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The LangaList
Standard Edition

SPECIAL EXPANDED HOLIDAY ISSUE

2003-12-18

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) Three Important End-Of-Year Tasks

The end of a year is a natural time for wrapping up loose ends from the year past and positioning yourself--- and your PC--- for a smooth entry to the new year. In fact, taking a few minutes now to focus on some basic, at-least-annual upkeep for your desktop hardware and software can pay off, big time, for months to come.

For example, it's a great time to perform a complete system tune up: All it takes is a little pointing and clicking--- with no deep skill or knowledge required--- to ensure that your hard drive is error-free ( http://langa.com/u/2a.htm ), clear of viruses http://langa.com/u/2b.htm  and other threats ( http://langa.com/u/2c.htm ), cleaned of junk files ( http://langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm ), and defragged ( http://langa.com/u/2d.htm ).

Once that's done, visit the "update" sites for your OS (e.g. http://www.windowsupdate.com ) and for your major applications and utilities; and the support pages on your PC vendor's web site. Make sure you have all current security patches, important updates, and any new drivers appropriate for your system, and then make a special "keep forever" backup or disk image ( http://langa.com/backups/backups.htm ) of the newly updated system, so you can rapidly restore your PC to this known-good, fully updated state should you ever need to in the future.

But getting your system up to snuff is just one of the three important year-end tasks I recommend. For the full scoop on all the recommended steps, please click on over to http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16700516 .

There, in a full-length article, we'll run through the complete end-of-year process for *any* PC.

We'll also present a special section just for those who are still running Win98, letting you find exactly what will happen on January 16th; and showing you the steps you can take now--- while full support is still available--- to get your system running right. We'll also show you how to preserve your Win98 setup so you can repair and restore it, even after Microsoft pulls the plug.

But no matter what OS you're running, the information at http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=16700516 can help your system end the year running right--- and set up for smooth sailing into the new year.

Click on over!

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and your newsletter, uh, tastes better."--- Chris Ridley

The Plus! edition is just 14 cents an issue--- $1 a month--- but that small amount is what keeps Langa.Com and this newsletter afloat.

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2) Who's Using Which OS?
(and: Options For Win98 Users)

In the last issue (and in item #1 above) I mentioned that Win98 will become officially obsolete (in Microsoft's own terms) next month on January 16th.

But that prompted many readers to write, wondering what percentage of people were still using Win98 and how many were on XP; others wanted more info on options for Win98 users.

The best information I have on what LangaList readers are using comes from the anonymous server statistics for Langa.Com, which includes a gross tally of browser types and OSes accessing the site. Although this information isn't definitive--- some browsers misreport themselves, for example--- it's probably a reasonable representation of OS use among your fellow readers:

As you might guess, Windows is the most-commonly-reported OS in use. Within the Windows group, the largest single subgroup by far is XP, with 52% of the Windows OS tally. Far, far behind, roughly tied for second place, are Windows 98 with 19% of users, and Windows 2000 with 15% of the count.

All the remaining Windows slices are quite small. For example, WinMe accounts for just 6%; WinNT for 1%; and Win95, Windows Server 2003, WinCE, Win3.xx and the Longhorn Beta (the next version of Windows, due out in 2005) all with less than 1%.

And note that the above is just for Windows use: Many other OSes are represented in the overall counts too.

*nix is the second most popular OS type overall, although its total use is only about 1/10th that of Windows. Of the *nix flavors, various Linux distributions aggregate to a 50% share, with the rest divided among BSD, SunOS, HP-UX, "Other" Unix, OSF1, AIX, and IRIX.

A small but nontrivial percentage of Macs visit the site too, with Mac PowerPC the most common identified type, followed distantly by Mac 68k, and "Unknown" Macintosh.

Way down in the single digits--- and sub-single digits--- we have visitors using WebTV, RISC OS, OS/2, the BeOS, and even the Amiga!

For me, the three "take away" points in the above are that, among LangaList readers (1) WinXP is far and away the mainstream OS choice; (2) Linux use is significant but still small; and (3) the 19% of you still using Win98 are facing a tough choice as your OS slips into nonsupport by Microsoft..

