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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2006-10-19

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!

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1) When Good Teens Browse Bad Content

Fred: I have depended on your clear and accurate advice over the past few years, but I don't think this issue has been covered. My kids are severely becoming teenagers and I am looking for a little help in taming the wily Web. I have tried many of the parental control offerings but have not been at all satisfied with the stability of these programs. Its probably tough coding a program to do many actions (redirecting, maybe keylogging) when we are constantly fighting off malware trying to do the same thing to us. Do you have any suggestions where a poor Dad can turrn? Thanks. Kevin

We have covered it, Kevin, but it's been a long time since we've updated the info. ( http://www.google.com/search?as_q=nannyware&as_sitesearch=langa.com )

There are two general alternatives to simply giving teens full, uncensored and unmonitored access to the Internet: 1) blocking content; and 2) monitoring content.

Software products abound for both these approaches--- I'll talk about those in a minute--- but you can enable limited protection without installing special software. If you have younger children or teens unlikely to tinker with the software (and undo your changes), you can use your browser's built-in content-blocking features. In Internet Explorer, for example, choose Internet Options from the Tools menu and click the Content tab. Click the "Enable" button in the Content Advisor box and adjust the slider bars for the four categories of inappropriate content. To "spy" on kids using Internet Explorer, you can click the "History" button from time to time and see where they've been.

If you feel the need to "take it up a notch," you can take advantage of a wide range of products available, which come in three categories: 1) dedicated content-filtering "nannyware" ( http://tinyurl.com/lbttl ); 2) firewall software with "parental control" features ( http://tinyurl.com/qt8tj ); and 3) "spy" software that shows you exactly what they've been doing online ( http://tinyurl.com/roa5d ).

If you've found "nannyware" generally unstable, and it sounds like you have, you might try one or two of the other categories.

Of course you can combine these approaches, or mix-and-match features--- for example, use the content filtering features in both "nanny" software and your firewall program, but choose to shut off the "nanny" software's secret spying feature.

The use of these techniques and products can help, but be aware that none is perfect. Content filtering software often fails to block unwanted content, and can produce "false positives" -- blocking perfectly innocent sites. "Spying" or monitoring can be problematic as well. It can create resentment and mistrust, for example.

One of the best, but least appreciated, approaches is education--- both yours and theirs. Some parents, for example, spend time and effort blocking adult Web sites, but don't realize that non-adult sites like MySpace, or applications like instant messaging, can be sources of both inappropriate content and exposure to online predators. It's important for you to know where the risks are. And it's a good idea to have occasional, frank conversations with your teen about the risks and dangers out there. After all, you can lock down your home PC, but most kids have access to other PCs as well, at the library, school and in the homes of friends. Making your kids generally self-resistant to the lure of online evils is often a better approach, in the long run, than trying to shield them from all those evils in all their forms on all their sites.

On a semi-related note, a host of GPS-based tracking devices for cars and cell phones has recently emerged that lets you monitor where teens go in the real world as well ( http://tinyurl.com/qw3uk ).

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"Dear Fred, The move to the Plus! subscription was the best
investment I made, ever.... I always read it with anticipated interest,
and also always find good advice and interesting topics that expand my
understanding of computers. As a matter of fact, I have become a sort
of minor PC guru among my friends, thanks to you. Cordially yours,
Petre Muresan"

Thanks, Petre!

The Plus! edition is just pennies an issue--- about $1 a month--- but that
small amount gets you a boatload of benefits. Get all the details:

http://langa.com/plus.htm

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2) New Web Pages "Wipe Out" Old Ones

Fred, I use dual LCD monitors with my Windows XP Pro system. I have a custom built system designed for speed and use it for investment analysis.

The problem is keeping one internet site from wiping out another internet site on one of the monitors. Is there software out there that will lock a website to one monitor only? For instance, when I use www.investors.com to view general info on the stock market then call up my discount brokerage firm, the latter will replace the first. After struggling with it for 5-10 minutes and logging in several times, I manage to get one site on one screen and the other site on the second screen. Your advice is most welcomed. ---Willard Ferguson

There are many ways to prevent a new site from "wiping out" an old one, and to position browser windows where you like them--- from the quick-and-dirty to one that requires setup and planning.

The quickest and dirtiest method is to get in the habit of using the Shift key while you click on links, which forces the new linked page to open in a new browser window that you can position manually. You can also right click on a link and select "open in new window" to the same effect.

One of the little tricks I use for my dual-monitor setup (this is Mike speaking) is that I generally use Internet Explorer on one screen and Firefox on the other.

