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Inside this issue:

Readers' Comments

Anti Spam

Other approaches include using blacklists of blocked senders and whitelists of allowed senders. Lists that are maintained not by the user but by an ISP are terrible. AOL has blocked many users from receiving email they asked to receive. Lists created by the user are a little better but still fall far short. Can you possibly create a list that includes everyone who might email you or every spammer you want to block? An internet seller has no way of knowing who will be emailing.

Anti spam service shut down
A service which maintained a blacklist of spammers was shut down by a DOS (Denial of Service) attack, possibly by people angry that their email ID or domain was on the list. Because that site was shut down, all subscribers to the service could not receive ANY of their email. This illustrates one of the problems of relying on a third-party to block your spam.

Then we come to the latest trend, lists created by challenge response software. You send out an email but since the recipient has never received one from you before, you get back an email asking you to identify yourself. While this might work for the average user, it won't work for Internet sellers. How many customers will go to a website and ask a question or place an order, then bother to identify themselves in response to a challenge? What about electronic newsletter subscriptions? I can't see a publisher responding to hundreds of requests for validation. (Readers: Don't take this the wrong way. I understand the need for challenge-response software and will respond, at least until the response becomes overwhelming.) I also believe it is a matter of time before the scammers learn how to get around this as well. They might spoof a commonly used email ID which has already been accepted, to get past the block. But for the time being, challenge response is a viable anti-spam tool for many.

Windows XP Guide

Protect Yourself From Hackers, Trojans, Worms

The link to Steve Gibson's site will allow you to download a free program that 1) checks to see if DCOM is vulnerable on your machine and 2) allows you to shut down DCOM since it serves no useful purpose and gives hackers and worms access to your PC. While you're there, run the Shields Up program and test the security of your system.

Sobig Virus Prevention and Cure

-Use anti-virus software and keep it updated

-Do not use an email program which automatically opens attachments. That's why I recommend programs such as spamihilator, eprompter and mailwasher. All of these let you look at the email in text mode. You can delete unwanted email without an infected file making it into your system.

-Use a good firewall such as Zone Alarm or Tiny Personal Firewall, both available free.

Virus Writer May Be Sentenced to 15 Years

Troubleshooting Windows Problems

Microsoft Claims Half of Windows Problems Are Not Their Fault

Divx May Be the New Video Standard

In order to play a Divx file, you need the Divx codec installed on your PC. This is available free from Divx.com, along with a free player. However, the player isn't really necessary. If you install the codec, Divx files will play with Windows Media Player or PowerDvd. Along with the codec, another icon is installed on your PC which lets you try Dr. Divx for 15 days.

Dr. Divx is the best and easiest method of converting a DVD to a PC file which can be copied to CDRs. Other methods usually involve installing several programs, running through them all in sequence and calculating bit rates. The wrong setting or a miscalculated bit rate results in anything from an unusable file to a movie where the sound does not match the action. Dr. Divx takes the guesswork out of it. You browse to the folder containing the files you wish to process and Dr. Divx builds a list which you can edit. You then tell Dr. Divx how many files you wish to create and their size. If you specify "1 file of 720 mb" (you can fit 720mb on one CDR using overburn), Dr. Divx does all the calculations required to achieve this result. I have found that you can safely convert the average movie (about 90 minutes of video) to one 720 mb file without any noticeable loss of quality. I did come across a 2 hour movie that had been coverted to one 720mb file and the quality was noticeably degraded. With the low cost of CDRs, longer movies should be converted to 2 files. When Divx-compatible DVD players come out, you will be able to play these CDRs without a PC.

RSS: Dynamic Content for Websites

We are also making use of RSS. Last month we launched our bargain letter. As we come across deals on the net that have rebates and are only good for a limited time, we have to let our subscribers know about them quickly. Due to ovezealous spam filters, we have learned that much of our email never reaches the recipient. So now our top stories, including the bargains, are put into an RSS feed. Those interested can check here to view it. You can download a free reader which will inform you when our RSS feed changes or you can do View Source and then cut-and-paste our RSS feed right into your own web page.

Is Microsoft Working With Spammers?

Verizon Joins the Scammers

Amex and Charge Backs: Score One for the Good Guys

He had used an American Express card to make the purchase. I felt a little better because I had heard that Amex was also getting tired of all the false charge backs and would not automatically grant them. As a matter of fact, when an Amex card is used to pay for a Paypal purchase, charge backs are not allowed under any circumstances.

I faxed my reply in to Amex, along with copies of the emails in which he had inquired about the cartridges, the actual order form and the postal receipt showing delivery. I informed them that he was entitled to a full refund if he returned the cartridges. I also emailed the customer directly and asked him why he had made a charge back when I offered a full refund. The customer replied that he was unable to reach me. I didn't call him on it, but I did send him my address for the return. Over a week later, he had not responded.

