|
Please note: Older issues may contain information that is now out of date. How To Subscribe
and Unsubscribe is at the end of this note. Mailing List Trouble? See http://www.langa.com/help.txt Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000 !) An easier-to
read formatted HTML version of this newsletter is available on line at The LangaList 2000-06-05 A Free Email
Newsletter from Fred
Langa --------------(
Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
Since writing Part One of this
series on Resource Leaks, I've been hip-deep in various software tools that
claim to recover "leaked" system resources, or to prevent leaks in the
first place. [If you haven’t seen Part One or if it’s not fresh in your
mind, please check it out at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/11.htm
because it contains information that’s essential for understanding what in
this column.] In the last two weeks, I’ve tested
over a dozen of these tools and utilities on carefully-configured Win98 test
machines. For an additional real-world flavor, I further tested the software
that showed the most promise on my daily-use PC. In each case, I carefully
monitored the results. This week's column on the WinMag site is a special,
*extended-coverage* column that details what I’ve found. For example, take Anticrash--- an
app I told you about in a recent newsletter. It's a freeware Java applet that
purports to enforce proper multithreading in Windows and to prevent resource
leaks: “Prevents Windows from crashing....It loads on your Windows desktop and…
provides a true multi-threading environment…[A]pplications can be opened and
closed without the system getting unstable or slow.” I love the name--- and the concept.
An add-on applet that keeps windows from crashing? One that actually prevents
crash-resultant memory leaks in the first place, rather than trying to clean
them up afterwards? Lemme at it! Alas, just as with every other
crash-proofing tool I’ve ever tried, AntiCrash doesn’t live up to its name.
I actually had more and worse stability problems with it running than without. I
even had one out-of-resources crash I can directly attribute to AntiCrash.
Worse, the documentation is badly written and nearly devoid of any useful
information so you’re left with no clue as to how the app actually does what
it tries to do. (I get very suspicious about low-level apps that want to
insinuate themselves deep into the guts of my system, but don’t tell me what
they’re doing, or why, or how.) Some readers report good results
with AntiCrash, and some popular download sites recommended it. But I have to
believe there’s a placebo effect at work, and that people are seeing what they
want to see--- they’re seeing results that just aren’t there. My tests were
as careful as any I’ve done in 20+ years of software testing, and the only
clear effects I can attribute to AntiCrash are negative ones. In short: Don’t waste your time on
AntiCrash. Anticrash tries to be a crash (and
leak) preventer, but all the other tools I tested fall into the category of
"memory optimizers" that try to manage your pool of RAM better than
Windows can on its own, and along the way, recover leaked resources. The bulk of
the Part Two column details the pros and cons of the dozen or so of these tools.
Amazingly, it turns out that the #1 reason most people try these optimizers is
based on a false assumption about what these tools can and cannot do. And if you
use one for the wrong reason, you actually can end up worse off than before! It's not a simple topic--- it's way
more than I can cram into an email! But in return for a few minutes of your time
in reading the column on the WinMag site, you'll know what you can expect from
memory optimizers, and if using one of these tools will do you any good--- or if
it's just barking up the wrong tree. After you've read the column, please
join in the ongoing discussion. The column and related discussion are at http://content.techweb.com/winmag//columns/explorer/2000/12.htm
Join in! Click to
email this item to a friend --------------(
Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
Several readers wrote to express
concerns about SurfinShield, an anti-Trojan "sandbox" app I told you
about last week. For example, reader "Rick" wrote: Hi Fred! First
of all - Thank you very much for an excellent newsletter! I subscribe and have
found a lot of useful info there. However
I'd like to comment on some of the content in [langalist] 2000-06-01
(2000-June-01) concerning Finjan and their products... After reading it I
remembered (somewhere back in my mind) that I had read stuff about them before -
and from what I recalled it was not very positive... I tried to relocate the
info and succeeded. It's a rather old article/review but it doesn't just show
what their products was like back then, but also what kind of morals they went
by. http://www.rstcorp.com/hostile-applets/index.html I also looked for info in
Steve Gibsons excellent Security forum http://grc.com/x/talk.exe?cmd=xover&group=shieldsup&utag= ...and found (apart from
several advertisements posted by Finjan themselves) some interesting postings
(These are comments and facts on the CURRENT software from Finjan): http://grc.com/x/talk.exe?cmd=article&group=optout&item=11882&utag=
http://grc.com/x/talk.exe?cmd=article&group=shieldsup&item=32654&utag=
http://grc.com/x/talk.exe?cmd=article&group=optout&item=12059&utag= Ummmmm... *thinking* Would you trust
[them]? Let them handle the security while you're online? I wouldn't buy a
used car from them - that's for sure - but that's me... Keep up the excellent
work! From reading the links, it appears
that Finjan's older products had some major problems. And the current products
may have other kinds of problems that can outweigh the benefits. Check out the
links, and decide for yourself. Thanks, Rick, and all who wrote
wrote in. That's the great thing about having such a wonderful group of readers:
There's not a topic on earth that some reader won't have an inside handle on.
