From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Tue Feb 1 02:40:12 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Mon Jan 31 20:45:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Are you running a GENUINE copy of WINDOWS? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Joe Gill wrote: > I guess it's just my feeling that if all this energy and venom (Not > necessarily in this thread.. industry in general..) would be directed in > EXPOILTING the technology DELIVERED and BOMARDING MS with known holes, we > would could see > 1) Solutions from the USER community to problems like SPAM, (above and > beyond blacklisting and reporting) and FIREWALLS > 2) Innovative usages of the technology to MAKE MONEY for the individuals > from the technology! > 3) A stronger Microsoft platform... > > I guess I feel that ANY time there is a MARKET leader ... everyone wants to > throw stones.... rather than BUILD upon what is there... A small housekeeping remark: PLEASE, STOP SHOUTING ALL THE TIME. Apologies for shouting. I particularly resent this common turn in any discussion about Microsoft. It's not that I haven't tried improving Windows and the other products Microsoft cross-subsidizes from the Windows+Office scalping. I've reported gazillions of bugs to Microsoft. I gave up years ago. They don't even listen to the IT managers at Fortune 500 companies. Unless you're a CIO (or better, CEO) at a Fortune 500 company, forget it. The only way to get their attention is to threaten to do them public harm. I reported an exploit of Exchange to them in 2002. You'd think they'd be grateful, start working on a patch and silently sneak it into Windows Update, right? Nope. They deny the issue exists. They published a workaround (if you can find it) that is dead wrong in that it fixes the exploit but not the information leak, and the leak is trivially bootstrapped into Owning the machine in most cases. The bug has been there for years now. My Microsoft eight ball can fairly accurately predict the future in this case. If another dozen security experts report the same bug to them, they will keep ignoring it. They may look into the issue if a CEO makes contract renewal contingent upon a fix. But they will really only fix it when the full exploit gets demonstrated live on CNN. Their public reaction will lament the fact that the guy that reported it didn't give them time to fix it. Just for kicks, try reporting a usability issue to them, like the stupid way the mouse pointer gets hidden in Flight Simulator, or the way "full screen mode" lops off a bunch of icons in Train Simulator (and no, even if you find the undocumented and unsupported way to run MSTS in windowed mode, you'll not encounter happiness). Between you and me, I wished they would come clean and enforce their EULA, royally screwing over customers like you who paid for XP but not enough to their liking. My principles prevent me from running illegal software, so I paid retail for my Win2K and XP licenses so that both my PC's are legal (the previous owner of my laptop already paid for XP, but the license is not transferrable as you know, so he can no longer use the license he paid for and neither can I -- is there anything wrong with that picture?). Why do I even use Windows? Games. There is no decent train simulator for UNIX (or for Mac, for that matter). From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Tue Feb 1 02:44:42 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Mon Jan 31 20:45:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: OpenOffice Question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: David Dean wrote: > I recently sent someone a document I created with Microsoft Word for > mac. They had trouble opening it with Open Office on a Windows machine. > ISTR that Microsoft had coded the mac version to write document files > exactly the same way that the windows version did. Can anyone think of > why there was trouble? > Is it a bug that I should submit to the OO folks? Anyone with Open > Office willing to receive this file to try to reproduce the error? I agree with every word Steven wrote, but if you drop me a copy of that document off-list I'll be happy to look at it nonetheless :-) From user at domain.invalid Tue Feb 1 07:50:42 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Tue Feb 1 08:50:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Are you running a GENUINE copy of WINDOWS? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 01.02.2005 01:57, Pete Stephenson wrote: --- Original Message --- > In article , > Bert Driehuis wrote: > >> My principles prevent me from running illegal software, so I paid >> retail for my Win2K and XP licenses so that both my PC's are legal >> (the previous owner of my laptop already paid for XP, but the license >> is not transferrable as you know, so he can no longer use the license >> he paid for and neither can I -- is there anything wrong with that >> picture?). > > Yikes. I paid for the "academic" version of WinXP Professional at my > college bookstore. In the retail box, it was $100. In a little sleeve > with the product ID on the pack with a pamphlet describing the Microsoft > education license (yes, it's legal) was only $60. I forked over the $60. > > Sometimes being a student has its advantages. :) > Sometimes being young enough to be a student has its advantages. From noone at devnll.spamcop.net Tue Feb 1 07:30:43 2005 From: noone at devnll.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Tue Feb 1 13:20:23 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Mozilla blocking [WAS: What's with the multiple posts with no comments?] In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: sk1w1 wrote: > Jan M. Nelken wrote: > >> sk1w1 wrote: >> >>> troll posing as Heidi aka Spamvampireslayer - some script kiddie with >>> some grudge they have developed for being called on being a >>> dickhead... rotating IPs so killfiles not as effectual... >> >> >> >> In Mozilla and/or FireFox - is there a way to block *existing* posts >> as well as *new* posts with some set of criterias? How? What criteria >> selectors are available? > > > I am using Mozilla 1.8a6 and can "block" the *new* posts using various > criteria as they come into a newsgroup using the message filters - but I > have found no way to do *existing* posts > > As far as I know / could find (with a somewhat cursory look I will > admit!) there is no 'killfile plugin' for Mozilla... From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Feb 1 16:19:21 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Tue Feb 1 19:20:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! Message-ID: Nero Burning ROM 5.5 is giving me endless grief, and tech support is only making it worse! I'm getting constant errors when burning CDs, so I go to their website to give them a call. Surprise, surprise, they've started charging us for phone support. Well fuck that, I'm not paying extra just because their piece of shit software doesn't work the way it should. So I send them an email. One week later, I get a response asking for certain log files. Ok, they must be busy. That's ok. I send the log files. One week later, I get a response asking to update my firmware. I tell them I did. One week later, they tell me to reinstall nero. I do that and it doesn't work. One week later, they ask for the SAME log files that I sent in the very beginning. One week later, they tell me to reinstall nero again. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE??????? One whole month and all they can do is tell me to update firmware and reinstall the product TWICE???? GAHHHHHHH!!!! I'm now officially on the market for new CD burning software. All I need is the ability to burn more than one CD at the same time (dual recorders). Any suggestions? From user at domain.invalid Tue Feb 1 20:10:28 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Tue Feb 1 21:10:13 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 01.02.2005 18:19, Borgholio wrote: --- Original Message --- > Nero Burning ROM 5.5 is giving me endless grief, and tech support is only > making it worse! I'm getting constant errors when burning CDs, so I go to > their website to give them a call. Surprise, surprise, they've started > charging us for phone support. Well fuck that, I'm not paying extra just > because their piece of shit software doesn't work the way it should. So I > send them an email. One week later, I get a response asking for certain log > files. Ok, they must be busy. That's ok. I send the log files. > > One week later, I get a response asking to update my firmware. I tell them > I did. > > One week later, they tell me to reinstall nero. I do that and it doesn't > work. > > One week later, they ask for the SAME log files that I sent in the very > beginning. > > One week later, they tell me to reinstall nero again. > > > WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE??????? > > One whole month and all they can do is tell me to update firmware and > reinstall the product TWICE???? GAHHHHHHH!!!! > > > I'm now officially on the market for new CD burning software. All I need is > the ability to burn more than one CD at the same time (dual recorders). Any > suggestions? Rant if you must but we can't help ya unless you tell us more details, such as error messages and such as well as any other details pertinent to the issue, e.g., burner? drivers updated? USB, IDE or what, so forth and so on ... From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Feb 1 18:19:33 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Tue Feb 1 21:20:23 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: User wrote: > On 01.02.2005 18:19, Borgholio wrote: > > --- Original Message --- > > >>Nero Burning ROM 5.5 is giving me endless grief, and tech support is only >>making it worse! I'm getting constant errors when burning CDs, so I go to >>their website to give them a call. Surprise, surprise, they've started >>charging us for phone support. Well fuck that, I'm not paying extra just >>because their piece of shit software doesn't work the way it should. So I >>send them an email. One week later, I get a response asking for certain log >>files. Ok, they must be busy. That's ok. I send the log files. >> >>One week later, I get a response asking to update my firmware. I tell them >>I did. >> >>One week later, they tell me to reinstall nero. I do that and it doesn't >>work. >> >>One week later, they ask for the SAME log files that I sent in the very >>beginning. >> >>One week later, they tell me to reinstall nero again. >> >> >>WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE??????? >> >>One whole month and all they can do is tell me to update firmware and >>reinstall the product TWICE???? GAHHHHHHH!!!! >> >> >>I'm now officially on the market for new CD burning software. All I need is >>the ability to burn more than one CD at the same time (dual recorders). Any >>suggestions? > > > Rant if you must but we can't help ya unless you tell us more details, > such as error messages and such as well as any other details pertinent > to the issue, e.g., burner? drivers updated? USB, IDE or what, so forth > and so on ... I'm fed up with troubleshooting this POS so I was simply content to rant. :) But if you're willing to help, here ya go. 2x USB 2.0 CD-RW drives (52x32x52) Latest firmwares installed Fresh copy of Nero 5.5 installed The problem occurs after I burn a CD. The burn usually goes by flawlessly, but as soon as it finishes the burn and begins to eject the disc, I get an "invalid field in parameter" error. When I'm burning multiple copies of a CD, I will sometimes get the error on one drive, and sometimes on the other. If only one drive gets that error, then I can continue burning copies. If both drives the the same error at the same time, then the burn terminates and I have to start over again. From notgiven at nodomain.net Tue Feb 1 23:00:12 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Tue Feb 1 23:05:29 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: Sometime around Tue, 01 Feb 2005 18:19:33 -0800, Borgholio deemed it necessary to offer: > User wrote: > > On 01.02.2005 18:19, Borgholio wrote: > > > > --- Original Message --- > > > > > >>Nero Burning ROM 5.5 is giving me endless grief, and tech support is only > >>making it worse! I'm getting constant errors when burning CDs, so I go to > >>their website to give them a call. Surprise, surprise, they've started > >>charging us for phone support. Well fuck that, I'm not paying extra just > >>because their piece of shit software doesn't work the way it should. So I > >>send them an email. One week later, I get a response asking for certain log > >>files. Ok, they must be busy. That's ok. I send the log files. > >> > > Rant if you must but we can't help ya unless you tell us more details, > > such as error messages and such as well as any other details pertinent > > to the issue, e.g., burner? drivers updated? USB, IDE or what, so forth > > and so on ... > > I'm fed up with troubleshooting this POS so I was simply content to rant. > :) But if you're willing to help, here ya go. > > 2x USB 2.0 CD-RW drives (52x32x52) > Latest firmwares installed > Fresh copy of Nero 5.5 installed > > > The problem occurs after I burn a CD. The burn usually goes by flawlessly, > but as soon as it finishes the burn and begins to eject the disc, I get an > "invalid field in parameter" error. When I'm burning multiple copies of a > CD, I will sometimes get the error on one drive, and sometimes on the other. > If only one drive gets that error, then I can continue burning copies. If > both drives the the same error at the same time, then the burn terminates > and I have to start over again. Perchance is anything new to the setup, i.e. media brand, USB cables, external boxes(if said drives are in fact external), etc... since the last success(es)? I gave up on Adaptec's software several years ago after it did nothing but create shiny coasters, switching to NERO. I've been extremely pleased since then, what with quite a few different burners and media brands since then. I've updated the software version a couple of times, but have no qualms. I'd venture a guess that you may have hit on a particularly bad combination of media/burner; I went through the same thing a couple of years back. After trying a few different brands of blanks, I found one that gave consistent results and stayed with it for the drive I had at the time. Some burners are very finicky about the media; others offer more wiggle-room. From notgiven at nodomain.net Tue Feb 1 23:03:54 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Tue Feb 1 23:05:34 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: Sometime around Tue, 01 Feb 2005 23:00:12 -0500, C. S. deemed it necessary to offer: > Perchance is anything new to the setup, i.e. media brand, USB cables, > external boxes(if said drives are in fact external), etc... since > the last success(es)? > > I gave up on Adaptec's software several years ago after it did > nothing but create shiny coasters, switching to NERO. I've been > extremely pleased since then, what with quite a few different > burners and media brands since then. I've updated the > software version a couple of times, but have no qualms. > > I'd venture a guess that you may have hit on a particularly > bad combination of media/burner; I went through the same > thing a couple of years back. After trying a few different > brands of blanks, I found one that gave consistent results > and stayed with it for the drive I had at the time. > Some burners are very finicky about the media; > others offer more wiggle-room. Oh, and try knocking the write speed down a notch or two, if you haven't already. From rcarlton at spamcop.net Tue Feb 1 21:36:00 2005 From: rcarlton at spamcop.net (Rick Carlton) Date: Wed Feb 2 00:40:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hmm, some casual Googling brought up and interesting solution: http://www.computeruser.com/articles/2212,4,27,1,1201,03.html "In any event, I eventually did come up with a less-than-perfect solution: Delete Nero Express, use the less buggy (but not XP-compatible) Nero Burning ROM on my old PC, and put Apple's PC version of iTunes on the one running XP." Which does beg the question.... update your iTunes lately? The 4.7.1 update could've munged with the (*delicate) balance off your PC. The only other red flag for me was that your drives are on USB2, which mad eme wonder if some background task - virus scanning, disk defrag, etc - could be causing enough CPU utilization that it interfered with the USB bus and triggered Nero evil. From user at domain.invalid Tue Feb 1 23:38:23 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Wed Feb 2 00:40:12 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 01.02.2005 20:19, Borgholio wrote: --- Original Message --- > User wrote: >> On 01.02.2005 18:19, Borgholio wrote: >> >> --- Original Message --- >> >> >>>Nero Burning ROM 5.5 is giving me endless grief, and tech support is only >>>making it worse! I'm getting constant errors when burning CDs, so I go to >>>their website to give them a call. Surprise, surprise, they've started >>>charging us for phone support. Well fuck that, I'm not paying extra just >>>because their piece of shit software doesn't work the way it should. So I >>>send them an email. One week later, I get a response asking for certain log >>>files. Ok, they must be busy. That's ok. I send the log files. >>> >>>One week later, I get a response asking to update my firmware. I tell them >>>I did. >>> >>>One week later, they tell me to reinstall nero. I do that and it doesn't >>>work. >>> >>>One week later, they ask for the SAME log files that I sent in the very >>>beginning. >>> >>>One week later, they tell me to reinstall nero again. >>> >>> >>>WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE??????? >>> >>>One whole month and all they can do is tell me to update firmware and >>>reinstall the product TWICE???? GAHHHHHHH!!!! >>> >>> >>>I'm now officially on the market for new CD burning software. All I need is >>>the ability to burn more than one CD at the same time (dual recorders). Any >>>suggestions? >> >> >> Rant if you must but we can't help ya unless you tell us more details, >> such as error messages and such as well as any other details pertinent >> to the issue, e.g., burner? drivers updated? USB, IDE or what, so forth >> and so on ... > > I'm fed up with troubleshooting this POS so I was simply content to rant. > :) But if you're willing to help, here ya go. > > 2x USB 2.0 CD-RW drives (52x32x52) > Latest firmwares installed > Fresh copy of Nero 5.5 installed > > > The problem occurs after I burn a CD. The burn usually goes by flawlessly, > but as soon as it finishes the burn and begins to eject the disc, I get an > "invalid field in parameter" error. When I'm burning multiple copies of a > CD, I will sometimes get the error on one drive, and sometimes on the other. > If only one drive gets that error, then I can continue burning copies. If > both drives the the same error at the same time, then the burn terminates > and I have to start over again. Disable any/all AV app(s) running. But the most commmon culprit is MS Findfast utility cuz it monitors all disk activity and is a known problematic application. The first thing that gets sent to magnetic purgatory here is FF after installing Word, Office or whatever. Nero 5/6 runs here quite flawlessly. Plextor 712A, XP-Pro, 1gig ram, AMD 3200+. From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Feb 1 22:03:48 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 01:05:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: C. S. wrote: > Sometime around Tue, 01 Feb 2005 18:19:33 -0800, Borgholio > deemed it necessary to offer: > > Perchance is anything new to the setup, i.e. media brand, USB cables, > external boxes(if said drives are in fact external), etc... since > the last success(es)? Nothing that I know of. I've tried different media, drives, and external boxes, to no avail. > > I gave up on Adaptec's software several years ago after it did > nothing but create shiny coasters, switching to NERO. I've been > extremely pleased since then, what with quite a few different > burners and media brands since then. I've updated the > software version a couple of times, but have no qualms. The software works fine on internal drives, just not in external. And the fact their tech support takes a week to get back to me doesn't help. > > I'd venture a guess that you may have hit on a particularly > bad combination of media/burner; I went through the same > thing a couple of years back. After trying a few different > brands of blanks, I found one that gave consistent results > and stayed with it for the drive I had at the time. > Some burners are very finicky about the media; > others offer more wiggle-room. I tried 4 drives and 5 different kinds of media. :) From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Feb 1 22:04:25 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 01:05:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: C. S. wrote: > Sometime around Tue, 01 Feb 2005 23:00:12 -0500, C. S. deemed it > necessary to offer: > > >>Perchance is anything new to the setup, i.e. media brand, USB cables, >>external boxes(if said drives are in fact external), etc... since >>the last success(es)? >> >>I gave up on Adaptec's software several years ago after it did >>nothing but create shiny coasters, switching to NERO. I've been >>extremely pleased since then, what with quite a few different >>burners and media brands since then. I've updated the >>software version a couple of times, but have no qualms. >> >>I'd venture a guess that you may have hit on a particularly >>bad combination of media/burner; I went through the same >>thing a couple of years back. After trying a few different >>brands of blanks, I found one that gave consistent results >>and stayed with it for the drive I had at the time. >>Some burners are very finicky about the media; >>others offer more wiggle-room. > > > Oh, and try knocking the write speed down a notch > or two, if you haven't already. Tried that, didn't work. I'll try again, just to be sure. The error only occurs when the software tries to eject the disc...it does not occur during the burn itself. From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Feb 1 22:06:19 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 01:10:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Rick Carlton wrote: > Hmm, some casual Googling brought up and interesting solution: > > http://www.computeruser.com/articles/2212,4,27,1,1201,03.html > > "In any event, I eventually did come up with a less-than-perfect > solution: Delete Nero Express, use the less buggy (but not > XP-compatible) Nero Burning ROM on my old PC, and put Apple's PC version > of iTunes on the one running XP." > > Which does beg the question.... update your iTunes lately? The 4.7.1 > update could've munged with the (*delicate) balance off your PC. Already running the full version of Nero, and I don't own an Ipod. :) > > The only other red flag for me was that your drives are on USB2, which > mad eme wonder if some background task - virus scanning, disk defrag, > etc - could be causing enough CPU utilization that it interfered with > the USB bus and triggered Nero evil. It's quite possible...but could high CPU usage really make the USB take a fart? It happens on both my onboard USB 1 and my PCI USB 2. From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Feb 1 22:07:21 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 01:10:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: User wrote: > On 01.02.2005 20:19, Borgholio wrote: > > > Disable any/all AV app(s) running. But the most commmon culprit is MS > Findfast utility cuz it monitors all disk activity and is a known > problematic application. The first thing that gets sent to magnetic > purgatory here is FF after installing Word, Office or whatever. Nero 5/6 > runs here quite flawlessly. Plextor 712A, XP-Pro, 1gig ram, AMD 3200+. > AV is disabled, Findfast doesn't exist. I hate it too. :) From rcarlton at spamcop.net Tue Feb 1 23:20:38 2005 From: rcarlton at spamcop.net (Rick Carlton) Date: Wed Feb 2 02:25:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > It's quite possible...but could high CPU usage really make the USB take > a fart? It happens on both my onboard USB 1 and my PCI USB 2. Were drives on the PCI card? In theory, moving data between ports on the same USB2 hub (the card) - and you might be able to keep all of the data transfer local to the card. And what about checking Nero's temp files? Perhaps there's some file that's locked and can't be written to, triggering the error? From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Feb 1 23:27:44 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 02:30:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Rick Carlton wrote: > Borgholio wrote: > >> It's quite possible...but could high CPU usage really make the USB >> take a fart? It happens on both my onboard USB 1 and my PCI USB 2. > > Were drives on the PCI card? Yep. > > And what about checking Nero's temp files? > > Perhaps there's some file that's locked and can't be written to, > triggering the error? > Tried completely deleting and re-installing Nero...including the temp files. From rcarlton at spamcop.net Tue Feb 1 23:39:05 2005 From: rcarlton at spamcop.net (Rick Carlton) Date: Wed Feb 2 02:40:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > Tried completely deleting and re-installing Nero...including the temp > files. What about Deleting and Re-Adding the Hardware in Windows? (via Add Hardware Wizard - which lets you do both) From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Feb 2 08:53:50 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Ewe) Date: Wed Feb 2 09:00:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Indi is locked out... Message-ID: He says he is getting this message - anyone know what this error message is about? "Outlook Express could not post your message. Subject 'immigrant thread', Account: 'news.spamcop.net', Server: 'news.spamcop.net', Protocol: NNTP, Server Response: '440 Posting not allowed', Port: 119, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 440, Error Number: 0x800CCCA9" From borgholio at storymind.com Wed Feb 2 09:11:10 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 12:15:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Rick Carlton wrote: > Borgholio wrote: > >> Tried completely deleting and re-installing Nero...including the temp >> files. > > > What about Deleting and Re-Adding the Hardware in Windows? > > (via Add Hardware Wizard - which lets you do both) Which hardware? From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Wed Feb 2 13:00:55 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (WazoO) Date: Wed Feb 2 14:05:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... References: Message-ID: "Ewe" wrote in message news:ctqm3t$ghn$1@news.spamcop.net... > He says he is getting this message - anyone know what this error message is about? > > "Outlook Express could not post your message. Subject 'immigrant thread', > Account: 'news.spamcop.net', Server: 'news.spamcop.net', Protocol: NNTP, > Server Response: '440 Posting not allowed', Port: 119, Secure(SSL): No, > Server Error: 440, Error Number: 0x800CCCA9" A very quick shot .... there is no account 'here' named "news.spamcop.net:" ..... so not sure if you are relating the "account" used on Indie's display or if this is what went wrong. If that's not it, then it's time for the clean-up, maintenance, compact utilities to ensure that all the folders are cleaned up, follow that with a scandisk and of course a defrag .... From ftabor at direcway.com Wed Feb 2 14:26:59 2005 From: ftabor at direcway.com (Frank Tabor) Date: Wed Feb 2 14:30:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... References: Message-ID: On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 13:00:55 -0600, "WazoO" wrote: >"Ewe" wrote in message >news:ctqm3t$ghn$1@news.spamcop.net... >> He says he is getting this message - anyone know what this error message >is about? >> >> "Outlook Express could not post your message. Subject 'immigrant thread', >> Account: 'news.spamcop.net', Server: 'news.spamcop.net', Protocol: NNTP, >> Server Response: '440 Posting not allowed', Port: 119, Secure(SSL): No, >> Server Error: 440, Error Number: 0x800CCCA9" > >A very quick shot .... there is no account 'here' named >"news.spamcop.net:" ..... so not sure if you are relating >the "account" used on Indie's display or if this is what >went wrong. If that's not it, then it's time for the clean-up, >maintenance, compact utilities to ensure that all the >folders are cleaned up, follow that with a scandisk >and of course a defrag .... > That's just what he calls it locally on OE. From nobodyhere at spamcop.net Wed Feb 2 14:26:29 2005 From: nobodyhere at spamcop.net (Fluffy) Date: Wed Feb 2 14:30:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... References: Message-ID: "Frank Tabor" wrote in message news:iba201dtf0opf23vualft27ahq5b5i156s@4ax.com... > > > >A very quick shot .... there is no account 'here' named > >"news.spamcop.net:" ..... so not sure if you are relating > >the "account" used on Indie's display or if this is what > >went wrong. If that's not it, then it's time for the clean-up, > >maintenance, compact utilities to ensure that all the > >folders are cleaned up, follow that with a scandisk > >and of course a defrag .... > > > > That's just what he calls it locally on OE. Would it matter if his news account server was news.spamcop.net and not news.cesmail.net, or are they interchangeable? From user at domain.invalid Wed Feb 2 13:39:42 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Wed Feb 2 14:40:13 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 02.02.2005 11:11, Borgholio wrote: --- Original Message --- > Rick Carlton wrote: >> Borgholio wrote: >> >>> Tried completely deleting and re-installing Nero...including the temp >>> files. >> >> >> What about Deleting and Re-Adding the Hardware in Windows? >> >> (via Add Hardware Wizard - which lets you do both) > > Which hardware? Your CD devices CONTROL-Panel add/remove hardware (wizard) But if you're running outboard USB drives then add/remove isn't gonna do anything that I'm aware of. Curious .. Do you by chance have an icon in the systray that when you mouse-over it says to the effect "safely remove hardware" ?? From borgholio at storymind.com Wed Feb 2 11:42:26 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 14:45:13 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: User wrote: > On 02.02.2005 11:11, Borgholio wrote: > > But if you're running outboard USB drives then add/remove isn't gonna do > anything that I'm aware of. Yep, outboard. > > Curious .. Do you by chance have an icon in the systray that when you > mouse-over it says to the effect "safely remove hardware" ?? Sure do. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Wed Feb 2 15:30:11 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (WazoO) Date: Wed Feb 2 16:35:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... References: Message-ID: "Fluffy" wrote in message news:ctr9jj$ul4$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Would it matter if his news account server was news.spamcop.net and not > news.cesmail.net, or are they interchangeable? I don't recall news.cesmail.net ever being suggested as the server, but ... just added it here, and yes, it does point to the same place, newsgroups loaded up just fine. Not sure I'd recommend it, though technically not a big issue at the moment .. both are pointing to one of JT's machines. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Wed Feb 2 21:37:55 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 2 16:40:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: On 01 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left news:ctpvde$2p6$1@news.spamcop.net: > Rick Carlton wrote: >> Borgholio wrote: >> >>> It's quite possible...but could high CPU usage really make the USB >>> take a fart? It happens on both my onboard USB 1 and my PCI USB 2. >> >> Were drives on the PCI card? > > Yep. > I've had trouble with some USB devices because they were sharing an IRQ with another device. You can try moving a card to anther slot, or perhaps if the USB card has a different IRQ than the onboard devices (which are usually all shared), you won't get the error. One of the PCI slots, usually the top or the bottom, is shared with the onboard devices. Even if you move the card, Windows may still assign all devices the same IRQ, then you would need to use the BIOS to assign an IRQ to that slot. Also you could try going into safe mode and removing all USB devices, and while you are there, any duplicates or removed devices. I've even had to go into the registry and remove duplicate devices from there. You shouldn't be having this problem; but I had strange problems with one burner after removing drives, the software didn't seem to like the drive letter assignment. But this was a SCSI, and since the USB drive letters should be assigned last, I don't think that would be a problem, unless maybe some other device is assigned a drive letter after it. -- | Ric | From nobodyhere at spamcop.net Wed Feb 2 16:37:26 2005 From: nobodyhere at spamcop.net (Fluffy) Date: Wed Feb 2 16:40:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... References: Message-ID: "WazoO" wrote in message news:ctrgp3$46s$1@news.spamcop.net... > "Fluffy" wrote in message > news:ctr9jj$ul4$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > > Would it matter if his news account server was news.spamcop.net and not > > news.cesmail.net, or are they interchangeable? > > I don't recall news.cesmail.net ever being suggested as > the server, but ... just added it here, and yes, it does > point to the same place, newsgroups loaded up > just fine. Not sure I'd recommend it, though > technically not a big issue at the moment .. both > are pointing to one of JT's machines. Weird, because that's what all my settings say, I can't remember when it changed from news.spamcop., or when it may have changed back. From borgholio at storymind.com Wed Feb 2 13:45:24 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 16:50:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 01 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:ctpvde$2p6$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >>Rick Carlton wrote: >> >>>Borgholio wrote: >>> >>> >>>>It's quite possible...but could high CPU usage really make the USB >>>>take a fart? It happens on both my onboard USB 1 and my PCI USB 2. >>> >>>Were drives on the PCI card? >> >>Yep. >> > > > I've had trouble with some USB devices because they were sharing an IRQ > with another device. You can try moving a card to anther slot, or perhaps > if the USB card has a different IRQ than the onboard devices (which are > usually all shared), you won't get the error. One of the PCI slots, usually > the top or the bottom, is shared with the onboard devices. Even if you move > the card, Windows may still assign all devices the same IRQ, then you would > need to use the BIOS to assign an IRQ to that slot. > Also you could try going into safe mode and removing all USB devices, and > while you are there, any duplicates or removed devices. I've even had to go > into the registry and remove duplicate devices from there. Well, IRQ 10 is being shared with my onboard audio, my wireless network PCI card, and my onboard USB controller. It's also sharing IRQ 5 with my video card. From nobody at nowhere.invalid Wed Feb 2 23:03:00 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Wed Feb 2 17:05:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... References: Message-ID: On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 16:37:26 -0500, Fluffy coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > Weird, because that's what all my settings say, I can't remember when > it changed from news.spamcop., or when it may have changed back. I don't think it ever did change. I've always been using news.spamcop.net here with no problems. -- Steve A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 3 02:15:17 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 2 21:20:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: On 02 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left news:ctrhlc$4th$1@news.spamcop.net: > Well, IRQ 10 is being shared with my onboard audio, my wireless > network PCI card, and my onboard USB controller. It's also sharing > IRQ 5 with my video card. > Well that's probably OK, but are you saying the USB2 card is on IRQ 5? If it's in the top slot next to the vid card then it could be using the same IRQ. But I don't think the vid card would cause any trouble, other than maybe making it hot. -- | Ric | From borgholio at storymind.com Wed Feb 2 18:41:39 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Feb 2 21:45:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 02 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:ctrhlc$4th$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >>Well, IRQ 10 is being shared with my onboard audio, my wireless >>network PCI card, and my onboard USB controller. It's also sharing >>IRQ 5 with my video card. >> > > > Well that's probably OK, but are you saying the USB2 card is on IRQ 5? If > it's in the top slot next to the vid card then it could be using the same > IRQ. But I don't think the vid card would cause any trouble, other than > maybe making it hot. > Here's how it looks: AGP - Video card PCI - empty PCI - empty PCI - Wireless Network card PCI - empty PCI - USB 2.0 card PCI - empty From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Thu Feb 3 04:53:00 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Wed Feb 2 22:55:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Are you running a GENUINE copy of WINDOWS? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Pete Stephenson wrote: > Yikes. I paid for the "academic" version of WinXP Professional at my > college bookstore. In the retail box, it was $100. In a little sleeve > with the product ID on the pack with a pamphlet describing the Microsoft > education license (yes, it's legal) was only $60. I forked over the $60. > > Sometimes being a student has its advantages. :) Sometimes being a mindless corporation has its advantages too. You paid around $45 more than Dell does. That's why you get a PC free with the purchase of a $500 Windows license at Dell. For what it's worth, I paid EUR 50 for a WinXP Amateur Edition, UK language version. I have yet to find out how it substantially differs from the WinXP Overpaid Edition. If I required more than ten concurrent connections I'd be using FreeBSD in the first place :-) It is also beyond me why the Amateur Edition in Dutch costs around EUR 100 -- I'd want money back for having to cope with the yucky translation. And for the $64,000 question: why is MS getting away with such obvious predatory pricing? And that's "predatory" as in "apex preditor", as in "I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse". Back when I was young and half as pretty, that kind of 'tude would bring RICO charges. From rcarlton at spamcop.net Wed Feb 2 20:37:31 2005 From: rcarlton at spamcop.net (Rick Carlton) Date: Wed Feb 2 23:40:17 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Quit OE. Rename outbox.dbx to outbox.bad Relaunch OE. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 3 05:16:48 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 3 00:20:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: On 02 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cts30p$fjj$1@news.spamcop.net: > Here's how it looks: > > AGP - Video card > PCI - empty > PCI - empty > PCI - Wireless Network card > PCI - empty > PCI - USB 2.0 card > PCI - empty > That looks good to me. The only other thing I can think of, like I mentioned, look for duplicate entries in safe mode. I had an old CD-R that would give me an error at the end of the write sometimes, but it usually wrote the disk fine. I'm pretty sure that started happening after I removed some hard drives, and removing the duplicate entries fixed it. But the drive failed shortly after that, so who knows? It was a POS anyway. -- | Ric | From borgholio at storymind.com Wed Feb 2 22:09:22 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Feb 3 01:10:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 02 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cts30p$fjj$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >>Here's how it looks: >> >>AGP - Video card >>PCI - empty >>PCI - empty >>PCI - Wireless Network card >>PCI - empty >>PCI - USB 2.0 card >>PCI - empty >> > > > That looks good to me. > The only other thing I can think of, like I mentioned, look for duplicate > entries in safe mode. I had an old CD-R that would give me an error at the > end of the write sometimes, but it usually wrote the disk fine. I'm pretty > sure that started happening after I removed some hard drives, and removing > the duplicate entries fixed it. But the drive failed shortly after that, so > who knows? It was a POS anyway. > Yeah but these are USB drives, so they don't even show up in the device manager to begin with. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Wed Feb 2 20:37:31 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spam Reporter) Date: Thu Feb 3 02:50:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... References: Message-ID: Rick Carlton wrote: > Quit OE. > > Rename outbox.dbx to outbox.bad > > Relaunch OE. Better yet, re-format the hard drive and start over. It's probably a virus or something. From pete+usenet at heypete.com Thu Feb 3 00:56:18 2005 From: pete+usenet at heypete.com (Pete Stephenson) Date: Thu Feb 3 04:00:14 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Water-cooling, take one. Message-ID: My Koolance Exos arrived today, which is a plus. I hooked up as much as I could, but had the following problems: * CPU cooler block doesn't fit the Athlon64. Had to shell out about $50 for an Athlon64-compatible block and the clamp-down adapter to make it fit. That and a block for my graphics card will be arriving soon. * Plastic connector thingy on the reservoir that the tube from the radiator connects to was leaking. On further inspection, it broke off in my hand. After much wranging, I managed to pull the broken nub out of the plastic tubing. A bit of epoxy has been applied and it'll sit overnight with a small, balanced weight on top to ensure that it sets properly. It's not under warranty (the joys of buying "new in box" from eBay -- I'm sure the original seller didn't know about that problem; the whole system was brand-new, still sealed in the original box. Current status: The Northbridge and hard disk coolers are attached to their respective locations. This caused mild disturbation: * The only workable angle for the Northbridge cooler requires that the coolant tubes lightly press against the backside of the graphics card. While I doubt this has any ill effects as they're rather strong, it puts just a slight degree of stress on the card. Other possible angles would either put the tubes into a bank of capacitors or into the CPU. * The hard disk cooler required some chemistry fun -- mixing two chemicals to form a gooey "silly putty" that one spreads over the circuits and spindle drive motor (obviously sealed inside) of the hard disk. A large aluminum block is then screwed onto the hard disk such that it sandwiches the goo in between the two. The goo is evidently some sort of non-conductive thermal transfer compound, and they say it hardens to a rubbery substance in about 60 hours and can be easily removed by simply peeling it off once it hardens, if necessary. The water circuit was completed, hoses clamped (though I can't figure out how to clamp the NB cooler...it just doesn't seem to be possible with the clamps provided. Maybe I'll get some small screw-down hose clamps?), air removed, and everything primed and ready. Contrary to the instructions, I filled it with tap water (though I'll drain the system and put their "coolant" (distilled water with some anti-corrosion stuff) when all the parts arrive and I get everything hooked up. The system ran normally and kept the hard disk and NB quite cool, though there's no temperature sensors for either (the NB is usually cool due to the heat sink I removed, so I don't know how warm it really gets. The HD usually gets quite toasty when running, but the goo stuff and the cooler block seem to work quite well.). After doing all the testing, I noticed the small leak and the cracked connector. Now the epoxy's setting and the parts I need to make it work with my CPU have been ordered. All in all, it looks to be a pretty good system, with the exception of this cracked part. I wish they used metal connectors as opposed to plastic, but I guess it saves money. I do, however, have one technical question: Why would using regular tap water in the mechanism not be suitable? They claim it would cause corrosion, but I've had electric pumps and motors for my tropical fish tank run for 5+ years without any problems, and that's with fish-goo in the water too. I don't see how clean tap water would have any effect on aluminum (which, I believe, doesn't corrode, though I may be wrong) or the waterproofed electric pumps in the system. Anyone know the answer? -- Pete Stephenson HeyPete.com From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 3 09:32:47 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 3 04:35:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: On 02 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left news:ctsf67$n0d$1@news.spamcop.net: > Yeah but these are USB drives, so they don't even show up in the device > manager to begin with. > This site looks helpful... http://www.usbman.com/winxpusbguide.htm especially this page that explains how to remove USB devices in safe mode http://tinyurl.com/2fwb or -- | Ric | From nobody at nowhere.invalid Thu Feb 3 13:19:09 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Thu Feb 3 07:20:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: On Thu, 03 Feb 2005 00:56:18 -0800, Pete Stephenson coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > I do, however, have one technical question: Why would using regular tap > water in the mechanism not be suitable? .... Anyone know the answer? You don't pay them any money if you put tap water in the circuit. -- Steve From devnull at spamcop.net Thu Feb 3 08:01:05 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Feb 3 08:05:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: "Pete Stephenson" wrote in message news:pete+usenet-6482DF.00561803022005@news.cesmail.net... | | I do, however, have one technical question: Why would using regular tap | water in the mechanism not be suitable? They claim it would cause | corrosion, but I've had electric pumps and motors for my tropical fish | tank run for 5+ years without any problems, and that's with fish-goo in | the water too. I don't see how clean tap water would have any effect on | aluminum (which, I believe, doesn't corrode, though I may be wrong) or | the waterproofed electric pumps in the system. Anyone know the answer? For the same reason you are not to put tap water in a Lead Acid batter tap water contains all sorts of chemicals not the lease of which is chlorine. Not so much any more but not too long ago children, expectant and nursing mother were recommended to not to drink the local water and to drink (selected brands) of bottle water. From user at domain.invalid Thu Feb 3 07:56:58 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Thu Feb 3 09:00:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 03.02.2005 02:56, Pete Stephenson wrote: --- Original Message --- > My Koolance Exos arrived today, which is a plus. I hooked up as much as > I could, but had the following problems: > > * CPU cooler block doesn't fit the Athlon64. Had to shell out about $50 > for an Athlon64-compatible block and the clamp-down adapter to make it > fit. That and a block for my graphics card will be arriving soon. > * Plastic connector thingy on the reservoir that the tube from the > radiator connects to was leaking. On further inspection, it broke off in > my hand. After much wranging, I managed to pull the broken nub out of > the plastic tubing. A bit of epoxy has been applied and it'll sit > overnight with a small, balanced weight on top to ensure that it sets > properly. It's not under warranty (the joys of buying "new in box" from > eBay -- I'm sure the original seller didn't know about that problem; the > whole system was brand-new, still sealed in the original box. > > Current status: The Northbridge and hard disk coolers are attached to > their respective locations. This caused mild disturbation: > * The only workable angle for the Northbridge cooler requires that the > coolant tubes lightly press against the backside of the graphics card. > While I doubt this has any ill effects as they're rather strong, it puts > just a slight degree of stress on the card. Other possible angles would > either put the tubes into a bank of capacitors or into the CPU. > * The hard disk cooler required some chemistry fun -- mixing two > chemicals to form a gooey "silly putty" that one spreads over the > circuits and spindle drive motor (obviously sealed inside) of the hard > disk. A large aluminum block is then screwed onto the hard disk such > that it sandwiches the goo in between the two. The goo is evidently some > sort of non-conductive thermal transfer compound, and they say it > hardens to a rubbery substance in about 60 hours and can be easily > removed by simply peeling it off once it hardens, if necessary. > > The water circuit was completed, hoses clamped (though I can't figure > out how to clamp the NB cooler...it just doesn't seem to be possible > with the clamps provided. Maybe I'll get some small screw-down hose > clamps?), air removed, and everything primed and ready. Contrary to the > instructions, I filled it with tap water (though I'll drain the system > and put their "coolant" (distilled water with some anti-corrosion stuff) > when all the parts arrive and I get everything hooked up. The system ran > normally and kept the hard disk and NB quite cool, though there's no > temperature sensors for either (the NB is usually cool due to the heat > sink I removed, so I don't know how warm it really gets. The HD usually > gets quite toasty when running, but the goo stuff and the cooler block > seem to work quite well.). > > After doing all the testing, I noticed the small leak and the cracked > connector. Now the epoxy's setting and the parts I need to make it work > with my CPU have been ordered. > > All in all, it looks to be a pretty good system, with the exception of > this cracked part. I wish they used metal connectors as opposed to > plastic, but I guess it saves money. > > I do, however, have one technical question: Why would using regular tap > water in the mechanism not be suitable? They claim it would cause > corrosion, but I've had electric pumps and motors for my tropical fish > tank run for 5+ years without any problems, and that's with fish-goo in > the water too. I don't see how clean tap water would have any effect on > aluminum (which, I believe, doesn't corrode, though I may be wrong) or > the waterproofed electric pumps in the system. Anyone know the answer? > Use distilled water to eliminate the calcium deposits and other chemicals that result from hard water factors. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 3 19:44:20 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 3 14:45:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: On 03 Feb 2005 Pete Stephenson entered spamcop.geeks and left news:pete+usenet-6482DF.00561803022005@news.cesmail.net: > My Koolance Exos arrived today, which is a plus. I hooked up as much as > I could, but had the following problems: > I've seen a cooling system that uses extremely tiny tubes and so very little water, and I believe it needs no pump. I wish I could remember what it was called. What are you using for case cooling, and are you filtering the air? -- | Ric | From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Feb 3 19:18:00 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Ellen) Date: Thu Feb 3 19:35:10 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Maint window 2/4/2005 Message-ID: The system will be in maintenance mode for some hardware changes tomorrow at about 2PM PST. The maintenance is to address the outages of the last 48 hours that you may have noticed. The maintenance should take under an hour. This will affect only the reporting system and not the email system. Ellen SpamCop followups to spamcop Please propagate to the appropriate forums. From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Fri Feb 4 05:04:09 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Thu Feb 3 23:05:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Pete Stephenson wrote: > It's not under warranty (the joys of buying "new in box" from > eBay -- I'm sure the original seller didn't know about that problem; the > whole system was brand-new, still sealed in the original box. Hmmm, Have you tried a warranty claim? Many vendors will honor it even if you're not the original purchaser for a variety fo reasons (state law may preempt their conditions, or the vendor just wants to keep a good reputation). > Contrary to the > instructions, I filled it with tap water (though I'll drain the system > and put their "coolant" (distilled water with some anti-corrosion stuff) > when all the parts arrive and I get everything hooked up. [...] > I do, however, have one technical question: Why would using regular tap > water in the mechanism not be suitable? They claim it would cause > corrosion, but I've had electric pumps and motors for my tropical fish > tank run for 5+ years without any problems, and that's with fish-goo in > the water too. I don't see how clean tap water would have any effect on > aluminum (which, I believe, doesn't corrode, though I may be wrong) or > the waterproofed electric pumps in the system. Anyone know the answer? First, aluminum is quite prone to corrosion. So much so that railroad tracks can be welded by sticking aluminum powder between two bits of rusty steel. The heat generated by the transfer of oxygen molecules from the steel to the aluminum will melt the steel. Google says to read here: http://www.aarc.com.au/aarc/info/factsheets/rail_welding.htm Second, tap water not only has calcium and other minerals that will form deposits, it is also corrosive because it's not PH neutral. Google evidence left as an exercise to the reader. Put the two together and you know why they have a specially formulated coolant. Oh, and number three: they tested their coolant for compatibility. Got an old discarded PC? Take out the aluminum CPU cooler and put it in an aquarium for a week. You'll likely find it back with a white "rash" and corroded pits in it. It won't look pretty. And neither will your fish, probably. From skiwi at spamcop.net Thu Feb 3 20:43:28 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (sk1w1) Date: Thu Feb 3 23:45:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Installer / ininstaller not working for some software Message-ID: Hey Guys and Girls, Hey - seeking input on (personal) Windows XP uninstall / install issue/s - as personal, no hurry or indeed 'obligation' of course! :-) For certain pieces of software (in this case Tivo Desktop 1.3), I get now get the errors below when I try to uninstall (or reinstall over top) some software... but not all... "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or if the Window Installer is not correctly installed..." (I am trying to install v2.0 for the ToGo feature but need to get rid of 1.3 first! :-) ) I tried the ubiquitous restart, turned of the AV and SpyBot checkers, etc - no luck... I think it started when I tried to install MSDE locally to use with ADO.NET (as I don't have SQL Server at home of course!) I found Windows Installer 3 at the MS site and tried to reinstall over top - but it said it had been superseded by XP SP2 and would not install - so I went and got the full SP2 - 266Mb! :-) - and installed this - still no luck... Clean / reformat / reinstall is looking like the only option - but as that would be such a PITA **Any other suggestions?** TIA! :-) Cheers: GREG... From rcarlton at spamcop.net Thu Feb 3 21:22:39 2005 From: rcarlton at spamcop.net (Rick Carlton) Date: Fri Feb 4 00:25:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Installer / ininstaller not working for some software In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: sk1w1 wrote: > Clean / reformat / reinstall is looking like the only option - but as > that would be such a PITA **Any other suggestions?** TIA! :-) Try this: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q315346 From pete+usenet at heypete.com Thu Feb 3 22:07:25 2005 From: pete+usenet at heypete.com (Pete Stephenson) Date: Fri Feb 4 01:10:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: In article , Bert Driehuis wrote: > Hmmm, Have you tried a warranty claim? Many vendors will honor it even > if you're not the original purchaser for a variety fo reasons (state law > may preempt their conditions, or the vendor just wants to keep a good > reputation). No. The unit itself is over three years old (exceeding their one-year warranty), I'm not the original owner, and I opened the thing. That's three strikes. :) > First, aluminum is quite prone to corrosion. So much so that railroad > tracks can be welded by sticking aluminum powder between two bits of > rusty steel. The heat generated by the transfer of oxygen molecules from > the steel to the aluminum will melt the steel. Google says to read here: > http://www.aarc.com.au/aarc/info/factsheets/rail_welding.htm Hmm. Interesting. I was not aware of that. > Second, tap water not only has calcium and other minerals that will form > deposits, it is also corrosive because it's not PH neutral. Google > evidence left as an exercise to the reader. Hmm. True. > Put the two together and you know why they have a specially formulated > coolant. Oh, and number three: they tested their coolant for compatibility. Well, their coolant is anti-corrosion stuff, blue coloring, and distilled water. Nothing really special, you know? > Got an old discarded PC? Take out the aluminum CPU cooler and put it in > an aquarium for a week. You'll likely find it back with a white "rash" > and corroded pits in it. It won't look pretty. And neither will your > fish, probably. Hmm. I think I'll pass on that. :) -- Pete Stephenson HeyPete.com From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 4 07:19:20 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 4 02:20:14 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: On 03 Feb 2005 Pete Stephenson entered spamcop.geeks and left news:pete+usenet-8C4DD5.22072503022005@news.cesmail.net: > Well, their coolant is anti-corrosion stuff, blue coloring, and > distilled water. Nothing really special, you know? > I could probably find a better article than this, but... http://www.priorartdatabase.com/IPCOM/000010677/ -- | Ric From pete+usenet at heypete.com Thu Feb 3 23:21:20 2005 From: pete+usenet at heypete.com (Pete Stephenson) Date: Fri Feb 4 02:25:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: In article , Blammo wrote: > I've seen a cooling system that uses extremely tiny tubes and so very > little water, and I believe it needs no pump. I wish I could remember what > it was called. Hmm. I dunno, I'd prefer to have a pumping mechanism move the water around -- my CPU gets quite hot... > What are you using for case cooling, and are you filtering the air? Without the water cooler, I have a Zalman CPU cooler (big round copper/aluminum thing with gobs of fins and a 120mm fan) and a generic 80mm case fan. There's only one slot for a case fan. No filtering on the air intakes. The case I have is quite crowded (that's what I get for buying a tiny little case), hot, and lacks ventilation. It also doesn't have that much room for all the wires, cables, and coolant tubes. Thus, I've decided to cut my losses. I ordered a new reservoir for the Exos (which will be here soon) so that I can re-sell it on eBay. Obviously I'll test it and ensure it works flawlessly before selling it. I've ordered a full-tower case directly from Koolance with an integrated water cooling system. It should be trivial to move the guts of my current computer into the Koolance case, and it'd provide better air circulation over non-watercooled components like the electronics on the motherboard, the optical drives, etc. -- Pete Stephenson HeyPete.com From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 4 07:28:28 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 4 02:30:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: On 03 Feb 2005 Pete Stephenson entered spamcop.geeks and left news:pete+usenet-E802FB.23212003022005@news.cesmail.net: > Without the water cooler, I have a Zalman CPU cooler (big round > copper/aluminum thing with gobs of fins and a 120mm fan) and a generic > 80mm case fan. There's only one slot for a case fan. No filtering on the > air intakes. > I was just wondering because we are playing around with bay fans and slot fans. These have filters on them that can be replaced, so that should help keep dust from collecting on the blades. -- | Ric From pete+usenet at heypete.com Thu Feb 3 23:35:55 2005 From: pete+usenet at heypete.com (Pete Stephenson) Date: Fri Feb 4 02:40:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: In article , Blammo wrote: > I was just wondering because we are playing around with bay fans and slot > fans. These have filters on them that can be replaced, so that should help > keep dust from collecting on the blades. *shrugs* I'm constantly opening my case to do some tinkering, so I just blast out any dust with one of those compressed-air cans (or even just a soda straw that one can blow through). Not a big deal. Long-term dust accumulation is what kills electronics, not a light bit that's frequently blown off. Once I get the Koolance case here, I might pick up another generic fan of the same type I have (some Made In China fan at CompUSA...it's cheap, moves a fair bit of air, and is pretty quiet...and it HAS NO LEDS. I hate those light-up fans. My computer doesn't need to "bling-bling" to show off. The Athlon64 and GeForce 6600GT do that far better by running Half-Life 2 at 120fps on "high" quality than any blinky lights.) and follow Indigo's advice and have them blow IN to the case rather than suck air out. Already the hottest parts (the CPU, northbridge, hard disk, and graphics card) will be water-cooled, so it's just a matter of cooling regular electronics. Hopefully the reversal of airflow will cause cooler temperatures. We'll see on Monday when all the parts arrive. -- Pete Stephenson HeyPete.com From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 4 08:37:54 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 4 03:40:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: On 03 Feb 2005 Pete Stephenson entered spamcop.geeks and left news:pete+usenet-090279.23355503022005@news.cesmail.net: > Half-Life 2 Ahh! I hate Steam! And why is there no co-op in that game? But that's another thread over in .games -- | Ric From michael.spamcop at michaellefevre.com Fri Feb 4 18:52:17 2005 From: michael.spamcop at michaellefevre.com (Michael Lefevre) Date: Fri Feb 4 13:55:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Indi is locked out... References: Message-ID: Spam Reporter wrote: > Rick Carlton wrote: > >> Quit OE. >> >> Rename outbox.dbx to outbox.bad >> >> Relaunch OE. > > Better yet, re-format the hard drive and start over. It's probably a virus > or something. If it was a OE error happening locally, I could understand those bits of advice. Given that the error message posted says: Server Response: '440 Posting not allowed' That clearly indicates that, unless the client is pointing to the wrong server, it's a message produced by the server. It would be rather frustrating if he reformated, started over, and got the same message after many hours of pointless work... -- Michael From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Feb 4 13:50:06 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Feb 4 16:55:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP Message-ID: I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want to do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) to make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for Windowx 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd party program I can use for this? From TJLWBECGSGWU at spammotel.com Fri Feb 4 23:27:10 2005 From: TJLWBECGSGWU at spammotel.com (Mathew Hendry) Date: Fri Feb 4 18:30:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote in : >I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want to do a >full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) to make sure >it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for Windowx 9x did that, >but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd party program I can use for this? chkdsk /r does a full sector scan I think. -- Mat. From SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com Fri Feb 4 15:28:08 2005 From: SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com (Brian (SnSR)) Date: Fri Feb 4 18:30:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want to > do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) to > make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for Windowx > 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd party > program I can use for this? Open Windows Explorer and right click on the drive that you want to check. Choose Sharing and Security. Choose the Tools tab and click the button for Error-checking. Check the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. Brian From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Feb 4 16:38:03 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Feb 4 19:40:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mathew Hendry wrote: > Borgholio wrote in > : > > >>I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want to do a >>full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) to make sure >>it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for Windowx 9x did that, >>but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd party program I can use for this? > > > chkdsk /r does a full sector scan I think. > > -- Mat. > Only on the sectors that actually contain data. On a blank disc, for example, it won't do a full scan. From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Feb 4 16:38:43 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Feb 4 19:40:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Brian (SnSR) wrote: > Borgholio wrote: > >> I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want >> to do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) >> to make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for >> Windowx 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd >> party program I can use for this? > > > Open Windows Explorer and right click on the drive that you want to > check. Choose Sharing and Security. Choose the Tools tab and click the > button for Error-checking. Check the Scan for and attempt recovery of > bad sectors. > > Brian Right but that only scans sectors that contain data. Blank sectors are skipped. From SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com Fri Feb 4 17:20:47 2005 From: SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com (Brian (SnSR)) Date: Fri Feb 4 20:25:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > Brian (SnSR) wrote: > >> Borgholio wrote: >> >>> I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want >>> to do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) >>> to make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for >>> Windowx 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd >>> party program I can use for this? >> >> >> >> Open Windows Explorer and right click on the drive that you want to >> check. Choose Sharing and Security. Choose the Tools tab and click the >> button for Error-checking. Check the Scan for and attempt recovery of >> bad sectors. >> >> Brian > > > Right but that only scans sectors that contain data. Blank sectors are > skipped. I was not aware of this. How do you know this is so? It appeared to perform the same for an unused floppy as for a full one. From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Feb 4 17:27:49 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Feb 4 20:30:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Brian (SnSR) wrote: > Borgholio wrote: > >> Brian (SnSR) wrote: >> >>> Borgholio wrote: >>> >>>> I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want >>>> to do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) >>>> to make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for >>>> Windowx 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd >>>> party program I can use for this? >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Open Windows Explorer and right click on the drive that you want to >>> check. Choose Sharing and Security. Choose the Tools tab and click >>> the button for Error-checking. Check the Scan for and attempt >>> recovery of bad sectors. >>> >>> Brian >> >> >> >> Right but that only scans sectors that contain data. Blank sectors >> are skipped. > > > I was not aware of this. How do you know this is so? It appeared to > perform the same for an unused floppy as for a full one. I remember reading it somewhere...but since that's one of the oldest excuses on the net (hehe) I tried it myself. I ran a Scandisk thorough test on a floppy in a Windows 9x machine...and the scan took a good 15 minutes while it tested every single sector on the disk. I scanned the same floppy in a XP machine using Chkdsk (with the -r switch) and the scan took about 5 seconds. Same goes for hard drives. Scanning a hard drive with Scandisk (thorough test) can take a couple hours on large drives. With XP's Chkdsk, the scan time varies based on how much data is stored on the drive. I took these results to mean that Chkdsk only checks the parts of the drive that actually have data on it. From SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com Fri Feb 4 17:42:56 2005 From: SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com (Brian (SnSR)) Date: Fri Feb 4 20:45:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > Brian (SnSR) wrote: > >> Borgholio wrote: >> >>> Brian (SnSR) wrote: >>> >>>> Borgholio wrote: >>>> >>>>> I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I >>>>> want to do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy >>>>> disk) to make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk >>>>> for Windowx 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a >>>>> 3rd party program I can use for this? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Open Windows Explorer and right click on the drive that you want to >>>> check. Choose Sharing and Security. Choose the Tools tab and click >>>> the button for Error-checking. Check the Scan for and attempt >>>> recovery of bad sectors. >>>> >>>> Brian >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Right but that only scans sectors that contain data. Blank sectors >>> are skipped. >> >> >> >> I was not aware of this. How do you know this is so? It appeared to >> perform the same for an unused floppy as for a full one. > > > I remember reading it somewhere...but since that's one of the oldest > excuses on the net (hehe) I tried it myself. I ran a Scandisk thorough > test on a floppy in a Windows 9x machine...and the scan took a good 15 > minutes while it tested every single sector on the disk. I scanned the > same floppy in a XP machine using Chkdsk (with the -r switch) and the > scan took about 5 seconds. Same goes for hard drives. Scanning a hard > drive with Scandisk (thorough test) can take a couple hours on large > drives. With XP's Chkdsk, the scan time varies based on how much data > is stored on the drive. I took these results to mean that Chkdsk only > checks the parts of the drive that actually have data on it. I'm glad I asked. Otherwise I may have carried the same misconception along. It will take longer on a used disk because it also performs other functions. Maybe it is much faster on newer computers because newer computers are much faster. From TJLWBECGSGWU at spammotel.com Sat Feb 5 01:55:07 2005 From: TJLWBECGSGWU at spammotel.com (Mathew Hendry) Date: Fri Feb 4 21:00:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote in : >Mathew Hendry wrote: > >> chkdsk /r does a full sector scan I think. > >Only on the sectors that actually contain data. On a blank disc, for >example, it won't do a full scan. It appears to here. I don't have an absolutely empty disc to check with, but on a mostly empty NTFS partition, I gave up waiting for it at the final "CHKDSK is verifying free space" stage. Watching with diskmon (http://www.sysinternals.com) it looks like it was reading through all the the sectors in 128 sector chunks. However, an exhaustive check should write various different patterns to each sector, and read them back uncached, much like memtest86 does for memory. I remember using a DOS program called SpinRite years ago that did this, and it looks like it's still around http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm DOS only though... -- Mat. From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Feb 4 17:57:15 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Feb 4 21:00:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Brian (SnSR) wrote: > Borgholio wrote: > >> Brian (SnSR) wrote: >> >>> Borgholio wrote: >>> >>>> Brian (SnSR) wrote: >>>> >>>>> Borgholio wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I >>>>>> want to do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a >>>>>> floppy disk) to make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that >>>>>> Scandisk for Windowx 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. >>>>>> Is there a 3rd party program I can use for this? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Open Windows Explorer and right click on the drive that you want to >>>>> check. Choose Sharing and Security. Choose the Tools tab and click >>>>> the button for Error-checking. Check the Scan for and attempt >>>>> recovery of bad sectors. >>>>> >>>>> Brian >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Right but that only scans sectors that contain data. Blank sectors >>>> are skipped. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> I was not aware of this. How do you know this is so? It appeared to >>> perform the same for an unused floppy as for a full one. >> >> >> >> I remember reading it somewhere...but since that's one of the oldest >> excuses on the net (hehe) I tried it myself. I ran a Scandisk >> thorough test on a floppy in a Windows 9x machine...and the scan took >> a good 15 minutes while it tested every single sector on the disk. I >> scanned the same floppy in a XP machine using Chkdsk (with the -r >> switch) and the scan took about 5 seconds. Same goes for hard >> drives. Scanning a hard drive with Scandisk (thorough test) can take >> a couple hours on large drives. With XP's Chkdsk, the scan time >> varies based on how much data is stored on the drive. I took these >> results to mean that Chkdsk only checks the parts of the drive that >> actually have data on it. > > > I'm glad I asked. Otherwise I may have carried the same misconception > along. It will take longer on a used disk because it also performs other > functions. Maybe it is much faster on newer computers because newer > computers are much faster. I wasn't referring to the entire scan, simply the part where it scans for disk errors. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Sat Feb 5 03:47:18 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 4 22:50:27 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP References: Message-ID: On 04 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cu0qme$ivk$1@news.spamcop.net: > I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want > to do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) > to make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for > Windowx 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd > party program I can use for this? I tried this program once on Win98 and I thought it was a really great program. It actually is a defragmenter, but I believe it will also do a full scan. http://goldenbow.com/VoptXP.htm Unfortunately it is not free, but probably a 30-day or limited, which is why I stopped using it. -- | Ric | From pete+usenet at heypete.com Fri Feb 4 22:11:42 2005 From: pete+usenet at heypete.com (Pete Stephenson) Date: Sat Feb 5 01:15:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: In article , Blammo wrote: > Ahh! I hate Steam! And why is there no co-op in that game? > But that's another thread over in .games I'm actually a big fan of Steam. It's clean, simple, performs well, keeps track of updates, etc. If Valve were ever to go under, they'd likely release some sort of modification over Steam that would remove the must-use-Steam part of the code so people could play them after they were gone. The lack of co-op is sort of annoying, but otherwise I really like the game. Graphics are incredible. -- Pete Stephenson HeyPete.com From joegill at removethis Sat Feb 5 13:13:55 2005 From: joegill at removethis (Joe Gill) Date: Sat Feb 5 13:15:12 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:cu0qme$ivk$1@news.spamcop.net... > I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want to do a > full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) to make sure > it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for Windowx 9x did that, > but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd party program I can use for this? I usually run with CHKDSK /F which forces a reboot (actually doesn't FORCE,but tell you it will do it next time,...) An alternative for SOME people is to check with your drive manufacturer website! Maxtor has a GREAT utility that create a diskette ... The utility has various levels from sampling (very quick) to full surface scan and certification (took about 2 hours on a 40G drive). This utility is not for the person who quickly flies over the keyboard... In a few keystrokes you can 'toast' your hard drive! Also, it only works on their drives, or drives of companies they bought. From joegill at removethis Sat Feb 5 13:19:06 2005 From: joegill at removethis (Joe Gill) Date: Sat Feb 5 13:20:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Are you running a GENUINE copy of WINDOWS? References: Message-ID: "Bert Driehuis" wrote in message news:ctmmlv$efb$1@news.spamcop.net... > Joe Gill wrote: > A small housekeeping remark: PLEASE, STOP SHOUTING ALL THE TIME. > Apologies for shouting. One again,,, me dumb.... I knew that all caps in a paragraph or entire post was shouting......... I was just using all caps for particular words oare phrase in the absence of boldfacing... Me dumb... back in my hole... Keep repeating to self "Format is everything... " From joegill at removethis Sat Feb 5 13:20:19 2005 From: joegill at removethis (Joe Gill) Date: Sat Feb 5 13:20:12 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Are you running a GENUINE copy of WINDOWS? References: Message-ID: "User" wrote in message news:cto1d4$g4g$1@news.spamcop.net... > On 01.02.2005 01:57, Pete Stephenson wrote: > > --- Original Message --- > > > In article , > > Bert Driehuis wrote: > > > >> My principles prevent me from running illegal software, so I paid > >> retail for my Win2K and XP licenses so that both my PC's are legal > >> (the previous owner of my laptop already paid for XP, but the license > >> is not transferrable as you know, so he can no longer use the license > >> he paid for and neither can I -- is there anything wrong with that > >> picture?). > > > > Yikes. I paid for the "academic" version of WinXP Professional at my > > college bookstore. In the retail box, it was $100. In a little sleeve > > with the product ID on the pack with a pamphlet describing the Microsoft > > education license (yes, it's legal) was only $60. I forked over the $60. > > > > Sometimes being a student has its advantages. :) > > > > Sometimes being young enough to be a student has its advantages. One slight disadvantage IIRC.. Educational licenses are (were) not upgradeable! From nobody at nowhere.invalid Sat Feb 5 20:08:03 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Sat Feb 5 14:10:28 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Are you running a GENUINE copy of WINDOWS? References: Message-ID: On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 13:19:06 -0500, Joe Gill coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > I was just using all caps for particular words oare phrase in the absence of > boldfacing... People will interpret something as being boldface (and some newsreaders will display it as such) if it's surrounded by *asterisks* The same applies for /italics/ and _underlined_ -- Steve Stupidity is NOT a handicap. Park elsewhere! From borgholio at storymind.com Sat Feb 5 13:54:10 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Sat Feb 5 16:55:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Joe Gill wrote: > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:cu0qme$ivk$1@news.spamcop.net... > >>I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want to do > > a > >>full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) to make sure >>it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for Windowx 9x did that, >>but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd party program I can use for > > this? > > I usually run with CHKDSK /F which forces a reboot (actually doesn't > FORCE,but tell you it will do it next time,...) > > An alternative for SOME people is to check with your drive manufacturer > website! > Maxtor has a GREAT utility that create a diskette ... The utility has > various levels from sampling (very quick) to full surface scan and > certification (took about 2 hours on a 40G drive). This utility is not for > the person who quickly flies over the keyboard... In a few keystrokes you > can 'toast' your hard drive! Also, it only works on their drives, or > drives of companies they bought. > > Thx, but I need something that can check floppies as well. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Sat Feb 5 23:43:25 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Sat Feb 5 18:45:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Water-cooling, take one. References: Message-ID: On 04 Feb 2005 Pete Stephenson entered spamcop.geeks and left news:pete+usenet-08EF35.22114204022005@news.cesmail.net: > I'm actually a big fan of Steam. It's clean, simple, performs well, > keeps track of updates, etc. If Valve were ever to go under, they'd > likely release some sort of modification over Steam that would remove > the must-use-Steam part of the code so people could play them after they > were gone. > I don't like having to install and register Steam if you have the CDs. I don't like it not asking if you want to start it with Windows. At least you can disable that, but of course you have to go search for that option. Otherwise it's very cool, and there likely is a crack for it somewhere, would be nice to be able to play the game without it logging you in and checking for updates. > The lack of co-op is sort of annoying, but otherwise I really like the > game. Graphics are incredible. > Yes. But like the idiot I am, I'm still waiting for Duke 4-ever, after Duke other FPS games bore me after awhile. BTW, one game that will really make your temperature rise, I believe, is Painkiller. -- | Ric | From skiwi at spamcop.net Sat Feb 5 22:35:23 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (sk1w1) Date: Sun Feb 6 01:40:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Installer / ininstaller not working for some software In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Rick Carlton wrote: > sk1w1 wrote: > >> Clean / reformat / reinstall is looking like the only option - but as >> that would be such a PITA **Any other suggestions?