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Inside this issue:
Free Photo Processing
According to this team, one of the main bottlenecks to data transmission is the TCP protocol used to manage the transmission. Those of us who downloaded files in the past on the old 1200 baud modems may remember how we could be sitting for an hour waiting for a tranfer to complete, only to have it abort at the last minute with a failure. Then we had to start again. To avoid this problem, other protocols were designed, including TCP. What these protocols do is break down the transmission into small pieces that are sent individually. With each piece, an acknowledgement is sent back to the transmitting computer. If it detects an error in the acknowledgement, it halves the speed at which it is sending data and re-transmits the failed packet. It then continues at this reduced speed. In this way, failures are minimized and transmissions can resume even after a failure. But this carries a price tag. The time to transmit has now gone way up.
Traffic on the Internet varies just like traffic on a real highway. Just because there was a failure with one packet does not mean the whole rest of the transmission must take place at a lower speed. An analogy used in the article says it is like flooring the accelerator of a car and then stomping on the brake the minute there is traffic, then continuing at 30 miles per hour on the Thruway for the rest of the trip, rather than choosing a safe, efficient cruising speed.
The new software solves this problem in a clever way. It monitors not only the success of failure of the acknowledging packet but also the speed at which it was returned. It finds the highest speed that does not generate failures. After a failure, it reduces the speed but several successful packets later, it can try to increase it again. On short transmissions, this may not gain much but on large transmissions, it will find the optimal speed.
1 - the rebate expired before I sent in the form, even though it was still being advertised several months later
2 - the rebate form was never received (yet they sent me a postcard saying it was expired)
3 - the UPC code was missing (from a rebate they never received)
4 - the UPC code was for a different product (how did they know if it was missing?)
5 - there was never a rebate on this product (so a non-existent rebate, that was still being advertised, had expired)
6 - I have a valid rebate and will be receiving a check shortly
7 - Go back to claim #1 and repeat.
After several months of emails and calls, I finally received an email from Kim at the end of March stating that a check would be sent out shortly. In mid April, I complained to the Better Business Bureau. At the end of April, I received a long, handwritten letter from an Officemax manager who claimed that I had failed to send in the rebate and then failed to send it in again after I had complained to Officemax. He ignored the fact that I had faxed it in TWICE and had several emails from Officemax to prove it. At the end of April, I emailed Kim and told her Officemax was about to learn how much bad publicity $80 can buy. She replied that she would look into the missing check but was issuing another one. I then complained to the Attorney Generals of New York and New Jersey and also phoned the local Consumer Affairs Department which has received other complaints and is working on a case. They told me that the more complaints they get, the stronger the action which will be taken.
In May I received the $80 check and noticed that it was dated 4/10. I emailed Kim and she confirmed that this was the first check she had sent. There was now a stop payment on it so I should wait for the next one. On May 12, almost 8 months later, I finally received it. Though I did get the promised $80, it took a great deal of effort. In the meantime, several other rebates have already been denied for false reasons. I still believe that Officemax and Parago are conspiring to cheat customers out of their promised rebates. If you have been cheated out of an Officemax rebate, you can do the following:
- Call the Union, New Jersey Consumer Affairs Department at 908-654-9840
- Contact the Better Business Bureau, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office and your state's Attorney General's Office. National Fraud Organization - fraud.org. Complaint forms can be filed online
- Email Tom Tinen, the General Manager of Officemax, at cmx0074@copymax.com
- Email their Rebate Department personnel directly. Kim Hutchinson: khutchison@officemax.com, Tatish Manos: cc.TatishaM@officemax.com, Candace of General Customer Service: onlinecsr30@officemax.com, Joan of General Customer Service: onlinecsr07@officemax.com.
- If you paid by credit card, try charging it back for misrepresented goods or an incomplete order. After all, the items you ordered were supposed to include rebates and what you received did not, so you have obviously received something different than what you ordered.
In the words of Lincoln, "you can't fool all the people all the time." If enough complaints and charge backs are made, Officemax may have to try something drastic, like honesty.
