PCWize Vol 4, Issue 01 - Cybersquatters... Grrr. January 2, 1999 ______________________________________________________________________ If you're wondering what happened to last week's issue, well, I just couldn't help it. My new laptop came in and I've been having way too much fun. I'm very happy with it. I'm also very happy with Netlux's service. Originally, the laptop wasn't due to get shipped till after the 26th of December due to IBM manufacturing delays with the 12GB hard drives. It looks like they came through, and I ended up getting the laptop on the 26th. Since then I've been locked away in the bedroom just playing with it. ------ I am still working on the feature article of how not to get taken for a ride on e-commerce. It would have come out this issue, but I really didn't like the way it turned out, so I'm going to polish it up some more first. ------ I got quite a few submissions from subscribers on my offer to list their web site and mailing lists in PCWize. I'll start doing this in about three weeks or when we get the new Lyris listserver up. I don't really have the room to do it in the text edition, so I'll be placing them in the HTML versions. I'd still like to continue receiving your submissions, so send them to . ------ I think I've found a column writer for the new gaming section to be added in the future. I'll let you know more once we iron out all of the details. ______________________________________________________________________ TOC 1. Cybersquatters... Grrrr. 2. Voting Booth and Other PCWize Stuff 3. Software Review 4. Cool Sites 5. Tips, Tricks, Do's and Don't Do's 6. That's the news! 7. Security Issues, Hoaxes, Viruses and Other Urban Legends 8. PCWize Contests and winner announcement If the columns in the below articles appear misaligned, it's because you are using a non-fixed width font. If you would like to see them nice and straight, change your e-mail font to Courier New. ______________________________________________________________________ ** A word from our sponsors ** ------ * LiveWire! Broadcast - Easily locate and play Live Radio and TV stations on the Internet * MediaGrab! - Find and download MP3s and 18 other types of multimedia files. * WebGrab! - Great web tool for viewing and downloading webpage elements. * UsenetGrab! - Integrated Usenet News browser and more. EastBay Technologies - http://www.eastbaytech.com ------ Want to see your advertisement here? For more information, go here: ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Cybersquatters... Grrr. There are a lot of ways to make money on the Internet, some good and some bad. This article isn't going to cover scams (that's for next week), but I want to talk a little about the lowly practice of cybersquatting. On a tangent, I wish people would stop creating new words using the word "cyber" in it. I have no idea why it irritates me so much, but for some strange reason it does. It's been so overused and abused that it has become tiresome, but I digress, it's a free world. Cybersquatting is the act of purchasing a domain name for the sole purpose of selling it at a much inflated price on a later date. I don't know, I guess it's not much different than the practice of buying property in the hopes of selling it later for more money, but there is one difference. Usually when real-estate buyers do this, they also develop the land in some way. Whether it be clearing off trees and whatnot so that homes or offices can be built, or actually building something on the land. Cybersquatters generally do nothing with the domain name other than to have it point at an existing site they own until they sell it. I had my own personal experience with this when I went to register www.vbok.com for this e-zine (for those new subscribers, PCWize used to be called VBOK.) The situation was as I described above in that www.vbok.com just pointed at another existing site. Not only was there nothing on this site that remotely had anything to do with the acronym V.B.O.K., but I couldn't even think of anything those initials could stand for other than the Virtual Book Of Knowledge. Maybe this person planned to start a site called "Vince's Beer Or Keg" possibly, but I doubt it. I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to fork out the cash to buy vbok.com from him, but in the end, decided that I would change the name. I searched for hours to find a domain name that reflected what this e-zine was about, was short, and I liked. Almost everything with the word 'net', 'PC', and 'geek' was already taken. My wife was actually the one to suggest the variation on the spelling of 'wise'. This actually worked out very well, because PCWize had two meanings. It could be thought in the context like a wise decision, and it could also be thought of in the context like PC wize (having to do with PCs.) In my case, the cybersquatting incident was actually helpful. I am much happier with PCWize, because I don't have to explain what it means like I did with VBOK , and I think it's much more meaningful. However, I was lucky. Some people have banked their dreams on getting a certain domain name. For example last issue's "That's the News!" article concerned a college student who wanted to purchase www.races.com for a few thousand, but in an administration error by Network Solutions, the name became available again on the open market for a brief period of time. That was all the time one cybersquatter needed to snatch it up and then put up a for sale sign to the tune of $500,000 USD. Some of you might be saying "But hey! You snooze, you lose! This is the age of opportunity." Well, to a certain extent I agree with you. However, I see no difference between cybersquatters and people who say, buy tickets to a popular event with the sole purpose of selling them for a higher price (scalpers). If I remember correctly, scalping