[MikesWhatsNews] MWN #497

 
MikesWhatsNews, 20, 05, 2002
in today's issue #497
Owl & Mouse
"Worm" Crawls Into The KaZaA Network
Outlook bug in MS IE patch
RegistryRobot V 1.0
Microsoft Windows Keyboard Guides
Rush Hours
The Value of Software in Our Daily Lives ~ Part 2
Tina's FrontPage Tips
CCC   What Its Like To Be Colour Blind
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NOTE: Any time you see the "  ++ ",  it means there is more of the 
article, or story, on the linked site. Mike
____________________________________________________________

There is a complete archive of past MikesWhatsNews newsletters 
available to members on the Yahoo page, it is searchable by word or
issue #. Here is the address direct to the messages;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MikesWhatsNews/messages
____________________________________________________________

Owl & Mouse
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/owlmouse.htm
 Help your child learn with games, software (most of it free!) and 
educational activities from Owl & Mouse. 
We are committed to making the capabilities and potential of 
personal computers available to parents and teachers to provide 
individualized and intriguing learning for their children.
____________________________________________________________

"Worm" Crawls Into The KaZaA Network
from the Kaspersky-labs News

The KaZaA file exchange network takes its turn as a virus victim.

Kaspersky Labs, an international data-security software developer,
announces the detection of the network worm "Worm.Kazaa.Benjamin"
the first malicious program to spread through the KaZaA file exchange
network.

The KaZaA network is one of the most popular file exchange networks
using Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology. Millions of people from all around
the world are active users of the network that allows them to quickly
dig up files they seek (such as MP3 files) and give other users access
to data contained on their own computers.

On an infected computer "Benjamin" creates a directory accessible to
other users of the KaZaA network and regularly copies itself into this
directory under a multitude of different names, the amount of which
counts several thousand. When a network user conducts a search for a
file under a name corresponding with one the worm's pseudonyms the
unsuspecting user is given the chance to download it from the infected
computer. Thus, this is how Benjamin spreads itself through the KaZaA
network.

In addition to eating up free disk space Benjamin takes additional
actions: under the name of the infected computer's owner it opens an
anonymous web site from which it displays advertising banners. This way
Benjamin's creator profits by the resulting increase in advertising
displays.

"Benjamin" is not the first known worm to exploit public access P2P file
exchange networks. Previously the Gnutella file exchange network fell
victim to virus creators. "This event once again demonstrates the
necessity to filter all incoming files for viruses, regardless of how
well protected this or any other network is. Before use all data should
be run through a mandatory check for virus code using the latest virus
database update," commented Denis Zenkin, Kaspersky Labs Head of
Corporate Communications.

The defense against Benjamin is has already been added to the Kaspersky
Anti-Virus database.

More detailed information covering "Worm.Kazaa.Benjamin" can be accessed
in the Kaspersky Virus Encyclopedia:
http://www.viruslist.com/eng/viruslist.html?id=3D49790.

____________________________________________________________

Outlook bug in MS IE patch
I found this report of an Outlook bug in the new MS pach just released,
on the 15th.

From Lockegnome;
http://www.lockergnome.com/issues/daily/20020516.html 
"I needed to find a file in my Inbox this morning. When I popped 
open Outlook 2000's integrated search panel, I noticed that the 
font was now Times New Roman (not the usual Tahoma). Odd. 
I hadn't changed anything recently that would have impacted 
this area. At least, I never had before. Since I just got this 
Windows build picture-perfect for backing up, I was a little 
upset. I did a little investigating and discovered that this section 
was now "hooked" into Internet Explorer's font preferences. 
I hate Times New Roman with a passion, so I searched for a 
way to undo the setting. I compared registries with my laptop; 
they were exactly the same, yet my desktop's Outlook panes 
were messed up. I wasted three or four hours on this problem; 
I oughta bill Microsoft for that time lost. 