A seller emailed me with a story which, if true, leaves ebay and paypal with much to answer for. He claims that he sold characters to an online game in an ebay auction for $1575. (For the uninitiated, players join an online game and create characters. As the game progresses, a good player's character gains strength and weapons, but this takes time and money paid to the online game site. These characters are similar to online accounts and can be sold to other players who begin a game with all the strength and weapons the previous player attained. Legalities and ebay rules aside, it would be similar to selling an ebay account with high feedback to a new ebayer.)
The buyer paid with paypal. The seller knew that Paypal would not protect him against a reversal but the buyer had well over 600 positives and only one very old negative. Shortly after the auction ended, several other sellers contacted him to warn him that this buyer had been reversing his paypal payments. The seller asked why the buyer had no negatives and the other sellers told him that most of them left positives after being paid and those who had left negatives saw them disappear. The seller called Paypal who assured him that there were no flags on the account. A few days later, negatives began to hit the ebay account. The seller watched 17 negatives posted for reversing paypal payments after the auction. Then magically, all the negatives disappeared. In the meantime, the seller has had his payment reversed.
The seller who emailed me has 27 positives and 0 negatives. The transaction on which he was cheated is this one. The negative he left was one of those removed. If anyone reading this newsletter knows how to get more history than just what ebay shows, such as what else this buyer won for which feedback was not left, I'd like to know about it. I tried to contact the buyer, but he did not respond.
Ebay reminds me of a neighbor who was asked to return an item they had borrowed. The borrower replied, "First of all, I never borrowed it. Second of all, I returned it already. Third of all, it was broken when you gave it to me."
A buyer filed a quality dispute without returning the merchandise or making any attempt to contact the seller or respond to the seller's emails. The seller submitted proof of delivery to the confirmed address. Paypal told the seller that the case was closed. Then Paypal froze the seller's account and told her she would have to refund the buyer to unlock her account. So what we have here is 1) Paypal involved in a quality dispute. 2) Paypal locking the seller's account over one complaint. (Yes, the letter makes it sound like there were several, but this is just Paypal's form letter. The fact that the account was unlocked after six months and a refund sent indicates that the seller did nothing wrong.) 3) The seller suffered even though the buyer was not covered under the Paypal process. 4) The seller's account was locked even though the seller complied with all the terms of the seller protection. So what the seller "protection" really means is that Paypal won't take the money from the seller - they will just lock the seller's account and hold ALL their funds for six months. Of course the seller can always decide to refund a scamming buyer just to get their account unlocked. Sounds like extortion to me. Do you know of any bank, credit card or other financial institution that locks a person's account on the basis of one unsubstantiated complaint?
Here is the email I received, reprinted with permission:
I have had over $700 frozen in my paypal account since August 2002. When I checked to find out why, the paypal account information says:
"8/15/2002: We have received complaints from at least one of your buyers indicating problems with merchandise received or received not as described."
Paypal indicated that the steps needed to restore my account access have been taken:
1) Add/confirm a bank account [check].
2) fax documentation (proof of delivery) [check].
3) Resolve all complaints against your account [check].
In fact, all these steps to restore my account access were taken back in August, six months ago!
Paypal had told me that I needed to issue a refund to one of my buyers in the amount of $270.00, for "goods not received as described". Paypal closed the case at the time, stating, " As stated in our User Agreement, PayPal's Buyer Complaint Policy only applies to the shipment of goods, not to disputes about the attributes or quality of goods received. Therefore, this case has been closed.".
However, weeks later I was told that in order to restore my account access, I would need to refund the money to this buyer. I tried contacting this scamming buyer, with no luck. He apparently wanted to keep the goods, and his $270.00. I stand by my products, and the service I offer. In fact, my company is a member of the BBB. Paypal didn't care.
I gave up on ever receiving my money back. I'm a college student and that money was supposed to pay for a large chunk of my tuition last year. I figured that eventually when I saved up some money over the summer, I would hire a lawyer to write some letters to paypal (I heard that this was the only way to get your money back).
Today, May 14, 2003, I received the following letter from paypal, indicating that 180 days since the account was frozen, they are now ready to release my funds. I never knew of this policy, and I would like every paypal seller that has been in my situation, know that there is a happy end to the frustration. This money couldn't have come at a better time for me.
It's unfortunate that paypal can take advantage of their customers in this way, but at least this nightmare is over for me.
