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LangaList 2005-10-24 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free! --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList Free! ) ---
--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 1) Linksys Log ProblemsSo many potential pitfalls in computing are brand-specific, it's impossible to be aware of them all. For example, by chance (it's not a recommendation or endorsement) I happen to have a Belkin wireless setup here in my office. When a reader wrote about a problem with a Linksys wireless access point ("WiFi, Bye-Bye, http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-10-13.htm#3 ) I answered with non-brand-specific info that I thought would apply to any and all types, brands and models of wireless systems. But another reader--- a Linksys user--- knew of an additional brand-specific issue that might also contribute to the reader's specific problem:
Thanks, Perry! That's the sort of information you wouldn't know unless you'd used the hardware--- and another example of how, when we pool our knowledge, there's almost no problem we can't solve! <g> Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 2) Stop Spam At The Source?
The idea there is that you join a service to help you automatically complain to spam sites. I think this'd be a great idea, except for one thing: Spammers don't play by the rules. Reputable businesses don't spam in the first place; and those that do send out mails that might annoy you, but that technically aren't spam, will almost always remove you from their lists if you simply ask--- no elaborate third-party tool is needed. Spammer sites aren't going to pay attention to "remove me" notes; and many spammers hide their originating addresses anyway so that complaint letters will either go to that Great Big Bit Bucket In The Sky--- or worse, go to some innocent person whose address was faked in the original spam email. Plus: this whole approach generates still *more* emails buzzing back and forth.... I believe the simplest, best approach to spam is simply to delete it--- silently, without any indication whatsoever that you ever got it. That way, the spammer spent money to try to reach you, but (in effect) wasted it because he got no response--- no sale, no indication that the spam was delivered, nothing. Spamming is a low-life's business, but it *is* a business. If people never, ever responded to spam--- didn't buy anything, didn't answer back, didn't do anything at all with the spam--- spammers would eventually go out of business: They'd be spending money with no return. Alas, enough people *do* buy stuff from spam, and do take steps that let the spammers know they've reached a live mailbox, that spamming can be hugely profitable. Just say no: When you get a spam mail, just delete it, or set your filters to delete it, silently. Don't use the tools that generate complaint letters (it won't help), and don't use the tools that generate false "bounce" messages (because that actually *helps* the spammer make his mail distribution more cost-efficient). Instead, don't respond at all, and never, ever buy anything advertised by spam. If everyone did that, spam mail would go away in short order. Click to email this item to a
friend 3) Verifying Hard Drive Spin Downs
You usually can hear it spin down, Don--- a decreasing-pitch whine or whir that also fades in volume--- although a PC with noisy fans may drown out the hard drive noise. Even so, if you don't hear it at spin-down, you may still hear it at spin-up, when you reactivate the drive: There may be a brief but noticeable delay as the drive comes back on line, and you may simultaneously hear a rising-pitch whir or whine that also climbs in volume as the disk's platters come up to speed. In my systems, with quiet fans ( http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=18400732 ), the spin-down sound actually is very noticeable. But again, if your fans are raucous, the drive noise may get lost in the clamor. If you really, really need to check it out, you can open the PC's case, set the drive shut-off timer to a very short interval, and then stick your ears down by the drive. Getting a bit geekier here, you probably could use a cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels as an ersatz stethoscope, to help focus your hearing on just the drive noises. Depending on the drive and your PC's other moving parts, it might also be possible to *feel* the spindown with a gentle application of fingertips to the drive housing: any mechanical vibrations should cease or at least diminish as the drive spins down. I've never seen or found an end-user tool that lets you read drive RPM via software, alas, although there's lots of software (including free tools) that can access a host of other "Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology," a.k.a. SMART, data from newer hard drives. More info, and software download links: "S.M.A.R.T" http://langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-08-18.htm#7 ; "Free Drive Tester" http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-04-08.htm#7 ; "Another S.M.A.R.T. Monitor, And More" http://langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-08-25.htm#7 . Click to email this item to a