Whenever I get stuck in an Office application, the first guy I turn 
is to Woody. <http://www.wopr.com/>
A few minutes ago, I received a response from him: 
"Did you install the Internet Explorer patch that was released 
yesterday? There's a bug in it that affects the pane in Outlook 
2002. I assume Outlook 2000 is similarly afflicted." I checked 
my laptop, which was fine this morning (and to which I had 
applied the new patch during the day). Sure enough, the font 
"problem" was there. Argh! I'd like to believe that they'll issue 
an update quickly, but right now, I'm hoping that sharing this 
info will save some of you from ripping your hair out over the 
matter (like I came close to doing). I'm a tweaker; I accept 
negative consequences as a way of life. But if something has 
to break, I want to be the one who breaks it. 
And I wanna know why it got broken."
~~~

You may, if you feel so inclined , have a look at this site, 
where 'that patch'  is discussed.
http://sec.greymagic.com/news/

Thanks to; C.K  on Win-Tips
____________________________________________________________

RegistryRobot V 1.0  ~ Reach Under the Hood  ~ By  Neil J. Rubenking  
http://www.pcmag.com/article/0,2997,s=3D1478&a=3D26469,00.asp 
Free   Windows 95/98/Me/NT4/2000/XP 

The Windows Registry is the repository for virtually every setting on 
your system. You can access many of these through Control Panel 
applets or utilities. But to change others you must edit the Registry 
directly, and this can be dangerous. If you make a mistake in applying 
a tweak, you can cause problems instead of solving them. And unless 
you remember to back up the branch of the Registry that you're editing, 
you may not be able to undo the tweak.

This issue's utility, RegistryRobot, provides a safe interface for working 
with dozens of Registry settings that you cannot change through built-in 
Windows utilities. Only tweaks that relate to your operating system and 
Internet Explorer version display. The tweaks appear in a tree structure 
organized by category and include descriptive text so you know what the 
effect of each adjustment will be. And if you don't like the result of a 
tweak, you can easily undo it.
 From; PCMag.com.
http://www.pcmag.com/default/
____________________________________________________________

Microsoft Windows Keyboard Guides
http://microsoft.com/enable/products/winkeyboard.htm

Windows Keyboard Guides           
Windows Keyboard Layouts for People Who Type with 
One Hand or Finger
Microsoft distributes keyboard layouts (called Dvorak layouts) to help 
make the most frequently typed characters on a keyboard more 
accessible to people who have difficulty using the standard keyboard 
layout. 
Windows 2000; Windows Millennium;  Windows 98

Step by Step Tutorials for Customizing Accessibility Options, 
including Keyboard Options 


The Windows 98 Keyboard Guide covers shortcut keys 
throughout Windows, creating custom shortcut keys, 
and keyboard navigation in the Active Desktop, 
Help, and Internet Explorer.

Available in three formats: 
Self-extracting file, 41 KB 
Word document, 167 KB 
Text file, 60 KB 

Windows 95 and Windows NT Server 4.0 Keyboard Guide 
This document presents basic keyboard navigation for 
Microsoft=AE Windows=AE 95 and Microsoft Windows NT=AE 4.0. 

Available in three formats: 
Self-extracting file, 60 KB 
Word document, 64 KB 
Text file, 41 KB 
++
____________________________________________________________

Rush Hours   By Alex Mustiere 
http://www.javascript-games.org/
This is a very addictive little game which loads extremely quickly 
as it uses no images! The idea is to slide the blocks (representing 
cars, hence the name of the game) around in an attempt to move 
the red car out of the right hand side of the grid in as few moves as 
possible. The first few levels are pretty simple, but as the traffic stacks=
 
up it requires real logic solving skills to complete! 
At it's core, this game uses Dan Steinman's dynamic API.  
***MfM*** great simple fun
____________________________________________________________

The Value of Software in Our Daily Lives ~ Part 2
Copyright =A9 2002, Bill Platt 
The Phantom Writers
http://PathTrax.com/x.pl/BP121,48


What is wrong with this picture?

Ironically, the difference is easy to see from my chair. As a 
marketer, I am always watching the marketplace horizons to see 
where the next advantage might be found. 

We consumers have a need for one thing only. We want value for 
our money --- real value. 

With Microsoft's deep, deep pockets, they are able to sell us 
on the idea of the value of their products. Additionally, 
Microsoft can afford to put their software into pretty boxes 
and on the shelves of thousands of retailers, adding to their 
carefully crafted perception of value. Because Microsoft can 
afford to paint a solid picture of value to us, we do not 
hesitate to cough up the hundreds of dollars required to own 
Microsoft's products. 

Now returning to the challenge of the little guy, we little 
guys do not have deep pockets to sell you on the value of our 
products. So, with Shareware and Trialware, we let you try our 
software for free for an amount of time, and then we hope and 
pray that the consumer will find value in the product and opt 
to pay for our products.