is illegal. I think that maybe there needs to be a contractual agreement for intent to develop when purchasing a domain. There just aren't enough domain names at the big three level (.com, .net, and .org), especially since companies usually buy the .net and .org when they buy the .com for trademark protection. At any rate, if you want to see just how ugly this can be, then go to http://www.greatdomains.com and take a look at the "High-profile names" section. Take a look at how much profit people are expecting to make off of their $70 USD investment. ______________________________________________________________________ 2. Voting Booth and Other PCWize Stuff ------ Click here to vote for PCWize as one of the best newsletters in the "E-zines Top Ten Poll"! It's just a click, no need to fill anything out. ------ Come visit the PCWize forum and live chat. You may discuss anything computer related and it's a good place to get help with any computer questions you may have. ______________________________________________________________________ 3. Software Review ------ Name: Laplink Pro by Travelling Software Genre: Connectivity Platform: PC Win 95/98/NT Type/Cost: Trialware / Version 2000 is $169.00 USD (Ouch!) Size: 5.39MB Homepage: Download: A quick note: I evaluated the Pro version, but it appears that this has been discontinued in favor of their new 2000 version. To get to the trial version download section, go to the "Products" page, under the "Quickfinder" section-- use the drop-down box to select Laplink 2000 -- then in the "I need" box, select "Trial Download". You'll have to provide some information about yourself first, but eventually you'll get there. ------ Many moons ago, I used a DOS program called Laplink to transfer files from one computer to another over a null modem cable (a serial cable with a couple of crossed wires.) Back then, it was about the only way to do large file transfers, because floppies were too small, and networking wasn't really viable for home use. I've still been using the version I got back in the early 90s, but when I got my laptop, I decided to see what advancements had been made with it. Boy was I surprised! Not only is the interface much easier to use (explorer pane type), but you can connect over virtually any medium. While you can still connect over null modem cables, you can also use a straight modem connection, the Internet, a network, and IR (infra-red.) But, the thing that really got me excited was its remote capability. One thing I hate, but end up doing quite a bit anyway, is troubleshooting someone's computer over the phone. With Laplink, I can connect to their computer using one of the above methods (I especially like this over the Internet), and actually control their computer from mine. The way it works is that I actually see their desktop on my screen. I can move the mouse, click on things, open applications, check settings and even install software. The really cool thing about this, is that the person I'm helping can watch everything I'm doing. This is a phenomenal boon, because now I can show them exactly what it is I'm doing and I don't have to have them explain what they are seeing on their screen. Granted, you wouldn't want to give just anyone this kind of access to your machine, but I foresee in the near future, similar applications being developed by computer makers/resellers to assist in the troubleshooting process. Think about it... Instead of sending your machine in, or dragging it to the resellers shop, they can remotely diagnose and fix your machine while you watch. The only problem with Laplink is that the person with whom you are connecting to also needs to have Laplink installed. The old DOS version I have allowed you to remotely install it to another machine using the CTTY command. If Laplink can come up with a way to quickly and efficiently do this with their new version, then the world would be a much better place. :^) This program has once again become an integral part of my computing arsenal. ______________________________________________________________________ 4. Cool Sites ------ Celebrity Sites We all have our favorite Hollywood celebrities, and some people like them so much that they create a web site to announce their undying love. If you're in the mood to learn more about your favorite celebrity, then hop on over to www.celebsites.com; a database of web sites devoted to the stars. While most of the sites are fan owned, you'll find occasional listings for web sites owned by the celebrity themselves, such as Dennis Leary. ______________________________________________________________________ 5. Tips, Tricks, Do's and Don't Do's ------ In the last issue, I recommended CCTask as a much better solution to CTRL-ALT-DEL. I'm going to take it a little further in this issue and talk about a tool that comes on the Windows 98 CD. A very useful, albeit under publicized set of tools called the Microsoft Resource Toolkit provides all sorts of neat features not found elsewhere. One in particular is called Microsoft File Information. This plugin to the Reskit console allows you to look up virtually any file used under Windows and find out what it's for. It will also tell you which .CAB file it came from, the directory under which it resides after being installed, how big it is, and it's creation date. For example, one program I always see after hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL, or using CCTask, is RNAAPP.EXE. A quick look using the ResKit provides the following information: "Windows 98 Remote Network Access (RNA) Applet. This file is the Service manager for Dial Up Network and Remote access components." Another was Internat.EXE, which the ResKit says is the: "Windows 98 32-Bit International Indicator application." Well, ok, it's not always helpful with the information it provides, but