Today I called Amex and was given the good news that the charge back had been denied. Score one for the good guys!

One:

License Computer Users

Translate Dog Into English

VOIP Companies Must Follow Telco Rules

Is Your ISP Censoring Your Mail?

More Than 25% of Your Email May Be Blocked

TOP ISPS FALSELY IDENTIFY OPT-IN EMAIL AS SPAM
In an effort to protect subscribers from the onslaught of spam, ISPs are incorrectly blocking permission-based email. Results varied widely by ISP, with Mail.com and NetZero having the highest rates of nondelivery. Yahoo! had the lowest non-deliverability rate and Earthlink and BellSouth the second lowest.

Mail.com 38%, NetZero 34%, Compuserve 31%, AOL 25%, SBC Global 12%, MSN 10%, Hotmail & AT&T Worldnet 8%, Earthlink & BellSouth 7%, Yahoo! 4%

Lying Bounces May Be Blocking Your Email

While a legitimate newsletter will only email people who have contacted that site, spammers troll for email IDs and often misidentify them or pick up an old ID that is no longer is use from an old posting on a forum. Some spammers even use software that "creates" IDs by trying a@aol.com, b@aol.com and then aa@aol.com and so on until zzzzzzzz@aol.com. Though they know that most of these IDs will be invalid, a few will get through. They don't really care since it costs them nothing to do this. The costs for sending all that junk is borne by the servers that will actually handle the transmissions. So identifying an ID that is sending out a large volume of email, with many going to non-existent addresses is a good way to identify spammers. That is why sites that have newsletters, such as this one, respond quickly to unsubscribe requests and remove invalid email IDs promptly.

When one newsletter begain receiving inquiries from subscribers asking why they hadn't received some issues, the site did some research and discovered that their mail server had received unsubscribe requests from these subscribers. Further investigation revealled that the ISP had decided that these newsletters were spam. They then sent a bounce back to the site. A bounce is a message saying that the email ID is invalid. When the mail server received the bounce, it removed that ID from the subscriber list. So people were subscribing to a newsletter and their ISP made the decision, without their knowledge, to report their email ID as no longer existing.

Intel Vs. AMD

AMD's 64-bit Opteron Is Here

(From Computer Shopper)
With the Athlon 64 poised for release sometime this month, the 3200+ will be the last of the XP-series CPUs from AMD. The XP was, after all, the CPU that saved AMD's bacon, proved that clock speed isn't the only indicator of performance, and gave computer enthusiasts a huge, enjoyable and relatively inexpensive ride for the buck.

the 64-bit Question

An Interesting Look At AMD

Intel Shoots Itself In the Foot Again

Overclocking is the process of taking a CPU and running it at a faster speed. Techies have long discovered that there is a certain margin of safety built-in to most CPUs and they can actually be run at slightly beyond their stated speeds. We're not talking about running a 1 ghz at 2 ghz. But if someone can make their 2 ghz run at 2.2 ghz, they won't feel pressured to run out and upgrade when the 2.4 ghz comes out. Overclocking requires careful tweaking of the clock signals on the motherboard. I don't recommend this practice because it can yield errors, excess heat and shorten the lifespan of the CPU. But there are people who enjoy risk and its rewards and like the feeling of getting more for their money.

Intel has come up with a plan to prevent this. Special instructions built into to the hardware will ensure that the CPU and the clock signals are running at the stated speed. The first two steps of the process check if any deviation is found. If so, the CPU will stop operating. The final part of the patent states that if the CPU and the clock is not running at the stated speed, the speed will be adjusted to the correct speed. How will Intel will accomplish this when the first two steps will have already shut down the CPU?

Why would Intel want to do this? Perhaps because it will force more people to spend more money for faster CPUs. But the real question is how they will accomplish this? The only way it will work is if there are instructions built into the CPU and the motherboard to determine the speed of the CPU and the speed of the clock. This means that unless motherboard manufacturers add this function to their products (and why would they?), it won't work. Intel could put these instructions on Intel motherboards and chipsets, but then manufacturers could switch to Via or other competitors. Of course, Intel could always put an instruction into the chip to make it fail if it doesn't find the matching instructions on the motherboard. But this will only drive more computer manufacturers to use AMD CPUs.

With the introduction of AMD's 64-bit Opteron and the news that Microsoft, among others, is making plans to update their software to take advantage of the Opteron, Intel may already be losing market share. They should be concentrating on making their chips better and cheaper, rather than on looking for ways to prevent people from getting the most out of their machine. Perhaps their slogan should be: "Intel: we make an effort to guarantee you get less for your money."