If you're using Win98, I suggest you upgrade to XP if you can: it's probably the best available choice, and as the numbers above show, is working for a very large number of your fellow readers. The official Microsoft information at http://langa.com/u/2r.htm can help you see if your current hardware will support XP or not. Please also check LangaList back issues ( http://langa.com/u/2i.htm ) for tons and tons of information on getting, setting up, and using XP.

If an upgrade just isn't in the cards, and if you want to stick with Windows, then use the information in item #1, above, and here ( http://www.freetune.com/most_popular_pages.htm ) and here ( http://langa.com/u/2j.htm ) to clean up your current installation and get it rock-solid. Then, because patches, updates and such may not be available in the future, preserve that perfect setup in an image or backup ( http://langa.com/backups/backups.htm ) so that you can restore your system to that perfect state without having to re-download, re-install, or re-setup anything.

If you're open to a non-Windows option, check out any of the various flavors of Linux, we've covered. See http://langa.com/u/2k.htm  for Standard Edition discussions; there are many more items in the Plus! edition, too. Linux can run decently on older, slower hardware, and the price is either nil (for the do-it-yourself distributions) or small (for the prepackaged and supported versions).

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3) ZoneAlarm And NAV Improvements

We recently discussed some problems in the new versions of ZoneAlarm and Norton Antivirus 2004. Soon after both items appeared, patches and/or workarounds popped up to address at least the worst of the problems. So, to close the loop:

NAV2004 Browser Slowdown: Symantec fixed this one on its own. Simply run LiveUpdate, if you haven't already. This will download and install the patch to correct the performance problem.

ZoneAlarm: A patch to defeat the "popup or phone home" problem is in the works (and may be available by the time you read this). But if not, users have found and are widely distributing a hack to let you manually update on demand, without the annoying popup:

Thanks, Wabbit, and the many other readers who sent in the same tip!

(Late update: ZoneLabs is being bought out by "CheckPoint." See http://tinyurl.com/zmh0 for more. Thanks to reader Terry Pell for being first with the news.)

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4) Holiday Card From Ranganath

Remember Ranganath, from India? Last July, he became one of the 10 children sponsored on an ongoing basis by LangaList Plus! subscribers (see http://langa.com/u/2l.htm or click to see an update: http://www.freetune.com/july_2003_update_on_ranganath.htm

He just sent us a hand-drawn holiday card, signed on the back in his native tongue:

Public Site: http://langa.com/u/2n.htm

Plus Edition members: http://www.langalist.com/Plus/kids/ranganathxmas2004.asp

Here's what this is all about: Those of us with computers and Internet access are vastly better off than most of the world's population. Because of this, I decided that a portion of the LangaList Plus! subscription fees would be donated to registered/legitimate charities helping the underprivileged around the world. The contribution does not increase the cost of a Plus! subscription in any way; the donation is taken "off the top" of any profits. (This is described in the pages at http://langa.com/plus.htm  )

Ranganath is one of 10 children sponsored on an ongoing basis--- week in, week out--- by the collective generosity of LangaList subscribers. LangaList Plus! subscribers also have collectively contributed to emergency earthquake relief efforts in India and to funds to help the victims of the Sept 11th attacks in the US. (To see all the donations so far, click to http://langa.com/plus2.htm#kids )

As time goes on, and as more readers sign up for Plus! subscriptions, I hope we'll be able to sponsor more children and assist other charities around the world.

If you're not yet a Plus! subscriber check it out: With a Plus! subscription, you can not only help yourself make the most of your hardware, software and time online--- but you also can help those less fortunate (like Ranganath) make the most of their very lives. Thanks for your help!

http://langa.com/plus.htm

or give a GIFT SUBSCRIPTION to the Plus edition: http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm

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5) *Nasty* IE Bug Lets Fake Sites Look 100% Real

Several readers wrote in with information about a very disturbing new bug found in IE.

Dear Fred, Have been receiving the langalist for some time now and find it useful for both myself, and as a good start for friends who want to go a bit deeper into their computing experience. I am also a regular visitor to http://www.computing.net and find that they offer a plethora of information and help to users of all calibre. The following article is one that is of great concern to all users and one that I believe every internet user should be aware of. What you do with the info you gather from the link is up to you, but with the number of readers you get I would think that this would be one good way of getting the information out to as many people as possible. Keep up the great work. http://langa.com/u/2o.htm  ---Robert Irvine

Hi Fred here is something you may find interesting. ---"tsmerdon"
----------------
[from CNET]
IE bug lets fake sites look real

Microsoft on Tuesday said it was looking into reports of a potential bug in its Web browser that could help malicious hackers design convincing Web site spoofs.

