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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2003-11-10

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) Cautious Thumbs-Up For AdAware

This note parallels several I've gotten over the last few months:

Thanks, Don, and all who've written in.

Version 6 has been out for a long time, and as before, there are free and paid versions. There were some undeniable speedbumps and upgrade problems when it first came out, and for a few months thereafter. Those problems, plus the long period last year when LavaSoft's suffered repeated site outages and then went through a deliberate "no updates of any kind" policy for several months prior to the release of version 6, are what caused me to pull my recommendation for AdAware. It simply wasn't reliable enough to be a first-tier tool.

I've been using it regularly so I could see if or when LavaSoft resumed stable, reliable, *long term* operation. It's been several months now since I've had any problems at all with the version 6 software or the LavaSoft site, so I'm ready to give it a cautious thumbs up again, and to re-recommend it: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

LavaSoft is still somewhat strange as a company--- paranoid about criticism and hyperbolic in their claims about AdAware. For example, they rhetorically ask on their site--- on an anti-Langa page they posted when they freaked out over some criticisms I made of AdAware in the past--- why you'd need "two applications to perform the same task that Ad-aware can handle alone?"  But on my systems here, other tools still routinely find problems that AdAware misses, and AdAware also finds things that other tools miss. I've never found *any* single tool that reliably finds all types and flavors of malware, all the time.

But don't take either my or LavaSoft's word on it--- grab a copy and test it for yourself. On some days, run AdAware before running other tools like Spybot or PestPatrol; other days, reverse the order. See what problems each tool finds and corrects on your system, and what each misses. Then you'll know what works on *your* system and setup, and that's really all that matters.

I think you'll find, as I have, that using two or three tools serially can get your system cleaner than any single tool can. Despite their silly anti-Langa rant, it's good to be able to add AdAware back to the list of recommended tools. <g>

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2) Contradictory Advice?

Two items in the last issue inadvertently caused some confusion. My apologies.

The items were "How NOT To Mess Up Stored CDRs!" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-11-06.htm#1 ), which discussed how print-it-yourself stick-on CD labels can destroy the data on CDRs; and "Simple Fix Prevents CD Shrapnel" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-11-06.htm#4 ) which discusses using mounting/sealing tape as a hub reinforcement to help keep CDs from blowing apart at high speed.

Some readers thought these two items were mutually contradictory. For example:

Dear Fred couldn't the scotch tape fix for exploding CDs reported on the LangaList induce errors in the long term due to the glue on the Scotch tape? ---Eduardo P. Dias

I don't think so, Eduardo, and here's why: The problem with glue-on labels is that they cover the data surface of the CD. The glue from the label goes right on top of the foil that covers the CD's data-carrying dye. The foil is very, very thin and may itself be damaged by the label or glue; or may allow volatile chemicals from the glue to diffuse through to the dye layer, damaging it and the data it contains.

In contrast, the "explosion-proofing" item talks about reinforcing the non-data-bearing hub area of a CD: The reinforcing tape is NOT placed atop any part of the CD that carries data. Rather, a short piece of tape is placed across the hub and central hole of the CD; and then the tape over the hole is cut away. This leaves only short stubs of tape on the area of the CD's hub where no data is stored.

Just to be totally clear: The hub of a CD is the area immediately surrounding the hole. It's often set off from the body of the CD by a small raised ridge. The hub area also often is made with a different thickness than the body of the CD--- it may appear raised or depressed--- and it's usually nonreflective and may be left entirely transparent. In any case, it's a physically separate area from the body of the disc. No data is stored in the hub--- none at all.

The fact that the reinforcing tape isn't on any data-carrying area of the CD means there can be no direct, contact effects on the data from the tape or its glue in the first place. And as for indirect effects--- say, outgassing--- the amount of reinforcing tape left on a CD is tiny. Lemme grab a calculator and do some rough math.... let's see, the hub-reinforcing tape trick involves about 98% *less* material than a full glue-on label!

So you can see why I don't think the reinforcing tape is likely to be a problem: Adding a tiny bit of tape to a non-data area of a CD isn't the same as slapping a gluey label directly atop the entire data-bearing area of the disc! <g>

It's worth mentioning again that I've never had a CD explode--- and I'll bet most of you haven't either. But, as we've discussed in the past, if you use CDs in the newer high-speed drives, it is a possibility--- it does happen in a small percentage of cases ( http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=shrapnel&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 ). We don't all need to start slapping tape on all our CDs, but if you run into problems with your CDs and drives, carefully adding small bits of tape to the non-data-bearing hub areas of your vulnerable CDs--- just as the original item suggested--- may help prevent mechanical problems. In fact, some CD vendors sell hub-reinforcing rings for exactly this same purpose.

But, when in doubt, follow the advice that prompted this whole discussion in the first place ( http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=15800263 ): "...[K]eep your CD-Rs clean and unmodified, and don't do anything that could damage or alter the top side of the disk where the data is stored."

