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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2003-04-24

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) Take Two: 10 Great Free Tools

InformationWeek recently changed its web-publishing software--- the behind-the-scenes tools that assemble and display the pages there: When you click on an InformationWeek URL, you're not really calling a page, but are issuing a command to the web-publishing software to assemble the content you want, on demand. This "dynamic content generation" means that the page elements can be changed easily, by altering one file instead of having to wade into and edit thousands of separate, static pages.

At least, that's the theory. <g> But dynamic page generation takes a lot of horsepower when there are many requests for pages. LangaList readers have routinely maxed out the InformationWeek servers in the past and also have brought the discussion area software to its knees on many occasions. You folks click a lot!

But InformationWeek recently upgraded the software to a new package that was supposed to alleviate the bottlenecks. Alas--- as you probably saw--- things did not go entirely smoothly.

Readers who clicked to the "10 Great Free Tools" article early saw the full text, but later arrivals saw an oddly truncated, patchwork thing: Although the file was posted OK on the server, only about 60% of the original text was shown in almost-random pieces on the web pages. The article appeared to start in the middle, and huge chunks of text were missing at each page transition. Ugh.

Things are OK again, as I write this; you can once again see all text on the full 10 items. If you had trouble, I apologize, and invite you to try again.

Those readers who got there before the software ate the text had some interesting suggestions of their own to add:

Hi Fred, Irfanview ( http://www.irfanview.com/ ) is a tremendous freeware graphics application. Everyone should have this. I also recommend Startup Control Panel from Mike Lin ( http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml ) , as well as most things at http://www.analogx.com .  SmartFTP ( http://www.smartftp.com/) is the best freeware FTP program around. Aida32 ( http://www.google.com/search?q=Aida32 ) is by far the best system information tool I've found, and of course, absolutely free. Eraser ( http://www.google.com/search?q=Eraser+wipe+file) is great for "wiping" files cleanly and completely, and quick! Can't forget about AVG antivirus protection. ( http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_downl.htm ) WinDriver Expert (Note version 1.70) is one of the most useful utilities I've ever used ( http://www.google.com/search?q=WinDriver+Expert ). Later versions are not freeware, but this one is. Looking forward to everyone else's picks. I've got too many more to list here, but always like to learn of new stuff! ---Rick Buser

Hi Fred. I would like to vote for the following freeware tools to keep on my computer although I can't help thinking that you have probably opened  a big can of worms with this subject Here goes: Mailwasher at http://www.mailwasher.net/  they have introduced a Pro version but their is still a freeware version available. Edit Padlite at http://www.editpadlite.com/ a great little replacement for Notepad. SpyBot at http://security.kolla.de/  great alternative to Adaware. Zonealarm at http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp  probably the best free firewall available. Many thanks for a great read. regards Alec Stockton

There's lots more, too--- both in my list, and in the discussion area associated with the article. And that's where you come in: Please tell us what your favorite free tools are; why you like them; and where to get them. With our pooled knowledge, we should soon have an awesome list of great, proven, known-good freeware tools--- and we'll all probably learn of great new software we otherwise wouldn't have known about. Join in!

http://www.informationweek.com/936/langa.htm

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2) "Buffer Overrun" Patch Needs Patch

We recently discussed a patch (811493) for a buffer overrun in XP, 2K, and NT. Unfortunately,  the patch is proving to be problematic in its own right:

Fred, Regarding [patch 811493], a number of people have written to Microsoft Watch by Mary Jo Foley, http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,4248,1037305,00 .asp this week complaining that the new patch from Microsoft has slowed down their computers. Perhaps we should wait for the patch of the patch ? (I've heard that refrain before.) ---Mike Saksa