The bug, according to security alerts by a bug hunter and a Danish security company, Secunia, could let hackers use a technique to display a false Web address on a fake site.

Malicious hackers frequently lure victims to convincing replicas of e-commerce sites such as eBay, where they're tricked into handing over financial and other private information. The method is said to be a key tool in credit card and identity theft.

Savvy Web surfers often figure out the ruse from irregularities in the Web address. But in the method described by Secunia, IE could allow the address bar for the spoofed eBay site, for example, to read "ebay.com."

http://langa.com/u/2p.htm
-----------------

Pretty slick and pretty scary. More here http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/36402  ---Jim

Slick, scary, and sure to be exploited by the miscreants who send out those fake "click to confirm your account info" emails supposedly from AOL, EBay, PayPal, and such. Now, the emails can look more real than ever... until Microsoft issues a patch.

In the meantime, be careful. Don't enter sensitive information on ANY site you access by a "friendly" link: Be suspicious unless you've typed the link yourself, or can see the full URL spelled out for you. (You also can use the "copy shortcut" menu option to see the full, real URL behind any link...)

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6) Holiday Publishing Schedule

First, please let me wish you and yours Happy Holidays and a great New Year!

I'll be taking a short break to do three things: (1) The normal monthly maintenance of the six Langa.Com sites and servers; (2) an annual maintenance of some items; and (3) a little R&R <g>. All of this should be invisible to you--- it won't affect your subscriptions at all.

I'll be back writing the first week in January. It takes a few days to produce, format, process and post each newsletter, so the first issue of the new year will carry a publication date of January 12. See you then!

In the meantime, best wishes to you!

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7) Where's The Bottleneck?

Fred, I just recently built a new system, and since broadband is STILL not available where I live, I have to use dialup. I have the US Robotics 5610B Performance Pro modem (I chose it on recommendation from a fellow technogeek in my family), but I don't think it's working at full potential. I'm about 1/4 mile away from a Bellsouth switching station, the phone wiring in my home is brand new CAT-5e (installed by me, so I know it's correct), and even the Bellsouth service wires are brand new - I'm the only resident on this road. Even so, the modem simply will not connect at more than 28.8 kbps, and if it does, all data transfer stops after a few seconds and never resumes. This is after setting maximum speed at 38.4 kbps - it usually won't even establish a connection without doing that. I've tried the obvious stuff (downloaded new driver from USR, different PCI slot, etc, even ran a dedicated cable from Bellsouth demarcation point) and nothing seems to help. Do you have any ideas? Thanks, Robby Workman

First, I'd suggest you verify that the modem itself is OK either by trying it from a different location (say, a friend's house), or better, by trying a known-good modem (perhaps borrowed from a friend) at your location.

If you're sure it's not the modem, and you're sure your setup is OK, I'd suspect your ISP's POP (point of presence); that is, the hardware you dial into as your local access number. Not all POPs are created equal; some have older or bad hardware. If the point-of-presence you dial into is the bottleneck, then no matter what you do on your end, you'll get the same poor results.

So, as a simple experiment, I'd suggest you try another ISP, using a completely different access number. The access number is very important because sometimes a single POP will be shared among several ISPs. They may all use the same main access number (eg 123-4567) or the numbers may be only slightly different (eg 123-4567, 123-4568, 123-4569....) If all the numbers funnel through the same hardware at a shared POP, they'll all give more or less the same results.

But if you can find another ISP using a different POP, as usually indicated by a very different local access number (eg 987-6543) then you can perform a valid comparison and see if maybe it's the ISP's POP that's holding you back.

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8) Last Chance To "Recommend And Win" This Year!

On Dec 31, I'll choose three more monthly winners of a FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION to the LangaList Plus! edition. (If your name is drawn and you're already a Plus! subscriber, your current subscription will be 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 a FREE ONE YEAR SUBSCRIPTION! (Full details also available via this link): http://langa.com/recommend.htm

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9) Unusual Book Suggestion

OK, I admit it: This is way off topic. But it's too good not to mention.

