Phoenix.pm: Fwd: Internet Annoyances Needed for New Book

[Tran Forsythe]

Re: #9, Google's popup-blocker is quite effective and is toggleable; I use
it at work where I can't install my own firewall/etc.
-Kurt

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Walters" <scott at illogics.org>
To: "Douglas E. Miles" <perlguy at earthlink.net>
Cc: "Phoenix.pm" <phoenix-pm-list at happyfunball.pm.org>; <marsee at oreilly.com>
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: Phoenix.pm: Fwd: Internet Annoyances Needed for New Book


> Hi,
>
> 1. Installing Flash and Java plugins plugins on Mozilla on
Linux/BSD/Solaris/etc.
> Lacking Solution: One good FAQ, which I've yet to see, on what files need
to be
> edit to contain what information and why. I'm dependent on pkgsrc
(NetBSD's
> package system, FreeBSD has a similar package system that fetches the
right binaries
> and shoves them in the right places under control of 'make').
>
> 2. Sometimes you really need IE on Linux/BSD/Solaris to use an IE only
plugin or view
> a non-standards-compliant page or use NT domain auth to validate on
webservers
> in a corporate setting.
> Solution: IE runs under Wine, the free Windows API implementation and
binary layer.
> Wine, available from winehq.com, supports Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris
officially,
> though NetBSD and OpenBSD maintain ports.
>
> 3. 802.11 isn't ubiquitously enough - running to Starbucks or searching
maps for
> area hotspots is too much bother.
> Solution: Several cell carries now have fixed rate data pricing with
different
> fixed prices and speeds. Sprint is reguarded as the fasting with
approximately
> a 70kbps data rate (compare to 56kbps for a dialup modem) and T-Mobile,
who
> also sells 802.11 in chains such as Starbucks, currently has a $20/month
> unlimited plan, and throughput is usually between 30kbps and 40kbps.
T-Mobile
> also has a dedicated unlimited plan that doesn't piggy back on a voice
plan,
> for use with PC-card modems, that is $30/month. You may need to speak to a
few
> customer service representitives before you find someone who understands
data.
> Before purchasing a phone, make sure it is data capable. Don't trust the
sales
> guys, ask to see the instruction manual for the phone. Don't be mislead by
> phones offering short messages service (SMS) or built-in web browsers
> (WAP) - you want either a GPRS (general packet radio service) or CDPD
> (cellular digital packet data) phone, depending on the technology your
> carrier users.
>
> 4. Download requires BitTorrent
> Solution: How to install BitTorrent on various systems, how to get it, a 5
cent
> view of what it is.
>
> 5. Users are usually the larger Internet Annoyance. Back in *my* day,
there were
> writeups on "netiquette" all over the place, and new users were sent there
and
> ignored until they've obviously read it. Any book on Internet Annoyances
*must*
> include a brief writeup on network etiquette. Specifically, the Internet
is
> largely staffed by volunteers. By paying $16 a month to use AOL, everyone
isn't
> magically obligated to you. There are a lot of users on the net and places
> providing help aren't adequately able to deal with all problemx,
especially
> complex ones and ones where the user themselves hasn't done their reading.
> Don't publicly disclose peoples email addresses or other information, but
> especially email addresses and hone numbers. This generates spam for them.
> Don't cc people whom you haven't introduced. Don't forward email messages
>
> 6. On avoiding spam: Hotmail, after Microsoft purchased it, start selling
not
> only their the email addresses of the people with free accounts there, but
> also the email addresses of people who mailed people with free accounts
there.
> Posting to Usenet, chatting on IRC from a machine that email can be
addressed
> to, and posting messages on most online bulletin boards will earn you
spam.
> Several commercial services such as pobox.com offer excellent spam
filtering
> in a mailbox with a web interface as well as POP access for programs like
> Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla, Eudora, and so on.
> See also 7, the frequently changing email address.
>
> 7. Frequently changing email address
> Because of spam or because of ISP changes, email addresses frequently
change.
> This is a huge annoyance. You can't stop your friends from changing
> email addresses (except perhaps by buying them a copy of this book for
> their birthday) but you can do something about it for yourself.
> pobox.com offers strong spam filtering standard and the email boxes
> may be accessed in the same ways that your ISP's boxes may be. That is,
> through the web and through Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, Mozilla, and
> so forth. Best of all, you can keep your email address when you finish
> school, change jobs, or get a new ISP.
> Most domain name registrars will give you a mail box and a small amount
> of space on a webserver when you buy purchase a domain name from them.
> Start at icann.org and read through the various offerings.
> If you have a Hotmail or Yahoo account and you're really happy with it
> except for the spam, Mozilla, available from mozilla.org, has
> Bayeseon spam filtering which takes a statistical approach to word usage
> in spam and non spam email address to adaptively learn the difference
> between the two given the kind of email you receive. Most users
> report it to be almost 100% effective. To use this, you must upgrade