Just for Fun

Hire A Programmer Cheap

Open Source To Develop More Viruses

Do You Know Who Your Surgeon Is?

Where were the hospitals and the other doctors who treated the same patients? Why did no one stop him in all this time? This is the real problem. There is the "blue wall of silence" which protects bad cops and thus gives all cops a bad name and there is the "white wall of silence" which protects bad doctors and gives a bad name to the entire profession. Doesn't a doctor take the hyppocratic oath to do no harm? Has it been replaced by the hyppocritical oath, to do whatever it takes to keep the money coming in? There was more than one or even two or three doctors involved here. There was the one who did the damage and the others who stood by for at least 15 years and did nothing and then there is the medical board who did little more than suspend him a few times. And what about the insurance companies? Having paid out millions, why did they continue to cover him?

There is an obstetrician in my area who loves telling young women that they have serious problems and require hysterectomies. My wife almost fell victim to him. Fortunately, we had the sense to get a second opinion (and the second doctor also gave us his opinion of the quack) and we have five wonderful children to show for it. But we know of some women who took his advice and let him perform hysterectomies. This leaves us in a quandry. Should we tell these women that they may have a lawsuit on their hands or would it hurt them even worse to know that they may have given up their chance at natural motherhood for nothing?

I'd really like a doctor (or police office) to explain why the "good" ones protect the bad ones, because in the end, it isn't good for anyone.

Hardware, Software and Sites

Speed Up Your PC & Prevent Crashes

Complete Digital Video Editing $25

When I came across a similar package to the Dazzle selling for only $25, I was sure that it would be nearly useless, but as long as the firewire card worked, it could always be used with the Ulead software. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Aist Movie DVSuite package included was very complete. It has so many feature, it may even outdo Ulead. However, all these features carry a price. The program is a bit slower to load. Those of you who use Adobe Photoshop know about the wait while all the add-ons and plug-ins load. DVSuite works similarly. Once loaded, there are more options and configurations to set. While this may appeal to professionals and dedicated hobbyists, I feel that the average person just wants to jump in and get started. Fortunately, the manual does provide the steps to accomplish just that.

It captured video to an AVI file perfectly and then converted the file to MPEG2 flawlessly. The quality of the video was excellent. I do believe it takes a little longer than VideoStudio but not by much. So now you can have a complete hardware/software video editing package for only $25. That's less than the cost of the VideoStudio software alone.

Video Editing Package

Serif MoviePlus

I have Serif Photoplus 7, which is a digital photo editor. As a photo editor, it is very basic. Some of its methods are rather unusual. For example, you can load a Jpeg photo and edit it but then when you choose the Save As function, you can only save it in Serif's own proprietary format. To save it as a Jpeg, you have to choose export. But Photoplus has one feature that makes it worth the price. It has the best red eye reduction I have ever seen on a photo editing program. I am shocked that programs that cost much more, including the over-hyped and overpriced Photoshop, doesn't have this function.

Serif's Media Plus is a photo management program. I found it complicated to use. There are freeware programs on the Net that are better. A fabulous photo management program is Flipalbum, which lets you create electronic photo albums with pages that turn. It is not freeware but at about $25 retail, it is still one of the most popular photo management programs around and has won numerous awards. Readers can get it here for under $17.

Serif's Movieplus follows in the Serif tradition. It is what I would call a poor man's video editing system, suitable for someone who would sacrifice ease of use and quality in return for saving a few bucks. Using the program does not come intuitively and the skimpy manual doesn't offer much help. The program asks for the source of the video and audio. Video came up automatically as the digital video camera but audio came up as a secondary input. I assumed that this meant it would be looking at my microphone or some other source for the audio. I kept trying to change it to the same source as the video but the program did not allow it. Despite this, the program did capture both the video and audio from the camera's digital tape. If you read my previous reviews of other programs, you will remember that I mentioned that some of them did a poor job of converting the initial AVI to MPEG format and the resulting file had streaks whenever there was movement. Movieplus suffered from this on the original AVI file. The quality of the original was unacceptable and I did not even bother to convert it to MPEG2. However, I did try to go through the motions and Mpeg2 did not even appear to be a choice.

Why would someone bother to covert their tapes into PC files? Probably because tapes tend to degrade with time and CDs will last much longer. After spending several hundred dollars on a digital video camera, then buying a firewire card, does it make sense to save a few bucks on software and end up with poor quality videos? I don't think so. For about the same price as Movieplus, you can buy the entire package of firewire card and Movie DVSuite.

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