Fred: Many folks are having problems with the latest security patch for XP, W2K, NT "Buffer Overrun in Windows Kernel Message Handling Could Lead to Elevated Privileges". Steven Bink at http://winxp.bink.nu/ ...  Discussion on USENET about this issue: http://tinyurl.com/a210 ... Neowin.net - Windows (XP) patch 811493 trouble:
http://www.neowin.net/comments.php?id=10413&category=main ... [all report huge slowdowns.] ---Jeff Rahn

I saw a very slight slowdown on my system--- fortunately nothing as bad as what's reported above. I simply uninstalled it (by using Control Panel's Add/Remove applet to uninstall patch 811493) and the problem went away. Removing the patch is very easy; if you're seeing a slowdown, I suggest you remove it on your system until MS posts a better version of the patch.

Thanks to all who wrote in!

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3) Bury Those Dead Links

I'm looking for a quick way to verify that all the entries in my favorite list are still good. Do you know of such a way? I know you're busy but any help would be appreciated.---Larry Ash

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4) How About Linux On A Single Floppy?

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5) A Letter From Ethiopia

Remember Tizita, the eighth child sponsored on an ongoing basis by LangaList Plus! subscribers? She's a 4th grader living on a subsistence farm in northern Ethiopia. (Photo and original info about her: http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/meet_tizita.htm)

Now, little Tizita has written her introductory note to us in neatly-inked Ethiopian (the Amharic language, I'm guessing): http://www.freetune.com/images/tizita_orig.gif . An aid worker has translated her note into English: http://www.freetune.com/images/tizita_xlate.gif

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6) Free Professional-Quality Installer

A number of readers have asked about the installer I use to automate the setup of the LangaList helpfile archives. It works exactly like the installers you see on commercial software: You just click on an EXE file, and a wizard walks you through the full setup process, offering known-good default settings where needed, and allowing you to customize the installation as much as you wish.

Amazingly, the installer I use is actually a free tool, and yet gives fully professional-quality results. Some of its features:

Support for all 32-bit Windows versions in use today -- Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, Me, NT 4.0.

Supports creation of a single [compressed] EXE to install your program for easy online distribution. Disk spanning is also supported.

Standard wizard interface, including support for the latest Windows 2000/XP wizard style.

Customizable setup types, e.g. Full, Minimal, Custom.

Complete uninstall capabilities.

Installation of files:
Includes integrated "deflate" file compression (the same compression .zip files use) and also supports bzip2 compression. The installer has the ability to compare file version info, replace in-use files, use shared file counting, register DLL/OCX's and type libraries, and install fonts.

Creation of shortcuts anywhere, including in the Start Menu and on the desktop.

Creation of registry and .INI entries.

Silent install and uninstall.

And it's all 100% free and very easy to use: http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php

Although no fee is required, the author asks for voluntary donations. Once you use the software, I think you'll agree it's worth making a contribution--- I did! <g>

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7) Last Week To Enter April's FREE Drawing

On April 30, I'll choose another monthly winner of a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... 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 $30 shopping spree! (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

The more times you make a recommendation, the greater your chances are of winning!

Or, if you'd like to try to win $10,000(!), try this link (full details also available here):
http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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8) They Just Keep Coming And Coming And Coming...

Some 2,700 of your fellow readers have "Loaded the code." Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join them! (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:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

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

TreeLimb (a "blogunity")
http://www.treelimb.org/

Museum Tour
http://www.museumtour.com/

Tom's Tech
http://www.tomstech.com/

Nexus Marketing Consultants (Alberta)
http://www.nexusbusinessgroup.com/

Wayne's Cyberplace
http://www.vaxxine.com/wtester/

Knightirc (UK IRC)
http://www.knightirc.org.uk/

Buyer's Club
http://www.computer-telecommunications.com/DHS/

Igloo
http://members.rogers.com/annecorrinna/index.html

Link Exchange
http://www.webringspider.com

"Procrastinating Place"
http://www.geocities.com/bew_bew_bew/

Jester2k Freeware
http://www.jester2k.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.html

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9) "HotMail Popper"