Feel free to post my name and contact information, if you decide to make this information available to users of your site.
Krystyn Wein
Wholesale Stop
www.wholesalestop.com
From:
Dear Krystyn Wein,
When PayPal limits access to a PayPal account due to an excessive number of buyer disputes or the risk inherent in the product being sold, it is PayPal's policy to hold the funds from that account for chargeback liability and issue a check once 180 days have expired. Because your PayPal account has been limited for 180 days or more, we are contacting you in order to facilitate the release of your account balance. However, in order to mail a check to you for your account balance, we must confirm that the information on your account has not changed.
In order for us to release your account balance, please:
1) Login to your account and make sure that the home address on your account is still current.
Please call us at 1-888-221-1161 if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
I was surprised that the actual upgrade process from Windows 98 was smooth and there was very little for me to do afterward. Surprisingly enough, most of my applications worked except for Microsoft Office. Office was one of the few applications I had to reinstall. There were some drawbacks to the version I was using. First, it was an upgrade only. It could only be installed on a system that already had a different version of Windows. It was not self-booting. I had to first run Windows 98 and then install XP over it. Second, it could not be upgraded. There have been a number of patches and upgrades for XP, but this version will not accept them. The second problem was not serious, since this was only a temporary setup. I intended to buy XP if I decided to use it.
After a few weeks, I was ready. I purchased a licensed copy of XP Pro. That is when I discovered that it would not install over my version. It would only install as a new version and I would lose all my settings and installed programs. On top of that, I would still be stuck with the problem of activation. Should I change my configuration, there was a good chance that my computer would stop working. So I decided to just stick the legal version on the shelf and continue using the version I had.
A few weeks later, trouble struck. For reasons unknown, XP decided to stop recognizing my CD Writer and DVD drive. When I inserted my previous hard drive (I kept a previous set up, just in case), Windows 98 had no trouble using them. So I knew it was an XP problem. But no matter what I did, I couldn't get them back. I couldn't boot from the XP CD with the version I was using. I could boot from the version I bought, but then I was back to wiping my system and starting from scratch and the activation problem. The strangest problem was that when I booted from another hard drive that I had ghosted from my XP drive back when it was working, it wouldn't boot. When I ghosted this drive back to my original, it booted but it too didn't recognize the CDs. I have read some articles which indicate that XP may store some information on hidden partitions that don't get copied with Ghost, which may explain this phenomenom. If so, it is an incredibly stupid way to operate because it makes it just about impossible to do a good backup.
I finally created a set of XP boot floppies. I used those to start the system and then ran the setup from my XP CD and let it install on top of my existing setup. I figured it would re-install whatever driver had become corrupt. It ran for several minutes and then rebooted the system. Upon rebooting, it couldn't find the CD and I was stuck with a completely trashed XP system.
So I have gone back to my Windows 98 system for now. In my spare time, I have ghosted a disk from an image of my Windows 98 system before any applications were installed. I used this to boot and then re-installed Xp on top of it. I am now slowly re-installing all my applications and ghosting images along the way. At some point I will again have to decide whether I will stay with 98 a little longer or try to make the move to XP again.
Incidentally, for years I have been advising clients to partition their hard drives and keep their data separate from their applications. If I had saved all my data in the My Documents folder, who knows what I would have lost. But my data is safe in another partition that is called by another drive letter. Even if my C: drive were to become unreadable, I still have my data in E:, another copy on G: and a separate copy on CD ROM.
Tip for keeping your data where YOU want it
Windows defaults to looking in My Documents when you open a file. But what if you don't want to keep your data there? How can you make it look in the right place? There is a way to edit the registry so that the default becomes another folder, but I think this is convoluted and even a bit dangerous. You also have to do this again every time you change PCs or operating systems. A better way is simply to place shortcuts in the My Documents folder pointing to the right folders. Now windows will open My Documents and you will see a list of folders where you actually do save your documents.
When users need to reformat their drives and reinstall XP, it generally requires a reactivation of the OS. But there is an easy - and legitimate - way around this problem. There is a file in your \windows\system32 folder named wpa.dbl. This "Windows Product Activation" file (actual a mini-database) contains information about the hardware installed on your system and the current state of your OS's activation. At every boot your hardware configuration is compared to the stored data in this file. If you change a piece of hardware that information is recorded in the wpa.dbl, but does not overwrite the original configuration it detected at the time the OS was first activated. If too many hardware changes are detected, the wpa.dbl will "tilt" and reset itself to the default size (the size it was prior to activation). This means that your installation will have to be reactivated.