Both my flat-panel displays are "widescreen," but the one on the right is vertical. I generally keep Firefox full-screen on that monitor, and use the tabbed browsing feature for multiple sites. My left monitor contains overlapping open windows that include e-mail, Google Desktop gadgets and other programs and a smattering of Internet Explorer instances. The system is configured to use Firefox as the default browser. My "standing" open browser windows--- like your investors.com page--- remain undisturbed on the left monitor, while all new windows open as new tabs in Firefox on the right monitor.

For more control, use a macro utility to specify exactly where the browser opens for each frequently visited Web site. One of the better utilities, although certainly not the only good one, is Macro Express ( http://www.macros.com/ ), which can be used to automate an incredibly wide range of actions. One feature lets you associate a specific Web site with a browser application and pre-determine down to the pixel the size of the browser windows and where it will open--- all launched with the double-click of an icon or a custom keystroke. You can set up as many of these as you like, each with a custom window size and position.

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3) Virtual PC 2007 Virtually Shipping

Many LangaList readers are installing Windows Vista on Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 and some have sent questions or comments including this one:

I downloaded the .iso file and burned it to a DVD+R, but I can't get VPC to boot from it, and I can't get past the 2.2 gigabyte limit on .iso files. Thanks for all you do! -Drew Foster

And this:

Because VPC images run in memory, your computer needs sufficient memory when you start; otherwise, you won't get very far. In most cases, you'll need at least 2 GB of RAM to run most images; some of that memory is allocated to your own PC and then you can allocate the rest to the image--the more memory you can allocate to the image, the faster it runs. ---Elaine

I have good news for those of you experimenting with Vista in VPC: The new VPC 2007 (mentioned previously as a future version) is now available in beta form on Microsoft's Connect site ( http://connect.microsoft.com/ ). Microsoft designed VPC 2007 with Vista in mind. While some of you are running Vista on XP, VPC 2007 enables you to instead run XP on Vista--- you can run Vista as your main OS with XP living in its own VPC instance. Beware, however, that doing so means running XP in beta virtual machine software on a pre-release operating system.

The new VPC also installs on XP.

The good news for you, Drew, is that Virtual PC 2007 supports greater-than-2.2 GB ISO images!

And, Elaine, your bit of advice on memory is a good one. The RAM minimum requirement for Vista Ultimate and Vista Home Basic is 512 MB. But that's just enough to boot and run the operating system. A more reasonable "minimum" is 1 GB. That gives you some idea of how much extra memory you'll need--- on top of whatever your main OS needs--- in order to run Vista on Windows XP in VPC with any expectation of reasonable performance.

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cartridges for a very reasonable price compared to OEM or
local merchant's generic. Arrived in just a few days with no hassle
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4) Annual Report 2006: Yasmin Idania

Remember Idania? She's one of the group of 13 kids sponsored on an ongoing basis by LangaList Plus! subscribers:

Idania comes from a Latino family that speaks the Spanish language. She wears simple westernized clothes.... Idania has one sibling. The father abandoned them. The mother works as a secretary. The family's monthly income is below US$100 and is not enough to provide their basic needs. They own a three-room dwelling built of metal sheets roof, cement block walls and brick floor. They have electricity, running water and a toilet. Their meals are cooked on a rustic stove....

We met Idania just about exactly two years ago ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-11-22.htm#3 ); and learned more of her in this annual report: http://www.freetune.com/kids/idania/idania200511.htm .

In the year since that last update, I've collected the various progress reports and photos sent by the aid agency there, as well as letters and handicrafts from Idania herself. You can see them all here:

Plus! Subscribers: http://langalist.com/plus/kids/idania/idania200610.asp

Public Site: http://www.freetune.com/kids/idania/idania200610.htm

In case you don't know 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  )

Idania is one of 13 children sponsored on an ongoing basis--- week in, week out--- by the collective generosity of LangaList Plus! subscribers. LangaList Plus! subscribers also have collectively contributed to emergency relief efforts for earthquakes, tsunami, hurricanes; and more. (To see all the donations so far, click to http://langa.com/plus2.htm#kids )

As the year 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.

Graham Greene once said, "There is always a moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in...." If you're already a LangaList Plus subscriber, thank you! You can feel good about giving back a little to those less fortunate, and opening "a door to the future" for a child in otherwise-desperate circumstances.

