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LangaList 2003-12-04 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!
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1) Site Move 99% CompleteThe dust has finally settled on the Langa.Com Site move ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-11-06.htm#2 ). I ended up live-testing four different hosts before selecting one for the actual move. I uploaded the site contents and triggered the Domain Name Server (DNS) switch last Friday; the new IP address for "Langa.Com" then bubbled through the internet's DNS servers over the next couple days, and by Monday, the site was live for most users around the world. Weekend web traffic is usually low, so that biggest piece of the change affected relatively few users. In fact, with luck, you didn't notice anything at all! The transfer of Langa.Com's email services also went as well as it could. I monitored the DNS change all weekend as we switched from the old mail host to the new, and I think very few, if any, emails fell through the cracks. Monday was cleanup: Almost all web hosts do at least a few things their own special way--- shared services may be in a different location, or called by a different name, for example. So, even a smooth move usually means there's some work to do in editing of pages and scripts so they'll work with the services and nomenclature of the new host. I spent Monday doing just that, changing many of Langa.Com's automated scripts for things like subscription orders, the "recommend" pages, and address changes. But as of now, the new site is all but done. I say "all but" because there are over 1000 pages on the site, and it's possible I missed a necessary edit somewhere or other. But if any broken pages emerge, I'll fix 'em ASAP. Next, I hope to bring BrowserTune to the new host, restoring the "send your test results by email" function that my previous web host (Hostway) broke--- and that triggered this whole mess in the first place. <g> Then--- and I'm jazzed about this--- I also should be able to bring you some brand new services and options that I simply was not able to do before. Stay tuned! In all, it was a relatively smooth transition. Most of the reason for that was because of (1) prior research in finding good hosting candidates to try and (2) web host suggestions from your fellow readers that helped narrow the initial huge number of choices to a more manageable amount. Many of your suggestions were great! In fact, I pulled all that info together into the article live now at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16400938 . There, you'll see--- step by step--- how to track down the web host that's perfect for your own specific needs, budget, and abilities. We'll start by helping you to define what you might need in a host, then show you how to find a range of likely candidates, and then add in the recommendations of your fellow readers, so you'll have some real-world, first-hand feedback on many individual hosts. You'll also see a broad, representative sampling of the reader-recommendations for web hosts, with direct links to the hosts themselves, so you can see for yourself exactly what they offer. Whether you currently have a web host and want to explore options, or you're just starting to think about maybe getting one for yourself or your business, the information at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16400938 can go a long way to making it easier to find the web host that's *perfect* for you. See you there! Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 2) *Forcing* A Shutdown Via SoftwareSometimes, PCs just don't want to shut down properly. If you're there when it happens you have to hit the power or reset switch to get the PC to shut off all the way--- an annoyance. But the problem's worse if you're trying to get the PC to shut itself down or to reboot, say, as part of a scheduled self-maintenance. If you want your system to shut itself down or reboot when you're not there, and it gets stuck halfway along, what then? Hang-at-shutdown or -reboot can happen in any version of Windows, but there are free tools that can help. Here's a real-life example, using XP (although it could have been any Windows version):
This kind of problem is often caused by software not "letting go" of its associated hardware when it should. But if you have the latest drivers and still have the problem, it may simply mean that the hardware vendor didn't do a very good job writing the driver's code. That's not something you can fix on your own. But there are several free tools that may help to work around the problem. The tools I most often use are "Wizmo" ( http://grc.com/wizmo/wizmo.htm ) and PTStopper http://www.karenware.com/newsletters/2003/2003-01-28.asp . Both the above free tools have a "forced shutdown" option that can blow past some common hangs and thus allow your PC to shut down or reboot when you want. A forced shutdown is not ideal, but sometimes it's the only option available when a bad driver is in your way. Steve Gibson's Wizmo's strength is that it's a multi-purpose tool that can do many other things besides assisting in shutdowns. PTStopper, from Karen Kenworthy, is more tightly focused, and includes a wonderfully clear explanation of just what's involved with all the various shutdown types (power off, suspend, hibernate, reboot...). That said, all the above assumes that the shutdown trouble is caused by a bad driver and not a general system or OS problem. If you suspect it might be something other than a driver issue, then any of these sites may help: http://www.google.com/search?q=shutdown+hang+problem "To Sleep, Perchance To Hibernate" ( http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020927S0028 ) goes into some detail on the Advanced Power Control Interface (ACPI) that's built into most current PCs, and that plays a large role in proper shutdowns. And finally, we ran a more thorough discussion of automated shutdown a bit over a year ago. The information there may also help: http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-09-05.htm#1Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- "Fred, I downloaded the
