Daves Diggins Newsletter 11-23-00 (ISSN 1529-1103)

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Dave's Diggins 11-23-00

ISSN 1529-1103

Just a few "Golden Nuggets" of info that I've mined from the internet

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1) Free software and services:
2) Articles:
3) Hardware:

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1) Free software and services:

http://www.lavasoft.de/aaw/index.html
http://pcusers.org/pcfree.html
Ad-aware will scan your system for known advertising systems and lets you remove them from your system. These systems are used by various freeware to report back to their server so that advertising banners can be displayed in a window within the freeware itself. This advertising window allows the developer of the freeware to get paid while offering the software for free. However, this same reporting function could also be used for other purposes. Ad- aware will scan your memory, registry and file system for known modules. If a related module was found in memory, it means the spyware was active until Ad-aware detected and unloaded the particular module. Nearly all of your internet and system settings are stored in the registry. Ad-aware will scan parts of your registry for modifications or values and references to known spyware. Your hard drive(s) will also be scanned for known spyware files. After the scanning process, you can view a list of all spyware references residing on your system, and select them for removal. Note that removal of the reporting files/ registry entries will generally cause that particular freeware to not function.

The latest version, Ad-aware 4.01, features : Webhancer, DSSAgent and Alexa removal, Command line parameters, automatic scanning, bad cookie detection and removal. The following advertising systems are detected by Ad-Aware 4.01: Adware, Alexa, Aureate v1.0,2.0 and 3.0, Comet Cursor v1.0 and v2.0, Cydoor, Doubleclick, DSSAgent, Flyswat, Gator, TimeSink v1.0 and v2.0, Web3000 and Webhancer.

Roger tested Ad-aware 4.01 and the following is his review:

"I was not surprised that Ad-Aware reported Alexa on my system. As I said before, Alexa's use of user tracking is used to personalize search results, which I've found beneficial, so I'm keeping it. But I was surprised that Ad-Aware detected something call Webhancer, along with a companion WebInstaller, because that's the first I heard of it. I checked their site, and saw that Webhancer performs anonymous reporting to client sites on their site performance, so they can tweak their servers better. The WebInstaller enables client websites to update their reporter plugins, I think. Their Privacy Policy states that Webhancer does no IP tracking, and the company makes no attempt to identify users. So I decided to let it live too. I might have given permission and just not remembered. I ran Dependency Walker on it, and it's not associated with Alexa. But too many of these, and I may eventually remove them all. IE now offers a feedback add-in to let Microsoft know when the browser crashes and why. I passed on that.

Ad-Aware also recommended deleting cookies from Doubleclick and Web3000. Not so sure that these are really that important either. I guess Web3000 is another banner-tracking service that keep track of which ads you've seen. I loaded the Web3000 cookie in Notepad, and found that it was from my FreeDrive account, where I'm still a member. The Doubleclick cookies all came from my accesses to TVGrid that I use to see what's on TV. Neither is from spyware, so I guess I'm okay about those."

http://www.linkflair.com/
http://pcusers.org/pcfree.html
LinkFLair.com is an Internet community and a "free-way" for you to access, backup and share your Internet-browser links. You can easily join and share link-groups with your family, friends, co-workers or other people with the same interests as you. The LinkFLair software keeps your browser-links in sync, so that your link collection is the same on any computer where you have LinkFlair enabled. Changed links on your local computer are transferred to the LinkFlair server, and your group memberships are updated, so you receive new links from your joined groups. So when links have been added, deleted or changed, in your collection or in groups you are a member of, these changes will show in your browser-links.

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2) Articles:

http://www.winmag.com/columns/optwin/2000/05.htm
http://pcusers.org/pcreference.html#resources
Check Your Monitor's Colors, WinMag's survival guide to gamma adjustment.

http://www.winmag.com/reviews/software/2000/11/1121_a.htm
Winmag's Review of Netscape 6

http://home.cnet.com/internet/0-3779-8-3607741-1.html
CNet's Review of Netscape 6

http://compnetworking.about.com/compute/compnetworking/library/weekly/aa111200a.htm?PM=n101120d
DSL vs. Cable Modem Comparison. Both offer advantages to the home and small business customer.

http://www.zdnet.com/special/stories/comdex/0,12245,2654423,00.html
ZDnet's Best of Comdex awards.

http://www.byte.com/special/FallComdex00
Byte.com's reports on Comdex

http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/
Navas Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide

http://www.techtv.com/techtvnews/internet/story/0,3685,3012239,00.html
New Domain Names Approved

http://www.winmag.com/columns/explorer/2000/24.htm
http://pcusers.org/pcreference.html#resources
Password Tools, Hundreds of tips and tools for managing passwords!

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,40285,00.html?tw=wn20001120
Court to Yahoo: Use Nazi Filter . In a landmark ruling with potential implications for Web users around the world, a French court on Monday ordered U.S. Internet giant Yahoo to bar French users from sites selling Nazi memorabilia.

http://www.internetnews.com/wd-news/article/0,,10_517151,00.html
Analyze This: Carnivore is Not an Omnivore. One week after the Federal Bureau of Investigation released some additional information about its Carnivore surveillance system, an independent reviewer said the tool pretty much does what the bureau said it does: monitor e-mail.

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3) Hardware:

http://sysopt.earthweb.com/articles/c3d-spot/index.html
Fluorescent Multilayer Optical (FMD) Optical storage. Current DVD reflective technology only writes data to two layers on a CD, FMD technology allows data to be stored in multiple layers on a CD (up to 20 right now, and potentially up to 100 within a few years), while utilizing a red laser which maintains backwards compatibility with current CD, CD-R, and DVD formats

http://www.pcnineoneone.com/reviews/hw/swsohotc1.html
SonicWALL SOHO Telecommuter. A review of this hardware firewall/router that has features such as packet filtering, NAT and DHCP, VPN support, options for multiplayer gaming and antivirus protection. It doesn't matter whether you have a static or dynamic IP, whether you use PPPoE or not, this device supports it all right out of the box. Once it's configured you can use the Tools/Diagnostics menu to do a ping or DNS lookup to make sure you have connectivity to the outside world. Now you set up all PCs on your network and point them to the Telecommuter as the gateway and you're set. On a small home network the setup process takes less than half an hour.

http://www.systemlogic.net/reviews/hardware/speakers/klipsch/v2400/page2.php
Klipsch V.2 -400 Promedia Speaker System Review

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This newsletter is sponsored by the 37211 PC Users Group. All comments, suggestions or submissions should be sent to david.donoho@pcusers.org. Guidelines for submission of articles are at http://pcusers.org/articlesubmit.html .

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Disclaimer: The tips and other information provided in the Dave's Diggins' newsletter are believed to be accurate, but we cannot and do not guarantee that all the information listed within or linked from, this publication will work on all systems, for all users, at all times. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. Neither the 37211 PC Users Group, nor its officers and contributors are responsible for any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application of any information presented here.