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 Idania) make the most of their very lives. Thanks for your help!

http://langa.com/plus.htm

or: give a gift subscription:
http://langa.com/plus_gift.htm

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5) How To Strip Away Web Page Bloat

Hi Fred! Great to have you back in the chair. I look forward to the LangaList every week and having been having withdrawals for the last month or so <g>. I moved interstate at the same time that you did, so I can empathize with the rigmarole of packing, moving and unpacking.

I always enjoy a bit of serendipity. It's exciting when things come together unexpectedly to make one's life a little bit easier. So it was when I read your article "Very Nice Free Software" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-09-21.htm#2 ) about Microsoft's Research. There is some is good stuff there, and one article in particular caught my eye: MSR Strider URL Tracer ( http://tinyurl.com/ygc2bm ).

This tool takes a URL and loads the page in IE, then shows all the webservers that the page contacted as it loads, as well as all the third-party cookies that were set.

For example, putting in www.nytimes.com shows that the page, as well as from the NY Times, is actually loading stuff from all of these sites too:

2mdn.net
atdmt.com
bigcharts.com
doubleclick.net
mediaplex.com
nytdigital.com
nytimes.com *
questionmarket.com
tacoda.net *

and that nytimes.com and tacoda.net are setting cookies.

This is interesting in itself (and I recommend reading the Microsoft website--- the tool's original purpose was to expose phishing and other fraudulent redirection attacks), but what makes it very useful, and this is where the serendipity comes in, is when you use it in conjunction with the new version (9.x) of Opera web browser.

The new version of Opera has added a filtering facility (similar to proxomitron or privoxy filtering proxies) so that you can exclude ads and annoying scripts from running on certain pages (presumably ones that you visit regularly--- it wouldn't be worth the trouble for one-off visits). For example, you can open www.nytimes.com and, by clicking on various images, block content such as advertisements from displaying next time you load the page. You can use wildcards as well to block everything in the, say, '/adverts/*.jpeg' section from being downloaded.

However, a small drawback is that you can only block what you know is displayed on the page. If the third party site doesn't display a jpeg or similar, there is nothing to click and so you don't know how to block it.

Enter the Strider URL Tracer. You can use this tool to find out what third-party sites are being accessed, and then, in Opera, edit the blocking facility to block access to those sites. So, on the NYTimes page in Opera, you could edit the content-blocker to add doubleclick.net and tacoda.net and those two sites would not be contacted next time you load www.nytimes.com.

While I'm sympathetic to sites that need to generate advertising revenue, some of them carry it to extremes. I used the example of the NYTimes because in my opinion it is one of them. The page takes so long to load because it is not only drawing info from its own internal webservers, it is going out to 8 (!) other sites to include info from them in the page that eventually is served up to you. If one of those sites is slow to respond (and doubleclick, to pick just one, is often slow it seems to me), then the whole page is loaded slowly for you.

By blocking extraneous content, you get a page served up to you much more quickly, and you also can stop some of the questionable web-beacon tracking methods of the more unscrupulous marketing organisations by blocking their cookies.

Strider URL Tracer lets you fine-tune the Opera browsing experience on sites that you visit regularly. It's a very useful adjunct to the new content-blocking of the Opera browser.

Once again, thanks Fred for the newsletter, and for coming up with unusual sites and topics like the Microsoft Research one.

Regards and best wishes to you in your new setup,--- Nick Coleman

Thanks, Nick! Great tip!

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6) Script Errors Block Web Sites

Hello Fred. Can you help me? How can I get rid of the pop-up "Internet Explorer Script Error"? This will not let me read some web pages no matter how hard I try. It just keeps coming back every time I say 'yes' or 'no' or try to delete (x) it. Thanks, ---Fran

One reason you're likely to get this message is if Internet Explorer files are corrupted or damaged in a way that prevents the browser from successfully running a JavaScript, JScript, VisualBasic script or some other kind of script.

Another reason is that the scripting on the web page--- the actual code used by the page author--- may be bad.

The band-aid fix, which makes the symptoms of both the above go away is to disable script-error messages. Choose Options from the Tools menu and click on the Advanced tab. In the Settings area, deselect the items that begin with "Disable script debugging."

If the problem's on the web site itself, the only real solution is for the webmaster or page author to fix it; it's not something you can do from your end.

But if the problem is that your scripting software is broken, then you can uninstall Internet Explorer and install the most recent version. (Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ )

If that doesn't work, try each of Microsoft's many troubleshooting tips: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308260

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7) Is This Newsletter Useful?

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://langa.com/recommend.htm . Thanks for recommending the LangaList--- and good luck!