It's an absolutely *great* book called: "After The Ice,  A Global Human History 20,000-5,000BC" by Steven Mithen  (ISBN 0297643185)

It's an astonishingly broad view of what the human species was doing, all over the globe, from the end of the last ice age to the dawn of recorded history. It's exceptionally well-written, lively, and full of details that bring each chapter and vignette to life. Although the book is authoritative and extraordinarily well researched, it's about as far from dust-dry academic prose as you'll get. It's serious anthropology and archeology, but in a marvelously readable form.

I actually read the book last summer on vacation, and found myself reading aloud snippets and passages to my wife: It was too good not to share.

I'd first heard about the book from a British science journal I subscribe to (New Scientist); and ordered it from Amazon UK. I've had a copy sitting here on my desk since last summer, hoping that Amazon US would carry the book, making it easier for US readers to buy, while avoiding the overseas shipping expense. But Amazon US shows no signs of carrying the book. (This is a nonissue for UK readers, of course.)

But several other booksellers--- both online and brick-and-mortar--- have started to carry the book in the US now.

If you have an interest in general science, early human history, or especially in anthropology and archeology--- or if you know someone with those interests--- grab a copy of this book. It'd make a fine, beefy holiday gift, too (600+ pages); and one that will give many hours of intellectual pleasure.

In short: It's a great read!

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10) Freeware Site Moves

Fred, Thank you for featuring my Freeware Links webpage in your newsletter a couple of weeks ago ("1,000+ Freeware Links" in  http://langa.com/newsletters/2003-12-01.htm#3 ). I was very surprised when you did that.

It was a free Tripod website and almost immediately the bandwidth was used up and the site shut down. Ever since, the site would be up a few hours and then shut down again.

As a result, I have moved the information on my Freeware Links page to http://freewarelinkempire.imboring.com/

My new site has no ads, no popups, and my sponsor says that the Langalist readership will not shut it down.

Thanks again. Allan "dubber" Cooley

11) More Reader Sites!

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://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://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://langa.com/randomlink.htm

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

Sandman Designs
http://www.sandmandesigns.com/

Surfing Seniors
http://www.users.on.net/janmack/

Market Timing
http://www.timeyourfunds.com/

Psyclone Soundz
http://www.psyclonesoundz.com.au/

"Hot Web Store"
http://www.hotwebstore.com/

Yoga
http://www.wwyoga.com/index.html

Miah's World
http://www.angelfire.com/trek/miahkesha/index3.html

Iron Overload Disorder
http://www.iodforum.net/

Papamoa - New Zealand

http://www.papamoa.co.nz/

Tawnys Treasures
http://www.tawnystreasures.com/

KMS Books
http://www.kmsbooks.com/

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12) "Bluestell" Denial Of Service Attack

Hi Fred, I'm a de facto administrator for Exchange Server 5.5 (not by choice). Since September, a type of authentication attack has been plaguing many administrators. We were hit yesterday by several immense waves of spam, during which our main server was used as a relay by a compromised outlying server. I was able to get it locked down (at least for now) before coming across a very informative Web site:
http://langa.com/u/2q.htm

In spite of the fact that this has been going on since September, I had heard nothing in the trades or mainstream press about the Bluestell (not Bluesteel) attacks. I'd like to ask that you disseminate some info to your readers, since spam affects us all. This attack was very hard to track down and can be difficult to resolve, depending upon server configuration. Thanks, L@rry Coots

Thanks, Larry. See also:
http://www.google.com/search?q=bluestell
http://groups.google.com/groups?&q=bluestell

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13) Just For Grins

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14) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• "HTTP Referrer" A Privacy Threat?
     (what you gain & lose by blocking it)
• Java "Virtual Machine" Woes
     (...and how to solve them!)
• Yahoo's New Dial-Up Speed-Up Worthwhile?
     (can you really get DSL-like speed from dialup?)

Plus! edition subscribers 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, dozens of downloads, and much more.

Get it all for just a buck a month! Check out: http://langa.com/plus.htm 

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

See you next issue!

Happy Holidays!
Please See Item #6 For Important Schedule Info.

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

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

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

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