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1) Connecting USB And Non-USB Systems and PeripheralsUSB is a very good thing: It's fast, with the USB 2.0 spec allowing data rates up to 480Mbps. It's relatively hassle free, letting you add and remove a wide range of hardware at will with the PC powered on or off, using a simple, standardized plug and socket. When you plug in a USB peripheral device, a PC usually will recognize and enable the device with little or no intervention on your part. A USB port can also deliver power to whatever device it's connected to, eliminating the need for separate, clunky "power bricks" and extension cords; and multiple devices can share a single port or cable via a USB hub. (Lots more information: http://www.usb.org/ ) USB is also relatively inexpensive, allowing hardware vendors to replace a
menagerie of different older port types with a single internal USB hub: This
keeps hardware costs down (making PCs cheaper to buy); and easier to set up and
maintain, too. And most USB devices won't work at all with older, non-USB operating systems (like DOS) unless you track down special drivers. In the current column at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021003S0007 , we'll look at (1) connecting USB devices to non-USB systems; (2) connecting non-USB devices to USB-equipped systems; and (3) getting the software drivers that can enable USB devices to work in almost any OS--- including DOS. By the time we're done, you'll be able to connect just about any USB and non-USB devices and systems, regardless of port type or OS type! Click over to http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20021003S0007 and check it out! Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- - 2) New "Copernic Agent"Copernic is a popular, fast search utility; it provides a consistent front end that simplifies the digging out of information from as many as 1000 or so (!) internet search engines and data sources. Its users like its raw power and its ability to analyze and sort the returned links for relevance, adding an extra layer of intelligent filtering to whatever the search engines provide on their own. Last Tuesday (Oct 8) Copernic rolled out new "Agent" versions in Basic (free/adware), Personal ($30) and professional ($60) flavors; the last price is introductory, and actually is $10 less than the old version, making this a pretty good deal if Copernic interests you. You can see exactly what each version does and doesn't do in a comparison chart at http://www.copernic.com/desktop/products/agent/compare.html And if you're a current Copernic user, there are multiple upgrade options, too: Generally, if you have any 2000/2001 version of Copernic, you can upgrade to the same new Agent version for free. Upgrade details are listed at http://www.copernic.com/desktop/support/upgrade/index.html . Click to email this item to a
friend 3) Lindows 2.0Lindows 2.0 is just a couple weeks old; I recently bought a copy and will present a full report on it soon. But as a head start, here are the basics: Lindows is interesting because the company claims that:
The new Lindows costs $99, and runs on most current PCs with standard components. The personal license lets you install your one copy of Lindows on all your home PCs--- unlike Windows, which costs much more to begin with, and must be purchased separately for each PC. It's kind of funny to watch the Linux community try to adjust to Lindows. Many of the hard-core geeks who love Linux are from the "if it's easy to use, it can't be any good" school of thought; many others believe that "if it plays nice with Microsoft software, it can't be any good." Well, Lindows is a legitimate Linux spinoff that is both easy to use and plays nice with Microsoft software, so there's a lot of gear grinding going on as techies who reflexively feel that they should hate Lindows end up liking it. <g> For example, a reviewer at ExtremeTech starts his Lindows review this way:
The main Lindows site is http://www.lindows.com/ . Stay tuned for more! (And if you're trying it, let me know how you fare at lindows@langa.com ) Click to email this item to a
friend 4) How To Catch Up Without "CatchUp"
The answer is "yes," but with a caveat. I generally do not recommend the use of automatic update services for several reasons:
But I also know I'm in a small minority in this; and that vendors (like Microsoft) are making it harder and harder to avoid auto-updating. Probably the largest remaining independent, third-party updating service is Bigfix.com ( http://www.bigfix.com ). They've been around for a very long time, and seem to do a pretty good job. It's free: You download the BigFix client, which sniffs your machine's hardware and software, and then makes recommendations as to which patches, updates, upgrades, and bugfixes you might benefit from. The suggestions almost always include links to the recommended patches or other files you need; keeping your PC up to date is usually just a matter of making a few clicks. In this, BigFix can avoid problem #4, above: It won't just go ahead and patch your system entirely on its own. But the other three problems may pertain. At the very least, I strongly recommend that you make backups--- or at least "GoBack-" or "System Restore-" type rollback points--- before you apply any patches or install any software from anyone. More info:
BigFix:
Automatic Update Services --
Yea or Nay? Reader-Recommended Update
Sites Reader Questions
About "Windows Update:" Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 5) Is This Information 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 $10,000 for your trouble (full details also available via this link): http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182 Or, win a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... and more. (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm Either way, thank you, and good luck! Click to email this item to a
friend 6) IncrediMail Problems (Part One)