However, it is perfectly legal (and smart) to create a backup of the wpa.dbl file. Save it to removable medium (floppy, zip, cd) and after a reformat just put it in the \windows\system32 folder, overwriting the existing file. One caveat - you need to remember to create a new wpa.dbl backup every time you change or add a piece of hardware, otherwise the copy you restore to the system will notice the difference and think it's been copied to a different computer. It will reset and you'll have to call Uncle Bill.
For example, I am connected to an mail server when I am in a client's office. It will only accept mail from a legitimate ID defined on that server. Since izzy@ccs-digital is not a valid ID on that server, I can not send out email from that ID. It will be rejected. That is one of the reasons I have a Yahoo email account. Yahoo lets me retrieve my email via Yahoo's server over the Internet regardless of which server I am physically connected to. Of course, any email I send out through Yahoo will have my Yahoo ID showing. But at least Yahoo allows me to set a "reply to" ID that does show my actual email ID.
When I am in my own office, I am connected directly to my ISP. Since I am identified to my ISP's server, it will allow me to send mail which contains the ccs-digital ID. If I tried to use the ID that I use at my client's site, it would be rejected. An open relay server doesn't check IDs and allows all mail to pass through, even mail from other domains or non-existent IDs. Ever see those emails from xxx12345hhh@yahoo.com? That is a randomly generated fake ID sent through an open relay mail server. Don't bother to reply, no one will get the message.
This spam activity also takes a toll on the server itself, which makes one wonder why there are any open relay servers still around. A number of anti-spam initiatives involve building a list of open relay servers and refusing to accept mail from any of them. This has the drawback of blocking legitimate mail from these servers as well. The blockers respond that if the administrator of the server is too lazy to protect his own server, they will not allow this to infect their users, even if it means blacklisting his server completely.
Now government agencies are stepping in, identifying open relay servers and sending them letters of warning. This could be a precursor to laws which will make it illegal to operate such servers.
It is possible that millions of accounts were compromised. Microsoft says that it was far fewere but won't admit how many. I hope they have at least alerted the owners of the hacked accounts.
Microsoft claims that their improved security will "make hackers obsolete." The ZD Net article points out that this is absolutely true. Their new security is such a joke that anyone can get around it, even novices.
Windows XP Services
Photo Tags.
First, it lets you record several captions and categories for each photo. You can call it Cousin Harry's Wedding AND Summer 2002. You can list all the people who are in the photo. You can file it under Special Occasions AND Summer Vacation. You can record all sorts of information about who took it, when it was taken, even the camera and settings used. All of this information is stored digitally within the jpeg file itself. When you browse your directory with My Computer or Windows Explorer, as you move the cursor to each file, a pop up window will display the information you recorded. This lets you know immediately that Cousin Harry's Wedding 023.jpg is a photo of Cousin Harry and Cousin Harriet dancing with your 2 daughters.
Photo Tags also lets you edit the photo right from within the program or call up your favorite photo editor. It lets you create slide shows or email photos to your friends. It's a nifty program and well worth $19.95.
Unstoppable Copier.
Want to comment? Email sales @ ccs - digital.com
To: "Wholesale Stop Sales"
Subject: Claim Your Account Balance QP-RB (KMM30017457V18945L0KM)
- If the home address is correct, please reply to this email and confirm that the address is correct.
- If the address is not correct, please add your new address to the account on the Profile page, and mark it as primary.
2) If you have a business account, the check will be issued in your business name as listed on the account. If you would prefer to have it issued in your personal name, please reply to this email and request that we downgrade your account.
Once we confirm that the information on your account is current, we will begin the process of issuing the check. This may include asking you to resolve any outstanding Buyer Complaints. Once the check is issued, please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery.
