally, another reader spoke about the Visual Thesaurus ( http://www.visualthesaurus.com/ ). This web tool is not about social mapping, but it shows graphical connections between words. In this previous column, "The Visual Thesaurus What Does it Show About Thanksgiving?," I already explored this very funny tool. You'll find this story at http://radio.weblogs.com/0105910/2002/11/28.html /

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5) Customize The "Places" Nav Bar

Fred,  I'd like to share a tip that I've come across.... It deals with being able to customize the Places Bar that on the left of any Windows 2000 (and XP) open dialog box. The default "places" folder paths include My Documents, Favorites, Recent Files or Web Folders. I just wish I'd have known sooner that it's possible to change these defaults to any heavily-used folder of your choice. I hope your reader will appreciate knowing about this real timesaver of being able to quickly get to your most used file folders with an icon click. It's especially handy when you do a "File Save As" on a web page or from a file you opened on a remote server (the default for File Save As is the same directory from which the file was opened).

Many articles discuss this tip and some even describe how to customize the Places bar through registry changes. Two examples are

http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=133

http://www.winscriptingsolutions.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=21539

The easiest way to manage and customize the Place Bar entries is through a download (Places.exe) available from Microsoft http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q260/1/90.ASP . Once you run Places.exe, it creates a bunch of files, but the only important one is Places.dll which you move to the windows\system directory. You then use Star/ run and type

Regsvr32 windows\system\Places.dll

Now Word and other applications have a new option on the Tool menu called Set Places from which you can add your own folder choices. I've found myself saving tons of clicking by not having to navigate to that favourite folder to save or open my files. --- Joe Di Ubaldo

Excellent tip, Joe, thanks!

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6) Recommend It!

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, 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 $10,000 for your trouble (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 again, and good luck!

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7) New, Free "Fresh UI" Version

Hmmm. I hadn't planned it this way, but this issue is turning into a tool extravaganza! <g> Here's another--- an update to a handy, free tweaking tool for Windows XP/2000/ NT/98/95/Me:

Fresh UI is a fresh solution for configuring and optimizing Windows. Loaded with hundreds of useful hidden settings in Windows XP/2000/NT/ 98/95/Me, this software covers the customizing and optimizing techniques that you'll be glad to know, such as:

• Customizing Windows User Interface (UI)

• Optimizing system settings

• Optimizing hardware settings

• Customizing Windows application settings

• Controlling user environment with policies

Fresh UI is organized by section for easy navigation and completed with detail descriptions for easy reference.

http://www.freshdiagnose.com/freshui.html

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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

Kris Bell Blogs
http://www.krisbell.com/

Xeque
http://www.xeque.com/

Proud Dad Shows Off Infant Daughter
http://pau1co.freeservers.com/index.html

Ontario Fried Chicken
http://www.geocities.com/gregnir/index1.htm

Ancestors of Sabrina
http://axsdream.tripod.com/index.html

AJLB2
http://www.ajlb2.com/

WILD THINGS AFRICAN DREAMS
http://www3.telus.net/~billq/

Fran's Computer Services
http://www.jim-fran.com/index.html

Antiques Glasgow (Scotland)
http://www.carrickdesign.co.uk/antiques.htm

SITE FIGHTS
http://www.thesitefights.com/wepatrol/trainingcenter/

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9) Free Drive-Letter Assigner

What the heck--- we might as well add another tool to today's mix. <g>

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10) Just For Grins

Here's a two-fer; a pair of totally unrelated items:

First, this item, offered without comment. No, I'm not trying to politicize the list, but this was too funny to pass up:
http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/mss_history.html

Second, as a coda on some of the recent items on PC cooling:

I enjoy your newsletter, and have been reading the comments about fans and dirty PC insides. Here is a link to some photos that were taken of a PC where I work. I put them up on my website to show what can happen in a factory. http://www.geocities.com/wtpodunck/dustypc.html  ---Michael Williams

Thanks, Michael. That's extreme, but even normal office and home PCs can become amazingly clogged too. Ok, not *that* bad--- but still bad. <g>

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Find A Missing DLL
     (site offers free downloads of dlls)

• Who Needs "Virtual Desktops?"
     (an alternative way to organize your workspace)

•  Backup for Linux
      (freeware tool can back up most partition types)

The Plus! edition offers tons of extra info for just a dollar a month, and even has a MONEY BACK satisfaction guarantee: You can't lose!

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

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See you next issue!

PLEASE NOTE:
Due to scheduled monthly system maintenance,
the next issue will mail on: April 21

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

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

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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

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