I was trying to save a little space in the last issue by *not* going into this long discussion about hub-areas versus data-areas and such, but I guess I should have. Sorry for any confusion.

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3) Reader Suggests $19 Backup Option

Hi Fred, I don't want to send the newsletter back to the subject of disk image backups again, but thought some of your less technically minded readers might like this.

I used to use Adaptec TakeTwo for my backups and was generally pretty happy with it. Your comments on producing images inside Windows swayed me though, and when you described Bootit and the pros of backing up from DOS, you had me converted.

So, I went looking at Bootit, not for its partitioning ability, but for its backup ability. As I read through the set-up procedures I realised that this did far more than I really wanted and it also appeared a little tricky to set up/install. A little extra searching at Terabyte and I found Image for DOS and Image for Windows. For $26 or so, you get both programs, though in hind-sight I really only needed Image for DOS ($19) to do EXACTLY what I wanted.

This fitted the bill perfectly. It does exactly what it says, and lets you create a disk image on another partition or hard-drive (the way I do it - a removable hard-drive that I can store offsite, though it provides everything you need to back-up and recover from writable CDs). Not only that, but I've made a bootable Windows Emergency floppy, and DOS Image is so small it fits on there too. So now my back-up routine consists of booting to DOS from the floppy drive, and using DOS Image to back-up to my removable disk. Takes all of about 2 minutes to get going. I've used the recovery twice since I installed it, and its worked perfectly.

Hope this helps, and it's new info. Your fantastic newsletter covers so much stuff that I lose track! Keep up the great work, ---

Cheers, Andy

Thanks, Andy. You're correct: The full version of BootIt combines three separate tools. It's a boot manager AND partitioner AND imaging tool--- a ton of capabilities for $35. But with all that power comes complexity, and BootIt is undeniably harder to use (at first) than some other tools.

If all you want is the part of BootIt that does disk imaging, you can indeed get that as a separate product, and for as little as $19--- much, much less than competing products.

BootIt Info:
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=bootit&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000

Home:
http://www.bootitng.com/

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

"Hi Fred, I'm very happy to have upgraded to the Plus edition of the LangaList.
In just the past couple of months, I've stored and used more
of your tips and tweaks than anything else I've ever found on the internet.
Thanks for the help! I look forward to your next newsletter,
and hope that you may dig out some tips for those of us
 with some hair left to pull!" ---Frank DC

Thanks, Frank!

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4) Free Attributes Editor

Hi Fred: I'm sending a link to a very useful little app. http://www.ne.jp/asahi/cool/kish/pplusmain.htm

I quote from the site on what it does:

"PropertiesPlus is a free add-on for your Windows Explorer. It adds additional functionality to your right-click menu under the menu option PropertiesPlus. Here you'll be able to modify file attributes, file extensions, and the time stamps of single files, multiple files, or files contained within the folders. Display the bytes allocated. This program is simple to install and easy to use. If you frequently require more control over your files than that allowed by the base Windows application, PropertiesPlus will allow you considerable flexibility."

Someone posted this on the Photoshop newsgroup, you should have a look in there 'alt.graphics.photoshop' sometime to see a bunch of prima donnas getting tetchy with each other! ---Martin Hayhurst

Thanks, Martin. It's a nice, handy, free app for all versions of Windows---95/98/Me/NT4.0/2000/XP. Although the developers are no longer improving the software, it doesn't seem to need more work. Everything works fine, as far as I can see.

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5) More Linux Weirdness...

To say that the Linux market is in upheaval is a bit of an understatement. Now, there's this:

Novell Announces Agreement to Acquire Leading Enterprise Linux Technology Company SUSE LINUX
(see http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2003/11/pr03069.html )

This might be a good thing for SUSE--- Novell has deep pockets, deepened further by a Linux-related investment by IBM. On the other hand, Novell once bought WordPerfect, and then nearly drove it into the ground. They'd done something similarly disastrous with Caldera/Novell DOS some years before that... so SUSE's future is not entirely cloud-free. But it will be interesting to watch as events unfold.

(Thanks, and a tip o' the coffee mug, to CptSiskoX for once again being first out of the box with this info.)

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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!

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7) Free/Easy Surveys And Polls

Thanks, Greg. This kind of tool can be very handy when you need to conduct a poll, whether quick and dirty, or something more formal.

AdvancedSurvey requires free registration, which includes use of its basic tools. For a few dollars more, you can access more advanced tools for complex surveys and data-gathering, too.

Other sites with similar offerings:
http://www.zoomerang.com/
http://www.instantsurvey.com/
http://www.supersurvey.com

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming...

Well over 3,000 of your fellow readers have "loaded the code." Have you? Check out http://www.langa.com/code.htm for the details.