> to a paid account at Hotmail or Yahoo with POP or IMAP access to your
> email.
>
> 8. Your machine has been hijacked by a spammer and now you're sending
spam!
> Don't open attachments sent to you unless it is both something you're
> expecting and from someone you know. Most email-borne worms steal names
and
> email addresses from the address book and then fake the sender
information,
> appearing to come from someone you know, so it is never out of place to
reply
> to the message and ask your friend or associate if they meant to send you
> an attachment. This is a mark of an experienced network user, not a
novice.
> Don't trust what you see. Especially be suspicious of emails that are
threatening
> in tone, demand you open it immediately, or it promises to fix a problem
> you supposedly have. Microsoft and other venders and ISPs never mass
> mail binary attachments but instead send you a URL to go to download
> the file. This is far more secure, though IE has had bugs which allowed
> deceptive URLs.
> Keep your software up to date, especially any network applications such
> as P2P clients, web browsers, email programs, and especially-especially
> the operationg system itself. Microsoft is able to trigger your computer
> to download updates through IE, so all you need is a trip to
microsoft.com.
> Keep your anti-virus software up to date on Windows!
> Linux distributions and the BSDs all have upgrade procedures where you
> download the latest version of the OS and then boot into the installation
> program and request an upgrade to an existing system.
> Linux doesn't require anti-virus software for various reasons, but
> Lindows (lindows.com) sells it for private use if you must have it.
>
> 9. Pop-Up Window Floods
> Mozilla can block these, giving you an icon to click on to easily unblock
sites
> you wish to accept pop-ups from. Opera does an exceptionally good job at
> this as well and many people swear by it for that reason alone.
> (Konq? Safari?)
>
> Good luck, and best wishes!
> -scott
>
> On  0, "Douglas E. Miles" <perlguy at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear User Group Leader:
> >
> > Thanks for the great response to our call, over the last month or two,
> > for annoyances, gripes, and complaints about Excel and PC hardware. The
> > email we got was very useful and a lot of your members not only
> > sent annoyances, but fixes! As always, many thanks for the input.
> >
> > This time around, we have yet another book in the wings--this one
focusing
> > on Internet annoyances. Some of the annoying areas: Email (and spam),
> > connecting to the Net (via dialup, DSL, cable, configuration and all
> > that), wireless annoyances (from WiFi hassles to hotspots to fiddling
with
> > WEP), web sites (namely creating, hosting, and maintaining your own web
> > site), browsing and browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, and others),
> > AOL, instant messaging, using search sites, security annoyances, and of
> > course, shopping and auctions.
> >
> > Got Internet gripes/annoyances/kvetches? Send 'em our way by having your
> > members email me (marsee at oreilly.com) with "Internet Annoyance" in the
> > subject line and we'll put our author on the job.
> >
> > As thanks for sharing, we'll make sure to get copies of "Internet
> > Annoyances" sent to your group shortly after publication.
> >
> > --Marsee
> >
> >
> > ***
> >
> > An example:
> >
> > Pictureless Pages Predicament
> >
> > THE ANNOYANCE: There are some great pictures available on the Web, but
> > certain pictures don't appear on web pages I visit. Instead I see a red
X
> > or a funny little icon where the picture is supposed to be.
> >
> > THE FIX: Several circumstances can keep pictures from appearing:
> >
> > * There's a logjam at the web server or somewhere along the miles of
wires
> > between the web server and your browser. Try refreshing the page (press
> > F5 or click the Refresh button on the toolbar). But you probably already
> > tried that.
> >
> > * Something's wrong with the web server. The picture might not be on the
> > server, or the programmer who created the web page might have put in the
> > wrong path to the picture.
> >
> > * Internet Explorer may be configured so that it doesn't show pictures,
> > a common setup for those with slow dialup connections who don't want
> > to waste time downloading pictures. (If this option is set, you can
> > selectively display pictures by right-clicking the X or the icon and
> > choosing Show Picture.) To undo this setting in Internet Explorer,
choose
> > Tools-->Internet Options. Click the Advanced tab, and in the Multimedia
> > section, check the Show Pictures box to make your pictures appear.
> >
> > * An invalid value in the Windows Registry is preventing pictures from
> > appearing. It's an easy fix, even for those who are squeamish about
poking
> > around in the Registry. (Before you mess around with the Registry, back
it
> > up as per the instructions in the sidebar on page 47.) Select
Start-->Run,
> > type in regedit, and hit Enter. In Registry Editor, navigate to
> > \HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.gif. In the right pane, click the Content Type item;
> > its value should be image/gif. Then check \HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOT\.jpg;
> > Content Type should be set to image/jpg or image/jpeg. For more
> > information about this fix, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 307239.
> >
> >
> > ***
> >