what the heck! :^) There are a plethora of other utilities in the ResKit, and I'll cover some of those in later issues, but you'll probably want to install it just to see all the neat things that are available. To install the ResKit, put your Win98 CD in the drive, navigate to the folder \Tools\ResKit, and run the setup program. ______________________________________________________________________ 6. That's the news! ------ >From a company worth billions, a $35 USD re-registration fee for the domain name passports.com crippled the Hotmail service for about 24 hours and affected roughly 26 million users. Caution, the below URL may have wrapped, you might have to cut and paste it. ______________________________________________________________________ 7. Security Issues, Hoaxes, Viruses and Other Urban Legends ------ Before we begin, let me define these for you: Security Issues: These are issues affecting your privacy and security while on the Internet. Most security risks that will be mentioned here are ones concerning holes in software which leak information or will allow people to gain access to private information. Viruses/Trojans/Worms: These will be *real* warnings about new viruses. If I'm warning you of a virus, then you can take it to the bank that I've fully checked its validity first. Hoaxes: The most memorable in all of your minds is most likely the Good Times Virus hoax. These are warnings about some new fangled virus that will wreck your life. The difference between this and other virus warnings is that they aren't for real. Their entire purpose is to scare people and bog down mail servers with all the forwarding going on. The reason I'll be telling you about them is so that you'll be in the know and won't forward them to everyone in your address book. Urban Legends: These are stories that will be computer related, but aren't necessarily virus related. A warning/story moves out of the hoaxes category when it keeps making a comeback. An example of an urban legend would be the one about the FCC allowing phone companies to charge for local access to the ISP in which the cost would be passed onto us as users. ------ Name: W32/NewApt.worm Genre: Worm What it does: After infecting your machine, it takes a look at the messages received in Outlook Express, and builds a list of addresses to send itself to. What to look for: If you receive an e-mail with the below: (If your e-mail software is HTML compliant, you'll see) "http://stuart.messagemates.com/index.html Hypercool Happy New Year 2000 funny programs and animations... We attached our recent animation from this site in our mail ! Check it out." (If your e-mail software is not HTML compliant, you'll see) "he, your lame client cant read HTML, haha. click attachment to see some stunningly HOT stuff" This particular worm is a little nastier than most to detect, because it also randomly changes the name of the attached file which contains the worm. It can choose any one of the following names for the attached file. "baby.exe, bboy.exe, boss.exe, casper.exe, chestburst.exe, cooler1.exe, cooler3.exe, copier.exe, cupid2.exe, farter.exe, fborfw.exe, goal.exe, goal1.exe, g-zilla.exe, irngiant.exe, hog.exe, monica.exe, panther.exe, panthr.exe, party.exe, pirate.exe, s.exe, saddam.exe, theobbq.exe, video.exe." Go here for more information: ______________________________________________________________________ 8. PCWize Contests and Winner Announcement ------ This weeks contest sponsor is Eastbay Technologies and they have generously offered four of their products to be used as prizes in our random drawing contests. Eastbay Technologies offers a wide variety of software to meet many different user's needs. Take a look at some of what they have to offer: * LiveWire! Broadcast - Easily locate and play Live Radio and TV stations on the Internet * MediaGrab! - Find and download MP3s and 18 other types of multimedia files. * WebGrab! - Great web tool for viewing and downloading webpage elements. * UsenetGrab! - Integrated Usenet News browser and more. EastBay Technologies - http://www.eastbaytech.com ------ Each week PCWize holds a random drawing contest and gives away free stuff (usually software) to its subscribers. We will continue to do this as long as there are advertisers who are willing to provide the prizes. If you are such an individual/company, then please contact me at editor@pcwize.com so that we can work a deal. ------ The winner of this weeks random drawing contest is: DB Cooper ______________________________________________________________________ Well, that's it for this issue! Have a good week and I'll see you in seven days. Leif Gregory Copyright © 1997-00 by Leif Gregory. All rights reserved. You may share this copy of the PCWize newsletter with others as long as it is reprinted in it's entirety to include the copyright notice and subscription directions. If you've received this edition of the PCWize newsletter from a friend or colleague and wish to start receiving your own copy, then click the below link and send the generated e-mail message. I have made every attempt to ensure that all information contained in this newsletter is accurate to the best of my ability. Due to the myriad of possible configurations in the PC platform, information and software discussed here may not always work with your particular configuration. That being said, Leif Gregory and the PCWize newsletter can not be held liable for any damages you may incur either directly or indirectly from the use of anything contained in this newsletter. PCWize does not endorse any of the products or services provided by advertisers in this newsletter. As with anything in life, please check the credibility of the advertiser as well as to use common sense. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. PCWize Editor PCWize Homepage Unsubscribe