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

MyNetWatchman
http://www.mynetwatchman.com/default.asp

Frisbee Golf Supplies
http://www.slipdiscgolf.com/

Victoria Cottage (UK)
http://www.victoria-cottage.co.uk/

Ed's Sports
http://edmat.netfirms.com/

MJL Software
http://www.mjleaver.com/

Noncenx
http://noncenx.com/

DKJWeb (Florida)
http://www.dkjwebs.com/links.html

Cain pages
http://www.blcain.com/

Calligraphy
http://tinyurl.com/u3lc

Route53
http://www.route53.com/

Snowmobilelinks
http://www.snowmobilelinks.com/

Honduras Hot Peppers
http://www.althouses.com/HotPeppers2.html

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9) O, Tempora...

Man, the world just gets weirder and weirder.

Last issue's "Just for Grins," containing military humor, provoked many angry emails accusing me of a lack of patriotism(!) and, well, let's call it moral turpitude. One of the more printable criticisms was:

I believe you owe your readers as well as our armed forces an apology for disseminating such a diatribe as this.

Sigh. Google shows almost a million sites (literally) devoted to or about military humor ( http://www.google.com/search?q=military+humor ), and many of those sites were even done by people in, and formerly in, the military. Gosh, our armed forces even invented the terms "snafu" and "fubar," if you recall ( see http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-03-21.htm#10 ), as healthy humor, making fun of military inefficiencies. But somehow, in the current political climate here in the US, that kind of humor is now taken as something traitorous. Unbelievable!

Fortunately, I also got a few emails like this:

As a new member of the Plus letter, I found some very useful information in it, Buuuuut, what made me laugh out loud was the extra that you placed there with the Military and the snake. Being a 100% Service connected disabled vet, I can honestly tell you that every one of these; as funny as they are, are oh so very true and sounds completely like some people I served with. Thanks for the laugh and the trip down memory road. *large grin* ---Daniel E.Gray

I wrote a short note to Daniel: "Thanks. I'm getting flak from some readers who believe I'm somehow being unpatriotic by running that item. The times we live in...."

I assumed that was that, but Daniel came back with a roar:

BULLHOCKY!!! If I can find humor in it and I served, then tell the others to blow it out their ears! I guess then their next step is to contact Readers Digest and complain about the "Humor in Uniform" that they run every month? Or maybe they should contact the Military Times Publishing in Virginia and demand they stop running cartoons that show military life? Or maybe they should contact the bookstores and library in their area and demand they remove the old WW2 cartoons that show two tired GI's complaining about military life? Maybe these idiots should actually get a life! And you can quote me on this!

Thanks, Daniel. I did. 8-)

I have enormous respect for those who serve and for their sacrifices, but jeez. Are we really so insecure as a nation that we have to pretend our military is somehow perfect, and above human error? Are we so paranoid that humor is seen as something deeply threatening?

No, I'm not turning this into a political newsletter. But I felt I *had* to respond to the readers who wigged out over what was just a silly bit of humor. Look: We're all human. We all screw up and suffer from screw ups, in all walks of life. If we reach a point where we can't joke about each other's normal human foibles, circumstances and mistakes, we'll be in a grim world indeed. Let's not go there, OK?

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10) Just For Grins

We'll borrow Daniel's "Bullhockey" expression from the above for use in this item, which arrived containing an, um, earthier and more familiar version of the same term--- but one that would cause spam filters all over the world to block this issue! <g>

Hi Fred,  Here is a good one for the 'Just for Grins' area.  I don't have a source for this one. It came to me from some very clever friends. I hope it gives my fellow subscribers as good a laugh as I received. As ever - thanks for all the great information! --- C. Wilson

Do you keep falling asleep in meetings and seminars? What about those  long and boring conference calls? Here's a way to change all of that.

1. Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar, or conference call,  prepare yourself by drawing a square. I find that 5"x5" is a good size.

Divide the card into columns-five across and five down. That will give you 25 one inch blocks.

2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block
a. synergy
b. strategic fit
c. core competencies
d. best practice
e. bottom line
f. revisit
g. expeditious
h. to tell you the truth (or "the truth is")
i. 24/7
j. out of the loop
k. benchmark
l. value-added
m. proactive
n. win-win
o. think outside the box
p. fast track
q. result-driven
r. empower (or empowerment)
s. knowledge based
t. at the end of the day
u. touch base
v. mindset
w. client focus(ed)
x. paradigm
y. game plan
z. leverage

3. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.

4. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout "Bullhockey!"

Testimonials from satisfied "Bullhockey Bingo" players:
-- "I had been in the meeting for only five minutes when I won."- Adam W., Atlanta
-- "My attention span at meetings has improved dramatically."- David T., Florida
-- "What a gas! Meetings will never be the same for me after my first win."- Dan J., New York City
-- "The atmosphere was tense in the last process meeting as 14 of us waited for the fifth box." - Ben G., Denver
-- "The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed 'Bullhockey!' for the third time in two hours."

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Free Tool Helps Keep Older Software Running
     (prevent old software from choking on new hardware!)

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The Plus! edition is only pennies per issue, and comes with a MONEY BACK
GUARANTEE from Fred. How can you lose? Check out the details:
http://www.langa.com/plus.htm

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(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 )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win a prize!)

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