My wife uses Hotmail via Outlook Express. She has Norton Antivirus active, but as you know NAV doesn't check incoming HTML mail. Furthermore, Hotmail's spam rules were stopping to much valid email. So I set up Hotmail Popper, a freeware download at http://www.boolean.ca/hotpop/  . As the site says, "Hotmail Popper is a small application that allows you to check your Hotmail account e-mail from a normal POP mail client (such as Eudora). Unlike standard mail accounts which allow users to retrieve their e-mail through a POP mail client, Hotmail can normally only be checked on the web, or via Outlook Express. With Hotmail Popper, you can use your favorite POP mail client to retrieve your e-mail from your Hotmail account."

By this route, her Hotmail email gets checked the same way her other accounts do (we're connected by cable modem). She has set up message rules to sort out spam. And she can still send outgoing mail through our ISP's SMTP-type account (so NAV will check it) but set her return address to make it look to the recipient as if it's coming from her Hotmail account.--- Mark Guenin

Excellent, Mark, thanks!

Most of the best email tools---  antivirus, anti-spam, etc.--- are designed for standard POP3 ("post office protocol 3") email systems; those tools do nothing for non-POP, web-based email, like HotMail. But, by allowing a normal POP client to download non-POP HotMail email, "HotMail Popper" makes it possible to use any of these standard tools on your HotMail accounts. Cool!

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10) Just For Grins

Hey, Fred-- The "Definitions of Managed Objects for Drip-Type Heated Beverage Hardware Devices using SMIv2" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-04-21.htm#10 ) is part of an annual tradition in the Internet Engineering Task Force, the April 1st RFCs (Request for Comment). RFCs, despite their seemingly innocuous names, are actually the standards that the Internet runs on; the April 1 RFCs are the "tongue-in-cheek" branch of these critical documents.

The first was written in 1978 and there has been at least one published annually since 1989. The one you cited came from the most prolific year, 1998, in which there were actually five RFCs published on April 1. One of the better known April 1 RFCs is the 1990 "RFC 1149 Standard for the transmission of IP datagrams on avian carriers" further modified by 1999's "RFC 2549 IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service" which establish a protocol for transmission of IP packets by carrier pigeon; this protocol has actually been implemented but the data rate was unacceptably slow, and there was a problem with dropped packets becoming re-encapsulated in hawks.

Another noteworthy April 1 RFC was "The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)" which "describes a protocol suite which supports an infinite number of monkeys that sit at an infinite number of typewriters in order to determine when they have either produced the entire works of William Shakespeare or a good television show."

All of the April1 RFCs can be accessed at a site run by Kevin Sullivan, Coordinator for Special Projects at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center http://klubkev.org/~ksulliva/rfc-april1/ ; another fairly complete list (doesn't have 2003 yet) is at http://livinginternet.com/?i/ia_rfc_fun.htm . The second list also has the classic "ARPAwocky" and Vinton Cerf's " 'Twas the Night Before Start-up" which were issued on dates other than April 1. It is interesting to note that at least three of these RFCs were written by Vinton Cerf, a man who has sometimes been called "the father of the Internet".

The 2003 entry was "RFC 3514 The Security Flag in the IPv4 Header," which proposes utilizing an unused bit in the IP header to define whether a given packet is "evil" or "benign." and was apparently actually taken seriously by many folks in the IT Security community ( http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,990618,00.asp ). --Ray Trygstad

Wonderful! Thanks, Ray.

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

• Upgrading Old To New Windows (1)

• Upgrading Old To New Windows (2)

• How to Upgrade--- Standard Ways

• Better Alternatives

• A Fourth Alternative

• Some Windows XP Upgrade Advice

Plus! edition subscribers not only get much more content in every issue (like the above), but 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; along with dozens of private downloads and much more--- all for just $1 per month!

Check out: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

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See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
( Editor@Langa.Com )

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000!I)

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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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