[Plus! Edition] Archives and it got me out of --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 3) Has Your Scrollbar Behavior Changed?Mine has. Many readers are reporting the same thing, too:
Bizarrely, it's not a bug. It appears to be a poorly-implemented new "feature." The vertical scroll bar--- sometimes called the "elevator" bar--- is now distance sensitive. If you click near the slider, you'll scroll up or down one screen, as before. If you click far away from the slider, you'll advance two screens. It makes a kind of sense, unless--- like millions of users, including me--- you're used to parking the mouse at the top or bottom of the scroll area and clicking on that one spot to read through a document one page at a time. Now, that no longer works, and you have to reposition the mouse after each click. The new behavior also is not universal; the change does not affect all vertical scroll bars in all applications. Now you have to remember which ones work which way. Sigh. I think we'll soon see patches and fixes that let us modify or disable this annoying "feature" that clearly did not get user-tested very well at all prior to release. Click to email this item to a
friend 4) Free AntiVirus/Firewall For 1 Year
Thanks, Wayne (and several other readers who sent in the same info; Microsoft has been co-promoting the offer from their sites for several weeks now). As I write this, the offer is still open, and the web site says it will run for several more months. You do have to register, but then you get a "free 12-month software subscription to Computer Associates' eTrust EZ Armor Antivirus and Firewall security suite." It includes "automatic virus updates, advanced email attachment protection, EZ to use firewall settings, activity control to stop website monitoring, ad blocking and cookie control features." It's normally $50/year. I assume CA is hoping to gain enough resubscriptions next year--- and enough marketing data in the immediate future--- to make it worthwhile for them. But for end users, it's certainly worth a look: You can't beat the price. 8-) Click to email this item to a
friend 5) Free Video Streaming For Every OS
Thanks, Matthew! Actually, this same software also could be useful for distributing digital satellite or cable around your home or office too; and I bet that you might even be able to use powerline networking ( http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20030108S0003 ) to get the signals to or from any PC or appropriate digital display device, anywhere you want, even without networking cables. The VideoLAN software also has a more serious side--- businesses and webmasters may want to take a look at their open-source streaming solutions for unicast, multicast and video-on-demand! It's all free! Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Three More Winners!Hanwayg, Michael J. Wellendorf and Jeremytv each won a FREE full one-year subscription to the LangaList Plus! edition by using the "Recommend To A Friend" form at http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm . You see, each month I choose three winners of a new FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to the LangaList Plus! edition. (Existing Plus! subscribers get their current subscription extended by a full year.) 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! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm Click to email this item to a
friend 7) A "Wow" Tech News SiteAt least, that's what Kent and Brynne Dyer said when they sent a note simply entitled "Tech News site - wow!:
I think it's a "wow" site too--- I immediately bookmarked it and added it to my group of tech news sites. The DailyRotation page has nothing but headlines--- tons of them--- so you can get an at-a-glance overview of what's happening in the tech world; and all the headlines are live clicks, so you can instantly drill down to check out any item that catches your eye. Very nice! They also have a sister site, DailyWhirl ( http://www.dailywhirl.com/ ), for legal, and especially tech-legal, news. Click to email this item to a
friend 8) Code Load Success StoryCode-loader "Ken" writes:
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
thousands 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 ) Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date
Sites Starting At French American Association for Cinema and Theatre TV Mounts Andy's Patch Ponca City High School Adidarons Satellite TV MRCA Marketing Puerto del Carmen Apartment OPatty Genealogy Sheila Casey Mysteries Del's Woodcraft Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) Virus Eats *Everything*A reader in Bangkok writes:
Usually, repartitioned/reformatted drive info can be recovered, although it's neither easy nor pretty. I'd suggest you try something like Norton Utilities/System Works, or any of the tools here: http://www.google.com/search?q=recover+undelete+partition BTW, this is why I do not recommend storing backups within the same system that houses your live data. Any one problem can wipe out both your main files AND your backups, leaving you dead in the water. 8-( Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For GrinsFrequent contributor CptSiskoX sent along this link to a "Digital IQ Test" that purports to see how, er, geeky you are, in the positive sense of the word: http://www.msnbc.com/news/987180.asp The Captain reports he got a 193. Note that this is not a real IQ test--- it's just for fun, and focuses on only a small slice of geeky knowledge and practices. Also, the test contains some outright errors! For example, there are at least a couple questions where you get no points for what clearly are correct answers. There also are a few questions on the test that seem to me to have nothing at all to do with digital knowledge or abilities. So don't take your test results to heart, either way. 8-) (Ahem. I got a 207. <g>) Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- Fred's Reference Shelf---
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