Other companies have seen the skeletons of companies who have 
tried the Shareware and Trialware and have failed. These other 
companies usually prefer to post their software on the market 
as Adware. The theory here is that the consumer is often so 
fickle that the developer would prefer to take their chances 
with advertisers paying the bills, rather than to rely on the 
consumers to pay the bills. 

Many people jump up and down, scream and holler about software 
that employs advertising to pay the bills. Yet, the same 
person doing the hollering, if placed in a situation where 
he was told that he would need to go to work everyday without 
any expectation for a paycheck, would explode in fury!

Would it be better that these dedicated software developers did 
not produce any software at all? Should software development be 
left only to Microsoft?

I don't know about your household, but in my household, if I 
don't bring in the money, then I would be minus a wife and 
family! So, the challenge I am left with --- if I want to work 
in software development, I must find a way to get hired on at 
Microsoft, find millions in seed capital to create value for 
the retail market or to build advertising into my software. 
Me, I have tried the shareware route... and then cut my losses 
and moved on. It was a good product, really it was...

I will tell you what. If I ever write any more software for 
the Windows operating system, I will likely create an Adware 
product. From the developers perspective, it is the safe bet. 
>From the consumers perspective, it really should be considered 
a small price to pay to keep my wife happy and me working to 
improve the product. <smile>

I am talking about this issue tonight because one of my favorite 
software packages has gone to the Adware model with its latest 
upgrade. Upon the release of the new ePrompter software, people 
were upset to see advertising in this wonderful email 
notification software. 

Let me assure you that the value of this software far surpasses 
the small price of looking at a few ads when I check my email. 
Should I prefer the developer to continue to work for free, or 
should I be willing to help him pay his bills while he continues 
to improve on the software? I will support his right to earn 
money for his time and effort. 

ePrompter continues to provide more and more value in my daily 
life online. Try ePrompter for yourself by downloading your 
copy at:  http://www.eprompter.com

I am certain that once you have taken ePrompter for a spin 
around the block, you will also appreciate the value of the 
Adware business model, and more importantly the value of the 
ePrompter software.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Platt owns The Phantom Writers, a company committed to 
helping people to establish an Internet presence & promote their 
businesses through the use of Free-Reprint Articles. All articles 
are distributed to 6,500+ publishers & web-masters as part of the
package. Do you write your own articles? Let us distribute them
for you.  http://PathTrax.com/x.pl/BP121,48
____________________________________________________________

Tina's FrontPage Tips, by Tina Clarke

Jumping the line

When you use code validator's they give you the line number
to fix the code, in FrontPage 97/98 you had to cut and paste
to notepad with wrap turned off and count down to the
correct line number. Now in FrontPage 2000 and 2002 you can
go to the line number on the html tab in page view.
Right-click anywhere in the HTML tab,
Then click Go To on the shortcut menu.
Type the number of the line you want to go to in the Enter
Line Number box.
Click OK.

AccessFP - FrontPage Resource Centre
Site -  http://www.accessfp.net/
Ezine & Forums - http://anyfrontpage.com/  FREE FP E-Books
Journal - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AccessFPJournal
____________________________________________________________

Christies Computer Corner thanks to Christy;
<1stPicksoftware-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=3Dsubscribe>

What Its Like To Be Colour Blind
http://vischeck.com/vischeckURL.php3
If you're not colorblind, this web site will show you what it's
like to surf the web with a red/green color blindness. If you are
colorblind, you won't be able to tell the difference.  


~~~~~~~


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Antivirus software is a good choice to scan your system for possible 
viruses, however no virus scanner is 100% effective as manufactures
cannot keep up with the rapid change of viruses that happens daily.
Be sure to update yours regularly.
http://www.hackfix.org/software/antivirus.html
____________________________________________________________

Please feel free, to offer constructive criticism, as that will help me=
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it interesting.
I also welcome any submissions about new products, web pages, or 
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++ ,for 'the rest of the story'
***MfM*** indicates that I am adding my own information to a 
                  particular article.
Mike ~It's a good day if I learned something new.
<mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=3Dsubscribe>
You can read a sample of my newsletter on my web page
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