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8) How To Move Outlook Express

Fred, I recently upgraded a hard drive in my laptop and did a clean install. Since I use Outlook Express, I wanted to transfer all of my mailboxes, rules, filters, signatures, etc. Some can be done from OE but rules, signatures etc. have to be done through the registry. Below was the best source I found on how to do it. You may know of a better one, but either way the information may be useful to other LangaList subscribers who are upgrading or want to copy their settings to another machine. ---Bruce

http://email.about.com/od/outlookexpressbackuphelp/

Thanks, Bruce! This looks like a reasonably good set of instructions for moving Outlook Express and all its "stuff."

Note also that there are many other sites offering info on the same problem, so if any one how-to or explanation doesn't do it for you, there are tons of other excellent discussions on moving and backing up OE data: http://tinyurl.com/ynxqew

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9) Code Load Success Story

After his site was listed in a "Load The Code" section, code-loader John Carson wrote:

Hi Fred, Just a quick Load the Code success story. My site appeared in your e-newsletter; my visitors jumped [twentyfold]! Many thanks, John Carson

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 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://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://langa.com/randomlink.htm

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

Page-Up (NZ web development)
http://www.pageup-nz.com/

Pagoda Hut
http://www.kerslake.plus.com/

Used Film and Broadcast Gear
http://www.bblist.co.uk/techies.htm

Campaign to Legalise Segways in the UK
http://www.legalisesegways.co.uk/

Amateur Radio Software and Database files
http://golist.net/

Supporting The Troops
http://journals.aol.com/kasee267/SupportingtheTroops/

The Blog That Should Not Be
http://www.melwhite.net/

Handmade Greeting Cards
http://www.sarahndanny.karoo.net/

Home For Sale In NJ
http://43maple.com/

Mikeygottowa blog
http://mikeygottawa.spaces.live.com/blog/

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Great Deals, Rebates, Give-Aways and More!

TigerDirect sells what you need--- for less!

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10) Files Multiply Like Tribbles

You've probably already written about this issue but I sure would appreciate knowing what to do. I have several files that are duplicated. In some cases I may have up to 10 copies of the same file. I must have set up some kind of backup, but now I've created a monster. Is there any program that can identify duplicated files so that I can scan my system and get rid of them? Please advise. PS: You are one of the "Best" Web sources around. Keep up the excellent work. ---Lisa

There are many utilities out there that do this very thing: Scan your system and hunt for duplicate files so you can delete the extra ones. The better programs let you choose criteria such as filename, file size, creation date, modified date or any of these in any combination. Here are some of the better known utilities in no particular order:

NoClone ($32.90 per year subscription)
http://noclone.net/

Dupeless (free after subscription to PCMag.com Utility Library)
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1865408,00.asp

zsDuplicateHunter (starts at $19.95)
http://www.zizasoft.com/products/zsDuplicateHunter/index.shtml

DoubleKiller (free)
http://www.bigbangenterprises.de/en/doublekiller/

Duplicate File Finder ($15)
http://www.funduc.com/dupfiles.htm

Duplicate File Killer ($29.95)
http://tinyurl.com/yy3f93

DupKiller (free)
http://dupkiller.bira.ck.ua/index_en.html

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11, 12, 13, 14, 15) Plus! Edition Highlights:

Although it only costs pennies per issue, the LangaList Plus! Edition contains about 40% more content than the versions you're now reading. Here's what you're missing today:

• Free Defrag Bests Windows' Utility
    (higher performance at no cost!)
• I'd Like To Take My Apps--- To Go
    (tools to transfer applications without reinstalling)
• To AutoPatch Or Not To AutoPatch
    (better than Windows Update?)
• What's That Garbage In Recycle Bin?
    (identify and control it with this free tool)
• Optional Links
    (just for Plus! subscribers)

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

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Free tech support! Free shipping!
Limited lifetime warranty! Compatibility guarantee!

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16) Just For Grins

Many large, public displays actually run some version of Microsoft Windows, but keep the operating system hidden from view while they show advertising, public announcements or instructions. Like any installation of Windows not properly maintained, these public systems are subject to the dreaded Blue Screens of Death (BSoD). The blog Miguel Carrasco's Real World recently ran a list of very public Windows crashes called the "Blue Screen of Death Top 10" ( http://tinyurl.com/yklm5r )

Bonus grin: If you enjoy BSoDs, but your system is running too well to produce them, download the BSoD screen saver! ( http://tinyurl.com/aoapv )

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

Most months, the LangaList is is published about 6 times. See you next issue, 2006-10-23!

Best,

Fred & Mike
( 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://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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