Even better, you folks are very generous in sharing your knowledge. It makes for
a great give-and-take! Click to
email this item to a friend If you're one of the millions upon
millions who became active with computers during the last 10 years, you missed
all or most of the pre-Windows "DOS era." With the next version of
Windows 9x, DOS will all but die (finally)--- Microsoft probably will release
that version without support for DOS mode; you'll no longer be able to boot to
DOS. (A number of LangaList readers have been beta-testing the new version of
Windows and have been sharing their results. As the new version gets closer to
release, I'll tell you their test results... and mine!) Knowing DOS is a mixed blessing.
It's arcane and nonintuitive--- but it's powerful and fast. Plus, there are some
things that are just plain easier to do from a command line than from a
point-and-click environment. That's why Linux retains its native command-line
interface, for example, although you can hide the rawness of Linux's
command-line guts with a graphical shell. Reader Timothy Roy was wondering
about the software "switches" that accompany some DOS-level programs: I've got a question for you
about the various switches I see in command lines, i.e. "xcopy
c:\windows\dtbu\*.* c:\windows\desktop /s/e/y > nul" what does the
"/s", "/e", and "/y" mean? Are there others? Where
could I find out more? I enjoy your newsletter, you've helped me learn a lot.
Thanks It's easy: Open a DOS box (or boot
to DOS---while you still can!) and type the command you're curious about,
followed by a space, a forward slash, and a question mark. For example, if you
type: xcopy /? You'll get the following, which
tells you what the program does, how to invoke it (with all possible switches),
and what each switch does: xcopy /? Copies files and directory
trees. Arcane? Yes. But powerful! Click to
email this item to a friend -------------(
Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
From the "You get what you pay
for" department, if you've been considering using a free ISP or free email
service, it might be worth noting the following: Some LangaList readers on the "Freei.net"
service have been getting truncated versions of this newsletter: Each issue
starts with about the fourth item! I don't know if it's a function of length, or
what--- there's nothing on the Freei.net site that says their email is
length-limited. Still, a number of Freei.net users have reported the same
behavior, so it's not a fluke with just one Freei.net user's mail. Sometimes, free stuff is great.
Other times, you end up with weird problems that the service provider may not be
eager to fix---because you're not paying anything for the service! But regardless of whether or not you
use a free ISP, if you *ever* have trouble with any email version of the
LangaList, please know you can always read it online at the LangaList home page,
at http://www.langa.com Click to
email this item to a friend Some Hotmail users are having
trouble too: Dear Fred... I want to
start by saying how much I enjoy reading the LangaList. There's always useful
information to be had, and I usually learn something by the time I reach the end
of each issue. I'm curious if you, or any
of your readers, have experienced an increasingly annoying aspect of Microsoft's
Hotmail service. It seems that, if you click on any HTTP link inside an email
received by Hotmail, it is less and less likely to actually show the page you
expect, and will often return with "There was an error displaying this
link". This behavior seems to result from the fact that the link is first
redirected through Hotmail so that the page you expect is shown with a small
frame at top. The Hotmail logo is displayed there, with a bit of Javascript that
returns you to the service when you click the logo. Unfortunately, it appears
that all the extra code needed to do this results in the address you want being
truncated (you can see this by pointing the mouse at it and looking at the
status bar at the bottom of the screen). The only remedy is to copy the text of
the link off the screen, do a CTRL-N for a new browser window, paste it in there
and hit ENTER. It's minor, but it's
annoying. Still, it never happened earlier on in Hotmail's career. Should I
simply accept this as a penance for using another Microsoft product? All the
best, Borys Medicky It's not just you, Borys--- it
happens to many Hotmail users including those who try to follow the links in
*this* newsletter. The Framed-page redirection may be
part of the problem, but I also suspect there's a problem with the way Hotmail
parses text links to convert them into clickable format. Either way, Hotmail users lose: It's
yet another case where "you get what you pay for" comes true. As Borys says, you can cut-and-paste
the links and they'll work fine. Or you can always read a fully-clickable,
properly-displayed version of the LangaList via its home page at http://www.langa.com. Or you can find another free mail
service--- there's a boatload of 'em, so there's no need to stick with any
service that gives you trouble. Click to
email this item to a friend Reader Arthur Heem just won a free
copy of "Poor Richard's E-Mail Publishing: Creating Newsletters, Bulletins,
Discussion Groups and Other Powerful Communications Tools." This $29.95
book has been described as "An excellent, straightforward manual on email
publishing, banner ads, driving traffic and especially ethics." (Full
details also available via the link that follows.) All he had to do was recommend the
LangaList to a friend using the form at http://www,langa.com/recommend.htm
. Once a month or so, I draw one name, at random, from among those who have used
the recommendation form, and award a thank-you prize. (Note that this isn't some
big-company sweepstakes: It's just my informal way of saying thanks for your
help in spreading the word about this newsletter.) Arthur was the May winner. If you think the LangaList is a
worthwhile read, just use the link above 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 book! Or, if you'd rather try to win
$10,000(!), use this link instead: http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm#1 Either way, thank you, and good
luck! Click to
email this item to a friend 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: Click to
email this item to a friend -------------(
Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
--------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
This item speaks for itself: From: "Igor M.