Dee
PayPal Account Review Department
My Microsoft eXPerience
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, at the request of some of my customers, I have been experimenting with XP. I refuse to use any software that has an invasive activation method such as XP because I am constantly changing my hardware configuration. I can not take the chance that the day I desperately need my computer to work, XP will decide that something has changed and the system needs reactivation. Judging from the way Microsoft thinks things through, it will refuse to boot but display a message that I have to connect to Microsoft's site and download something to make it work. So I used a corporate version of XP that does not require activation.
Avoid Re-Activating XP
As found in the Langa NewsletterXP Update Slows Systems Down
Microsoft Watch
Microsoft released an update to XP that has slowed some systems down to a crawl. Those who had their machines set to accept automatic updates may have been affected. Microsoft is working on a fix which should be sent out the same way.
War On Spam
Laws Targeting Spam
ZD Net Story
Follow Up Story
Legal Measures
While Senators introduce bills to make Spam a federal crime, AOL and Microsoft successfully sue spammers and large consortiums, including Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft, join forces to create effective means of combating spam.
Earthlink Wins Millions Against Spammers
ZD Net Story
Report Card on the Jamspam Conference
Techupdate Story.
Feds Prime New Anti-Spam Weapon
ZD Net Story.
There was a time when all mail servers on the Internet were open relay. When someone in Australia sends an email to someone in New York, that mail could be passed through a number of open relay mail servers and no validation was done. But spammers have been exploiting this loophole to send millions of emails through these open relays. Therefore most mail servers today are configured to only allow mail that has been validated. Stupid Law Makes Firewalls Illegal
Eweek Article
What do congressmen do when they want to pretend they are paying attention to an important issue without actually spending time to understand it? They pass a hasty and ill-conceived law. In an effort to prevent cable piracy, the Motion Picture Association convinced some lawmakers to pass laws making it illegal to conceal (or assist another to conceal) the origin of any communication. The law is so broad that it renders firewall software illegal.
Microsoft Passport Compromised
Reuters Story
ZD Net Story
A security flaw compromised Microsoft Passport and may have allowed hackers to access millions of credit cards. The flaw was something so incredibly stupid, that it makes a joke of Microsoft's claim to be taking security seriously. Basically, when a Passport user loses their password, they can click a link which directs the system to email them the password. The link actually contains the user ID and the email ID to which the information should be sent. By simply going into a browser and entering the same link, only substituing a different email ID, anyone could direct the program to email them anyone else's password.
64-bit Processor Wars
IBM Backs AMD 64-bit CPU
ZD Net Story
AMD has released its 64-bit Opteron, which they claim will run 32-bit and 64-bit software at maximum speed. IBM is working with AMD to build 64-bit systems. Sun may use the Opteron in their next systems. Microsoft is in talks with AMD to produce a 64-bit operating system optimized for this new chip. This may put AMD ahead of Intel. Intel's 64-bit Itanium runs 32-bit applications so slowly that even Intel doesn't recommend using it for 32-bit apps. The problem is that most companies have a heavy investment in 32-bit apps. There aren't that many 64-bit apps to replace these. But Intel may just have an answer.
Intel Revamps 32-bit Emulation for Itanium
ZD Net story
Later this year, Intel plans on releasing revamped software which will allow 32-bit applications to run on the Itanium processor. How well AMD will do against Intel may depend upon the success of this emulation.
Software and Sites
Amazing Video
I dare you to watch this one just once. It requires a fast Internet connection or a lot of patience. For those of you who love Rube Goldberg inventions, you can watch assorted car parts bump against each other, each action setting off the next reaction.
Windows XP runs numerous services on your PC but do you really need all of them? This site gives you a list of settings you can change.
Here is the solution to a problem many of us have with digital photographs. You have a great photo of your family at Cousin Harry's wedding in July 2002. How do you name it? Do you call it Cousin Harry's Wedding.jpg or Our Family at Cousin Harry's Wedding.jpg? How do you remember which people were in it? Where it was taken? When it was taken? Which directory do you save it in? Do you create a special one for Cousin Harry or do you file it under Summer 2002? Photo Tags solves all this and does even more.
Ever try to copy a large file and have the process stop because of one bad sector? Unfortunately, the standard copy programs are an all-or-nothing proposition. Roadkill's Unstoppable Copier will try the file different ways. If it absolutely can't copy a sector, it will replace it with blanks and continue with the rest of the file.