friend --- ( Your Clicks On Ad Links Help Keep The LangaList S.E. Free! ) --- Costs Little, Gives Lots! --------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 4) Free Drive Imaging ToolHi Fred, You've discussed drive image programs in the past, and I know you are an avid user of this backup technique. Here is a new product from Runtime Software (they make some other products such as GetDataBack) . It's called DriveImage XML and it's FREE [for home users]. http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm : Thanks, Eran! That could be an interesting option for anyone without a decent backup or imaging process in place. I still prefer the simplicity and certainty of a self-contained tool like BootIt NG's imager ( http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=bootit&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 ), but this could work, too. Click to email this item to a
friend 5) Circumventing Censorship
There are anonymizer tools that try to block external servers from seeing *your* IP address ( http://www.google.com/search?q=anonymizer ), but I know of no tool that works the other way: Your system has to "see" the real address of the sites it's contacting in order to get there. That said, I can imagine a couple of work-arounds, but
they're either clumsy or difficult. A simple approach might be for a friend in a
more open culture to install "virtual pc" software ( At the very-geeky end of the spectrum a sufficiently savvy technical person could create a fake DNS server which would translate harmless, censor-proof names and addresses to the real addresses that your government doesn't want you to see. But this wouldn't be very easy; and also wouldn't be very secure, as the authorities--- if sufficiently motivated--- could still see where the packets were going to and from. Your situation sounds fairly dangerous, so I really can't say I recommend either approach; and I certainly don't suggest that you engage in illegal activity. Good luck to you! Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Last Week To "Recommend And Win"Next week, I'll choose three more monthly winners who each
will get 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.) Click to email this item to a
friend 7) HouseCall FeedbackWe're still getting good, and highly varied, email from our recent "Special Issue" ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-10-06.htm :
Indeed: Several of Windows' built in appetites for disk space were instituted when disk drives were much smaller than they are today. A 10% allotment of disk space might have made sense when drives were a couple hundred megs at most, but with today's giant drives, it's crazy to allot that much space for junk, temp and cache files. If you haven't already, try the steps listed in http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-10-06.htm ; the first time you try the cleanup, odds are you'll recover at least hundreds of megs of space--- and it could even be gigs of space. And it's all fast, free, and easy. Really! <g>
Thanks, Tom. Here's a direct link, using a URL-shortener: http://tinyurl.com/9rkh7 . The removal tools can work, and they're certainly worth a try, but I've heard of many cases where they still don't get everything. But again, they're worth trying!
Yes, Rick, I had to change the way I mailed the free "Standard Edition" for that one issue because it was an unusually long one, and would have cost a *lot* to send out by normal means. You see, my isp has nothing to do with delivering the newsletter. I have about 160,000 subscribers, mostly for the nominally "free" Standard edition, and this is way beyond what normal email can handle. Instead, I send out the list via a commercial mailing service. My total out-of-pocket bills for operating the newsletter run to between $30,000 and $50,000 per year. The more and the longer the newsletters are, the more I pay. I'm not independently wealthy, and I can't afford to lose money on the newsletter. The small ads in the Standard Edition help pay the operating costs, but I mostly count on readers converting to the Plus! edition to make this a going business. The roughly $1/mo that each Plus! reader pays is what really keeps this whole operation alive; and lets me keep writing this newsletter. (*Thank you,* Plus Edition readers!) Want to help? It's only around $1 a month: http://langa.com/plus.htm 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://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
) Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting
At "Beyond The Black Stump" (Aussie directory) Clan Mackenzie Prism Distributing Las Vegas Dentist The River All Site Cafe (meta site) CR Phoenix O.G.O. Cathy and Greg Computer Users Group Of Yuma, Arizona Webworksite Weblog Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 9) Puka: The Sequel
A reader described the noise an empty drive makes when it's being accessed as "puka-puka-puka..." and--- believe it or not--- we've discussed un-puka-ing your PC before. <g>:
http://langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-01-18.htm#9 Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For GrinsI don't even remember where I first found this, but it's am almost canonical list of all the "laws" (like "Murphy's Law"), famous and obscure, that have been kicked around:
(more in the next issue) Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )------------- 11) Plus! Edition Highlights:Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus access to the complete LangaList Archives!
All the LangaLists ever published (from 1997 through
September 2005) are now available for you right at your fingertips, packaged as
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Archives right on your hard drive, it'll take only seconds to find whatever
you're looking for, no matter how long ago it was published in any version of
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