Arsenin" Hi! Many Thanks for your
reference of TaskInfo2000 in your info letter. It create storm of hits today.
One problem is that TaskInfo2000 is shareware. It has low price US $ 12 single
user license. But it is still not freeware. ::)) Best Regards, My apologies to all: I didn't notice
the Registration link (which is far less prominent than the download page
<g>) until after I'd posted the item. If you like Igor's TaaskInfo2000 and
plan to keep it, please do register it. Click to
email this item to a friend US residents have a well-deserved
reputation for being monolinguists. And while the US is slowly becoming more
linguistically diverse (a mixed blessing), by and large, it's an overwhelmingly
English-oriented culture. Part of the reason is simple
geography: With English the uniform, dominant language across the huge reaches
of most of North America (and prevalent in many other regions), millions of US
residents have no routine exposure at all to other tongues. And part of it is
probably a combination of lackluster education, laziness, and Americans' unique
form of friendly, unconscious cultural arrogance. (As opposed to, say, the
blatant, hostile and deliberate cultural arrogance practiced by some European
countries whose names shall remain, er, inconnu. <g>) In a former life, when I was the
Editor of Byte Magazine, I traveled worldwide and always tried not to be a
stereotypical American: My collection of Berlitz books attests to my (probably
futile) attempts to be able to speak at least a little of the native language
where ever I went. French, Spanish and German weren't a big problem---I'd
studied them in school. Russian was a lot tougher. Chinese stopped me almost
cold, although I could phonetically memorize some basic phrases and limp along.
Then there was Hungarian--- an amazingly isolated language that's related to no
other tongue on Earth, except a dialect spoken by---I'm not making this up---a
tiny, minority population of natives indigenous to what we now call Western
Siberia. Talk about daunting. But reader James H. Boatwright
points out how tough the reverse can be, when others to try to navigate the
confusing waters of English: It's almost enough to make Hungarian
look easy. 8-) Click to
email this item to a friend -------------(
Please Visit This LangaList Sponsor!) ------------
GREAT
exposure at GREAT prices! (Advertising
in the LangaList --------------(
the above is an advertisement )--------------
See you next issue! Best, Please recommend
the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000!I) 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. Why are you getting this
newsletter? This is a 100% OPT-IN newsletter: There are only three ways to get
on the list--- signup via direct email request from you, or signup via the
WinMag newsletter page or signup via BrowserTune's email-notification service.
If you're getting this newsletter; your name came to me through one of those
signup channels. At signup, you also received a confirmation email from my list
software---no one is signed up secretly or against their will. SUBSCRIBE (it's free!):
Create and send a new email address it to subscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net UNSUBSCRIBE: From the same
address you used to sign up with (it's shown on the first line in the body of
each email issue you receive), create and send a new email address to unsubscribe-langalist@lyris.dundee.net
. CHANGE ADDRESS? LIST
TROUBLE? HAVE QUESTIONS? NEED HELP? See http://www.langa.com/help.txt About
the advertisers: Langa Consulting LLC will never knowingly accept
advertising for a fraudulent product, company or service. However, Langa Consulting LLC makes no implied or explicit warranty, recommendation or endorsement
of or for the products, companies or services mentioned in the ads. Disclaimer:
(Please see full disclaimer here: http://www.langa.com/legal.htm.)
Abbreviated version: The tips and other information given in the newsletter are
researched and are believed to be accurate, but we cannot and do not guarantee
that all the information here will work on all systems, for all users, all the
time. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind.
Neither Langa Consulting LLC, nor its employees nor contributors are responsible for
any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application
of any information presented here. This newsletter is a free
service of Langa Consulting LLC and is Copyright © 2000 Langa Consulting LLC. All
rights reserved. |
|
|