Some of that language is similar to that used by other mail services and ISPs to get around copyright issues that can innocently arise when proprietary information is sent through a third party--- for example, it's not uncommon for an ISP to want to ensure they're not violating a copyright if they merely store a copy of your mail on their servers while it's being processed. But I can't think of any innocent reason for the phrasing that states "... IncrediMail is free to use any ideas, know-how, concepts or techniques you... post on the Service for any purpose, without any compensation to you or any other person." Maybe there is a perfectly inoffensive reason for including that, but it eludes me. There's also another reason not to like IncrediMail, too: See next item. Click to email this item to a
friend 7) IncrediMail Problems (Part Two)There's another reason not to like IncrediMail, too: It's HTML-based, which not only opens the door to all manner of web-borne security threats that are absent from text-based email, but also adds tons of baggage to outbound IncrediMail email. This extra baggage can clog the inboxes of recipients of these mails, even if the recipients aren't IncrediMail users. For example, the headers of email sent by Outlook Express might take this simple form: From: [user name and address] From: [user name and address] Note that none of that is the actual email message--- it's just the typical extra baggage IncrediMail adds to the email header before you even get to the message itself: An extra 600 characters or so (call it roughly 5 kilobits) of code that must be sent by the mailer, processed by the ISPs of both the mailer and the recipient, and then downloaded and processed by the recipient for each and every IncrediMail message sent. Yikes! HTML email is bloated anyway, but man, IncrediMail pushes it to new extremes. Yes, IncrediMail provides amusing, all-singing, all dancing, animated, colored, formatted, flashing, bleeping, blurping emails--- but with the certainty of tons of excess baggage riding along with the email; with the possibility of opening the door to malicious HTML-borne worms, viruses, and such; and with serious questions about who owns the content of the messages you send using their system. No, thanks. Click to email this item to a
friend 8) More Reader Sites!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 ) Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At Helpful NY Links (From a NY Realtor) Having fun with PSP Personal Site (Illinois) Best Internet Sites Not Just Sports Online The Ninth St Rag The Christmas Card Company Irate Dads (divorce peer support) Steve Neshan Click to email this item to a
friend 9) Word Bug?I debated whether or not to cover this item, but I've gotten enough mail to convince myself that I must. Specifically, it's about a problem with Word that some seem to think is a huge security hole. For example, a Techweb item began this way: "Are Your Word Documents Bugged? Every version of Microsoft Word after Word 97 hides a potentially serious security vulnerability that could let outsiders steal documents from your company. And no anti-virus or Trojan scanner will pick it up." (See http://update.techweb.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eI8B0BC4pF0CLf0BjLc0Af ) Many other sites carried stories along the same lines. Some went over the top, accusing Microsoft of lying about the severity of the problem, or worse. The specifics of this problem involve "fields" that can be hidden inside interactive Word documents. These special fields are meant to pick up routine bits of information to auto-complete portions of documents, but they can be subverted to pick up other information--- even whole additional files or documents--- and embed these additional items invisibly inside a document. That sounds bad, but consider: A malicious hacker would (1) have to figure out how to craft this kind of special field, (2) send it to you, (3) entice you to open the document in Word (thus triggering the malicious fields), (4) get you to save (not just close--- but actively save) the document so the data collected by the fields would be stored inside the document, and then (5) somehow get you to send the saved copy of the document back to the hacker. How likely is that elaborate chain of events? The most successful security exploits are those that happen subtly, beneath the notice of most users. This one practically jumps up, bites you on the nose, and says, "Hey, pay attention! Something fishy's going on here!" How could you not notice? And talk about leaving a trail! Even if all the above somehow did come to pass, you'd still have your local copy of the malicious document on your hard drive, along with the original and return emails. What hacker in his right mind would use a method that not only requires a high level of active involvement on the part of the victim, but also leaves behind a copy of the incriminating evidence and direct pointers back to the source of the problem? Routine security--- such as never opening documents from strangers--- short-circuits the entire unlikely chain of events. And basic common sense--- never open, re-save and re-email a document back to a stranger--- also applies. You'd have to be nuts to do that. OK, what if it's not a stranger? In an office or collaboration setting, if someone you work with has snooping or larceny on his mind, they'll find a way to do it: The issue isn't fields inside Word documents, but the trustworthiness of your colleagues. Plus, this method would still leave a wide, obvious trail pointing back to the perpetrator. Duh! Finally, as another way of avoiding this whole kind of issue, I've long recommended that people use universal, platform- and brand-independent .RTF ("rich text format") when exchanging documents; it's safer (not "100% safe"--- nothing is) than the DOC format, and the files are smaller, too. Long-time readers of this newsletter know how seriously I take security. But not all security problems are equal, and some--- like this one--- are truly minor. Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For GrinsJeff sends along these items, which he correctly describes as "groaners:"
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Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: A reader suggestion on a more widely-available and less-expensive corrosion inhibitor than the ones we previously discussed; a 100% ethical and legitimate way to strike back at hackers and crackers; and information about known-good, non-scam online charities. Plus! Edition info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm Click to email this item to a
friend PLEASE NOTE: See you next issue!
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