** TIA! :-) > > > Try this: > > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q315346 Thanks Rick - now maybe I should have found that myself, but..... :-) Didn't work though I am afraid for trying to uninstall TiVo Desktop 1.3, same message (although others now seem good...) so I am *trying* to get some support from TiVo - "good luck", you say? :-) Hmmmm..... From asterix at no_where.net Sun Feb 6 09:15:53 2005 From: asterix at no_where.net (Asterix) Date: Sun Feb 6 03:20:21 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP References: Message-ID: <1grk1ph.1390m741g34ai6N%asterix@no_where.net> Borgholio wrote: > Thx, but I need something that can check floppies as well. Norton Disk Doctor ? -- I recommend Macs to my friends, and Intel machines to those whom I don't mind billing by the hour From borgholio at storymind.com Sun Feb 6 01:03:36 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Sun Feb 6 04:05:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: <1grk1ph.1390m741g34ai6N%asterix@no_where.net> References: <1grk1ph.1390m741g34ai6N%asterix@no_where.net> Message-ID: Asterix wrote: > Borgholio wrote: > > >>Thx, but I need something that can check floppies as well. > > > Norton Disk Doctor ? > I refuse to buy Norton products due to the product activation crap. Maybe an older version on Ebay would work.... From notgiven at nodomain.net Sun Feb 6 08:21:05 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Sun Feb 6 08:25:23 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP References: <1grk1ph.1390m741g34ai6N%asterix@no_where.net> Message-ID: <8g5c011gelta5m7l2cr4tflljvurf1lfks@4ax.com> Sometime around Sun, 06 Feb 2005 01:03:36 -0800, Borgholio deemed it necessary to offer: > Asterix wrote: > > Borgholio wrote: > > > > > >>Thx, but I need something that can check floppies as well. > > > > > > Norton Disk Doctor ? > > > > I refuse to buy Norton products due to the product activation crap. Maybe > an older version on Ebay would work.... Activation aside, the hackshops of Symantec/Norton have been creating timebombs for several years now. There are a plethora of excellent alternatives to most of their stuff, which do not worm their way into every conceivable system file and registry hive, thus making an actual uninstall painful, messy, detrimental and problematic at best. With the rantings out of the way, have you given a look into any of Sysinternals' great little stand-alone utilities? {http://www.sysinternals.com} Most is freeware. I'll be the first to admit that I don't readily grasp the purpose of several offerings, so perhaps something there will fit the bill? From borgholio at storymind.com Sun Feb 6 10:51:49 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Sun Feb 6 13:55:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: <8g5c011gelta5m7l2cr4tflljvurf1lfks@4ax.com> References: <1grk1ph.1390m741g34ai6N%asterix@no_where.net> <8g5c011gelta5m7l2cr4tflljvurf1lfks@4ax.com> Message-ID: C. S. wrote: > Sometime around Sun, 06 Feb 2005 01:03:36 -0800, Borgholio > deemed it necessary to offer: > > >>Asterix wrote: >> >>>Borgholio wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>>Thx, but I need something that can check floppies as well. >>> >>> >>>Norton Disk Doctor ? >>> >> >>I refuse to buy Norton products due to the product activation crap. Maybe >>an older version on Ebay would work.... > > > > Activation aside, the hackshops of Symantec/Norton have > been creating timebombs for several years now. > There are a plethora of excellent alternatives to > most of their stuff, which do not worm their way into every > conceivable system file and registry hive, thus making > an actual uninstall painful, messy, detrimental and > problematic at best. > > > With the rantings out of the way, have you given a look > into any of Sysinternals' great little stand-alone utilities? > {http://www.sysinternals.com} > Most is freeware. I'll be the first to admit that I don't readily > grasp the purpose of several offerings, so perhaps > something there will fit the bill? Thx for the link, but nothing was quite what I'm looking for. I'm simply looking for a way to scan hard disks (and floppy disks) for errors with the same level of thoroughness that Scandisk for Windows 98 used to. From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Mon Feb 7 04:00:05 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Sun Feb 6 22:05:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want to > do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) to > make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for Windowx > 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd party > program I can use for this? SpinRite is still in business: http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm It's been a while since I used it, but this guy knows what he's doing and he's been doing it for quite a while now... From rcarlton at spamcop.net Sun Feb 6 22:31:49 2005 From: rcarlton at spamcop.net (Rick Carlton) Date: Mon Feb 7 01:35:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Installer / ininstaller not working for some software In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: sk1w1 wrote: > Didn't work though I am afraid for trying to uninstall TiVo Desktop 1.3, > same message (although others now seem good...) so I am *trying* to get > some support from TiVo - "good luck", you say? :-) Aw man.... this is driving me nuts, and I'm not even you! ;-) Had a couple of ideas/questions... First, what is the error number when you get the "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed." message? If it's 1619, heere's an article from InstallShield suggesting that a previous - and unfinished - install/uninstall might be the culprit. http://consumer.installshield.com/kb.asp?id=Q110722 Second, could/would you post a few Event Log entries? It's probably the Application Log, rather than the System Log thhat ould be the best informer. Event number and description text. Don't worry, in the end - you can always surgically regedit TD 1.3 out of existence without having to rebuild, though that might mean a loss of some saved files. From borgholio at storymind.com Sun Feb 6 22:38:00 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Mon Feb 7 01:40:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need Scandisk-type program for Windows XP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Bert Driehuis wrote: > Borgholio wrote: > >> I know that XP uses Chkdsk, rather than Scandisk, but what if I want >> to do a full sector-by-sector scan of a hard disk (or a floppy disk) >> to make sure it's completely undamaged? I know that Scandisk for >> Windowx 9x did that, but Scandisk won't work in XP. Is there a 3rd >> party program I can use for this? > > > SpinRite is still in business: > http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm > > It's been a while since I used it, but this guy knows what he's doing > and he's been doing it for quite a while now... Hmm....I'll definitely look into that. It may be easier just to fire up my Windows 98 laptop when I need to scan floppies. From kenbrody at spamcop.net Mon Feb 7 09:31:19 2005 From: kenbrody at spamcop.net (Kenneth Brody) Date: Mon Feb 7 10:20:28 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Installer / ininstaller not working for some software References: Message-ID: <42077BB7.E5745294@spamcop.net> sk1w1 wrote: > > Hey Guys and Girls, > > Hey - seeking input on (personal) Windows XP uninstall / install issue/s > - as personal, no hurry or indeed 'obligation' of course! :-) > > For certain pieces of software (in this case Tivo Desktop 1.3), I get > now get the errors below when I try to uninstall (or reinstall over top) > some software... but not all... > > "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur > if you are running Windows in safe mode, or if the Window > Installer is not correctly installed..." [...] I had a lovely job a couple of weeks ago... A client brought in a virus-laden system for cleaning. Whatever was on it had taken down the Norton Antivirus software on the system. In fact, it had done such a good job of it that NAV couldn't be reinstalled. The "add/remove software" on the control panel would complain about the wrong version being installed, and would tell me to uninstall it via the "add/ remove software" control panel entry. It even included a "helpful" link to it, which would allow me to get the exact same error again. Trying to reinstall NAV would complain about missing files in the current install, and would tell me once again to go to "add/remove software". So, the installer complains of a corrupted installation, and tells me that I need to uninstall the old one first, and the uninstaller complains of a corrupted installation, and tells me that I need to uninstall it first as well. (I finally managed to get it to reinstall by manually editing the registry to remove all "Norton" and "Symantec" entries. At that point the uninstaller simply said something about not finding the software, should it just remove the entry telling that it was installed. Once that was done, the installer was able to run and reinstall NAV.) -- +-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------------+ | Kenneth J. Brody | www.hvcomputer.com | | | kenbrody/at\spamcop.net | www.fptech.com | #include | +-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------------+ Don't e-mail me at: From SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com Mon Feb 7 10:47:18 2005 From: SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com (Brian (SnSR)) Date: Mon Feb 7 13:50:33 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > User wrote: > >> On 01.02.2005 20:19, Borgholio wrote: > > >> >> >> Disable any/all AV app(s) running. But the most commmon culprit is MS >> Findfast utility cuz it monitors all disk activity and is a known >> problematic application. The first thing that gets sent to magnetic >> purgatory here is FF after installing Word, Office or whatever. Nero 5/6 >> runs here quite flawlessly. Plextor 712A, XP-Pro, 1gig ram, AMD 3200+. >> > > AV is disabled, Findfast doesn't exist. I hate it too. :) Here's something I picked up about Findfast OFF97: How to Disable the Find Fast Indexer Article ID : 158705 Last Review : November 22, 2000 Revision : 1.0 This article was previously published under Q158705 On this page SUMMARY MORE INFORMATION SUMMARY This article explains how to disable the Find Fast Indexer that is included with Microsoft Office 97. MORE INFORMATION Find Fast Overview The Find Fast Indexer is installed on your computer when you install Microsoft Office 97. Find Fast builds an index to speed up finding documents from the Open dialog box in Microsoft Office programs. When you install Microsoft Office 97, a shortcut called Microsoft Find Fast is automatically added to the StartUp group. This allows Find Fast to run whenever you start the computer. After Find Fast is started, it automatically builds indexes and updates them in the background. If you attempt to disable the Find Fast control panel by simply removing the Microsoft Find Fast shortcut from the StartUp group, the following problems may occur: ? The index files are not removed from the hard disk. The size of these index files depends on the number and size of Microsoft Office documents you store on your computer. ? Microsoft Office programs continue to use the existing index files whenever you click Open on the File menu. When you disable Find Fast by removing its shortcut, the index files are not updated as you create or modify documents. This may prevent you from finding files you want to open, or cause unnecessary delays when you open files. Disabling the Find Fast Indexer The correct way to disable Find Fast requires that you delete the Find Fast index files. To do this, use the following steps: 1. On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. In the Control Panel window, double-click Find Fast. 3. In the "Index for documents in and below" list, click the first item. 4. On the Index menu, click Delete Index. In the Delete Index dialog box, click OK. When you are prompted whether to delete the index, Click OK. 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until no more indices are listed. 6. On the Index menu, click Close And Stop. Then, click OK to stop Find Fast. 7. Then, do either of the following:? Remove the Microsoft Find Fast shortcut from the StartUp folder (typically in the Windows folder in the Start Menu\Programs folder). -or- ? Run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program in maintenance mode, and remove Find Fast. To re-enable Find Fast, do either of the following: ? Add the shortcut for Microsoft Find Fast back into the StartUp folder. The default command line for the shortcut is the following: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\FINDFAST.EXE -or- ? Run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program, and reinstall Find Fast. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Mon Feb 7 22:20:29 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Mon Feb 7 17:25:15 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: On 07 Feb 2005 Brian (SnSR) entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cu8d44$cbj$1@news.spamcop.net: > If you attempt to disable the Find Fast control panel by simply removing > the Microsoft Find Fast shortcut from the StartUp group, the following > problems may occur: • The index files are not removed from the hard > disk. The size of these index files depends on the number and size of > Microsoft Office documents you store on your computer. > Remove that, and the Office Startup, from StartUp before rebooting. Few programs put anything in StartUp anymore, but you can check the registry before rebooting, any program that asks to reboot, or tries to force a reboot is probably hiding something there. -- | Ric | From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 7 22:08:42 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Mon Feb 7 22:10:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] SenderBase and zombies Message-ID: Hi there, I'm new to .geeks (been posting geeky questions about zombies in the SC main group for a few days) -- going to try my luck here. I've seen senderbase.org before, but I recently started looking at it from the standpoint of zombie hunting. Couldn't an ISP that wanted to hunt down potential zombie-infected PCs use it? Or do zombies tend to try to keep a low profile? There sure are a lot of cablemodem IP addresses who are identified as sources of spam and on block lists. My own ISP has lots of them: http://www.senderbase.org/?tddNum=20&tddFirst=20&searchBy=ipaddress&searchString=66.130.243.82 Anyway, I've been reading up on traffic analysis, expensive tools, etc. to hunt down zombies. Seems like the data are already there in senderbase.org's web site? What am I missing? I realize that cablemodem IPs are somewhat dynamic, but should be good for a couple of days/weeks... Enough to be proactive, provided zombies show up. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 7 22:26:59 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Mon Feb 7 22:30:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Spammer per-message prices and costs Message-ID: Excerpt from the following article written by some guys at Microsoft: Goodman, J. T. and R. Rounthwaite (2004). Stopping outgoing spam Proceedings of the 5th ACM conference on Electronic commerce New York, NY, USA ACM Press: 30-39 (apologies for any ligature characters that didn't get replaced in the pasted text) " APPENDIX A. SPAMMER PER MESSAGE PRICES AND COSTS How much must outbound spam cost per message, in order to be a sufficient deterrent to spammers? There are two possible answers to this question: more than the cost of sending spam through other means, e.g. by creating their own domains, buying their own mail servers, etc. The other possible answer is more than they can earn by sending the spam. Unfortunately, it is very hard to get good estimates of either value. We give here a sampling of our (widely varying) estimates of these numbers, derived by analyzing published interviews with spammers (who are not known for their honesty.) There are two ways to analyze spammer costs. The best is to get reports of their actual costs, but this can be diffi- cult. A different technique is to look at what they charge for mailings, which presumably upper bounds their costs, assuming they make a profit (which they apparently do.) The Detroit Free Press reports [17] that Alan Ralsky, a notorious spammer, charges $22,000 to send to his entire database of 250 million addresses, or just about .01 cents per message. In a New York Times interview, (now reformed) spammer Richard Colbert says that he used to charge $900 for one million spams: about .1 cents per message. However, Colbert reports that prices have dropped precipitously recently, as low as $25 per million: .0025 cents per message. An article in the Hartford Courant [12] says that Ronnie Scelson has revenue of $30,000 to $40,000 per 80 million messages, for revenue of as much as .05 cents per message, but is willing to spam for products that bring as little as $1000 per mailing (presumably also to 80 million people), or as little as .00125 cents.) A Wall Street Journal Article says that Howard Carmack earned $360 for sending 10 million messages, or .0036 cents per message. The New Zealand Herald [7] reports that one spammer is paid US$300 per million messages (.03 cents). Based on these figures, there does not appear to be a clear or constant going rate for spam. Indeed, we expect the numbers to change over time. We hope that spam filtering efforts such as our own will be successful. We also hope that well distributed safelists of good senders will become widely used, and will include large ESPs. If very little spam gets through, the spam that does get through will be worth more. And if large ESPs are on safelists, then their spam will get through, making it especially valuable. Based on this analysis, and the numbers here, we need a long term plan that minimally aims to raise the cost of spamming from ESPs to .01 cents, and ideally .05 cents or more. Current account signup costs, which cost at most 2 cents, are far too low to achieve this, assuming complaint rates of 1/200 or less. " 8. REFERENCES [1] M. Abadi, M. Burrows, M. Manasse, and T. Wobber. Moderately hard, memory-bound functions. In Proceedings of the 10th Annual Network and Distributed System Security Symposium, 2003 February. [2] J. Angwin. Hunting ?buffalo?: Elusive spammer sends web service on a long chase. In The Wall Street Journal, May 7 2003. [3] A. Back. Hashcash, May 1997. http://www.cypherspace.org/hashcash/. [4] M. Blum, L. A. von Ahn, J. Langford, and N. Hopper. The CAPTCHA project: Completely automatic public turing test to tell computers and humans apart, November 2000. http://www.captcha.net. [5] C. Dwork, A. Goldberg, and M. Naor. On memory-bound functions for fighting spam, August 2003. [6] C. Dwork and M. Naor. Pricing via processing or combatting junk mail. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science 740 (Proceedings of CRYPTO?92), pages 137?147, 1993. [7] P. Griffin. Spammers remain unrepentant as they make money. In The New Zealand Herald, March 21 2003. [8] Infoworld. What is the worst IT disaster of the last year, July 2003. [9] E. S. Johansson. Camram, 2002. Available at http://www.camram.org. [10] J. Krim. E-mail providers devising ways to stop spam. In The Washington Post, October 30 2003. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ A38051-2003Oct29.html. [11] MAPS. Mail abuse prevention system realtime blackhole list, 2003. http://mail-abuse.org/rbl/. [12] J. M. Moran. Spam king living high in the bayou. In The Hartford Courant, June 30 2002. http://www.ctnow.com/technology/ hc-sp1scelsonjun30.story. [13] M. Naor. Verification of a human in the loop or identification via the turing test, 1996. Available from http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~naor/PAPERS/. [14] OKEAN. Chinese and korean net blocks, 2003. See http://www.okean.com/asianspamblocks.html. [15] S. Olsen. Hotmail restricts outgoing messages. In CNET News.com, March 24 2003. http://news.com.com/2100-1025-993774.html. [16] M. Sahami, S. Dumais, D. Heckerman, and E. Horvitz. A bayesian approach to filtering junk e-mail. In AAAI?98 Workshop on Learning for Text Categorization, July 1998. From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 7 22:24:26 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (sk1w1) Date: Tue Feb 8 01:25:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Installer / ininstaller not working for some software In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Rick Carlton wrote: > sk1w1 wrote: > >> Didn't work though I am afraid for trying to uninstall TiVo Desktop >> 1.3, same message (although others now seem good...) so I am *trying* >> to get some support from TiVo - "good luck", you say? :-) > > > Aw man.... this is driving me nuts, and I'm not even you! ;-) > > Had a couple of ideas/questions... > > First, what is the error number when you get the "The Windows Installer > Service could not be accessed." message? If it's 1619, heere's an > article from InstallShield suggesting that a previous - and unfinished - > install/uninstall might be the culprit. > > http://consumer.installshield.com/kb.asp?id=Q110722 > > > Second, could/would you post a few Event Log entries? > > It's probably the Application Log, rather than the System Log thhat ould > be the best informer. Event number and description text. > > > Don't worry, in the end - you can always surgically regedit TD 1.3 out > of existence without having to rebuild, though that might mean a loss of > some saved files. Rick, thanks for feeling the pain with me! :-) Just FYI, there was no error number posted, either in the main error text or the title bar of same... hmmm... and then I found it was all MSI-based installers - so in the end, after trying ideas from 7 different MS KB articles and numerous other places, I completed a backup to a large firewire external I (fortunately) have (documents and settings mainly), reformat, reinstall - being a laptop, I have it next to me on the couch in front of the fire (it is getting cold here again) and plug in CDs it requires, make use of that DSL at all those updates sites, etc as needed and fill the time in with Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" - very good BTW! It has been 2 years since I got the laptop (Inspiron 8200) so lots of history and detritus - and my last big install was Visual Studio .NET and I didn't like 100% how clean that was - so WTF, 'Just Do It!' (sic) I got pretty much everything major up now - and will do the small stuff as I need it (MP3 ripper, etc) - only thing that is being finicky is Mozilla - but I have three emails accounts and a bunch of newsgroups under one profile so I am not surprised! Just keep poking at it... Aside - I should have got the full installers before I reformatted (as I did the XP SP2), but in the short times between reconnecting to the Net and getting/installing Adaware / SpyBot so much stuff started hitchhiking, it was amazing! hijackthis.exe is not just a good logger I found, but has some good removal abilities that the two above don't... Anyway, thanks again... From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 7 22:30:19 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (sk1w1) Date: Tue Feb 8 01:35:18 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 andTivoDesktop 2.0... Message-ID: Hey there, I am seeking a decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 and TiVo Desktop 2.0 (as they both 'ask' for...) the one that came with the PC (WinDVD's InterVideo 4.0.11.3) is a few years old an d evidently not up to snuff... I have no experiences in these areas... for instance, I thought MPEG-4 was better????? Thanks in advance! GREG... From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Tue Feb 8 10:32:54 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Tue Feb 8 05:35:28 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs References: Message-ID: On 07 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cu9bi1$l5k$1@news.spamcop.net: > Excerpt from the following article written by some guys at Microsoft: > So what's the point of your post? This is like NASA trying to analyze the surface of Mars using blurry images they find on the Internet. -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Tue Feb 8 11:09:00 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Tue Feb 8 06:10:15 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... References: Message-ID: On 07 Feb 2005 sk1w1 entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cu9m9t$sce$1@news.spamcop.net: > Hey there, > > I am seeking a decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 and TiVo > Desktop 2.0 (as they both 'ask' for...) the one that came with the PC > (WinDVD's InterVideo 4.0.11.3) is a few years old an d evidently not up > to snuff... > Check out http://www.videohelp.com/ I don't burn DVDs, but I got that link from codeccorner.com. I use http://www.virtualdub.org/ though I don't know how well it works for TIVO/DVDs. An interesting site I stumbled upon the other day, http://www.evillabs.net/tivo/ might help? > I have no experiences in these areas... for instance, I thought MPEG-4 > was better????? > MPEG-4 is pretty much just Apple, MS's "MPEG4" isn't very good and noone uses it. -- | Ric | From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Tue Feb 8 09:31:18 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Tue Feb 8 09:35:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > So what's the point of your post? This is like NASA trying to analyze the > surface of Mars using blurry images they find on the Internet. They cited interviews done by other journalists -- my point was to share the information, especially the list of interviews with former spammers. There is at least an upper and lower bound on per-message prices from these interviews. Many people like to refer to spammers of intellectually challenged. I'm not sure it's understood by everyone exactly what their motivation is. Those numbers give a good picture. From sommerfeld at hamachi.org Tue Feb 8 10:00:02 2005 From: sommerfeld at hamachi.org (Bill Sommerfeld) Date: Tue Feb 8 10:05:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > A. SPAMMER PER MESSAGE PRICES AND COSTS > > How much must outbound spam cost per message, in order > to be a sufficient deterrent to spammers? There are > two possible answers to this question: more than the cost of > sending spam through other means, e.g. by creating their > own domains, buying their own mail servers, etc. The other > possible answer is more than they can earn by sending the > spam. This economic analysis looks incomplete. Focusing on individual spammer cost structure doesn't take into account the demand side of the equation.. given sufficient demand for spamming services, the costs could go way up before the volume dropped appreciably. - Even if you make it 10x more expensive, it may still be cheaper than direct mail. - For some illegal goods, there aren't that many good substitute advertising methods. A complete analysis would look at the demand curves of the people who *buy* spamming services and its potential substitutes. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Tue Feb 8 18:50:09 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Tue Feb 8 13:55:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs References: Message-ID: On 08 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cuaifj$fue$1@news.spamcop.net: > Many people like to refer to spammers of intellectually challenged. I'm > not sure it's understood by everyone exactly what their motivation is. > Those numbers give a good picture. > Not even, the situation is way more complex than that. Many spammers are also suckers. Pretty hard to guess the sucker-per-second ratio over a period of time. Besides, the goal here is to make it non-profitable, educate the suckers. Cons have always been profitable, there's no news in that. -- | Ric | From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Feb 8 19:09:43 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Tue Feb 8 14:15:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Hi Message-ID: hi, I'm a girl who just made her own website :) This whole semester I felt like I want to do something I've never done before.. friend suggested to finally make a site about me, and what I do everyday. It's neet how my private life is inside one website ;) Verify your age and connect to my webcam today -) Hope you'll anjoy my new hobby as much as I do :) From reitanos at comcast.net Wed Feb 9 01:46:46 2005 From: reitanos at comcast.net (reitanos@comcast.net) Date: Tue Feb 8 20:46:52 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: SpamCop-Geeks Digest, Vol 41, Issue 10 Message-ID: <020920050146.13119.42096B86000785900000333F22070029539C01020E9B070A9D@comcast.net> NO THANKS, BYEFrom driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Wed Feb 9 03:24:14 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Tue Feb 8 21:25:16 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4209744E.60004@playbeing.com> Blammo wrote: > MPEG-4 is pretty much just Apple, MS's "MPEG4" isn't very good and noone > uses it. MS's MPEG4 (aka, "DivX 3.x") is hampered by license and/or patents issues, if I understand the situation correctly. There is much acrimony amongst MPEG4 developers. Other than that, there appears to be nothing wrong with the MS implementation: business as usual (Microsoft announces Patent Armageddon; News at Eleven). I paid for a DivX 5.x license and I still haven't figured out if the money went to the developers or the scalpers :-) That said, I have a very checkered history with trying to encode DivX/Xvid/MPEG4 (often "checkered" is the result literally; other times my DVD player chokes on it, or it plays it but fast-forward chokes; all in all a litany of failure). So, for all intents and purposes, MPEG2 is only the safe choice for me (with the obvious disclaimer that MPEG2 still has good and bad codecs etc). I think the hard disk manufacturers have paid the MPEG4 developers to create this mess. I always prefer a good conspiracy theory. My Angry Beavers[1] collection currently weighs in at 50GB, and with MPEG4 that should be whittled down to 15GB or something like that. MPEG4's claim to fame is not it's image quality; it's the relatively small loss of quality for higher compression ratios when compared to the classic MPEG2 codecs. -- Bert [1] And for those in the readership that aren't privy to Nickelodeon's programming, that's a cartoon series, not an X-rated movie. From wb8tyw at qsl.network Tue Feb 8 22:03:34 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Tue Feb 8 22:05:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > Blammo wrote: > >> So what's the point of your post? This is like NASA trying to analyze >> the surface of Mars using blurry images they find on the Internet. > > They cited interviews done by other journalists The uninformed quoted interviews done by journalists that did not check any of the numbers that the spammer provided them with. Of course that is what passes for journalism in some places these days. > -- my point was to share > the information, especially the list of interviews with former spammers. > There is at least an upper and lower bound on per-message prices from > these interviews. None of those numbers have been verified, they are only taking the word of the spammer for it. The reporters should ask for copies of the tax returns, and the IRS should also be putting these spammers on an audit list if they are claiming larger income publicly than what is showing up on their tax returns. The IRS does seem to notice sometimes when someone wins money on a TV show and it did not show up on a tax return. :-) > Many people like to refer to spammers of intellectually challenged. I'm > not sure it's understood by everyone exactly what their motivation is. > Those numbers give a good picture. Those numbers are probably fiction made up by the spammers. Some of it in order to explain to their investors (other scam victims) why they are not getting the promised return on their seed money, or for looking the other way at their ISP job. The money in spam is not in sending the spew, it is in selling spamware and it's accessories like sample kits, to suckers that read about how much money that these famous spammers are making. A more realistic story was the case of the "Buffalo Spammer" that Earthlink tracked down. They had to make buys and trace where the credit card transaction ended to find the first level spammer, and then find out if that person could give them a clue as to who they got the spamware from. Typically the first level spammer is someone that spent their last $150 to $1000 for a get rich on the Internet kit, and after a year, may have recovered $15 of their investment before they either lost their internet connection or figured out that they never were going to get their money back. The more clueless ones that have not figured out that they were scammed by the spamware seller show up in the various anti-spam forums as trolls from time to time. That report probably left out the bankruptcy status of the "Rich" spammers, and how much their ISP's were left holding the bag for. From the last article I saw on that, typically each ISP was left with several thousand U.S. dollars in unpaid bills. What that reporter did not find out is who at those ISPs allowed that much of an unsecured debt to be run up, and why they allowed a high credit risk run up a debt. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Wed Feb 9 05:35:23 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 9 00:40:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... References: <4209744E.60004@playbeing.com> Message-ID: On 08 Feb 2005 Bert Driehuis entered spamcop.geeks and left news:4209744E.60004@playbeing.com: > MS's MPEG4 (aka, "DivX 3.x") is hampered by license and/or patents > issues, if I understand the situation correctly. I made a mistake referring to it as MEG4, it is actually AVI, not MPEG. Mpg4.1, Mpg4.2, Mpg4.3 (vidc:mpg4, vidc:mp42, vidc:mp43) AVI by Microsoft. Known as Mpeg4c32. It is widely accepted that Microsoft attempted to take control of the MPG$ standard by coming out with an avi version of the codec prior to the MPG consortium having voted a final standard. The code had to be completely reworked 3 times. DIVX2.x - 3.0 (vidc.div1, vidc.div2) This was a short lived and mostly never seen early version of the DIVX hack of mpeg4.1 and 4.2. DIVX3.11 (vidc.div3, vidc.div4) Divx 3 is the "hacked" version of the M$'s MPEG4x codec. The codec has become one of the most popular due to good key frame control and quality settings that mimic the non working direct stream controls of iv5. Comes with a HIGH and LOW speed Video codec and the Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Sound codec. Mp4 (Apple) This is the first official release of MPEG-LA's MPEG 4 codec. You must use the Quicktime 6 player (or newer) to view it. The 3ivx codec will allow you to play Mp4 in Windows Media Player. -- | Ric | From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 00:57:30 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Wed Feb 9 01:00:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 08 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cuaifj$fue$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >>Many people like to refer to spammers of intellectually challenged. I'm >>not sure it's understood by everyone exactly what their motivation is. >>Those numbers give a good picture. >> > > > Not even, the situation is way more complex than that. > Many spammers are also suckers. Pretty hard to guess the sucker-per-second > ratio over a period of time. > Besides, the goal here is to make it non-profitable, educate the suckers. > Cons have always been profitable, there's no news in that. The article hashes out some ideas of making spamming non profitable. Essentially, the logic is that if we could find means to make the cost/message higher than the average price/message, then it could reduce the spammer's motivation, whether the spammer's a fool or a genius. Obviously, if messages cost too much, it effects the advantage of email to the common person and that's not good. The goal is to find the right compromise. Many suggestions are made in the article, and the appendix I quoted was merely an attempt at establishing costs based on cited reports. If anyone has any other cited articles on price/message, please share! In many ways, this is what may be happening in the future, though not by charging per message, but by quotas. I have read that the average ISP customer will have limits imposed on the number of emails he can send/day, and the limits would never effect anyone but a spammer. Even a zombie'd PC (infected with Sobig.whatever) would not be allowed to pollute too much. If it did, it would be identified. Granted, only the most proactive ISPs are doing this, but this could be the future. One reason that spamming is so feasible these days is that ISPs don't do enough to stop it. I'd be curious to read an article on spam volume attributable to the 'suckers' that you mention. From what I've understood until now, the kingpin spammers are responsible for most of the spam. But perhaps you're implying that they don't do all the sending directly, but make it happen through pyramid-type scams. Gives new meaning to the term "spam zombies". Perhaps two levels of zombies need to be defined :-D From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 01:10:46 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Wed Feb 9 01:15:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: John E. Malmberg wrote: > The money in spam is not in sending the spew, it is in selling spamware > and it's accessories like sample kits, to suckers that read about how > much money that these famous spammers are making. This is intriguing and I've heard it said before in these groups. By chance, do you have any basis for this? I've never read anything published about it outside of usenet anecdotes. I do know that porn, gambling and pills are a huge internet market. This seems to be what spam messages push in general. So, it makes more sense to me that even a tiny percentage of this huge market could be motivation for spammers, and I could see that it could make some (who are effective at bringing hits to sites that lead to transactions) rich. I'm not saying they don't make money off of get-rich suckers and sample kits (a look at the www.send-safe.com web site is enough to convince me), but I fail to see suckers as the cash cow. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 01:39:15 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Wed Feb 9 01:40:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: John E. Malmberg wrote: > The money in spam is not in sending the spew, it is in selling spamware > and it's accessories like sample kits, to suckers that read about how > much money that these famous spammers are making. > > A more realistic story was the case of the "Buffalo Spammer" that > Earthlink tracked down. John, my last posting wasn't very clear -- Buffalo Spammer was not the typical MO of kingpin spammers, in my opinion. Using identy theft to get accounts to spam from is very brute-force - in his case, it may be that he made most of his cash from duping in a pyramid scheme. I agree with your conclusion. However, the Buffalo Spammer got caught and was destined to get caught. His scheme was not so subtle. It's a lot less subtle than writing viruses that allow machines to be used to send spam. I have seen estimates that zombie armies account for anywhere from 40 to 80 per cent of spam. See http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116841,00.asp for more information. Again, these kingpins are surely cashing in on the money from send-safe.com and the sale of access to open-relay networks. I just don't think it's the most important part, but I'm still waiting to see a claim with facts to back it up. From skiwi at spamcop.net Tue Feb 8 23:15:15 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Wed Feb 9 02:20:17 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for [playback in] Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 07 Feb 2005 sk1w1 entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cu9m9t$sce$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >>Hey there, >> >>I am seeking a decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 and TiVo >>Desktop 2.0 (as they both 'ask' for...) the one that came with the PC >>(WinDVD's InterVideo 4.0.11.3) is a few years old an d evidently not up >>to snuff... >> > > > Check out http://www.videohelp.com/ > I don't burn DVDs, but I got that link from codeccorner.com. > I use http://www.virtualdub.org/ though I don't know how well it works for > TIVO/DVDs. > An interesting site I stumbled upon the other day, > http://www.evillabs.net/tivo/ might help? Sorry - my mistake - I just want to *play back* DVDs, etc with Media Player 10, etc using a compatabile MPEG2 codec - not rip DVDs, etc - you woudl have thought it would have been part of the OS - I mean, Media Player is a part of the OS that can't be unistalled , you would have thought all the necessary parts would be available as well! - oh, and it is against my principal to pay $20 to the scalper, as the the other poster aptly (?) described them! :-) >>I have no experiences in these areas... for instance, I thought MPEG-4 >>was better????? >> > > > MPEG-4 is pretty much just Apple, MS's "MPEG4" isn't very good and noone > uses it. Ahhh... and the other post was very informative as well - what a depth of knowledge gathers here! :-) Thanks... From skiwi at spamcop.net Tue Feb 8 23:36:20 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Wed Feb 9 02:40:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 07 Feb 2005 sk1w1 entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cu9m9t$sce$1@news.spamcop.net: [snip] >>I am seeking a decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 and TiVo >>Desktop 2.0 (as they both 'ask' for...) the one that came with the PC >>(WinDVD's InterVideo 4.0.11.3) is a few years old an d evidently not up >>to snuff... >> > Check out http://www.videohelp.com/ > I don't burn DVDs, but I got that link from codeccorner.com. > I use http://www.virtualdub.org/ though I don't know how well it works for > TIVO/DVDs. > An interesting site I stumbled upon the other day, > http://www.evillabs.net/tivo/ might help? [snip] Sorry - my mistake - I just want to *play back* DVDs, etc with Media Player 10, etc using a suitable MPEG2 codec - not rip DVDs, etc - you would have thought it would have been part of the OS - I mean, Media Player is a part of the OS that can't be uninstalled , you would have thought all the necessary parts would be available as well! - oh, and it is against my principle to pay $20 to the 'scalper', as the the other poster aptly (?) described them! :-) From skiwi at spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 00:04:29 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Wed Feb 9 03:05:35 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 [via Registry Hack] In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/717 $20 saved for beer and pizza! :-) From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 08:04:36 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (TimeLord) Date: Wed Feb 9 03:10:26 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Odd 'Whois' help? Message-ID: Not spam related, but I've been trying to get some sense on a domain and user connection problems, but a simple whois just sends back ... domain: qsi.de status: connect Is this domain record just broken, or is there another explanation, anyone? Thanks, Kev From pete+usenet at heypete.com Wed Feb 9 00:15:51 2005 From: pete+usenet at heypete.com (Pete Stephenson) Date: Wed Feb 9 03:20:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Water-cooling, part deux. Message-ID: All right, here's what's happened in my water-cooling escapade so far: * Purchased Koolance Exos on eBay. * Installed Exos and assorted tubing as best I could (had to order a new CPU waterblock as that particular one didn't work). * Noticed small leak in reservoir. Upon closer inspection, the leak turned out to be a cracked connector for the tubing that snapped off entirely while trying to gently remove the tubing. * Mentioned this to eBay seller. * Ordered new reservoir from Koolance directly. ($45) * Received $45 credit from seller for new reservoir. Highly satisfied with seller's integrity and honor. High praise left on feedback. * In addition to ordering new reservoir, I simultaneously ordered the CPU waterblock, adapters to make it fit on the Athlon64, some pre-mixed coolant, and a PC2-601BLW case[1][2]. * Listed (and subsequently sold) the Exos with refurbished reservoir on eBay for $30 less than I bought it for. Yes, I lost money. I could have lost tons more. * Moved "guts" of PC from old case to new case. Disturbation ensues when motherboard mounting screws and brass standoffs don't /precisely/ fit the mounting holes in the new case. The board is securely fastened, though there's a few holes where there's only the brass standoff under the board, but the hole in the board is about 1mm off-center, so I can't put a screw in. It provides some support, but isn't a mount-point. * Installed waterblocks on CPU, northbridge, graphics card, and hard disk. Installation was simple, though I may have used a tad too much thermal compound on the CPU. Temperatures don't seem to be affected, however, which is a plus. * With many fingers crossed (yes, this affected my dexterity somewhat), I filled the reservoir and activated the pumps. Watching the blue-colored coolant circulate for the first time was nerve-wracking. I kept thinking "Please don't leak, please don't leak, please don't leak...". Things didn't leak. * Case temperatures are down about 15-20°F to 90°F with one 80mm case fan. Once my credit card recovers and I pay off some bills, I'm thinking of throwing a few LED fans into the case just to cool the air-cooled components. Maybe a cathode ray tube or UV light to emphasize the water cooling. Lighted IDE cables would be pretty slick too. :) * CPU temperatures are down to about 97°F under heavy load (running distributed.net's client), according to Koolance thermal probe in the waterblock. I'm not 100% sure if the temperature reported by my BIOS is the result of an on-die temperature sensor that the processor is reporting to the BIOS, or simply from a sensor on the motherboard. Google was not terribly helpful in looking up this information. Nevertheless, the BIOS reports CPU temps to be about 120°F when at stock speeds, and 140°F when overclocked 150Mhz. The cooling system hasn't yet exceeded 99°F, and the fans automatically increase in power (normally "idle" at 45% of rated power and can increase all the way up to 100%) as the system heat load increases. Observations: 1) The system certainly seems to have an overabundance of capacity. Even at overclocked speeds under heavy load, the system is able to keep the CPU at reasonable temperatures. While previously air-cooled, the CPU overheat alarm would frequently sound when overclocked to the same speed and placed under even moderate load. 2) The system is very well-designed asthetically, is well-constructed and solidly built. The only appearance-related issue I have is the metal label on the front of the radiator "hump" appears to have been fastened with a weak adhesive and is "peeling". I contacted Koolance for a replacement. We'll see if they'll send one for free. 3) The system is exceptionally quiet when "idle". If the CPU is overclocked or otherwise generates additional heat, the fans will slowly increase in power and noise output. At 100%, the fans are definitely audible, though less so than the noise produced by traditional air cooling a similar piece of equipment. 4) Because the cooling system is on the top of the computer, I should really move the case out from under my desk into the open, so it can get greater airflow and won't need to suck in preheated air. This may require rearrangement of my desk, which may actually be more suitable in the long run. Conclusion: If one is looking for reasonably-priced water cooling but doesn't want to (or doesn't feel comfortable with doing) do substantial case modifications with a Do-It-Yourself project or build-it-yourself kit, the Koolance system is most excellent. The parts are of high quality, are well-built (most noticeable with the case -- very well built indeed. The Exos is also well-built, but one doesn't generally have reason to open it and notice how well-built it is.), and allow for very efficient cooling of even over-powered systems. One must be familiar with and comfortable using small hand tools (I used a pair of needle-nose pliers, a few different sized screwdrivers, and a pair of wire-cutters for cutting the hoses and clamping down the hose-clamps) and possess a certain degree of caution (i.e. not dropping a screwdriver onto the motherboard [I caught it just in time, thank goodness], not damaging components while removing and re-inserting them, etc.). If one possesses these basic skills and is prudent and reasonable in their installation (installing the waterblocks and tubing according to the specifications and directions, rather than using one cooling system to cool gobs of components or multiple computers using one set of hose with waterblocks connected in series) then there should be no problems during the installation. I'm highly satisfied with this cooling setup, and will get some pictures of it shortly in both it's present state as well as its future, modified state with dramatic lighting. :) [1] [2] The Exos is a very nice cooling setup, but I wanted something "cleaner", something that gives me more room for expansion, and something that allows me to put more than one 80mm fan into the case to keep non-water-cooled components cool. This case was very reasonably priced, well-made (looks almost like a modified Antec case...my buddy has a gray Antec case that looks identical, minus the radiator setup), and has all the cooling systems built-in. -- Pete Stephenson HeyPete.com From nobody at nowhere.invalid Wed Feb 9 12:24:22 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Wed Feb 9 06:25:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Odd 'Whois' help? References: Message-ID: On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 08:04:36 -0000, TimeLord coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > Not spam related, but I've been trying to get some sense on a domain and > user connection problems, but a simple whois just sends back ... > > domain: qsi.de > status: connect > > Is this domain record just broken, or is there another explanation, anyone? It's perfectly "normal". The German NIC doesn't publish whois data in a standard way, which is why the whole of *.de is listed in RFCI: http://www.rfc-ignorant.org/tools/detail.php?domain=de&submitted=1094941143&table=whois -- Steve Hurewitz's Memory Principle: The chance of forgetting something is directly proportional to ..... to ........ uh .............. From notformail0404 at comcast.net Wed Feb 9 09:23:42 2005 From: notformail0404 at comcast.net (Gunter Herrmann) Date: Wed Feb 9 09:25:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Odd 'Whois' help? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi! TimeLord wrote: > Not spam related, but I've been trying to get some sense on a domain and > user connection problems, but a simple whois just sends back ... > > domain: qsi.de > status: connect > > Is this domain record just broken, or is there another explanation, anyone? The best way to get the full information on any domain is whois -h whois.completewhois.com example.com HTH -- Gunter Herrmann Naples, Florida, USA From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 09:51:54 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Wed Feb 9 09:55:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > Excerpt from the following article written by some guys at Microsoft: > > Goodman, J. T. and R. Rounthwaite (2004). Stopping outgoing spam > Proceedings of the 5th ACM conference on Electronic commerce New York, > NY, USA ACM Press: 30-39 Found another article today about spamming via zombie networks: For Spammers, Worm Turns a Profit http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1804&e=2&u=/washpost/20050209/tc_washpost/a4873_2005feb7 or http://tinyurl.com/6j6c2 From MikeE at ster.invalid Wed Feb 9 07:32:10 2005 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Wed Feb 9 10:35:23 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Odd 'Whois' help? References: Message-ID: Gunter Herrmann wrote: > TimeLord wrote: >> domain: qsi.de >> status: connect > The best way to get the full information on any domain is > whois -h whois.completewhois.com example.com mm good. That's a slightly better result than geektools. A tiny bit slower, but very good. Tnx. I'm reading^0 at denic.de that its whois server wants '-T dn' prepended to the domainname query^1, to give the registration information instead of 'connect' - but I can't make it work. ^0 http://www.denic.de/en/domains/technik/denic_whois-server/index.html ^1 whois -h whois.denic.de -T dn qsi.de -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 19:12:21 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (TimeLord) Date: Wed Feb 9 14:20:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Odd 'Whois' help? References: Message-ID: Thanks for the info folks- saved me some hair 'head scratching' :) Kev From user at domain.invalid Wed Feb 9 13:33:16 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Wed Feb 9 14:35:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Odd 'Whois' help? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 09.02.2005 02:04, TimeLord wrote: --- Original Message --- > Not spam related, but I've been trying to get some sense on a domain and > user connection problems, but a simple whois just sends back ... > > domain: qsi.de > status: connect > > Is this domain record just broken, or is there another explanation, anyone? > > Thanks, > > Kev > > [DOMAIN whois information for QSI.DE ] Domain Name: QSI.DE Namespace: ICANN Country Code Top Level Domain - http://www.icann.org TLD Info: Germany - http://www.iana.org/root-whois/de.htm Registry: DENIC - http://www.denic.de Registrar: DENIC - http://www.denic.de Whois Server: whois.denic.de Name Server[from whois+dns, dns ip]: NS1.FREENET.DE 194.97.3.82 Name Server[whois+dns with ip] NS1.FREE-NET.NET 62.104.64.8 Status: connect Updated Date: 2004-06-15T20:19:47+0200 [whois.denic.de] domain: qsi.de descr: QSI GmbH descr: Franz Koester descr: Robert-Bosch-Str. 5 descr: 63225 Langen nserver: ns1.freenet.de nserver: ns1.free-net.net status: connect changed: 2004-06-15T20:19:47+0200 source: DENIC [admin-c] Type: PERSON Name: Franz Koester Address: QSI GmbH Address: Robert-Bosch-Str. 5 City: Langen Pcode: 63225 Country: DE Phone: +49 Email: franz@koester-pfungstadt.de Remarks: AN20011218131428 Changed: 2001-12-18T13:15:05+0100 Source: DENIC [tech-c] Type: PERSON Name: Markus Wolf Address: life medien Address: Am Borsigturm 53 City: Berlin Pcode: 13507 Country: DE Phone: +49 190 814142 Fax: +49 3043730400 Email: wolf@life-medien.de Changed: 2004-10-27T11:51:06+0200 Source: DENIC [zone-c] Type: ROLE Name: Life-Medien Network Operation Center Address: life medien GmbH Address: Am Borsigturm 53 City: Berlin Pcode: 13507 Country: DE Phone: +49 190 814142 Fax: +49 3043730400 Email: role@life-medien.de Changed: 2004-10-27T15:04:07+0200 Source: DENIC From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 16:16:54 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (indigo) Date: Wed Feb 9 16:15:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Xnews question Message-ID: Can it filter by IP address of the NNTP posting host? Can't find this exact info via google..... -- From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Wed Feb 9 23:05:49 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Wed Feb 9 17:10:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Odd 'Whois' help? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike Easter wrote: > I'm reading^0 at denic.de that its whois server wants '-T dn' prepended > to the domainname query^1, to give the registration information instead > of 'connect' - but I can't make it work. > > ^0 http://www.denic.de/en/domains/technik/denic_whois-server/index.html > ^1 whois -h whois.denic.de -T dn qsi.de I can't reproduce it using whois either, but I blame the whois client. When I telnet to whois.denic.de it works: % telnet whois.denic.de 43 Trying 81.91.162.7... Connected to whois.denic.de. Escape character is '^]'. -T dn schlund.de <---- I typed this to telnet % Copyright (c)2004 by DENIC % Version: 1.00.0 % % Restricted rights. [...] domain: schlund.de descr: Schlund+Partner AG descr: Brauerstr. 48 descr: D-76135 Karlsruhe descr: Germany [...] I'm normally using jwhois, and my jwhois.conf has this: "\\.de$" { whois-server = "whois.denic.net"; query-format = "-- -T dn $*"; } which makes jwhois use the right magic without me having to worry about it. Jwhois works great on Unix, and I'd be surprised if it wasn't available for Cygwin too. From devnull at spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 17:40:02 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Feb 9 17:45:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs References: Message-ID: "Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting" wrote in message news:cuc8oa$olf$1@news.spamcop.net... | Blammo wrote: | > On 08 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left | > news:cuaifj$fue$1@news.spamcop.net: | > | > | >>Many people like to refer to spammers of intellectually challenged. I'm | >>not sure it's understood by everyone exactly what their motivation is. | >>Those numbers give a good picture. | >> | > | > | > Not even, the situation is way more complex than that. | > Many spammers are also suckers. Pretty hard to guess the sucker-per-second | > ratio over a period of time. | > Besides, the goal here is to make it non-profitable, educate the suckers. | > Cons have always been profitable, there's no news in that. | | The article hashes out some ideas of making spamming non profitable. | Essentially, the logic is that if we could find means to make the | cost/message higher than the average price/message, then it could reduce | the spammer's motivation, whether the spammer's a fool or a genius. | | Obviously, if messages cost too much, it effects the advantage of email | to the common person and that's not good. The goal is to find the right | compromise. Many suggestions are made in the article, and the appendix I | quoted was merely an attempt at establishing costs based on cited | reports. If anyone has any other cited articles on price/message, please | share! | I wonder it there is any tie in to Gates proposed 'sender pays' program? From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Wed Feb 9 23:57:27 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Wed Feb 9 18:00:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Odd 'Whois' help? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Bert Driehuis wrote: > I can't reproduce it using whois either, but I blame the whois client. P.S. I know of the getopt "--" trick to sneak in a first argument that starts with a dash, but whois appears not to use getopt as the "--" appears to be sent to the WHOIS server. From johnl at spamcop.net Thu Feb 10 00:10:43 2005 From: johnl at spamcop.net (JohnL) Date: Wed Feb 9 19:15:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Xnews question References: Message-ID: "Mr K. Mean" wrote in news:cue6fp$6tk$1@news.spamcop.net: > indigo wrote: >> Can it filter by IP address of the NNTP posting host? Can't find this >> exact info via google..... > > I downloaded it today and it doesn't look like it. There only seems > to be a few fields in the header it will score. From the scoring > instructions file: > > You define each rule by specifying one or more of these headers.and > the expression to match, like so > keyword: expression-to-match > where keyword is one of: > Message-ID, Subject, From, Xref, Lines, References > In the Score.ini file... [$] Score:: -9999 NNTP-Posting-Host: 81.100.160.62 NNTP-Posting-Host: 43.red-213-98-143.pooles.rima-tde.net etc..... From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 10 01:19:18 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 9 20:20:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs References: Message-ID: On 08 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cuc8oa$olf$1@news.spamcop.net: > > The article hashes out some ideas of making spamming non profitable. > Essentially, the logic is that if we could find means to make the > cost/message higher than the average price/message, then it could > reduce the spammer's motivation, whether the spammer's a fool or a > genius. > > Obviously, if messages cost too much, it effects the advantage of > email to the common person and that's not good. The goal is to find > the right compromise. Many suggestions are made in the article, and > the appendix I quoted was merely an attempt at establishing costs > based on cited reports. If anyone has any other cited articles on > price/message, please share! > I have stumbled upon many discussions on this, and it seems the ideal way to deal with it - like for example the dreaded eMail tax - but haven't seen anything that couldn't be abused or bypassed. You certainly can't expect all ISPs to adopt some "master plan". > In many ways, this is what may be happening in the future, though not > by charging per message, but by quotas. I have read that the average > ISP customer will have limits imposed on the number of emails he can > send/day, and the limits would never effect anyone but a spammer. Even > a zombie'd PC (infected with Sobig.whatever) would not be allowed to > pollute too much. If it did, it would be identified. Granted, only the > most proactive ISPs are doing this, but this could be the future. One > reason that spamming is so feasible these days is that ISPs don't do > enough to stop it. > I don't like to see any limits on Internet use, but on the other hand the ISPs need to do something to limit abuse, viruses and spam probably being the major issue. Like you said, why don't ISPs use Senderbase? I think I know why but I'd have to think about how to explain, they are a business, have a business plan, have project consultants and never do anything wrong or listen to outside advise. But, no matter, I expect the abuse and scams will always be there no matter what we do, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do something, but doing something often makes it worse (which is why spam is so bad today). But, like drugs, if noone buys into it, the business fails. I really think that what all ISPs really fail to do, is to educate their users about anything, other than how to download their "magic braindead" software. The ISP I first started with used to have gobs of info on just about everything, now that they've been bought and sold several times there's nothing left but a few screen shots of Outlook. > I'd be curious to read an article on spam volume attributable to the > 'suckers' that you mention. From what I've understood until now, the > kingpin spammers are responsible for most of the spam. But perhaps > you're implying that they don't do all the sending directly, but make > it happen through pyramid-type scams. Gives new meaning to the term > "spam zombies". Perhaps two levels of zombies need to be defined :-D Yes, this has been going on in the past, I don't know if it still goes on today but I think it may in other countries (outside America). I think if you get a lot of spam you can start to see some kind of pattern, which may be a good indication of it's source. If you have many different eMail addresses, other patterns develope, and if you look at other people's spam, you may see the same or even completely different patterns. If you look at mail server logs you can see other patterns. If you get a new server or domain you will likely see signs of discovery, relay attempts and dictionary attacks. I started to plot these out and I see different patterns, though I really havn't tried to plot out IP ranges as that would be too much work. Though you can get a good idea of who the bigtime spammers are (or where they are operating from). And then what John said... -- | Ric | From agent01413 at my-deja.com Thu Feb 10 01:23:34 2005 From: agent01413 at my-deja.com (Socks) Date: Wed Feb 9 20:25:25 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Xnews question References: Message-ID: "indigo" wrote in news:cuduf3$111$1@news.spamcop.net: > Can it filter by IP address of the NNTP posting host? Can't find this > exact info via google..... > yes, if the posting host IPA is a header provided by the posting host. Note that if the posting host does not provide that header, you are SOL. In the examples below from my score.ini file, note that some of them post a bit more than the IPA in the posting host. If memory serves, people using supernews to post do not get posting-host as a header. For them you can't block on that header. [^news\.admin\.net\-abuse\.email$] % wasted electrons Score:: -9999 NNTP-Posting-Host: 61.95.149.8 NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.207.207.236 NNTP-Posting-Host: 205.188.116.197 NNTP-Posting-Host: 198.166.62.149 % Linda Scheimann is apparently a very bad Eliza emulator Score:: -9999 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.117.111.74 %Dippy is back Score:: -9999 NNTP-Posting-Host: 203.197.118.103 NNTP-Posting-Host: 220-134-241-65.hinet-ip.hinet.net NNTP-Posting-Host: 81.107.195.144 -- "Some witty person in rec.arts.sf.composition (I forget who) called them feral apostrophes. Untamed, unregulated, they roam the wastes of the English language and pop up where lea'st expected." From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 10 01:52:24 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 9 20:55:25 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for [playback in] Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... References: Message-ID: On 08 Feb 2005 Skiwi entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cucda3$rib$1@news.spamcop.net: > Sorry - my mistake - I just want to *play back* DVDs, etc with Media > Player 10, etc using a compatabile MPEG2 codec - not rip DVDs, etc - you > woudl have thought it would have been part of the OS - I mean, Media > Player is a part of the OS that can't be unistalled cheek>, you would have thought all the necessary parts would be > available as well! - oh, and it is against my principal to pay $20 to > the scalper, as the the other poster aptly (?) described them! :-) > I was going to just say "try this player or codec" but that wouldn't help you burn them to DVD, go figure ;-) First get AVIcodec http://avicodec.duby.info/ This will tell you what codecs you have installed and what codecs your movies need (well, maybe not DVDs). I've tried many different codecs and players and it's really a pain, it depends on what the source is (the codec used to create the movie) as some work better than others, depending on the source. I once had a problem with MPEG2 myself, even though it is supposed to come with MPlayer. I believe these are MPEG, MPEG-1, and MPEG-2 direct show filters, and could be messed up by 3rd party software (possibly). I installed LSX-MPEG for MPEG-2 which seems to work good for me. Wow, it's no longer available, hmm, I'm sure I have it on CD... See if this is any help http://www.ligos.com/support.htm If you are trying to view Tivo files you may need something else. I don't know much about it but I did run into some sites on the subject and I may be able to find it again. And then, I don't even have a DVD player, so I'm not much help there either. I'm planning on buying a DVD/PVR, but not real interested in using my computer for that, at this time anyway. -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 10 02:03:41 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 9 21:05:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 [via Registry Hack] References: Message-ID: On 09 Feb 2005 Skiwi entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cucg6d$tst$1@news.spamcop.net: > http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/717 > > $20 saved for beer and pizza! :-) I need a beer after wasting my time typing out that last message. My eyes are crooked and I thought someone else posted this. Good find, the site doesn't even set cookies. I know someone who would probably find this info useful. -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 10 02:11:15 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 9 21:15:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Xnews question References: Message-ID: On 09 Feb 2005 JohnL entered spamcop.geeks and left news:Xns95F8AEC0D7A99johnlspamcopnet@216.154.195.61: > In the Score.ini file... > > [$] > Score:: -9999 > NNTP-Posting-Host: 81.100.160.62 > NNTP-Posting-Host: 43.red-213-98-143.pooles.rima-tde.net > etc..... > >From the menu... Special > Edit Score File or CTRL+E -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 10 02:17:11 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 9 21:20:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Xnews question References: Message-ID: On 09 Feb 2005 JohnL entered spamcop.geeks and left news:Xns95F8AEC0D7A99johnlspamcopnet@216.154.195.61: > [$] > Score:: -9999 > NNTP-Posting-Host: 81.100.160.62 > Actually I think that should be NNTP-Posting-Host: 81\.100\.160\.62 apparently a dot will match any character. -- | Ric | From skiwi at spamcop.net Wed Feb 9 20:01:17 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Wed Feb 9 23:05:35 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 [via Registry Hack] In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 09 Feb 2005 Skiwi entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cucg6d$tst$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >>http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/717 >> >>$20 saved for beer and pizza! :-) > > > I need a beer after wasting my time typing out that last message. My eyes > are crooked and I thought someone else posted this. > Good find, the site doesn't even set cookies. I know someone who would > probably find this info useful. :-) Kind of weird how the codec was there all along (?), just needed a switch flipped.. TiVo uses MW10, so NP... transfer speeds are slow (I only have a B wireless) and of course you need like qurater Gb for 30 minutes of TV - but still kind of cool - I can some TV programs I actually like with me on my next business trip! :-) Wonder how long before a network sues them though... From TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com Thu Feb 10 12:24:22 2005 From: TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com (Rob) Date: Thu Feb 10 07:35:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:ctpqg2$vhs$1@news.spamcop.net... > > The software works fine on internal drives, just not in external. And the > fact their tech support takes a week to get back to me doesn't help. > Just a thought, have you checked if Nero 5 supports the particular external drive you are attempting to use with it? I know what you mean about Nero Tech support, it seems to take months to get anyone beside a monkey to look at your request for help and you get rote replies that go in circles until they do. I'm finding it impossible to view DVDs in their Vision Express ever since a certain update with Nero 6 and they seem to refuse to believe it's there software and reckon it's my system even though many people are reporting the same problem. Rob From me at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 08:34:47 2005 From: me at privacy.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Thu Feb 10 08:40:24 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Xnews question References: Message-ID: "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message news:cuf7eb$1fg$1@news.spamcop.net... > indigo wrote: > > Can it filter by IP address of the NNTP posting host? Can't find this exact > > info via google..... > > And by the way, I tried NFilter again. The file they have on their > website which they say is an executable is actually a zip file. > http://www.nfilter.org/download.html Doesn't seem to work with XP, though, I get a message saying it's not a valid Win32 application, or something like that. From 47p772ok02 at sneakemail.com Thu Feb 10 14:57:35 2005 From: 47p772ok02 at sneakemail.com (Mr K. Mean) Date: Thu Feb 10 10:00:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Xnews question References: Message-ID: In article , Spamvireslayer wrote: > > "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message > news:cuf7eb$1fg$1@news.spamcop.net... >> indigo wrote: >> > Can it filter by IP address of the NNTP posting host? Can't find this exact >> > info via google..... >> >> And by the way, I tried NFilter again. The file they have on their >> website which they say is an executable is actually a zip file. >> http://www.nfilter.org/download.html > > Doesn't seem to work with XP, though, I get a message saying it's not a valid Win32 > application, or something like that. Rename the file, make it np-120.zip instead of np-120.exe. It should work much better that way. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 10 11:02:38 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Pop) Date: Thu Feb 10 11:05:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for [playback in] Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 08 Feb 2005 Skiwi entered spamcop.geeks and left ... > > I once had a problem with MPEG2 myself, even though it is supposed to > come with MPlayer. I believe these are MPEG, MPEG-1, and MPEG-2 > direct show filters, and could be messed up by 3rd party software > (possibly). > I installed LSX-MPEG for MPEG-2 which seems to work good for me. > Wow, it's no longer available, hmm, I'm sure I have it on CD... > See if this is any help http://www.ligos.com/support.htm ... Actually, no, the MPEG-2 video decoder doesn't come with WMP. That's because it's still demanding copyright fees and licenses and so can't be given away. So MS doesn't include it. Some vendors however and many video mfg's do pay the fees, and provide it with their computers. You can verify this over on the mediaplayer ng. It's also in the kb for WMP 9 and 10 and that MS won't pay the fees. And, if anyone cares, 10 is still buggy; stick with nine or at least don't throw it out. Pop From me at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 11:14:28 2005 From: me at privacy.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Thu Feb 10 11:20:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] MSN email Message-ID: Does anyone here use it? A friend (computer illiterate) does, they've done something to eff up her password, tech support (ha ha) didn't help, gave her a password that didn't work, all they would do is read from the script and tell her what was wrong, not how to fix it. Have they made any changes recently that would mess up her ability to get mail? TIA for any suggestions. From devnull at spamcop.net Thu Feb 10 11:21:45 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Feb 10 11:55:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Spamvireslayer" wrote in message news:cug1bv$ht7$1@news.spamcop.net... | Does anyone here use it? A friend (computer illiterate) does, they've done something | to eff up her password, tech support (ha ha) didn't help, gave her a password that | didn't work, all they would do is read from the script and tell her what was wrong, | not how to fix it. Have they made any changes recently that would mess up her | ability to get mail? TIA for any suggestions. Hotmail is likewise bollixed. I have more than a few of my Hospice patients who use Hotmail and the system is CONSTANTLY as in almost every hour asking them to visit a web site and enter a code viewed in a masked format. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Feb 10 09:39:07 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Feb 10 12:41:45 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Rob wrote: > "Borgholio" wrote in message > news:ctpqg2$vhs$1@news.spamcop.net... > >>The software works fine on internal drives, just not in external. And the >>fact their tech support takes a week to get back to me doesn't help. >> > > > Just a thought, have you checked if Nero 5 supports the particular external > drive you are attempting to use with it? I've used several brands of external drives, so I doubt that's it. > > I know what you mean about Nero Tech support, it seems to take months to get > anyone beside a monkey to look at your request for help and you get rote > replies that go in circles until they do. I'm finding it impossible to view > DVDs in their Vision Express ever since a certain update with Nero 6 and > they seem to refuse to believe it's there software and reckon it's my system > even though many people are reporting the same problem. > > Rob > > By bitching enough I got a quicker response from tech support here in the US. We'll see what happens. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 10 11:15:28 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spam Reporter) Date: Thu Feb 10 13:40:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Spamvireslayer" wrote: > Does anyone here use it? A friend (computer illiterate) does, they've > done something to eff up her password, tech support (ha ha) didn't help, > gave her a password that didn't work, all they would do is read from the > script and tell her what was wrong, not how to fix it. Have they made > any changes recently that would mess up her ability to get mail? TIA for > any suggestions. It's probably a virus or something. Have her re-format the hard drive and start over. From nobody at nowhere.invalid Thu Feb 10 19:46:25 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Thu Feb 10 13:50:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! References: Message-ID: On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 22:03:48 -0800, Borgholio coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > The software works fine on internal drives, just not in external. And the > fact their tech support takes a week to get back to me doesn't help. Chances are that your CD writers are bog standard IDE devices hiding behind a USB to IDE converter in the external box. Why not just remove them from their external boxes and mount them *in* the PC? -- Steve Support bacteria! It's the only culture some people have. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Feb 10 10:50:28 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Feb 10 13:55:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: ARRGGGGHHH!!! Goddamn Nero! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Steven Maesslein wrote: > On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 22:03:48 -0800, Borgholio coughed into spamcop.geeks > and left this in : > > >>The software works fine on internal drives, just not in external. And the >>fact their tech support takes a week to get back to me doesn't help. > > > Chances are that your CD writers are bog standard IDE devices hiding > behind a USB to IDE converter in the external box. They are. It's cheaper than buying straight external drives. >Why not just remove > them from their external boxes and mount them *in* the PC? No room. I already have two hard drives and a DVD burner in there. Even though it's a server-sized case, I'd still need to purchase an additional IDE controller card for the extra two drives. That, and it's way more convenient having the burners on my desk, rather than on the floor. From user at domain.invalid Thu Feb 10 13:26:42 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Thu Feb 10 14:30:19 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] New SpamAssassin 3.02 Message-ID: Just installed SA 3.02 and it's quite an upgrade. New "init.pre" file for loading plugins and such. Can't find any docs on configuring that file. Comments on 3.02, tips? Thanks From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 10 22:58:39 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 10 18:00:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 [via Registry Hack] References: Message-ID: On 09 Feb 2005 Skiwi entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cuemae$hfd$1@news.spamcop.net: > Kind of weird how the codec was there all along (?), just needed a > switch flipped.. TiVo uses MW10, so NP... transfer speeds are slow (I > only have a B wireless) and of course you need like qurater Gb for 30 > minutes of TV - but still kind of cool - I can some TV programs I > actually like with me on my next business trip! :-) Wonder how > long before a network sues them though... > So are you using a Tivo app on Windows to record, or are you streaming the video off of a Tivo PVR? I guess that's what I'm confused about. I'd like to get a DVD-R (RW maybe), but it would be handy to have one with a harddrive in it (PVR) so I could have Tivo-like features as well, but I don't need to pay for Tivo. DVD-R is at a good price, but the PVR is still spendy, and I could just about build one for what they cost now. So maybe I'll just wait another year. You can record onto VCR, so I don't see the big deal about recording onto DVD or just onto your harddrive (memory stick or whatever). That's not like making multiple copies or distributing them over the Internet. Actually I think they can mark a video stream as "protected" and you are not supposed to be able to record that, such as maybe PPV programming. -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 10 23:05:47 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 10 18:10:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 [via Registry Hack] References: Message-ID: On 10 Feb 2005 Blammo entered spamcop.geeks and left news:Xns95F99887B1893blammo@216.154.195.61: > You can record onto VCR, so I don't see the big deal about recording > onto DVD Uh, speaking of copy-protection; I've been able to defeat VHS copy- protection on rentals by increasing the video gain on the playback deck. Of course digital video is not quite so easy, unless you record off the analog output. -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 10 23:18:17 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 10 18:20:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for [playback in] Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... References: Message-ID: On 10 Feb 2005 Pop entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cug0ih$h83$1@news.spamcop.net: > Actually, no, the MPEG-2 video decoder doesn't come with WMP. That's > because it's still demanding copyright fees and licenses and so can't > be given away. So MS doesn't include it. Some vendors however and > many video mfg's do pay the fees, and provide it with their computers. > Maybe it's not included with MP9/10, but the codec should be included with MPEG video card and DVD drive software. I still like MP6.4 better, and I think I only had trouble with some older MPEG videos, which is probably why I installed the Ligos player. I have so many codecs it's hard to keep track of them. I think XviD handles all the MPEG-4 formats, and I don't need the Div-X player at all. Then there's Intel i263 I had to install, and several versions of Indeo and Cinepak. I think some of these codecs are for playback only and you need to pay a fee to record with them. -- | Ric | From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Fri Feb 11 03:29:37 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (WazoO) Date: Fri Feb 11 04:30:14 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Spamvireslayer" wrote in message news:cug1bv$ht7$1@news.spamcop.net... > Does anyone here use it? A friend (computer illiterate) does, they've done something > to eff up her password, tech support (ha ha) didn't help, gave her a password that > didn't work, all they would do is read from the script and tell her what was wrong, > not how to fix it. Have they made any changes recently that would mess up her > ability to get mail? TIA for any suggestions. They have changed nothing publicly However, yet another outage has been in the press. Messenger wasn't working for a lot of folks for a few days, which also uses the PassPort servers/network ... so if one was to go with the flow that it was 'down' (and the 'error displayed was name/password/user not found) and your friend tried to change/replace/fix those entries at her end, it's hard telling where things are as far as getting logged in. I'm guessing that she might be able to solve some of this by going to the PassPort site at; http://memberservices.passport.net/memberservice.srf?lc=1033&cbid=486 From nobody at privacy.net Fri Feb 11 09:20:43 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 09:25:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "WazoO" wrote in message news:cuhtu4$6mv$1@news.spamcop.net... > > They have changed nothing publicly However, yet > another outage has been in the press. Messenger wasn't > working for a lot of folks for a few days, which also uses > the PassPort servers/network ... so if one was to go > with the flow that it was 'down' (and the 'error displayed > was name/password/user not found) and your friend > tried to change/replace/fix those entries at her end, it's > hard telling where things are as far as getting logged in. > I'm guessing that she might be able to solve some of > this by going to the PassPort site at; > http://memberservices.passport.net/memberservice.srf?lc=1033&cbid=486 > Thanks, I sent this to her, hopefully she can either retrieve her password or change it and bypass her useless Customer Service drones..... From Unknown.User at Invalid.Domain Fri Feb 11 11:13:19 2005 From: Unknown.User at Invalid.Domain (Jan M. Nelken) Date: Fri Feb 11 11:15:24 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: David Dean wrote: > Does anyone know if the following is a real version? > > Mozilla Thunderbird 0.9 (Windows/20041103) > > I have found it to be useful as a filter in a particular setting, but > wondered if I could be removing real content as well as bad. > It looks like a real version - you could check in ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/releases/0.9 that it was really released on Nov 3, 2004. It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too ... Jan From nobody at privacy.net Fri Feb 11 13:12:06 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:15:37 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent References: Message-ID: Jan M. Nelken wrote: > It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything > they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one flooding the newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the chandelier... From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:31:53 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > Jan M. Nelken wrote: > >>It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too > > > He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one flooding the > newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the chandelier... > > From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:32:11 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heid1) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:16 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > Jan M. Nelken wrote: > >>It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too > > > He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one flooding the > newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the chandelier... > > From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:32:34 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Ewe) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:21 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > Jan M. Nelken wrote: > >>It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too > > > He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one flooding the > newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the chandelier... > > From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:33:01 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Fluffy) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:26 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >> >>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >> >> >> >> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >> flooding the >> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >> chandelier... >> >> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:33:18 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:32 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Fluffy wrote: > Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > >> Spamvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>> >>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>> flooding the >>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>> chandelier... >>> >>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:33:38 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:39 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Fluffy wrote: > >> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>> >>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>> flooding the >>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>> chandelier... >>>> >>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:34:07 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:43 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Fluffy wrote: > Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > >> Spamvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>> >>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>> flooding the >>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>> chandelier... >>> >>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:34:19 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Ewe) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:46 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Fluffy wrote: > >> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>> >>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>> flooding the >>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>> chandelier... >>>> >>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 14:34:32 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:48 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heid1 wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >> >>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >> >> >> >> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >> flooding the >> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >> chandelier... >> >> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:12:21 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:51 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > Jan M. Nelken wrote: > >>It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too > > > He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one flooding the > newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the chandelier... > > From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:12:36 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:53 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >> >>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >> >> >> >> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >> flooding the >> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >> chandelier... >> >> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:12:46 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Ewe) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:56 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Fluffy wrote: > Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > >> Spamvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>> >>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>> flooding the >>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>> chandelier... >>> >>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:13:04 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heid1) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:40:58 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Fluffy wrote: > >> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>> >>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>> flooding the >>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>> chandelier... >>>> >>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:13:17 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Heidi wrote: > >> Fluffy wrote: >> >>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>> flooding the >>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>> chandelier... >>>>> >>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:13:39 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:14 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > >> Heidi wrote: >> >>> Fluffy wrote: >>> >>>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>>> flooding the >>>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>>> chandelier... >>>>>> >>>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:13:53 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Ewe) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:19 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heid1 wrote: > Heidi wrote: > >> Fluffy wrote: >> >>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>> flooding the >>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>> chandelier... >>>>> >>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:14:07 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:23 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Ewe wrote: > Fluffy wrote: > >> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>> >>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>> flooding the >>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>> chandelier... >>>> >>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:14:22 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:27 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > >> Spamvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>> >>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>> flooding the >>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>> chandelier... >>> >>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 04:16:23 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:32 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >> >>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >> >> >> >> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >> flooding the >> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >> chandelier... >> >> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:13:21 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:36 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Heidi wrote: > >> Fluffy wrote: >> >>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>> flooding the >>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>> chandelier... >>>>> >>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:13:37 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:39 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >> >>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >> >> >> >> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >> flooding the >> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >> chandelier... >> >> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:13:45 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Ewe) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:45:42 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Fluffy wrote: > Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > >> Spamvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>> >>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>> flooding the >>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>> chandelier... >>> >>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:14:00 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Fluffy wrote: > >> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>> >>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>> flooding the >>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>> chandelier... >>>> >>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:14:10 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Ewe) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:13 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Heidi wrote: > >> Fluffy wrote: >> >>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>> flooding the >>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>> chandelier... >>>>> >>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:14:19 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:18 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > >> Heidi wrote: >> >>> Fluffy wrote: >>> >>>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>>> flooding the >>>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>>> chandelier... >>>>>> >>>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:14:40 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:24 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Heidi wrote: > >> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Heidi wrote: >>> >>>> Fluffy wrote: >>>> >>>>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the >>>>>>> one flooding the >>>>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in >>>>>>> the chandelier... >>>>>>> >>>>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:14:53 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:30 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Ewe wrote: > Heidi wrote: > >> Fluffy wrote: >> >>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>> flooding the >>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>> chandelier... >>>>> >>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:15:03 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:35 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heid1 wrote: > Heidi wrote: > >> Fluffy wrote: >> >>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>> flooding the >>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>> chandelier... >>>>> >>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:15:21 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:39 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Ewe wrote: > Heid1 wrote: > >> Heidi wrote: >> >>> Fluffy wrote: >>> >>>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>>> flooding the >>>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>>> chandelier... >>>>>> >>>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:15:34 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:41 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > Fluffy wrote: > >> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>> >>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>> flooding the >>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>> chandelier... >>>> >>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:16:43 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Sp@amvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:44 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Ewe wrote: > >> Fluffy wrote: >> >>> Sp@amvireslayer wrote: >>> >>>> Spamvireslayer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>>>> flooding the >>>>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>>>> chandelier... >>>>> >>>>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:17:01 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:47 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Ewe wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >> >>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >> >> >> >> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >> flooding the >> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >> chandelier... >> >> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:17:10 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:50 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >> >>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >> >> >> >> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >> flooding the >> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >> chandelier... >> >> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 16:17:40 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:53 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > >> Spamvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>> >>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>> flooding the >>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>> chandelier... >>> >>> From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 12:18:10 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:50:56 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > Jan M. Nelken wrote: > >>It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too > > > He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one flooding the > newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the chandelier... > > From nobody at privacy.net Thu Feb 10 12:18:47 2005 From: nobody at privacy.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Feb 11 13:55:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: User Agent In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sp@amvireslayer wrote: > Heid1 wrote: > >> Spamvireslayer wrote: >> >>> Jan M. Nelken wrote: >>> >>>> It is really easy for users to set up user agent string to anything >>>> they want - I am afraid even trollboi may eventually learn that too >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> He already did, he likes to copy mine so it looks like I'm the one >>> flooding the >>> newgroup - duh. No one ever said he was the brightest bulb in the >>> chandelier... >>> >>> From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Feb 11 14:21:20 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (indigo) Date: Fri Feb 11 14:20:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Xnews question ==> now Nfilter question References: Message-ID: Socks wrote: > "indigo" wrote in > news:cuduf3$111$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Can it filter by IP address of the NNTP posting host? Can't find this >> exact info via google..... > > %Dippy is back > Score:: -9999 > NNTP-Posting-Host: 203.197.118.103 > NNTP-Posting-Host: 220-134-241-65.hinet-ip.hinet.net > NNTP-Posting-Host: 81.107.195.144 I gave up on XNews, couldn't make heads or tails of how to use it (not very intuitive compared to OE, plus I'm on heavy medication ;-) With some help I've gotten Nfilter running -- although it's not working, I keep getting an error message like this: 3 - Inactive. Status = Error received from server news.spamcop.net, port 119 but is there a regexp I can use to filter out regurgitated posts? Some kind of BI filter perhaps? 2nd question: does Nfilter only work on "new" posts? (I'm guessing the answer is yes) From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 11 21:51:15 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 11 16:55:26 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for [playback in] Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... References: Message-ID: On 10 Feb 2005 Blammo entered spamcop.geeks and left news:Xns95F99BDC658CBblammo@216.154.195.61: > I think XviD handles all the > MPEG-4 formats, and I don't need the Div-X player at all. Ah, I forgot I had trouble with XviD and I switched to ffdshow, which I think is very cool. If anyone cares... 1. About ffdshow video decoder ffdshow is a DirectShow decoding filter for decompressing DIVX movies. It uses libavcodec from ffmpeg project or for video decompression (it can use xvid.dll installed with xvid codec too), postprocessing code from mplayer to enhance visual quality of low bitrate movies, and is based on original DirectShow filter from XviD, which is GPL'ed educational implementation of MPEG4 encoder. 2. Features - fast video decompression using optimized MMX, SSE and 3DNow! code - support for different codecs: XviD and all DIVX versions - additional support for MSMPEG4v1, MSMPEG4v2, MSMPEG4v3 and H263 - can act as generic postprocessing filter for other decoders like MPEG1 or MPEG2 - image postprocessing for higher playback quality - automatic quality control: automatically reduces postprocessing level when CPU load is high - hue, saturation and luminance correction (MMX optimized) - two sharpening filters: xsharpen and unsharp mask - blur and temporal smoother - tray icon with menu and quick access to configuration dialog - noising with two selectable algorithms - resizing and aspect ratio changing - subtitles - completely free software: ffdshow is distributed under GPL 4. Web links ffdshow: http://cutka.szm.sk/ffdshow/ or http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow/ XviD: http://www.xvid.org/ ffmpeg: http://ffmpeg.org/ libmpeg2:http://libmpeg2.sourceforge.net/ mplayer: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/ DVD2AVI: http://arbor.ee.ntu.edu.tw/~jackei/dvd2avi/ xsharpen, unsharp mask, msharpen, hue and saturation code http://sauron.mordor.net/dgraft/index.html and doom9: http://www.doom9.org/ 5. Copying All used sources (except of cpu utilization detection routine) and ffdshow itself are distributed under GPL. Milan Cutka (About ffdshow) -- | Ric From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 11 22:00:48 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 11 17:05:10 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Xnews question ==> now Nfilter question References: Message-ID: On 11 Feb 2005 indigo entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cuj0ea$3mg$1@news.spamcop.net: > I gave up on XNews, couldn't make heads or tails of how to use it (not > very intuitive compared to OE, plus I'm on heavy medication ;-) > No, it's not, it's almost like it's written in another language and it takes some getting used to. However there should be some knowledgable users in news://news.software.readers/ For example -- | Ric From eddie at eddie.web Fri Feb 11 17:18:09 2005 From: eddie at eddie.web (eddie) Date: Fri Feb 11 17:20:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Judge berates SCO for lack of evidence Message-ID: "Viewed against the backdrop of SCO's plethora of public statements," commented the judge, "it is astonishing that SCO has not offered any competent evidence ... regarding whether IBM has infringed [SCO's copyrights]." The judge specifically pointed out how SCO, at a forum in 2003, indicated it had identified over one million lines of infringing code in the Linux kernel, code allegedly put there by IBM after being ported over from AIX. Yet, as the judge observed, SCO has yet to actually show any of this evidence to anyone in the court. ... http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2005Feb/gee20050211029116.htm Was it all just a get-rich-quick scheme? It always smelled to me. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Feb 11 20:32:57 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Miss Betsy) Date: Fri Feb 11 20:30:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:cug3d0$j5q$1@news.spamcop.net... > Hotmail is likewise bollixed. I have more than a few of my Hospice patients > who use Hotmail and the system is CONSTANTLY as in almost every hour asking > them to visit a web site and enter a code viewed in a masked format. > I have a couple of Hotmail accounts that are doing the same thing. I thought at first it was because one of them I use for larts and that they were picking up the spammy stuff. Then I decided it was because I still use OE to download and send - rarely going to the website. Do your friends get the coded stuff just accessing the web site? Miss Betsy From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Feb 11 20:49:09 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Miss Betsy) Date: Fri Feb 11 20:50:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs References: Message-ID: "Bill Sommerfeld" wrote in message news:cuak5k$gtr$1@news.spamcop.net... > - Even if you make it 10x more expensive, it may still be cheaper than > direct mail. > > - For some illegal goods, there aren't that many good substitute > advertising methods. > I actually have gotten 419 scams via snail mail & fax in the last year. The outright cons are not going to go away. They may not send as many as at a time, but they will still be sending them. The big problem is that it costs money to implement good spam prevention - hardware, personnel, consumer education. And that makes connectivity more expensive which, in turn, means fewer customers. Miss Betsy From devnull at spamcop.net Fri Feb 11 21:25:00 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Feb 11 21:30:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Miss Betsy" | | > Hotmail is likewise bollixed. I have more than a few of my | Hospice patients who use Hotmail and the system is CONSTANTLY as in almost every | hour asking them to visit a web site and enter a code viewed in a masked | format. | > | | I have a couple of Hotmail accounts that are doing the same thing. | I thought at first it was because one of them I use for larts and | that they were picking up the spammy stuff. Then I decided it was | because I still use OE to download and send - rarely going to the | website. Do your friends get the coded stuff just accessing the | web site? Finally received a response from hotmail but *only* after I sent the complaint to abuse@hotmail.com they gave me the usual 'rest the your account/password/etc' I that to one account but not the others. As of that email the problem has not come back. Doubt it's been fixed From wb8tyw at qsl.network Fri Feb 11 23:11:18 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Fri Feb 11 23:15:26 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > John E. Malmberg wrote: > >> The money in spam is not in sending the spew, it is in selling >> spamware and it's accessories like sample kits, to suckers that read >> about how much money that these famous spammers are making. >> >> A more realistic story was the case of the "Buffalo Spammer" that >> Earthlink tracked down. > > John, my last posting wasn't very clear -- Buffalo Spammer was not the > typical MO of kingpin spammers, in my opinion. Using identy theft to get > accounts to spam from is very brute-force - in his case, it may be that > he made most of his cash from duping in a pyramid scheme. I agree with > your conclusion. I have seen no one anywhere produce any evidence that any of the spammers are really making any money. There is quite a bit of evidence that many of them are bankrupt, and that they leave many of the ISP's giving them bulletproof hosting with very large unpaid and uncollectible bills. The only ones claiming that they are making money is the spammers. And none of the reporters that are publishing these claims are actually verifying that the spammer really is making the money they claim. It appears from the reports that even at the top, they are barely making enough money to keep the bill collectors away or the suckers that think they are partners from realizing that they are never going to get any real return on their investments. What money they do take in is probably used as minimum down payments on long term loans so that they can provide the illusion of making a lot of money. The smarter ones are probably hiding some money somewhere so they can start over when they get caught. The business model looks exactly like the ones that are explained for the classic scam investments that are periodically profiled on America's Most Wanted. Flash some cash, but run everything on unsecured loans or investments from other victims. Pay the richest victims with money scammed from later victims so that they do not catch on, and blame the lack of higher payments on unforeseen problems that just need a little more cash/time to overcome. This makes the buffalo spammer look just like this model, but one of the less competent scam artists. There are also posts in news.admin.net-abuse.email where some of the participants have found spammer's forums, and they report that much of the postings are from the affiliates that bought spamming kits complaining that they are not getting paid their commissions. It appears that all the money is in selling the spamming kits and samples to the suckers that think they can get rich quick off the internet, but not in the spam it self I recall an online publication did a survey and found that no one actually purchased anything sold by spam, and another survey showed that of spamvertized products, only the ones advertising porn sites actually delivered the promised product. Of course to get anything other than the home page, you need to provide a credit card. Laboratory tests on the pills shipped showed the presence of insect parts and fecal matter along with other apparently inert compounds. But these do not make the headlines or the ratings during sweeps. The media also ignores how incompetent ISP's assist spammers both in accepting e-mail from known spam sources, and in failing to shut off access to known compromised computers on their network, even though that inaction on the ISP's part costs the ISP far more money than it would have taken to run the network properly. The media also ignores reporting on how easy it is to use DNSbls to eliminate most of the spam coming in. For the broadcast networks, they might offend an advertiser or an owner, but what is public TV/radio's excuse? Afraid of offending a major corporate underwriter? It is almost when one of the upper level spamware sellers needs to boost their sales, they call a major media outlet and offer an exclusive interview on how they are making millions being hated. And these reporters fall for it hook line and sinker. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From nobody at nowhere.invalid Sat Feb 12 11:05:51 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Sat Feb 12 05:10:17 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 21:25:00 -0500, Frog Prince coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > Finally received a response from hotmail but *only* after I sent the > complaint to abuse@hotmail.com they gave me the usual 'rest the your > account/password/etc' I that to one account but not the others. As of > that email the problem has not come back. Heh - if Microsoft fixes this with the same speed with which they fix the problems in Windows, you might want to look into finding new e-mail addresses :) -- Steve Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 07:06:09 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Miss Betsy) Date: Sat Feb 12 07:05:19 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Steven Maesslein" wrote in message news:slrnd0rl7v.p0.nobody@127.0.0.1... > On Fri, 11 Feb 2005 21:25:00 -0500, Frog Prince coughed into > spamcop.geeks and left this in : > > > Finally received a response from hotmail but *only* after I sent the > > complaint to abuse@hotmail.com they gave me the usual 'rest the your > > account/password/etc' I that to one account but not the others. As of > > that email the problem has not come back. > > Heh - if Microsoft fixes this with the same speed with which they fix > the problems in Windows, you might want to look into finding new e-mail > addresses :) Myself, I thought that perhaps they were doing it to discourage free users. Miss Betsy From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 07:22:40 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Miss Betsy) Date: Sat Feb 12 07:20:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs References: Message-ID: "John E. Malmberg" wrote in message news:cujvl7$ois$1@news.spamcop.net... > I recall an online publication did a survey and found that no one > actually purchased anything sold by spam, and another survey showed that > of spamvertized products, only the ones advertising porn sites actually > delivered the promised product. Of course to get anything other than > the home page, you need to provide a credit card. While I do think that most of the spam (especially the ones with gibberish in the subjects) comes from wannaberich and which everybody ignores, I think that the pills may also be bought. > > Laboratory tests on the pills shipped showed the presence of insect > parts and fecal matter along with other apparently inert compounds. And I read in the newspaper that US Federal agents were seizing pill shipments at the PO because of that. > > But these do not make the headlines or the ratings during sweeps. > > The media also ignores how incompetent ISP's assist spammers both in > accepting e-mail from known spam sources, and in failing to shut off > access to known compromised computers on their network, even though that > inaction on the ISP's part costs the ISP far more money than it would > have taken to run the network properly. > > The media also ignores reporting on how easy it is to use DNSbls to > eliminate most of the spam coming in. > > For the broadcast networks, they might offend an advertiser or an owner, > but what is public TV/radio's excuse? Afraid of offending a major > corporate underwriter? > > It is almost when one of the upper level spamware sellers needs to boost > their sales, they call a major media outlet and offer an exclusive > interview on how they are making millions being hated. And these > reporters fall for it hook line and sinker. Journalism just isn't what it used to be. IMHO, the reporters are too dumb to get the 'real' story. OTOH, perhaps the content filter merchants may put some money towards hushing up that there is another way. And another source of income is the lists themselves. A story I read about a spammer (the one who was actually sending the spam) was mostly about how she was trading the lists for $1000's of dollars. She seemed to think she was doing a public service by offering low rate home mortgages. You see ads on TV for the same sort of 'legal' scams as are in some of the spam. And I got a phone call from someone selling printer cartridges. When I asked him about his website, he said it was down temporarily. And we get faxes for cheap health insurance and vacations at work. As you say, until ISPs wake up, the spam problem will be with us. Miss Betsy From TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com Sat Feb 12 13:28:31 2005 From: TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com (Rob) Date: Sat Feb 12 08:40:15 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Miss Betsy" wrote in message news:cujm5e$j30$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > I have a couple of Hotmail accounts that are doing the same thing. > I thought at first it was because one of them I use for larts and > that they were picking up the spammy stuff. Then I decided it was > because I still use OE to download and send - rarely going to the > website. Do your friends get the coded stuff just accessing the > web site? > > Miss Betsy > > I access Hotmail daily either via OE or MailWasher and have had no problems. Also, can access it via web site and see no code. Could this be country specific or new account specific? Rob From devnull at spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 09:40:27 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Feb 12 09:50:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Rob" | > I have a couple of Hotmail accounts that are doing the same thing. | > I thought at first it was because one of them I use for larts and | > that they were picking up the spammy stuff. Then I decided it was | > because I still use OE to download and send - rarely going to the | > website. Do your friends get the coded stuff just accessing the | > web site? | > | > Miss Betsy | > | > | | I access Hotmail daily either via OE or MailWasher and have had no problems. | Also, can access it via web site and see no code. Could this be country | specific or new account specific? | | Rob Accounts have been in existence since god was a private (before he was promoted to almighty) all are registered in the USA. The only common link is that any account having problems has received (valid) bounced messages from address where we are presuming that the mail box is overloaded. All are accessing the accounts via OE. And yes I'm setting up replacement accounts (but not on hotmail). As an experiment we stopped sending any email to the addys that are bouncing and are waiting to see what develops. (so far no change) From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 13:12:26 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Sat Feb 12 13:15:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Miss Betsy wrote: > "John E. Malmberg" wrote in message > news:cujvl7$ois$1@news.spamcop.net... > >>Laboratory tests on the pills shipped showed the presence of insect >>parts and fecal matter along with other apparently inert compounds. > > And I read in the newspaper that US Federal agents were seizing > pill shipments at the PO because of that. > Just to back this up with a story: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/spam_lawsuit/ Perhaps most people find their cheap Viagra with Google. My bet is that there is an important percentage of people who actually do get it after seeing an ad in their inbox. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 14:04:20 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Pop) Date: Sat Feb 12 14:05:29 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Candidate 4 worst advice of the year Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: Spam Reporter wrote: > "Spamvireslayer" wrote: > ... > > It's probably a virus or something. Have her re-format the hard drive > and start over. -- --- No, I won't get dressed. I'm retired! From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 14:14:55 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Pop) Date: Sat Feb 12 14:15:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for [playback in] Media Player 10 and TivoDesktop 2.0... References: Message-ID: ===> Inline: Blammo wrote: > On 10 Feb 2005 Pop entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cug0ih$h83$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Actually, no, the MPEG-2 video decoder doesn't come with WMP. That's >> because it's still demanding copyright fees and licenses and so can't >> be given away. So MS doesn't include it. Some vendors however and >> many video mfg's do pay the fees, and provide it with their >> computers. >> > > Maybe it's not included with MP9/10, but the codec should be included > with MPEG video card and DVD drive software. ===> And, it usually is. The problem that comes up is occaisonally they don't install it unless you catch the right "option" somewhere. I -think- Nero is one of those, but not sure. Also, it might only be for playing and not recording. It's a mess as soon as you get into no-names but there are some really good no-names out there. > > I still like MP6.4 better, and I think I only had trouble with some > older MPEG videos, which is probably why I installed the Ligos > player. I have so many codecs it's hard to keep track of them. I > think XviD handles all the MPEG-4 formats, and I don't need the Div-X > player at all. Then there's Intel i263 I had to install, and several > versions of Indeo and Cinepak. I think some of these codecs are for > playback only and you need to pay a fee to record with them. >| Ric Sounds like a fun time was had by all! But I know what you mean. For any newbies, it's a nightmare too. They don't even know what MPEG is, let alone 2 or 4 of 44, thanks to the EXcellent documentation most of the major players provide for such things. IMO, IFF there is a DVD drive app, there must be the relavent codec to support whatever that drive can do, whether it's play or read/play. It's akin to buying a car without a steering wheel, which the manufacturer can't sell to you becaues he won't pay the measly fee, so they won't mention that little fact until after delivery. Pop From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 14:47:33 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Miss Betsy) Date: Sat Feb 12 14:46:39 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Rob" wrote in message news:cul0pj$aln$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Miss Betsy" wrote in message > news:cujm5e$j30$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > > > > I have a couple of Hotmail accounts that are doing the same thing. > > I thought at first it was because one of them I use for larts and > > that they were picking up the spammy stuff. Then I decided it was > > because I still use OE to download and send - rarely going to the > > website. Do your friends get the coded stuff just accessing the > > web site? > > > > Miss Betsy > > > > > > I access Hotmail daily either via OE or MailWasher and have had no problems. > Also, can access it via web site and see no code. Could this be country > specific or new account specific? > > Rob It could be country, but it is not new account because I have had mine for a couple of years. I also download into OE. It is only when I send email that it pops up. Miss Betsy From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Feb 12 13:08:12 2005 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Feb 12 16:10:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: adventures in NNTP References: Message-ID: David Dean wrote: > I have set up an NNTP server similar to JT's (INN 2.4.1) to see if > I can hack together some code to deny posting to known open proxies > via a DNSBL. All of the abused proxies so far have been on ahbl's Open Proxy (pxychain) list, which gives a 127.0.0.19 for 4.3.2.1.dnsbl.ahbl.org - or if not all, at least 95%, I forget. Of course, those IPs are variably listed other places. The site^1 sez 127.0.0.3 for those, but that's not what I get nor dnsstuff. ^1 http://www.ahbl.org/docs/dnsbl2.php > Those of you who are willing to hop on the alpha > testing, drop me a line and I will send you the server's address for > you to play with. mike.easter@gmail.com - I'll also email it. > For now, I'm going to limit participation, but if > all goes well, i will expand testing to the general public. > The above email address will reach me. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com Sat Feb 12 22:28:48 2005 From: TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com (Rob) Date: Sat Feb 12 17:31:28 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Miss Betsy" wrote in message news:culm9q$nkl$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > It could be country, but it is not new account because I have had > mine for a couple of years. I also download into OE. It is only > when I send email that it pops up. > > Miss Betsy > > Hadn't sent via Hotmail for a while, just tried it and it sends with no problem and downloads with OE. I signed up via UK although I still have a com tag to the address, I seem to remember there were different rules for different countries so this possibly is a country specific thing. Rob From tmcgraw at spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 16:15:58 2005 From: tmcgraw at spamcop.net (Tim McGraw) Date: Sat Feb 12 19:15:22 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: adventures in NNTP In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike Easter wrote: > > http://www.ahbl.org/docs/dnsbl2.php That's the one right there. Problem IPs listed. Non-problem IPs are not. From skiwi at spamcop.net Sat Feb 12 23:55:08 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Sun Feb 13 03:00:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Seeking decent (free) MPEG-2 (sic?!) for Media Player 10 [via Registry Hack] In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 09 Feb 2005 Skiwi entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cuemae$hfd$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >>Kind of weird how the codec was there all along (?), just needed a >>switch flipped.. TiVo uses MW10, so NP... transfer speeds are slow (I >>only have a B wireless) and of course you need like qurater Gb for 30 >>minutes of TV - but still kind of cool - I can some TV programs I >>actually like with me on my next business trip! :-) Wonder how >>long before a network sues them though... >> > > > So are you using a Tivo app on Windows to record, or are you streaming the > video off of a Tivo PVR? I guess that's what I'm confused about. > I'd like to get a DVD-R (RW maybe), but it would be handy to have one with > a harddrive in it (PVR) so I could have Tivo-like features as well, but I > don't need to pay for Tivo. DVD-R is at a good price, but the PVR is still > spendy, and I could just about build one for what they cost now. So maybe > I'll just wait another year. Copying off the TiVo DVR - saves as an MPEG that WMP10 plays, but with a "secret password" - connectuion is too slow to stream for me! :-) Along with business trips, I can watch shows at my desk that SO has no interest in... as she is watching something else - like just recorded Amiele off CBC - and watched - excellent movie IMHO... They make DVD-Rs with TiVo capabilities - or you can get a DVD-recorder option for this software so you can cut at your desktop... > You can record onto VCR, so I don't see the big deal about recording onto > DVD or just onto your harddrive (memory stick or whatever). That's not like > making multiple copies or distributing them over the Internet. Actually I > think they can mark a video stream as "protected" and you are not supposed > to be able to record that, such as maybe PPV programming. Can do that all now, no protection beyond you password of choice and a EULA - but get a big one if you want to use a memory stick - 1 hour of shoe will suck up 512Mb - wonder what it would look like on a PDA with a deecnt screen? From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Sun Feb 13 11:57:18 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Sun Feb 13 03:00:47 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs References: Message-ID: "John E. Malmberg" wrote in message news:cujvl7$ois$1@news.spamcop.net... > Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > > John E. Malmberg wrote: > > > >> SNIP> > > >SNIP. > > I have seen no one anywhere produce any evidence that any of the > spammers are really making any money. > > There is quite a bit of evidence that many of them are bankrupt, and > that they leave many of the ISP's giving them bulletproof hosting with > very large unpaid and uncollectible bills. > > The only ones claiming that they are making money is the spammers. And > none of the reporters that are publishing these claims are actually > verifying that the spammer really is making the money they claim. > > It appears from the reports that even at the top, they are barely making > enough money to keep the bill collectors away or the suckers that think > they are partners from realizing that they are never going to get any > real return on their investments. What money they do take in is > probably used as minimum down payments on long term loans so that they > can provide the illusion of making a lot of money. > -John John, I was just reading an article at spamhaus.org, where it is claimed that MCI makes on the order of $4MM per year from their spammer clients, Apparently the reason why send-safe, for example, is still comfortably hosted there. http://www.spamhaus.org/news.lasso?article=158 So some of these spammers really are raking in the dough, it looks like. :( From wb8tyw at qsl.network Sun Feb 13 10:42:13 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Sun Feb 13 10:45:36 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Spammer per-message prices and costs In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Berny wrote: > > John, I was just reading an article at spamhaus.org, where it is claimed > that MCI makes on the order of $4MM per year from their spammer clients, > Apparently the reason why send-safe, for example, is still comfortably > hosted there. > > http://www.spamhaus.org/news.lasso?article=158 > > So some of these spammers really are raking in the dough, it looks like. :( Not the spammers, the top of the pyramid scammers and the spamware sellers, and they have high overhead. The issue with con-artists is cash-flow, and skimming as much profit out of it as possible. Most of them have shown to be stupid, and instead of salting some money away, they spend it all on the moment, as they figure they can start from nothing again. It would seem that amount of money would be enough to get some government agency to start a rico investigation. Seeing as the articles about the so called "Spam Kings" that have declared bankruptcy, it seems that one of their skills is in finding suppliers that will wait patently for their the bills to get paid. It is quite possible there is someone at that ISP that thinks they are going to get paid $$$ from the spamware seller, and if they cancel the account, they have to write off all the unpaid bills as uncollectible, and that could be enough to impact the stock price. Many bandwidth/telco/electric/... suppliers will keep you connected as long as you are paying a small percentage of the accumulated bill. Con artists quickly find out what that minimum is, and take advantage of this. Also they may be giving kickbacks (usually in way underwater shares of future profits as that costs nothing) to ISP employees to keep overlooking the unpaid bills. There is a very high chance that any ISP that is hosting spamware or spammers is just piling up uncollectible debt. The share holders of those ISPs should be asking about that, as hosting spammers has proved to be a bad business models for ISPs economically time and time again. From what it has shown on America's Most Wanted, these con-artists can operate for several years, even though they would have been immediately discovered if any of their creditors had done even the slightest due-diligence test. Frequently it has been shown that the reason that the due-diligence tests were not done is that the person that was supposed to do them was an investor (victim) in the scam. -John wb8tyw@qsl.net Personal Opinion Only From none.of at your.biz Sun Feb 13 19:09:25 2005 From: none.of at your.biz (news.spamcop.net) Date: Sun Feb 13 22:11:11 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] (C&C) "We have already informed police to assist our resolve it." Message-ID: Too bad this one's probably _not_ going to happen. From: "abuse@cta.cq.cn" <> We have already informed police to assist our resolve it. ---------------------------------------------- ???????????????????????????? http://mail.online.cq.cn I have no clue what LART this relates to . From PossumTrot at dont.spam.me Mon Feb 14 11:11:38 2005 From: PossumTrot at dont.spam.me (Possum Trot) Date: Mon Feb 14 14:15:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:cug3d0$j5q$1@news.spamcop.net... > >> Hotmail is likewise bollixed. I have more than a few of my > Hospice patients >> who use Hotmail and the system is CONSTANTLY as in almost every > hour asking >> them to visit a web site and enter a code viewed in a masked > format. >> Surprising. I have 5 hotmail accounts and my wife and daughter have two each. We process using OE. While we occasionally see the popup request to verify password it's certainly less than once a month per account. I have never seen the request to visit a web site to enter a code. Is ther perhaps some malware on your system? From borgholio at storymind.com Mon Feb 14 14:58:33 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Mon Feb 14 18:00:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Need free Anti-virus program Message-ID: McAfee Virusscan 6.0 was the last good version, in my opinion. Version 7 - 8 sucked crap and I'm essentially done wtih McAfee...especially since I just got a little message saying that I'm no longer allowed to download free virus defintion updates. Any suggestions on a good, free, anti-virus program? From spam_hjp at yahoo.com Mon Feb 14 18:17:28 2005 From: spam_hjp at yahoo.com (Jim) Date: Mon Feb 14 18:20:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > McAfee Virusscan 6.0 was the last good version, in my opinion. Version > 7 - 8 sucked crap and I'm essentially done wtih McAfee...especially > since I just got a little message saying that I'm no longer allowed to > download free virus defintion updates. Any suggestions on a good, free, > anti-virus program? avg anti virus at www.grisoft.com From user at domain.invalid Mon Feb 14 18:29:15 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Mon Feb 14 19:30:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 14.02.2005 17:17, Jim wrote: --- Original Message --- > Borgholio wrote: >> McAfee Virusscan 6.0 was the last good version, in my opinion. Version >> 7 - 8 sucked crap and I'm essentially done wtih McAfee...especially >> since I just got a little message saying that I'm no longer allowed to >> download free virus defintion updates. Any suggestions on a good, free, >> anti-virus program? > > > avg anti virus at www.grisoft.com echo From none.of at your.biz Mon Feb 14 17:02:32 2005 From: none.of at your.biz (news.spamcop.net) Date: Mon Feb 14 20:05:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > McAfee Virusscan 6.0 was the last good version, in my opinion. Version > 7 - 8 sucked crap and I'm essentially done wtih McAfee...especially > since I just got a little message saying that I'm no longer allowed to > download free virus defintion updates. Any suggestions on a good, free, > anti-virus program? Try Avast at www.avast.com. I've been running it for about 3 years now and have had no grouches. It auto-updates very fast and very often; that's a plus! You have to give them your email addy to enable free use past the trial period; but I've never seen any sign of spam on a tagged address I gave them. From devnull at spamcop.net Mon Feb 14 20:15:30 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Feb 14 20:20:29 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: MSN email References: Message-ID: "Possum Trot" wrote in message news:cuqtb1$dj3$1@news.spamcop.net... | | > "Frog Prince" wrote in message | > news:cug3d0$j5q$1@news.spamcop.net... | > | >> Hotmail is likewise bollixed. I have more than a few of my | > Hospice patients | >> who use Hotmail and the system is CONSTANTLY as in almost every | > hour asking | >> them to visit a web site and enter a code viewed in a masked | > format. | >> | | Surprising. I have 5 hotmail accounts and my wife and daughter have two | each. We process using OE. While we occasionally see the popup request to | verify password it's certainly less than once a month per account. I have | never seen the request to visit a web site to enter a code. Is there perhaps | some malware on your system? No mal ware and it's happening on at least 10 of my Hospice patients machines as well. The only common factor is that all have been receiving bounce notices with the following text. This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification. THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY. YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE. Delivery to the following recipients has been delayed. Approximately 40 to 60 min after these are received the system requires a revalidation. The most telling notice: This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification. Unable to deliver message to the following recipients, due to being unable to connect successfully to the destination mail server. bugreporter@hotmail.com From devnull at spamcop.net Mon Feb 14 20:17:23 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Feb 14 20:20:39 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: "Jim" wrote in message news:curbia$p67$1@news.spamcop.net... | Borgholio wrote: | > McAfee Virusscan 6.0 was the last good version, in my opinion. Version | > 7 - 8 sucked crap and I'm essentially done wtih McAfee...especially | > since I just got a little message saying that I'm no longer allowed to | > download free virus defintion updates. Any suggestions on a good, free, | > anti-virus program? | | | avg anti virus at www.grisoft.com I've been putting grissoft AVG on all my Hospice clients machines for months cut the phone calls for virus and AV programs to almost zero. From borgholio at storymind.com Mon Feb 14 17:25:19 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Mon Feb 14 20:30:27 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Frog Prince wrote: > "Jim" wrote in message > news:curbia$p67$1@news.spamcop.net... > | Borgholio wrote: > | > McAfee Virusscan 6.0 was the last good version, in my opinion. Version > | > 7 - 8 sucked crap and I'm essentially done wtih McAfee...especially > | > since I just got a little message saying that I'm no longer allowed to > | > download free virus defintion updates. Any suggestions on a good, free, > | > anti-virus program? > | > | > | avg anti virus at www.grisoft.com > > I've been putting grissoft AVG on all my Hospice clients machines for months > cut the phone calls for virus and AV programs to almost zero. > > Downloaded, installed, running a full scan now. My only question is, why do they offer a free client? Doesn't it cut into their business? From devnull at spamcop.net Mon Feb 14 21:28:38 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Feb 14 21:35:24 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" < | > | avg anti virus at www.grisoft.com | > | > I've been putting grissoft AVG on all my Hospice clients machines for months | > cut the phone calls for virus and AV programs to almost zero. | > | > | | Downloaded, installed, running a full scan now. My only question is, why do | they offer a free client? Doesn't it cut into their business? Bread on the waters. I've had family members of my Hospice patients purchase the full system for their business based on what the free AVG did. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Tue Feb 15 03:25:04 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Mon Feb 14 22:31:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: On 14 Feb 2005 Borgholio entered spamcop.geeks and left news:curj1v$ucv$1@news.spamcop.net: > Downloaded, installed, running a full scan now. My only question is, > why do they offer a free client? Doesn't it cut into their business? > The last time I tried it, the free version was extremely limited, and I NEED options. I remember a pretty cool scanner called Thunderscan (or Turboscan? something like that), it would leave little database files around, but I liked it because it would only scan NEW files or files that had changed since the last scan. And it could warn you if certain files had changed. That's why I liked it. I really like the Nag Screen that shareware sometimes uses. Good shareware would usually have a nag screen, and if you are a heavy user you are really forced to pay for it because you really can't have that damn nag screen coming up all the time. GoldWave's "Toll Charge" isn't a bad idea either. This way you can try all the features and know that it does what you need, before buying. I just use command line scanners whenever I think I may have inserted something into my computer that may be infected. -- | Ric From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Feb 14 22:35:57 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Miss Betsy) Date: Mon Feb 14 22:35:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: Speaking of anti virus programs, I don't really object to paying for one. I am using ZoneAlarm for the firewall and was thinking about getting the paid version which includes anti virus since I like the firewall. Does it do a good job? (I, too, am fed up with McAfee. that's why I have the ZoneAlarm because my McAfee firewall ran out and I needed to get a firewall quickly.) Miss Betsy From pete+usenet at heypete.com Mon Feb 14 21:24:58 2005 From: pete+usenet at heypete.com (Pete Stephenson) Date: Tue Feb 15 00:25:12 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: In article , Borgholio wrote: > Downloaded, installed, running a full scan now. My only question is, why do > they offer a free client? Doesn't it cut into their business? Probably a little. But remember, they're supporting like 20 million free users (well, they claim it's been downloaded 20 million times, no idea if everyone's using it). That's a lot of people. It's likely that these people wouldn't have purchased A/V software anyway, so I guess they do it just to help out. Even then, it gets their brand name in front of the customer. Saying "Hmm, Grisoft gave me AVG for free at home, maybe I could use the Professional version at work or something..." would be nice. Their paid-for versions are remarkably inexpensive ($35/2 years, I just paid for it) and excellent. The paid versions also get their definitions from Akamai's mirror, so it's always fast. The free updates are a bit slower (<20k/sec, for me at least). -- Pete Stephenson HeyPete.com From rcarlton at spamcop.net Mon Feb 14 21:46:50 2005 From: rcarlton at spamcop.net (Rick Carlton) Date: Tue Feb 15 00:50:27 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > Downloaded, installed, running a full scan now. My only question is, > why do they offer a free client? Doesn't it cut into their business? There's the open-source ClamAV, at www.clamav.net Also, many packages allow you to run the AV software you use at work on a home machine as a part of the license. From borgholio at storymind.com Mon Feb 14 22:31:55 2005 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Tue Feb 15 01:35:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Miss Betsy wrote: > Speaking of anti virus programs, I don't really object to paying > for one. I am using ZoneAlarm for the firewall and was thinking > about getting the paid version which includes anti virus since I > like the firewall. Does it do a good job? (I, too, am fed up with > McAfee. that's why I have the ZoneAlarm because my McAfee firewall > ran out and I needed to get a firewall quickly.) > > Miss Betsy > > I use a hardware firewall, so I have no experience with any software jobs. From jwjr at poSPAMSUCKSbox.com Tue Feb 15 03:33:53 2005 From: jwjr at poSPAMSUCKSbox.com (J. Weaver Jr.) Date: Tue Feb 15 03:35:22 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: news.spamcop.net wrote: > Borgholio wrote: >> McAfee Virusscan 6.0 was the last good version, in my opinion. Version >> 7 - 8 sucked crap and I'm essentially done wtih McAfee...especially >> since I just got a little message saying that I'm no longer allowed to >> download free virus defintion updates. Any suggestions on a good, free, >> anti-virus program? > > Try Avast at www.avast.com. > I've been running it for about 3 years now and have had no grouches. > It auto-updates very fast and very often; that's a plus! > > You have to give them your email addy to enable free use past the > trial period; but I've never seen any sign of spam on a tagged address I > gave them. Second that. AVG stopped working for me (Win98SE) when they went from v6 to v7. -JW From nobody at nowhere.invalid Tue Feb 15 10:50:34 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Tue Feb 15 04:55:49 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 21:46:50 -0800, Rick Carlton coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > There's the open-source ClamAV, at www.clamav.net Yabbut that runs server-side on a Unix machine. I use it here. It is good, though, in that it prevents the virus from getting into the user's mail spool *before* it even gets anywhere near the MUA client. -- Steve Tomorrow is cancelled due to lack of interest. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Tue Feb 15 10:02:48 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Tue Feb 15 05:05:17 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: On 14 Feb 2005 Miss Betsy entered spamcop.geeks and left news:curqfu$44r$1@news.spamcop.net: > Speaking of anti virus programs, I don't really object to paying > for one. I am using ZoneAlarm for the firewall and was thinking > about getting the paid version which includes anti virus since I > like the firewall. Does it do a good job? (I, too, am fed up with > McAfee. that's why I have the ZoneAlarm because my McAfee firewall > ran out and I needed to get a firewall quickly.) > The firewall itself does a pretty good job of protecting you from viruses, because it warns you about any program trying to access the Internet. However I really don't like it's Internet protection features (pop-up and cookie blocking?) in the pro version because they are rather transparent and difficult to disable, and causes problems on some web pages (it rewrites the HTML code on every page you view), and these features aren't even needed with Mozilla and Opera browsers but you can't exclude these apps. I haven't had any experience with it's virus scanning, didn't even know it had that feature. But I wouldn't mind taking a look at it, especially before paying for it. I think Zone is one of the better software firewalls and they might actually make a good virus scanner. -- | Ric From TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com Tue Feb 15 11:56:09 2005 From: TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com (Rob) Date: Tue Feb 15 07:20:42 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: "Miss Betsy" wrote in message news:curqfu$44r$1@news.spamcop.net... > Speaking of anti virus programs, I don't really object to paying > for one. I am using ZoneAlarm for the firewall and was thinking > about getting the paid version which includes anti virus since I > like the firewall. Does it do a good job? (I, too, am fed up with > McAfee. that's why I have the ZoneAlarm because my McAfee firewall > ran out and I needed to get a firewall quickly.) > > Miss Betsy > > I ran the Pro version of ZoneAlarm and was under the impression that it could quarantine suspicious email attachments and merely check to see if you AV program was running and up to date, but, didn't recognize AVG. I just checked up at Zone Labs and am even more confused now due to conflicting info on its AV activities. According to them ZoneAlarm with AV protection has: Critical Virus Detection/Removal provides protection against viruses and worms, and when combined with a firewall, prevents known Trojans and identity-theft devices such as keyloggers Multiple Automatic Scanning Options automatically find viruses in e-mails, compressed files, and in files accessed by .your PC (such as when a file is opened, accessed, written, or restored from disk) Advanced Heuristic Detection helps provide a first line of defense by using pattern-based technology to identify potential viruses even before they’re turned into a major outbreak Virus Bulletin’s VB 100 Award received for the past four years[1] Then below that on another page of the PDF it says: MailSafe quarantines 47 types of suspicious e-mail attachments so you’re protected from sending or spreading e-mailborne viruses Outbound MailSafe monitors outgoing e-mail for virus-like activity, such as sending an e-mail to everyone in your address book, and prevents such occurrences Antivirus Monitoring alerts you when your antivirus program is turned off, or its definition files are out-of-date, to make sure your PC is always up-to-date on its protection; Works with Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, and Computer Associates antivirus products, as well as with Zone Labs’ antivirus features So is it using it's own AV or another AV program one has installed? I'm using AVG at present, but, am suspecting AVG 7 to be a lot heavier on memory usage and am seeing reports of peoples PCs freezing especially the mouse at times and this stops when AVG 7 is deactivated so if ZoneAlarm with AV is any good by itself I'd seriously think of paying for it. Rob From MikeE at ster.invalid Tue Feb 15 05:00:43 2005 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Tue Feb 15 08:00:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > Downloaded, installed, running a full scan now. My only question is, > why do they offer a free client? Doesn't it cut into their business? The free version is used to promote the pay version. The most recent transition from v6 to v7 showed quite a few ploys to motivate people who were using the free to use the pay instead; and it appeared to me to be 'easier' to download the trial version of the pay version than to download the free version. That is, a friend of mine who wasn't paying attention to what she was downloading was 'eased into' the free trial version of the pay instead of the free and that resulted in her deciding to purchase the pay. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From devnull at spamcop.net Tue Feb 15 09:21:57 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Feb 15 09:40:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: "J. Weaver Jr." wrote in message news:cusc5h$f5n$2@news.spamcop.net... | news.spamcop.net wrote: | | > Borgholio wrote: | >> McAfee Virusscan 6.0 was the last good version, in my opinion. Version | >> 7 - 8 sucked crap and I'm essentially done wtih McAfee...especially | >> since I just got a little message saying that I'm no longer allowed to | >> download free virus defintion updates. Any suggestions on a good, free, | >> anti-virus program? | > | > Try Avast at www.avast.com. | > I've been running it for about 3 years now and have had no grouches. | > It auto-updates very fast and very often; that's a plus! | > | > You have to give them your email addy to enable free use past the | > trial period; but I've never seen any sign of spam on a tagged address I | > gave them. | | Second that. AVG stopped working for me (Win98SE) when they went from v6 | to v7. -JW V7 works for me on W98/W98SE and all flavors up from there. From devnull at spamcop.net Tue Feb 15 10:09:23 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Feb 15 10:10:25 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] OT (?) On line 2-Way Satellite installer course being offered and certified by Hughes Message-ID: Their website is: http://www.groundcontrol.com/trainingmobile_001.htm They will only charge you $300 if you pass there certification exam...this course in offered online and (I'm not positive of this) via CD. From user at domain.invalid Tue Feb 15 09:13:31 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Tue Feb 15 10:15:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 15.02.2005 00:31, Borgholio wrote: --- Original Message --- > Miss Betsy wrote: >> Speaking of anti virus programs, I don't really object to paying >> for one. I am using ZoneAlarm for the firewall and was thinking >> about getting the paid version which includes anti virus since I >> like the firewall. Does it do a good job? (I, too, am fed up with >> McAfee. that's why I have the ZoneAlarm because my McAfee firewall >> ran out and I needed to get a firewall quickly.) >> >> Miss Betsy >> >> > > I use a hardware firewall, so I have no experience with any software jobs. Same here - Firebox .. From user at domain.invalid Tue Feb 15 09:16:00 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Tue Feb 15 10:15:15 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 14.02.2005 23:46, Rick Carlton wrote: --- Original Message --- > Borgholio wrote: >> Downloaded, installed, running a full scan now. My only question is, >> why do they offer a free client? Doesn't it cut into their business? > > There's the open-source ClamAV, at www.clamav.net > > Also, many packages allow you to run the AV software you use at work on > a home machine as a part of the license. I run ClamAV on my server, great addition. From user at domain.invalid Tue Feb 15 09:16:44 2005 From: user at domain.invalid (User) Date: Tue Feb 15 10:15:23 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 15.02.2005 03:50, Steven Maesslein wrote: --- Original Message --- > On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 21:46:50 -0800, Rick Carlton coughed into > spamcop.geeks and left this in : > >> There's the open-source ClamAV, at www.clamav.net > > Yabbut that runs server-side on a Unix machine. I use it here. > > It is good, though, in that it prevents the virus from getting into the > user's mail spool *before* it even gets anywhere near the MUA client. > And not only that but it auto-updates "behind the scenes". From none at domain.invalid Wed Feb 16 00:55:10 2005 From: none at domain.invalid (Anonymous) Date: Wed Feb 16 03:55:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: "Blammo" wrote in message news:Xns95FE1501FA729blammo@216.154.195.61... > I haven't had any experience with it's virus scanning, didn't even > know it > had that feature. But I wouldn't mind taking a look at it, > especially > before paying for it. I think Zone is one of the better software > firewalls > and they might actually make a good virus scanner. Actually, I can tell you a bit about software firewalls... the applications I run certainly put them through their paces. I used to run the Grub Client from Grub.org, a distributed search engine website crawler, at around 1.1 - 1.3 million websites crawled per day. That absolutely killed ZoneAlarm, I was forced to shut it down and restart it every hour just to keep the machine running. There was a memory leak in vsmon.exe that would grow as much as 100 MB per hour. There were also a couple other problems in later versions... specifically there was a problem with the antivirus function... it would disable Norton AV 2002, but Norton would report that it was still enabled. And, ZoneAlarm had a major problem keeping ports stealthed during a DDoS. I found this out by having a friend who was well versed in hacking simulate a DDoS against the machine, using every trick he knew (zombie flood, spoofed packets, Syn attack, Smurf attack, etc.). It was surprising that he was able to obtain a lot of information about the machine, although ZoneAlarm's settings were set on High for both the Internet and Trusted zones. That was when I bought a hardware firewall and locked it down. Now, out of the 65,535 TCP and 65,535 UDP ports, only 8 TCP and 1 UDP ports are allowed traffic, the rest are blocked. The 9 ports that are allowed traffic are protected by the hardware firewall SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection), as well as by the software firewalls on each machine behind it. Ever since I developed the SpamVampire, I've been forced to abandon any hope of using ZoneAlarm... it simply cannot handle the high number of simultaneous and concurrent connections created. The SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) lookup table is too small and the algorithm used to search the SPI lookup table is too inefficient for it to be used on connections that put a lot of data through (I go through anywhere from 5 - 10 GB of data per day). I tested quite a few firewalls before settling on Sygate for the machines I use, and the built-in Windows XP firewall for the machines which basically just sit there running programs, but don't have any humans using them to surf or download. The built-in WinXP firewall is the most robust I've seen (I've thrown 100 new outbound connections per second through it for extended periods of time, and it didn't even blink), with Sygate a very close second. I figure that with no people using the machines with the WinXP firewall on them, there's very little chance of those machines contracting any spyware or viruses, so outbound firewall protection isn't necessary. So far, I've been right, those machines remain spyware/adware/virus free, which supports my contention that the biggest factor supporting the spread of viruses and spyware is the users of the computers being infected. For the machines I use, I've installed Sygate's firewall, which just works great... no problems, no glitches, no memory leaks, it just does what it's supposed to do, no matter what I throw at it, and it's easier to configure than ZoneAlarm, with the ability to be much more comprehensive in the settings for any given program. Since I'm also behind a hardware firewall, the Sygate doesn't see much in the way of inbound unsolicited traffic, but it see tons of solicited inbound and outbound traffic. So, with SpamVampire, SpamFryer by the Lumber Cartel, Mugu Marauder and JackPot running, the Sygate takes it and keeps running... with as much as a couple months between machine reboots. From me at privacy.net Wed Feb 16 08:57:52 2005 From: me at privacy.net (Tom Cumming) Date: Wed Feb 16 04:00:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Mozilla Thunderbird question Message-ID: I use Usenet newsgroups quite a lot, using Moz Thunderbird as my newsreader as well as for my emails. I am generally happy with it, except for one problem. It stores all cached newsgroup headers etc in my thunderbird profile (\default.q42\News) - this folder is getting on for 50Mb. Every time I back up my profile I end up wasting 50Mb of space on my backup media backing all that up when, in the event of a disk failure, I could just as easily download them all again. But, if I was to not bother backing up that folder at all, I would have to reconfigure all my news servers and newsgroup subscriptions manually. Can anyone think of a way I could backup my newsgroup / news server configuration, but not back up the 50Mb-odd of newsgroup headers? Switching to another newsreader is not out of the question, but I don't really want to start using a program that does everything online (doesn't download anything) - as doing it that way its a bit slow on my not-particularly-fast internet connection. From none at domain.invalid Wed Feb 16 01:34:47 2005 From: none at domain.invalid (Anonymous) Date: Wed Feb 16 04:35:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Need free Anti-virus program References: Message-ID: "Anonymous" wrote in message news:cuv1mg$2u2$1@news.spamcop.net... > So, with SpamVampire, SpamFryer by the Lumber Cartel, Mugu Marauder > and JackPot running, the Sygate takes it and keeps running... with > as much as a couple months between machine reboots. Oh, to be on-topic... AVG. Recommend it highly. Here's a few examples: 1) I was working on a new machine that a lady had bought. She wanted the hard drive from her old machine moved to the new machine as a slave, so she still had her data. I updated Norton AV on the old machine, did a full virus scan of all files, and it found nothing, so I moved the drive over to the new machine, which had AVG installed on it. Just to be sure, I also scanned the drive with AVG. It found 5 viruses, and removed them all. 2) I was working on a female companion's computer. She'd had Symantec AV installed by her college IT staff, but I knew that Symantec wasn't the best available, so I installed AVG, despite her protests. It found two viruses that Symantec had missed. One of the viruses was the sole occupant of a folder which had a specifically malformed name, such that you could access the folder and its contents from a command prompt, but Explorer couldn't see the folder, and you couldn't rename, delete or move the folder or its contents, even in Safe Mode at a Command Prompt as Administrator. I ended up booting my BartPE CD, and using it to rename the folder, then delete its virus, then delete the folder. Thinking back, I guess a smarter move would have been to make the folder read-only, and set its permissions so nothing could access it. That way, if she contracted the same virus, it wouldn't be able to put itself back into that folder. 3) On a business computer set up with two hard drives (one with NFTS and WinXP Pro, the other with FAT32 and Win98SE. The WinXP disk was used by the business owner during business hours for work, the Win98 disk was used by his kid after hours for games) Norton AV was kept up-to-date and a daily scan performed of all files on both disks with Norton set at the highest Bloodhound level. This was done religiously, as the owner is a bit paranoid about keeping his computers running well. Right before his Norton subscription ran out, he purchased AVG on my recommendation. A scan showed two Trojans on the Win98 disk, which Norton had missed just a half hour prior. From Unknown.User at Invalid.Domain Wed Feb 16 10:22:36 2005 From: Unknown.User at Invalid.Domain (Jan M. Nelken) Date: Wed Feb 16 10:25:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Mozilla Thunderbird question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Tom Cumming wrote: > Can anyone think of a way I could backup my newsgroup / news server > configuration, but not back up the 50Mb-odd of newsgroup headers? Easy. In your backup procedure exclude files *.msf located in directories: \News\\.msf For xample on my machine: C:\Documents and Settings\db2admin\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\tky7f7n1.default\News\news.spamcop.net\spamcop.geeks.msf This is single line wrapped here because of it's length. Jan M. Nelken From reitanos at comcast.net Wed Feb 16 17:47:55 2005 From: reitanos at comcast.net (reitanos@comcast.net) Date: Wed Feb 16 13:36:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: SpamCop-Geeks Digest, Vol 41, Issue 25 Message-ID: <021620051747.9456.4213874A000DC9F4000024F022007621949C01020E9B070A9D@comcast.net> PLEASE STAY OFF REITANOS@COMCAST.NET POEPLE WASTE THERE TIME WITH THERE ADDS, THANKSFrom nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Wed Feb 16 14:14:23 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Pop) Date: Wed Feb 16 14:15:19 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: SpamCop-Geeks Digest, Vol 41, Issue 25 References: Message-ID: reitanos@comcast.net wrote: > PLEASE STAY OFF REITANOS@COMCAST.NET > POEPLE WASTE THERE TIME WITH THERE ADDS, > > THANKS Please learn how to keep from shouting, and learn a few grammar rules. You have an atrocious style, making yourself look like a ludite. Thanks. -- --- No, I won't get dressed. I'm retired! From devnull at spamcop.net Wed Feb 16 14:57:48 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Feb 16 15:00:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] How to ID duplicate photo files Message-ID: My kids have a digital camera (this is a good thing). However they have a habit of multiple down loads of the same files. The down load program assigns a non unique file name (image01.jpg, image02.jpg, etc.) and a new date each time the camera is downloaded. The end result is multiple copies of the same photo but with a) non unique file names and b) no way to correlate the date of the files with similar photos. An additional problem some files are on the Windows Platform and some are on the Mac OS others are on CDs. most are JPG format. Short of visually opening each file and comparing them to each other what are my options to ID duplicates? FP From SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com Wed Feb 16 14:12:53 2005 From: SCNews.5.myspamgobbler at spamgourmet.com (Brian (SnSR)) Date: Wed Feb 16 17:15:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: How to ID duplicate photo files In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mr K. Mean wrote: > Frog Prince wrote: > >> My kids have a digital camera (this is a good thing). However they >> have a >> habit of multiple down loads of the same files. The down load program >> assigns a non unique file name (image01.jpg, image02.jpg, etc.) and a new >> date each time the camera is downloaded. >> >> The end result is multiple copies of the same photo but with a) non >> unique >> file names and b) no way to correlate the date of the files with similar >> photos. >> >> An additional problem some files are on the Windows Platform and some >> are on >> the Mac OS others are on CDs. most are JPG format. >> >> Short of visually opening each file and comparing them to each other what >> are my options to ID duplicates? > > > A search of Tucows shows a ton of these programs, > http://www.tucows.com/filecomp95.html > > A few of them are even freeware like this one > http://srhoda.250free.com/ > > I'm glad that my camera when it offloads, it puts them into a directory > by date and if you download it again, it seems to keep the same file name. > > Once you clean up the duplicates, you might be able to figure out when > they were taken. My camera, at least, embeds that information into the > picture and when you click once on the image in Explorer, it shows you > that information in the status bar. Also, Picasa2 may be helpful. http://www.picasa.com/index.php A free software download from Google. Picasa is software that helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your PC. Every time you open Picasa, it automatically locates all your pictures (even ones you forgot you had) and sorts them into visual albums organized by date with folder names you will recognize. You can drag and drop to arrange your albums and make labels to create new groups. Picasa makes sure your pictures are always organized. From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Wed Feb 16 23:17:41 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Wed Feb 16 17:20:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: SpamCop-Geeks Digest, Vol 41, Issue 25 References: Message-ID: <20050216231741.1cfa7691@wednesday.playbeing.org> On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 14:14:23 -0500 "Pop" wrote: > reitanos@comcast.net wrote: > > PLEASE STAY OFF REITANOS@COMCAST.NET > > POEPLE WASTE THERE TIME WITH THERE ADDS, > > > > THANKS > > Please learn how to keep from shouting, and learn a few grammar rules. > You > have an atrocious style, making yourself look like a ludite. Actually, modern Luddites generally have a good grasp of grammar and spelling :-) From kenbrody at spamcop.net Wed Feb 16 17:48:12 2005 From: kenbrody at spamcop.net (Kenneth Brody) Date: Wed Feb 16 17:55:25 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: How to ID duplicate photo files References: Message-ID: <4213CDAC.B7E357A2@spamcop.net> Frog Prince wrote: > > My kids have a digital camera (this is a good thing). However they have a > habit of multiple down loads of the same files. The down load program > assigns a non unique file name (image01.jpg, image02.jpg, etc.) and a new > date each time the camera is downloaded. > > The end result is multiple copies of the same photo but with a) non unique > file names and b) no way to correlate the date of the files with similar > photos. One suggestion might be to get better software. ;-) My camera assigns the filename, and timestamps it at the time the photo is taken. This information is retained when copying to my computer, even if I copy the same files over and over again. (The counter is reset if I erase the memory card, but at that point I simply start copying to a new directory until I erase the card again.) > An additional problem some files are on the Windows Platform and some are on > the Mac OS others are on CDs. most are JPG format. > > Short of visually opening each file and comparing them to each other what > are my options to ID duplicates? Since JPEG files are compressed, the odds are against two different images compressing to exactly the same size. Sort the directory by byte size, and then you only need to compare files with identical sizes. -- +-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------------+ | Kenneth J. Brody | www.hvcomputer.com | | | kenbrody/at\spamcop.net | www.fptech.com | #include | +-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------------+ Don't e-mail me at: From me at privacy.net Wed Feb 16 23:00:32 2005 From: me at privacy.net (Tom Cumming) Date: Wed Feb 16 18:05:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Mozilla Thunderbird question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 16/02/05 15:22, Jan M. Nelken wrote: > Tom Cumming wrote: > >> Can anyone think of a way I could backup my newsgroup / news server >> configuration, but not back up the 50Mb-odd of newsgroup headers? > > > Easy. In your backup procedure exclude files *.msf located in directories: > \News\\.msf I would if I could figure out the right command to use. At the moment I'm using zip -r -e /mnt/removable/backup/backup1.zip -@ < /home/tom/batch/include.lst (should be all one line) where the include.lst contains /home/tom/.thunderbird, along with /home/tom/... a few other things. Looking at the man page suggests I need to put a -x switch in somewhere to exclude .msf files, but whereever I put it I seem to get an error message of some sort. Thanks for your help. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Wed Feb 16 23:58:15 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 16 19:00:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Mozilla Thunderbird question References: Message-ID: On 16 Feb 2005 Tom Cumming entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv0j9k$37p$1@news.spamcop.net: > Looking at the man page suggests I need to put a -x switch in > somewhere to exclude .msf files, but whereever I put it I seem to > get an error message of some sort. > You might try zip -r foo foo -x@exclude.lst or the opposite of what you are now doing. -- | Ric | From TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com Thu Feb 17 00:03:38 2005 From: TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com (Rob) Date: Wed Feb 16 19:15:24 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: How to ID duplicate photo files References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:cv08k9$s4o$1@news.spamcop.net... > My kids have a digital camera (this is a good thing). However they have a > habit of multiple down loads of the same files. The down load program > assigns a non unique file name (image01.jpg, image02.jpg, etc.) and a new > date each time the camera is downloaded. > > The end result is multiple copies of the same photo but with a) non unique > file names and b) no way to correlate the date of the files with similar > photos. > > An additional problem some files are on the Windows Platform and some are on > the Mac OS others are on CDs. most are JPG format. > > Short of visually opening each file and comparing them to each other what > are my options to ID duplicates? > > FP > > > You should be able to do it with a file comparison application that finds duplicate files on content not file name. It should be able to compare the code of the jpg files as well as date, time and EXIF info. Some file managers such as DOpus are able to do it as well as Norton's Duplicate File Finder and with a search you could probably turn up a few free ones. Alternatively, teach your kids not to keep downloading the same photos :-) Rob From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 17 00:19:49 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 16 19:20:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: How to ID duplicate photo files References: Message-ID: On 16 Feb 2005 Frog Prince entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv08k9$s4o$1@news.spamcop.net: > The end result is multiple copies of the same photo but with a) non > unique file names and b) no way to correlate the date of the files > with similar photos. > You can eliminate the duplicates with Hunter http://hunter.11s.com/ You can even create csv files and just save those for checking rather than searching through dozens of CDs. As far as finding images that are similar, that's pretty tough to do, ACDSee is very fast and will display thumbnails and even rename multiple files sequentially. I usually have several ACDSee windows open and I can compair several image directories just by hitting ALT-TAB. This program also lets you easily move and copy files, will warn you of duplicates and allow you to rename or delete either (and displays a window where you can view both images together), will convert between formats, and will create discription files where you can enter notes about the images. http://www.acdsystems.com/english/products/downloads/index Look for ACDSee Classic (formerly ACDSee 32) which doesn't expire and may be faster than their latest, that's the one I paid for and has all the features I mentioned. -- | Ric | From devnull at spamcop.net Wed Feb 16 20:48:37 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Feb 16 20:55:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: How to ID duplicate photo files References: <4213CDAC.B7E357A2@spamcop.net> Message-ID: "Kenneth Brody" wrote in message news:4213CDAC.B7E357A2@spamcop.net... | > The end result is multiple copies of the same photo but with a) non unique | > file names and b) no way to correlate the date of the files with similar | > photos. | | One suggestion might be to get better software. ;-) Not an option as the camera does not mark the time the file was created. | My camera assigns the filename, and timestamps it at the time the photo is | taken. This information is retained when copying to my computer, even if | I copy the same files over and over again. (The counter is reset if I | erase the memory card, but at that point I simply start copying to a new | directory until I erase the card again.) | | > An additional problem some files are on the Windows Platform and some are on | > the Mac OS others are on CDs. most are JPG format. | > | > Short of visually opening each file and comparing them to each other what | > are my options to ID duplicates? | | Since JPEG files are compressed, the odds are against two different | images compressing to exactly the same size. Sort the directory by byte | size, and then you only need to compare files with identical sizes. Good idea. Still I have several CD's to compare so it a visual check will take quite some time. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 17 11:11:40 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Thu Feb 17 11:15:28 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Bad address causes no bounces at all Message-ID: Hi, At my day job, I had sent a message to a colleague, but got no reply. I later found out I had mis-typed her address. After contacting the sysadmin, I found out that they've opted for a policy to not send any bounces if a mail is mis-addressed. I was told it's a way to keep the domain off of black lists. (!?) Sounds pretty lame to me. I wonder if anyone has any comments -- is this a common practice? My guess is that they misunderstood the whole hard/soft bounce problem, and decided to eliminate bounces altogether. What's even more rediculous is that they use autoresponders for when people go on vacation (MS Exchange). From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 17 11:23:25 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (WazoO) Date: Thu Feb 17 12:25:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Bad address causes no bounces at all References: Message-ID: "Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting" wrote in message news:cv2fnr$6s1$1@news.spamcop.net... > > sysadmin, I found out that they've opted for a policy to not send any > bounces if a mail is mis-addressed. I was told it's a way to keep the > domain off of black lists. (!?) Sounds pretty lame to me. > > I wonder if anyone has any comments -- is this a common practice? Getting more common every day. Here's yet another administrator that is going to go that way, after finding his server listed ... http://forum.spamcop.net/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t3667.html From me at privacy.net Thu Feb 17 17:32:39 2005 From: me at privacy.net (Tom Cumming) Date: Thu Feb 17 12:35:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Mozilla Thunderbird question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 16/02/05 23:58, Blammo wrote: > You might try > zip -r foo foo -x@exclude.lst > > or the opposite of what you are now doing. So is it not possible to have both an include and exclude list? (With the exclude list having priority over the include list) If I did it just with an exclude list it would be a very long list... ;) I'm thinking another way to do it might just be to temporarily copy the .msf files to another location before the backup runs, then put them back afterwards. From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Feb 17 09:49:18 2005 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Feb 17 12:50:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Bad address causes no bounces at all References: Message-ID: WazoO wrote: > "Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting" >> sysadmin, I found out that they've opted for a policy to not send any >> bounces if a mail is mis-addressed. I was told it's a way to keep the >> domain off of black lists. (!?) Sounds pretty lame to me. Given that the term 'bounce' is ambiguous -- we shouldn't even use it in this discussion. A server should be configured to reject the transaction for a non-address which would thus cause the sending server to notify the sender. A receiving server should not be configured to create newmails to Froms of non-address To/s. >> I wonder if anyone has any comments -- is this a common practice? > > Getting more common every day. Here's yet another administrator > that is going to go that way, after finding his server listed ... > http://forum.spamcop.net/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t3667.html I read that thread as an admin who was frustrated with his interaction in the forum after he did a bad job of trying to read and understand faq information which was available to him both before he posted in the first place and made even more available /after/ he posted. I /don't/ read that as a sysadmin who was going to misconfigure his server to not reject non-addresses; but perhaps one who was going to configure his server to not newmail Froms for non-address To/s. Notice that at no time did I use the word 'bounce'. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From Unknown.User at Invalid.Domain Thu Feb 17 13:57:13 2005 From: Unknown.User at Invalid.Domain (Jan M. Nelken) Date: Thu Feb 17 14:00:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Mozilla Thunderbird question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Tom Cumming wrote: > I'm thinking another way to do it might just be to temporarily copy the > .msf files to another location before the backup runs, then put them > back afterwards. You mean move (mv) instead of copy (cp) - right? Jan M. Nelken From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 17 14:27:38 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Thu Feb 17 14:30:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Bad address causes no [rejects or new messages] at all In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike Easter wrote: > WazoO wrote: > >>"Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting" > > >>>sysadmin, I found out that they've opted for a policy to not send any >>>bounces if a mail is mis-addressed. I was told it's a way to keep the >>>domain off of black lists. (!?) Sounds pretty lame to me. > > > Given that the term 'bounce' is ambiguous -- we shouldn't even use it in > this discussion. Again my bad, Mike -- I've seen your justifiable expression of pain over this ambiguity before, and I should have known better. I've even corrected the subject of the thread. For what it's worth, I dug up some other links that discuss the topic. One even clarifies the term "bounce". Sorry if these have been posted before. Curiously, the SpamCop FAQ entry states the following: "Configure your software to either reject messages during delivery or accept them permanently." -- sounds like the latter is what's happening on my system at work. Strangely, I've found another system that does send new messages after accepting incorrectly addressed mails. Seems they're not consistent. http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/329.html#bounces http://pm-lib.sourceforge.net/README.html#2 http://spamlinks.net/filter-bounce.htm#reject In my case, I suspect this is a compromise owing to the pain of having to upgrade a Microsoft SMTP server, in order to support rejects. I've sent this info to my sysadmins hoping they'll consider rejects. From nobody at nowhere.invalid Thu Feb 17 21:44:41 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Thu Feb 17 15:45:41 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Bad address causes no bounces at all References: Message-ID: On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 11:11:40 -0500, Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > At my day job, I had sent a message to a colleague, but got no reply. I > later found out I had mis-typed her address. After contacting the > sysadmin, I found out that they've opted for a policy to not send any > bounces if a mail is mis-addressed. I was told it's a way to keep the > domain off of black lists. (!?) Sounds pretty lame to me. > > I wonder if anyone has any comments -- is this a common practice? A *REJECT* (not bounce) if mail is sent to a non-existent user should not cause the rejecting relay to get listed. > My guess is that they misunderstood the whole hard/soft bounce problem, > and decided to eliminate bounces altogether. We're talking about rejections here, not bounces. > What's even more rediculous is that they use autoresponders for when > people go on vacation (MS Exchange). What's ridiculous is that someone with any smarts is using Exchange at all. Now, using an autoresponder *will* get them listed. -- Steve The cardiologist's diet: If it tastes good, spit it out! From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 17 17:00:43 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Thu Feb 17 17:05:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Email zombie fighting tool Message-ID: Interesting press release follows: http://i-newswire.com/pr6313.html "This latest innovation allows the system to filter outbound mail to ensure all messages exiting through the server are legitimate and not products of a "zombie" system." Seems simple enough. I know that procmail and other unix/linux based tools are useful for filtering incoming mail. Can these be used to filter "outgoing" mail? (without having to buy some 3rd party solution)? From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Feb 17 15:07:38 2005 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Feb 17 18:10:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > http://i-newswire.com/pr6313.html That's a very 'windy' [seemingly erudite, but actually just full of glamorous words which don't actually say anything useful] article which doesn't actually tell what is going on, which makes it quite poorly written, in my opinion. Neither does a visit to the website, so I'm automatically suspicious of promotional BS for their product - which is Texan for baloney. > "This latest innovation allows the system to filter outbound mail to > ensure all messages exiting through the server are legitimate and not > products of a "zombie" system." Somewhere something should give some kind of clue about how they distinguish the zombie mail from the client's mail, and also something should give some kind of clue about just exactly /which/ zombie style we are counteracting here. Marketing droid hype. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 17 18:17:45 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Thu Feb 17 18:20:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike Easter wrote: > Somewhere something should give some kind of clue about how they > distinguish the zombie mail from the client's mail, and also something > should give some kind of clue about just exactly /which/ zombie style we > are counteracting here. My guess is that they don't want to give out their secret, because it's not that hard. > Marketing droid hype. I thought the same thing at first. However, (and this is only speculation on my part) what if you applied a standard spam filter to the content of outgoing mail (reg ex/bayesian on content, URL checks, etc.), as you would to incoming? Virus snaggers(tm) (http://vsnag.spamless.us/) apparently does some simplistic checks for bogus SMTP headers to filter out viral spew, but that appears to work when the worms are propagating, not when they are being used as spam sources. This thread on http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.mail.procmail/13573 discusses a couple of other related ideas, including separating of MX and relays. From me at privacy.net Thu Feb 17 23:29:29 2005 From: me at privacy.net (Tom Cumming) Date: Thu Feb 17 18:30:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Mozilla Thunderbird question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 17/02/05 18:57, Jan M. Nelken wrote: > You mean move (mv) instead of copy (cp) - right? Yes sorry. I have now done just that - it seems to be working. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 18 00:32:05 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 17 19:35:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Mozilla Thunderbird question References: Message-ID: On 17 Feb 2005 Tom Cumming entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv2keq$9md$1@news.spamcop.net: > So is it not possible to have both an include and exclude list? > (With the exclude list having priority over the include list) > If I did it just with an exclude list it would be a very long > list... ;) > The man seems to indicate inclusive AND/OR, but I've never tried it. > I'm thinking another way to do it might just be to temporarily > copy the .msf files to another location before the backup runs, > then put them back afterwards. > That's what I do (with server log files), I have a script that renames (in your case that would be a move or copy) files and archives them, and I have several scripts that run from cron daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. If you did it that way you could create a new folder based on the date, or just add the date to the file name. -- | Ric | From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 17 19:46:23 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Pop) Date: Thu Feb 17 19:50:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: SpamCop-Geeks Digest, Vol 41, Issue 25 References: <20050216231741.1cfa7691@wednesday.playbeing.org> Message-ID: Bert Driehuis wrote: > On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 14:14:23 -0500 > "Pop" wrote: > >> reitanos@comcast.net wrote: >> > PLEASE STAY OFF REITANOS@COMCAST.NET >> > POEPLE WASTE THERE TIME WITH THERE ADDS, >> > >> > THANKS >> >> Please learn how to keep from shouting, and learn a few grammar >> rules. You >> have an atrocious style, making yourself look like a ludite. > > Actually, modern Luddites generally have a good grasp of grammar and > spelling :-) Hokay, I stand corrected; bad usage, bad spiLLLing, too. Must have been my Dinosaur brain cells. ;-| -- ----- How long did the 100 Year War Last? From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 18 01:22:19 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 17 20:25:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Bad address causes no [rejects or new messages] at all References: Message-ID: On 17 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv2r7a$e5c$1@news.spamcop.net: > "Configure your software to either reject messages during delivery or > accept them permanently." -- sounds like the latter is what's happening > on my system at work. Strangely, I've found another system that does > send new messages after accepting incorrectly addressed mails. Seems > they're not consistent. > The terms are: Accept: Return an OK message and deliver the eMail. Reject: Return an error message, eMail could not be delivered. This can be a permanent error or a temp (try again later) error. This error occurs before the entire message is accepted (during SMTP). Discard: Return an OK message and discard (delete) the eMail. DSN: Delivery Status Notification, a new eMail message indicating that the eMail was delivered (and possibly read or not read), or that it could not be delivered (mbox full, vacation, or final forwarded recipient failed) or some other failure after the email was accepted. This may or may not include the original eMail, depending on the type of error. The reply is usually sent to the Envelope Sender address. Bounce is a misused term that probably more properly refers to a relay server that has no choice but to return the eMail to the Envelope Sender. The eMail could possibly be discarded, but you saw what can happen, the sender doesn't get notified that they made a mistake. Also an address that gets forwarded to another server and gets rejected can be considered a bounce. Also queued mail can bounce, which is what AOL used to do (I believe), this will speed up delivery on very large servers. I'm not sure, but on some servers a "queue bounce" may actually be a DSN. A server running SPF can cause a bounce if a user has another address that forwards to this one, and SPF is not configured to skip it, and the Envelope Sender's server has a SPF record that returns a hard error (I believe only hard errors reject, but I'm not totally sure). SPF will reject valid eMail in these cases. A bounce is really a new eMail message that contains the entire original message. If it doesn't contain the original, I think we can probably call it a DSN. When sending an eMail, a Reject should give you an immediate error in your mail client, or an almost immediate reply from your ISP (this may look like a bounce, but isn't). A DSN is nearly immediate unless it is sent from the mail client, in which case you never know when you'll get the reply. A bounce should be returned within maybe 5 minutes or less, maybe longer but not likely less than 5 seconds. -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 18 02:21:44 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 17 21:25:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool References: Message-ID: On 17 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv346a$j1s$1@news.spamcop.net: > Seems simple enough. I know that procmail and other unix/linux based > tools are useful for filtering incoming mail. Can these be used to > filter "outgoing" mail? (without having to buy some 3rd party solution)? > Everything is incoming mail, except for internally generated messages (DSN). "Outgoing" is mail that has already been accepted and is relayed to another server (domain), rather than delivered locally. I think you are refering to port 25 connections that bypass the ISP's mail server, or "direct connections". In that case the ISP can scan anything passing through port 25, or even completely block it. -- | Ric | From wb8tyw at qsl.network Thu Feb 17 21:23:52 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Thu Feb 17 21:25:21 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Bad address causes no bounces at all In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > Hi, > > At my day job, I had sent a message to a colleague, but got no reply. I > later found out I had mis-typed her address. After contacting the > sysadmin, I found out that they've opted for a policy to not send any > bounces if a mail is mis-addressed. I am surprised that they admitted it. Normally the procedure is to play dumb and have the user retry while they watch, and magically it will work so they can close the call as not being reproducible. > I was told it's a way to keep the > domain off of black lists. (!?) Sounds pretty lame to me. Not if they can not configure the mail server to do rejects instead of bounces. And especially if they are not using DNSbls to keep the spam from even getting into the mail servers. Many mail servers operators or their bosses are still afraid of losing a real e-mail because of a DNSbl, even though statistically they are more likely to lose a real e-mail in the noise than they are from the conservative DNSbsl. It also keeps the support staff from dealing with both external and internal cartoonies about being censors and interfering with free speech. People scream more about being getting bounce messages that they can trace to a source than they do about messages that just Yes it would be more friendly to reject the undeliverable messages at the connect time, but that would require both having something to educate the people getting the rejection as to where the problem is, and also would require management to allow the mail administrator to do their job, assuming that the mail administrator knows how to do this. > I wonder if anyone has any comments -- is this a common practice? Yes. It is common, especially with mail servers that can not be easily configured to do check internal delivery at SMTP connect time. If a company has a large internal e-mail system that is old and was designed before the spam problem really got bad, it may not be able to verify delivery before it accepts the e-mail message. The problem gets even worse if the postmaster does not protect the mail server with DNSbls to keep the bulk of the spam out. If a mail server uses good anti-spam and virus scanning, the amount of delayed bounces from internally undelivered messages will normally be too small to cause a blocking. But if they accept all e-mail and attempt to use content filtering afterward to separate the spam and viruses, then the accuracy of the most of the commercial content filters is so poor that if they bounced undeliverable e-mail that they were not sure was spam, it would still effectively be participating in a DDOS attack against other mail servers. > My guess is that they misunderstood the whole hard/soft bounce problem, > and decided to eliminate bounces altogether. What's even more rediculous > is that they use autoresponders for when people go on vacation (MS > Exchange). Yes, auto-responders for vacation on either phone or e-mail are known to be used by common criminals to identify identities that are safe to steal. At least one famous convicted criminal has admitted to reporters that they were easily able to get some very expensive and confidential things shipped overnight from the desks of people he identified were out of the office because they said so on their voice mail. Apparently it was easy to find a helpful co-worker. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Fri Feb 18 02:28:49 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Thu Feb 17 21:30:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool References: Message-ID: On 17 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv38mo$lmg$1@news.spamcop.net: > I thought the same thing at first. However, (and this is only > speculation on my part) what if you applied a standard spam filter to > the content of outgoing mail (reg ex/bayesian on content, URL checks, > etc.), as you would to incoming? > I don't think so, since you'd have to use some kind of packet filtering method. It's beyond my knowledge, but I'm quite sure it's completly different, it seems to me that you have have to make quite a few guesses as to what the packets are supposed to be. -- | Ric | From wb8tyw at qsl.network Thu Feb 17 22:06:37 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Thu Feb 17 22:10:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > My guess is that they don't want to give out their secret, because it's > not that hard. Yes, just simply require all real clients to send a special token with each message that a spammer or virus would not know. The easiest place to put it is in the outgoing e-mail address, and the mail server can strip it off so it remains confidential. Also zombies usually try direct to MX, and on every corporate network that I know of blocks those, so most zombies are impotent on them anyway, unless the mail server gets infected. > Mike Easter wrote: > >> Marketing droid hype. It appears a direct attempt to make money off of a problem that Steve Linford was mis-quoted on. > I thought the same thing at first. However, (and this is only > speculation on my part) what if you applied a standard spam filter to > the content of outgoing mail (reg ex/bayesian on content, URL checks, > etc.), as you would to incoming? Open proxy lists can be used on incoming as long as the network gets them delisted or locally whitelisted as soon as the problem is fixed. Even the aggressive spamcop.net list is suitable there, any attempted delivery from a suspect computer should trigger an investigation, and the number of zombies should be kept close to zero. An actively exploited zombie can knock out a significant section of a network and run up a large bandwidth bill for it. So it is in an ISP's financial interest to get them isolated as soon as they are detected. Bayesian filters actually seem to be pretty good at learning viruses, and may even learn them faster than the commercial scanners, but I would expect quite a bit of false positives that would need to be sorted through. Any content filter that can actually detect spam is going to block discussions of spam or submissions of spam. I am currently forwarding spam to 2 open proxy lists, 3 allegedly self learning filters, and 1 DUL submission address. The biggest weapon with suspected zombies on input is that a mail server has all the time in the world to actually decide to send the message, so it can queue up or throttle messages for a suspicious client. After all, how many of you would notice if your e-mail server only delivered 10 outgoing messages an hour from you? Or only allowed so many messages in a day to be sent out? One thing that a mail server (modification) could keep track of is how many messages a user normally sends out, and when they send them out, so it could flag a pattern. In most cases this is all overkill, and a simple traffic throttle will be enough to make it not worth the spammer's effort to relay through them. Right now, based on monitoring an internal forum form my ISP, at least two other major ISPs locally block on a hair trigger any I.P. or subnet and it takes between 1 to 2 business days to get the blocks removed. So while an ISP may ignore a direct to MX zombie for weeks and not care who blocks it, a zombie that goes through the ISP's mail servers is going to get attention fast. > Virus snaggers(tm) (http://vsnag.spamless.us/) apparently does some > simplistic checks for bogus SMTP headers to filter out viral spew, but > that appears to work when the worms are propagating, not when they are > being used as spam sources. > > This thread on http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.mail.procmail/13573 > discusses a couple of other related ideas, including separating of MX > and relays. How about banning vulnerable systems from being able to send e-mail at all? There is already one worm that grabs random documents and sends it self out with them. Think of the possible implications if the customer data gets broadcast this way. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Thu Feb 17 22:26:10 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Thu Feb 17 22:30:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 17 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cv346a$j1s$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >>Seems simple enough. I know that procmail and other unix/linux based >>tools are useful for filtering incoming mail. Can these be used to >>filter "outgoing" mail? (without having to buy some 3rd party solution)? >> > > > Everything is incoming mail, except for internally generated messages > (DSN). "Outgoing" is mail that has already been accepted and is relayed to > another server (domain), rather than delivered locally. Right. But the difference here is that any spam that is locally generated is likely to have come from zombies (using the newest technique), or other lusers who are going to bring larts to the ISP anyway. Why not proactively stop these problems at the source, i.e., before it's relayed? > I think you are refering to port 25 connections that bypass the ISP's mail > server, or "direct connections". In that case the ISP can scan anything > passing through port 25, or even completely block it. I think those are the "classic" way that hijacked proxies work, which don't need relays to deliver spam. What I'm referring to here is the newest zombie tactic (http://www.spamhaus.org/news.lasso?article=156), which "instructs the hijacked proxy [zombie] to send the spam out via the mail relay of the ISP the proxy is downstream of." As I understood this approach, the "zombie" is harder to distinguish from a real user on the same ISP, since they both send out emails the same way. Once the mail has been relayed, the damage is done. One difference in distinguishing legit mail from spam upon reception, would be on the content of the email. Packet filtering seems overkill for detecting spam content & blocking doesn't make sense in this case, since it would also stop legitimate users from sending mail to their relay. Basically, my question is this: couldn't the relay just queue up the mail it receives for relaying (i.e., outgoing mail), and filter it before relaying it? In this way, any identified spam could be used to hunt down the zombie machines locally (on the ISP's net). The ISP could take action against local lusers who sent spams, before waiting for Larts. (hope this is clearer now) Anyway, this is how I imagined that tool I cited worked... Too much speculation? From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Sat Feb 19 01:01:23 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 18 20:05:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool References: Message-ID: On 17 Feb 2005 Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv3n8h$uai$1@news.spamcop.net: > I think those are the "classic" way that hijacked proxies work, which > don't need relays to deliver spam. What I'm referring to here is the > newest zombie tactic (http://www.spamhaus.org/news.lasso?article=156), > which "instructs the hijacked proxy [zombie] to send the spam out via > the mail relay of the ISP the proxy is downstream of." > > As I understood this approach, the "zombie" is harder to distinguish > from a real user on the same ISP, since they both send out emails the > same way. Once the mail has been relayed, the damage is done. > OK, I get that, local users are allowed to relay and often skip most checks. However it is very easy to throttle the number of messages accepted, so this method of spamming may be harder to stop, but very easy to control, and very simple to detect. > One difference in distinguishing legit mail from spam upon reception, > would be on the content of the email. > Not at all, it's the number of eMails or the number of recipients for each eMail. This is very easy to control, and that's one reason for spamware in the first place, the spamware can do the MX lookups and send multiple messages without their ISP detecting it (unless they monitor port 25). > Packet filtering seems overkill for detecting spam content & blocking > doesn't make sense in this case, since it would also stop legitimate > users from sending mail to their relay. > Well, that's what they were talking about in one of the links you posted. I don't think the ISPs really want to do this, but many do, probably in fear of getting black-listed. In fact one of my ISPs uses a very loose filter expression to block viruses; I can get a virus in an eMail, or any attachment, but I can't send any message out that contains the line "file=something.com". I tried to educate them on the correct way to do this (or just not do it at all), but it must be over their heads ;-( Oh, that's right, I can't receive attachments anymore, they took away the option to disable that block (grrr). > Basically, my question is this: couldn't the relay just queue up the > mail it receives for relaying (i.e., outgoing mail), and filter it > before relaying it? In this way, any identified spam could be used to > hunt down the zombie machines locally (on the ISP's net). The ISP could > take action against local lusers who sent spams, before waiting for > Larts. (hope this is clearer now) > > Yes, of course, and it's probably already being done by some already. If you can determine with little or no doubt that it is a virus or spam, I think you can just toss the rule book out the window and do whatever you want. Of course there is the problem that the message may contain spam (or virus) content and not actually be spam (such as forward reports and larts). So you really need to check the number of eMails/recipients. -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Sat Feb 19 01:15:29 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 18 20:20:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool References: Message-ID: On 17 Feb 2005 John E. Malmberg entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv3m3u$tfs$1@news.spamcop.net: > Also zombies usually try direct to MX, and on every corporate network > that I know of blocks those, so most zombies are impotent on them > anyway, unless the mail server gets infected. > I'm really curious as to how thay do that, without using a dynamic.dnsbl. -- | Ric | From wb8tyw at qsl.network Fri Feb 18 21:10:51 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Fri Feb 18 21:15:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 17 Feb 2005 John E. Malmberg entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cv3m3u$tfs$1@news.spamcop.net: > >>Also zombies usually try direct to MX, and on every corporate network >>that I know of blocks those, so most zombies are impotent on them >>anyway, unless the mail server gets infected. > I'm really curious as to how thay do that, without using a dynamic.dnsbl. On every corporate LAN I have been on, port 25 is blocked for all but designated mail servers. This effectively only stops the zombies on the internal LAN from being visible to the external internet. All access to the public internet for most requires going through a proxy server. For most protocols that are allowed out this is transparent. -John wb8twy@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Sat Feb 19 03:46:27 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Fri Feb 18 22:50:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool References: Message-ID: On 18 Feb 2005 John E. Malmberg entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv677c$jhb$1@news.spamcop.net: > On every corporate LAN I have been on, port 25 is blocked for all but > designated mail servers. > > This effectively only stops the zombies on the internal LAN from being > visible to the external internet. > > All access to the public internet for most requires going through a > proxy server. For most protocols that are allowed out this is > transparent. > Oh, OK, I thought you were saying that they block "zombie" connections from the Internet side. My bad. -- | Ric From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Sat Feb 19 16:55:04 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Sat Feb 19 17:00:14 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Email zombie fighting tool In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > Everything is incoming mail, except for internally generated messages > (DSN). "Outgoing" is mail that has already been accepted and is relayed to > another server (domain), rather than delivered locally. Here's another article talking about "outgoing" mail, as I was referring to it (IronPort-related): http://informationweek.securitypipeline.com/news/52601737 Talks about lots of the stuff already hashed out in this thread ;-) including port 25 blocking, throttling, etc. From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Sat Feb 19 15:02:34 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Sat Feb 19 18:05:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] screensaver problems Message-ID: This has nothing to do with spamcop but I felt that someone here might be able to help. I have w98SE - I have created a "screensaver" desktop icon which, when I click on it, immediately activates the screen saver. Problem, after the computer was in the shop for virus/worm removal, that icon (and all the screensaver icons in the windows/system folder) only open the screensaver setup dialog box, and do not activate the screensaver, in fact, the only way to instantly activate the screensaver is by right clicking on the desktop, clicking on properties and then screensaver tab - and test (not too practical.) Any ideas why ALL the icons do this instead of activating the actual screensaver? BTW two w98se computers work as they should, clicking on the icon activates the screensaver. From wb8tyw at qsl.network Sat Feb 19 18:41:13 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Sat Feb 19 18:45:10 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Anon_ wrote: > This has nothing to do with spamcop but I felt that someone here might be > able to help. > > I have w98SE - I have created a "screensaver" desktop icon which, when I > click on it, immediately activates the screen saver. > > Problem, after the computer was in the shop for virus/worm removal, that > icon (and all the screensaver icons in the windows/system folder) only open > the screensaver setup dialog box, and do not activate the screensaver, in > fact, the only way to instantly activate the screensaver is by right > clicking on the desktop, clicking on properties and then screensaver tab - > and test (not too practical.) > > Any ideas why ALL the icons do this instead of activating the actual > screensaver? > > BTW two w98se computers work as they should, clicking on the icon activates > the screensaver. Press Right-ALT + Print-Screen once, and then see if things are all better. If not, try again after a Left-ALT + Print-Screen. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Sat Feb 19 16:27:23 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Sat Feb 19 19:30:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message news:cv8k8j$v2d$1@news.spamcop.net... > Anon_ wrote: > > > > I have w98SE - I have created a "screensaver" desktop icon which, when I > > click on it, immediately activates the screen saver. > > > > Problem, after the computer was in the shop for virus/worm removal, that > > icon (and all the screensaver icons in the windows/system folder) only open > > the screensaver setup dialog box, and do not activate the screensaver, in > > fact, the only way to instantly activate the screensaver is by right > > clicking on the desktop, clicking on properties and then screensaver tab - > > and test (not too practical.) > > Go to the properties for your screensaver icon and make sure it is being > called like: > ssstars.scr /scr *** Do you mean that this is the path? I used "windows/system/ssstars.scr" - with the extra /scr, I get an error message. If 'switch' where do I put it? -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > > If you run it without the switch, it normally takes you to the setup dialog. From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Sat Feb 19 16:28:47 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Sat Feb 19 19:30:13 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "John E. Malmberg" wrote in message news:cv8iqp$u0g$1@news.spamcop.net... > Anon_ wrote: > > This has nothing to do with spamcop but I felt that someone here might be > > able to help. > > > > I have w98SE - I have created a "screensaver" desktop icon which, when I > > click on it, immediately activates the screen saver. > > > > Problem, after the computer was in the shop for virus/worm removal, that > > icon (and all the screensaver icons in the windows/system folder) only open > > the screensaver setup dialog box, and do not activate the screensaver, in > > fact, the only way to instantly activate the screensaver is by right > > clicking on the desktop, clicking on properties and then screensaver tab - > > and test (not too practical.) > > > > Any ideas why ALL the icons do this instead of activating the actual > > screensaver? > > > > BTW two w98se computers work as they should, clicking on the icon activates > > the screensaver. > > Press Right-ALT + Print-Screen once, and then see if things are all better. > > If not, try again after a Left-ALT + Print-Screen. **** Neither one worked - next?? -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > > -John > wb8tyw@qsl.network > Personal Opinion Only From wb8tyw at qsl.network Sat Feb 19 20:57:30 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Sat Feb 19 21:00:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Anon_ wrote: > **** > Neither one worked - next?? Check the settings for the mouse, it may have been changed to the opposite hand than you use. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Sun Feb 20 02:57:50 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Sat Feb 19 22:00:21 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On 19 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv8gim$su3$1@news.spamcop.net: > Any ideas why ALL the icons do this instead of activating the actual > screensaver? > The default action for scr has been changed. Open Windows Explorer, then from the menu (I think...) Tools - Options Select the File Types tab Find Screen Saver and select it Click Edit Select Test Click Set Default Click OK Win 98 may be slightly different, but that's close. Just be careful if you get an eMail with a scr file in it, and scan any screen saver you download. -- | Ric | From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Sat Feb 19 20:11:02 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Sat Feb 19 23:15:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "John E. Malmberg" wrote in message news:cv8qqb$2fg$1@news.spamcop.net... > Anon_ wrote: > > > **** > > Neither one worked - next?? > > Check the settings for the mouse, it may have been changed to the > opposite hand than you use. ** No I tried both right click and left click and neither worked. -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > > -John > wb8tyw@qsl.network > Personal Opinion Only From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Sat Feb 19 20:17:18 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Sat Feb 19 23:20:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "Blammo" wrote in message news:Xns9602C11D7B731blammo@216.154.195.61... > On 19 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cv8gim$su3$1@news.spamcop.net: > > > Any ideas why ALL the icons do this instead of activating the actual > > screensaver? > > > > The default action for scr has been changed. > Open Windows Explorer, then from the menu (I think...) > Tools - Options > Select the File Types tab > Find Screen Saver and select it > Click Edit > Select Test > Click Set Default *** Actually, that is where it was set originally - still nothing. -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > Click OK > > Win 98 may be slightly different, but that's close. > Just be careful if you get an eMail with a scr file in it, and scan any > screen saver you download. > > -- > | Ric > | From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Sun Feb 20 10:24:39 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Sun Feb 20 10:25:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Speech recognition software? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mr K. Mean wrote: > But does anybody know if something already exists that would save me the > trouble? I just want something that would dump speech into a simple > text editor, or even straight to a text file on disk. You could try the latest versions of Microsoft Office. The early versions actually made my Office crash, before I even enabled it. That's what's great about "upgraded" MS products -- always providing you with buggy features that you'll probably not need to use. I had always been curious since that crash. I finally gave it a try, after Office (Word) 2002 SP3 came out. That version works fairly well, although some words are difficult to recognize, even after training. I didn't do more than two hours of training of the recognizer, and I have a low-quality microphone, so I can't judge in fairness. The software is relatively easy to use. From devnull at spamcop.net Sun Feb 20 13:49:08 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sun Feb 20 13:55:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Speech recognition software? References: Message-ID: "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message news:cva5kn$q8n$1@news.spamcop.net... | Has anybody used any of this? I curious and would like to play around | with something like this, but I'm not curious enough to pay for it. I | see that ViaVoice is like $100, and that isn't something I'm willing to | pay for to just play around. | | I see there is CMU Sphinx, but it is is just an SDK and looks very end | user unfriendly. Sphinx 4 is written in Java and maybe I'll be able to | hook into the API and write something quick in Swing to have it dump | text into a text area or something. | | But does anybody know if something already exists that would save me the | trouble? I just want something that would dump speech into a simple | text editor, or even straight to a text file on disk. Check with some of the deaf community ng and web sites. 10-12 years back I did some work for a major international wireless handset manufacturer (still under NDA so I can't be more specific) Back then the question was speaker dependant (learned from the user and worked well only for that user) or speaker independent. (Work equally poorly for all users). Regardless the performance is more a function of RAM and processor speed than anything else. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Sun Feb 20 23:56:06 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Sun Feb 20 19:00:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On 19 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv930s$6tv$1@news.spamcop.net: > > "Blammo" wrote in message > news:Xns9602C11D7B731blammo@216.154.195.61... >> >> The default action for scr has been changed. >> Open Windows Explorer, then from the menu (I think...) >> Tools - Options >> Select the File Types tab >> Find Screen Saver and select it >> Click Edit >> Select Test >> Click Set Default > > *** > Actually, that is where it was set originally - still nothing. > Oh, you did say you had to go to Properties - Test, so maybe we didn't go deep enough into it. In the above scenario, instead of the last line "set default"... Click Edit... in "Application used to perform action", it should say "%1" /S exactly that. - equivelent to: "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\3D Maze.scr" /s If that doesn't do the trick, then there's some registry entry somewhere that's messed it up. You can compair your settings with that of other similar (Win98) systems. You can trace it in the registry, not actually too hard but requires some intellegence - you can search the registry for "screen saver" which will take you to "scrfile" where you will see the settings we saw above, then you can search for "scrfile" and trace that (and hopefully find "filetype .scr"). Some application may have changed these settings, perhaps a virus scanner, or more likely something the repair did or program used changed it somwhere. I have this problem all the time with programs like PaintShop Pro, so I try not to use them. If you change your settings for file type handlers, the program may change it back avery time you run it. If it's a virus scanner doing it, then it will change it back every time you reboot. -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Mon Feb 21 00:01:33 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Sun Feb 20 19:05:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On 19 Feb 2005 John E. Malmberg entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv8iqp$u0g$1@news.spamcop.net: > Press Right-ALT + Print-Screen once, and then see if things are all > better. > > If not, try again after a Left-ALT + Print-Screen. > Is this a solution to the "sticky key" problem? I tell people to "press CTRL twice, Press ALT twice, press SHIFT twice". -- | Ric | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Mon Feb 21 00:05:36 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Sun Feb 20 19:10:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On 19 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cv930s$6tv$1@news.spamcop.net: > > "Blammo" wrote in message > news:Xns9602C11D7B731blammo@216.154.195.61... >> >> > Any ideas why ALL the icons do this instead of activating the actual >> > screensaver? >> > >> >> The default action for scr has been changed. >> Open Windows Explorer, then from the menu (I think...) >> Tools - Options >> Select the File Types tab >> Find Screen Saver and select it >> Click Edit >> Select Test >> Click Set Default > > *** > Actually, that is where it was set originally - still nothing. > - Spelling Police caught me - Oh, you did say you had to go to Properties - Test, so maybe we didn't go deep enough into it. In the above scenario, instead of the last line "set default"... Click Edit... in "Application used to perform action", it should say "%1" /S exactly that. - equivalent to: "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\3D Maze.scr" /s If that doesn't do the trick, then there's some registry entry somewhere that's messed it up. You can compare your settings with that of other similar (Win98) systems. You can trace it in the registry, not actually too hard but requires some intelligence - you can search the registry for "screen saver" which will take you to "scrfile" where you will see the settings we saw above, then you can search for "scrfile" and trace that (and hopefully find "filetype .scr"). Some application may have changed these settings, perhaps a virus scanner, or more likely something the repair did or program used changed it somewhere. I have this problem all the time with programs like PaintShop Pro, so I try not to use them. If you change your settings for file type handlers, the program may change it back every time you run it. If it's a virus scanner doing it, then it will change it back every time you reboot. -- | Ric | From wb8tyw at qsl.network Sun Feb 20 20:20:04 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Sun Feb 20 20:25:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 19 Feb 2005 John E. Malmberg entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cv8iqp$u0g$1@news.spamcop.net: > >>Press Right-ALT + Print-Screen once, and then see if things are all >>better. >> >>If not, try again after a Left-ALT + Print-Screen. >> > Is this a solution to the "sticky key" problem? > I tell people to "press CTRL twice, Press ALT twice, press SHIFT twice". I use ALT-F19 on my LK400 series keyboard as one of the keystrokes to tell my KVM to switch screens to the test system from this one. F19 has the same key code as Scroll-lock. My error. I should have stated Scroll-lock. The Print-Screen was from a different KVM. I do not have PC markings on this keyboard, so I have to go from memory. I have never needed to use the keys that I do not have labels for on any PC application that I can remember. Apparently the KVM passes the keys through to the application with the assumption that hitting hold screen twice will be a no-op. F19 does mean something to Mozilla and it pops up a dialog box. ALT-F19 appeared to do nothing at first, and then I discovered that it toggles some mouse behavior on the OpenVMS side. And on the OpenVMS side, I discovered that the same ALT key must be used to toggle as to switch back. On the Microsoft Windows side, the ALT-Scroll-lock key seems to toggle Microsoft Windows explorer in the way that "anon" describes. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:04 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 08:35:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 09:28:01 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 09:30:08 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 18:28:59 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 09:30:27 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: "Spamvireslayer" wrote in message news:cvcnsc$alt$1@news.spamcop.net... > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience well we have Norton 2004, and it seems to work OK, my son has 2005 (i think), again seems to work, but then you never know till it fails. :) I've had one problem with the fireall, making it impossible , so far, to use HP's instant share (upload photo's to a site where your friends can d/l from) (blocks referer) Since there were other ways to do what I wanted I haven't pursued that aggressively. Mind you I also sweep the computer weekly with spybot s&d, adaware and microft (formerly giant) spyware program. And if I could I'd NAT it all behind an apple server and a minirouter, but I can't. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 10:15:10 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 10:20:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: "C. S." wrote in message news:kqrj11pd7uu6dfeig7nrmuejh95vf09v7r@4ax.com... > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' > I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec > hackshop garbage outta the system. > > There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, > antispam and other Norton products, and they > don't worm their way into the system to nearly > the destructive degree that Norton does. What do you mean, specifically, about it being invasive? From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 10:16:16 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 10:20:12 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: "Berny" wrote in message news:cvcr7f$cda$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Mind you I also sweep the computer weekly with spybot s&d, adaware and > microft (formerly giant) spyware program. It's spybot that got me into this mess - my OS got totally hosed while I was running it - no idea why... From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Mon Feb 21 08:11:29 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Mon Feb 21 11:15:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "Blammo" wrote in message news:Xns9603A3EAEA85Cblammo@216.154.195.61... > On 19 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cv930s$6tv$1@news.spamcop.net: > > > > > "Blammo" wrote in message > > news:Xns9602C11D7B731blammo@216.154.195.61... > >> > >> > Any ideas why ALL the icons do this instead of activating the actual > >> > screensaver? > >> > > >> > >> The default action for scr has been changed. > >> Open Windows Explorer, then from the menu (I think...) > >> Tools - Options > >> Select the File Types tab > >> Find Screen Saver and select it > >> Click Edit > >> Select Test > >> Click Set Default > > > > *** > > Actually, that is where it was set originally - still nothing. > > > > - Spelling Police caught me - > > Oh, you did say you had to go to Properties - Test, so maybe we didn't go > deep enough into it. > > In the above scenario, instead of the last line "set default"... > > Click Edit... > in "Application used to perform action", it should say > "%1" /S > > exactly that. > - equivalent to: "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\3D Maze.scr" /s > *** Problem - computer that works has: configure = "%1", Test = %1" /s. Computer that does not work has: configure windows\rundll32.exe desk.cpc,installscreensaver % (no quotes), test = same as configure. Clicking set default always put those values there. When I tried to replace with the 'good' computer I always got "program specified could not be found" and refused to accept the new values. Registry values were same in both computers. -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > If that doesn't do the trick, then there's some registry entry somewhere > that's messed it up. You can compare your settings with that of other > similar (Win98) systems. > You can trace it in the registry, not actually too hard but requires some > intelligence - you can search the registry for "screen saver" which will > take you to "scrfile" where you will see the settings we saw above, then > you can search for "scrfile" and trace that (and hopefully find "filetype > .scr"). > > Some application may have changed these settings, perhaps a virus scanner, > or more likely something the repair did or program used changed it > somewhere. I have this problem all the time with programs like PaintShop > Pro, so I try not to use them. If you change your settings for file type > handlers, the program may change it back every time you run it. If it's a > virus scanner doing it, then it will change it back every time you reboot. > > > -- > | Ric > | From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Mon Feb 21 08:12:04 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Mon Feb 21 11:15:19 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "Blammo" wrote in message news:Xns9603A24E354A1blammo@216.154.195.61... > On 19 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cv930s$6tv$1@news.spamcop.net: > > > > > "Blammo" wrote in message > > news:Xns9602C11D7B731blammo@216.154.195.61... > >> > >> The default action for scr has been changed. > >> Open Windows Explorer, then from the menu (I think...) > >> Tools - Options > >> Select the File Types tab > >> Find Screen Saver and select it > >> Click Edit > >> Select Test > >> Click Set Default > > > > *** > > Actually, that is where it was set originally - still nothing. > > > > Oh, you did say you had to go to Properties - Test, so maybe we didn't go > deep enough into it. > > In the above scenario, instead of the last line "set default"... > > Click Edit... > in "Application used to perform action", it should say > "%1" /S > > exactly that. > - equivelent to: "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\3D Maze.scr" /s > > If that doesn't do the trick, then there's some registry entry somewhere > that's messed it up. You can compair your settings with that of other > similar (Win98) systems. > You can trace it in the registry, not actually too hard but requires some > intellegence - you can search the registry for "screen saver" which will > take you to "scrfile" where you will see the settings we saw above, then > you can search for "scrfile" and trace that (and hopefully find "filetype > .scr"). *** Problem - computer that works has: configure = "%1", Test = %1" /s. Computer that does not work has: configure windows\rundll32.exe desk.cpc,installscreensaver % (no quotes), test = same as configure. Clicking set default always put those values there. When I tried to replace with the 'good' computer I always got "program specified could not be found" and refused to accept the new values. Registry values were same in both computers. -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > > Some application may have changed these settings, perhaps a virus scanner, > or more likely something the repair did or program used changed it > somwhere. I have this problem all the time with programs like PaintShop > Pro, so I try not to use them. If you change your settings for file type > handlers, the program may change it back avery time you run it. If it's a > virus scanner doing it, then it will change it back every time you reboot. > -- > | Ric > | From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 10:03:04 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Mon Feb 21 13:05:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience I did a rebuild 3 weeks ago (horrible isn't it!??) and reinstalled Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 (i.e., AV is a part of it...) - and it reinstalled just fine - indeed, my AV subscriptiuon date was reset to one year after my reinstall date... *what sort of error did you get?* I generally like Symnatec's stuff, indeed got there Enterprise edition antivirus for the office network (~45 usesr across 2 sites) and generally like it a lot - but most of the stuff in 'Internet Security' (IS) is just fluff IMHO - sort of like those web sites banners and pop-ups that say things like "your PC has issues, click here to see how our %19.95 software can fix the problem [sic] you didn't even know you had": - personal firewall - use the one on on your DSL modem (?) or get one of the free ones that are better - privacy control - I use AdAware, Spybot (proactive) and SpyWareBlaster (proactive) - all free and from what I have read better - AntiSpam - well Spamcop email filtering of course and teach your email software to filter and file those that get through into a seperate folder, reday for reporting (I use Mozilla's junk mail filter's...) - did you have some whipper-snappers when we weren't looking? :-) besides, parental filters are TOTALLY bogus anyway - it is a *parent's* job to monitor what there ankle-biters look at not some software - we don't need any Michael Powell clone on the Internet now do we? :-) BTW, I got my Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 off eBay in late 2003 for $20 - was a legimate CD, not an OEM licence, just a CD and no box or manuals... From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 13:50:59 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 13:55:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: "Skiwi" wrote in message news:cvd7op$jn6$1@news.spamcop.net... > > I did a rebuild 3 weeks ago (horrible isn't it!??) and reinstalled > Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 (i.e., AV is a part of it...) - and it > reinstalled just fine - indeed, my AV subscriptiuon date was reset to > one year after my reinstall date... *what sort of error did you get?* The program just plain won't run - the icon shows in the systray but clicking on it does nothing, and right clicking to configure brings "Norton AntiVirus has encountered an internal program error. Uninstall and re-install Norton AntiVirus" (3005,562). I followed their directions to the letter about one dozen times, and nothing makes it run. > > I generally like Symnatec's stuff, indeed got there Enterprise edition > antivirus for the office network (~45 usesr across 2 sites) and > generally like it a lot - but most of the stuff in 'Internet Security' > (IS) is just fluff IMHO - sort of like those web sites banners and > pop-ups that say things like "your PC has issues, click here to see how > our %19.95 software can fix the problem [sic] you didn't even know you had": Is it intrusive, or can you get rid of stuff that you don't want? > > - personal firewall - use the one on on your DSL modem (?) or get one > of the free ones that are better I'm OK with Zone Alarm - I have a cable modem, seems to work fine. > > - privacy control - I use AdAware, Spybot (proactive) and > SpyWareBlaster (proactive) - all free and from what I have read better Yeah, well Spybot broke my OS.... > > - AntiSpam - well Spamcop email filtering of course and teach your > email software to filter and file those that get through into a seperate > folder, reday for reporting (I use Mozilla's junk mail filter's...) Don't need it.....yet. > > - did you have some whipper-snappers when we weren't looking? :-) BITE YOUR TONGUE..... ;> > > BTW, I got my Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 off eBay in late 2003 for $20 - > was a legimate CD, not an OEM licence, just a CD and no box or manuals... Well I'll stick to the official version from Symantec, since they will owe me money for the upgrade I just bought in August...they said they'd credit me if I upgraded. Still another $40 dammit. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 13:55:36 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:00:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: <2s3k11tqvbimn6d8lr49o1ub7jnojdghf1@4ax.com> Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 10:15:10 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > > "C. S." wrote in message > news:kqrj11pd7uu6dfeig7nrmuejh95vf09v7r@4ax.com... > > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' > > I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec > > hackshop garbage outta the system. > > > > There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, > > antispam and other Norton products, and they > > don't worm their way into the system to nearly > > the destructive degree that Norton does. > > What do you mean, specifically, about it being invasive? > My experience supporting Windows workstations in large corporations has shown the ugliest-possible scenarios involving Symantec/Norton software, often to the point of low-level hard drive formatting being the only way to recover from trouble. Most common issues were tricky at best to resolve; none were simple patches or settings changes. Their products dump an ocean freightliner's worth of detritus into the system registry, most of it encrypted, so not readily identifiable, if at all. There's also a bunch of startup insertions, many of which are not actually removed and/or unregistered during the product's own uninstall routines, nor are they found and effected in the common startup methods. It takes over control of many system DLLs, and does a bunch of alterations to how the OS handles a number of different filetypes, and often does not return such values to a pre-installed state if removed. These products are also shamefully bloated, what with incredibly large data-size installs. Much of the bloat is evidenced in the degree to which it worms its way into the very OS itself. I've attempted to steer everyone away from these products for a number of years now, based of the multitudes of difficulties I've witnessed them causing. Having unleashed the above, I _will_ concede that their A/V product *alone* does appear to do the job it sets out to do with a minimum of trouble. Even so, an uninstall is often riddled with complications and/or problems. I'll also admit that, simply because of my disgust with said products, I have had no direct experience with them in several years. They may have shed some of the bloat and other such, though I do not know, nor do I intend to put my systems at risk just to find out. I haven't personally used *any* A/V product since I gave up on the increasing bloat of McAfee's VirusScan about four or five years ago. Judicious use of the ZoneAlarm firewall, combined with using only web-based email systems, as well as normal caution with common-sense practices while internet- connected, have proven to be an effective system for me. Oh, and the use of a non-MS browser has probably made the biggest single difference in keeping nasties away. Just as IE is so widespread in use, it makes sense that script-kiddies and others will try to exploit it, simply due to it being such a huge target. This aversion to IE alone has likely been the single biggest step to take against spy-/mal-/script-ware infecting my systems. Plus, it doesn't hurt to put a decent router or similar hardware between you and the 'net. From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:16 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:25 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:31 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:36 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:40 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:44 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:48 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:52 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:10:57 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:11:01 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:29:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:11:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From bogus@does.not.exist.com Mon Feb 21 09:26:30 2005 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com (C.S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:11:10 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: >> I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to >> reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no >> longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? >> The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the >> renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: >> >> Norton AntiVirusT >> Norton Personal Firewall >> Norton Privacy Control >> Norton AntiSpamT >> NortonT Parental Control >> >> TIA for any user experience >> Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From bogus@does.not.exist.com Mon Feb 21 09:28:04 2005 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com (C. S. ) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:15:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: >> I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to >> reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no >> longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? >> The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the >> renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: >> >> Norton AntiVirusT >> Norton Personal Firewall >> Norton Privacy Control >> Norton AntiSpamT >> NortonT Parental Control >> >> TIA for any user experience >> Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 09:29:33 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:15:14 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > "C. S." wrote in message > news:kqrj11pd7uu6dfeig7nrmuejh95vf09v7r@4ax.com... > >>Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' >>I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec >>hackshop garbage outta the system. >> >>There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, >>antispam and other Norton products, and they >>don't worm their way into the system to nearly >>the destructive degree that Norton does. > > > What do you mean, specifically, about it being invasive? > > From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 11:19:02 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:15:18 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > "Berny" wrote in message > news:cvcr7f$cda$1@news.spamcop.net... > >>Mind you I also sweep the computer weekly with spybot s&d, adaware and >>microft (formerly giant) spyware program. > > > It's spybot that got me into this mess - my OS got totally hosed while I was > running it - no idea why... > > From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 01:19:47 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:15:22 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Skiwi wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I >> had to >> reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no >> longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet >> Security? >> The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit >> for the >> renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: >> >> Norton AntiVirusT >> Norton Personal Firewall >> Norton Privacy Control >> Norton AntiSpamT >> NortonT Parental Control >> >> TIA for any user experience > > > > I did a rebuild 3 weeks ago (horrible isn't it!??) and reinstalled > Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 (i.e., AV is a part of it...) - and it > reinstalled just fine - indeed, my AV subscriptiuon date was reset to > one year after my reinstall date... *what sort of error did you get?* > > I generally like Symnatec's stuff, indeed got there Enterprise edition > antivirus for the office network (~45 usesr across 2 sites) and > generally like it a lot - but most of the stuff in 'Internet Security' > (IS) is just fluff IMHO - sort of like those web sites banners and > pop-ups that say things like "your PC has issues, click here to see how > our %19.95 software can fix the problem [sic] you didn't even know you > had": > > - personal firewall - use the one on on your DSL modem (?) or get one > of the free ones that are better > > - privacy control - I use AdAware, Spybot (proactive) and > SpyWareBlaster (proactive) - all free and from what I have read better > > - AntiSpam - well Spamcop email filtering of course and teach your > email software to filter and file those that get through into a seperate > folder, reday for reporting (I use Mozilla's junk mail filter's...) > > - did you have some whipper-snappers when we weren't looking? :-) > besides, parental filters are TOTALLY bogus anyway - it is a *parent's* > job to monitor what there ankle-biters look at not some software - we > don't need any Michael Powell clone on the Internet now do we? :-) > > BTW, I got my Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 off eBay in late 2003 for $20 - > was a legimate CD, not an OEM licence, just a CD and no box or manuals... From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 13:21:11 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:05:05 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:18 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:05:23 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:27 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:05:48 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:32 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:05:55 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:37 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:06:02 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:41 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:06:09 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:46 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:06:17 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:50 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:06:24 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:54 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:07:07 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:20:58 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: C.S. < wrote: > Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" > deemed it necessary to offer: > > > >> I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I > had to > >> reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and > they no > >> longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet > Security? > >> The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit > for the > >> renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > >> > >> Norton AntiVirusT > >> Norton Personal Firewall > >> Norton Privacy Control > >> Norton AntiSpamT > >> NortonT Parental Control > >> > >> TIA for any user experience > >> > > > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' > I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec > hackshop garbage outta the system. > > There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, > antispam and other Norton products, and they > don't worm their way into the system to nearly > the destructive degree that Norton does. From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:07:16 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:21:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 10:07:50 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:25:32 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > > From bar_n0ne at hotmail.com Mon Feb 21 22:56:10 2005 From: bar_n0ne at hotmail.com (Berny) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:25:40 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > "Skiwi" wrote in message > news:cvd7op$jn6$1@news.spamcop.net... > >>I did a rebuild 3 weeks ago (horrible isn't it!??) and reinstalled >>Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 (i.e., AV is a part of it...) - and it >>reinstalled just fine - indeed, my AV subscriptiuon date was reset to >>one year after my reinstall date... *what sort of error did you get?* > > > The program just plain won't run - the icon shows in the systray but > clicking on it does nothing, and right clicking to configure brings "Norton > AntiVirus has encountered an internal program error. Uninstall and > re-install Norton AntiVirus" (3005,562). I followed their directions to the > letter about one dozen times, and nothing makes it run. > > >>I generally like Symnatec's stuff, indeed got there Enterprise edition >>antivirus for the office network (~45 usesr across 2 sites) and >>generally like it a lot - but most of the stuff in 'Internet Security' >>(IS) is just fluff IMHO - sort of like those web sites banners and >>pop-ups that say things like "your PC has issues, click here to see how >>our %19.95 software can fix the problem [sic] you didn't even know you > > had": > > Is it intrusive, or can you get rid of stuff that you don't want? > >> - personal firewall - use the one on on your DSL modem (?) or get one >>of the free ones that are better > > > I'm OK with Zone Alarm - I have a cable modem, seems to work fine. > >> - privacy control - I use AdAware, Spybot (proactive) and >>SpyWareBlaster (proactive) - all free and from what I have read better > > > Yeah, well Spybot broke my OS.... > >> - AntiSpam - well Spamcop email filtering of course and teach your >>email software to filter and file those that get through into a seperate >>folder, reday for reporting (I use Mozilla's junk mail filter's...) > > > Don't need it.....yet. > >> - did you have some whipper-snappers when we weren't looking? :-) > > > BITE YOUR TONGUE..... ;> > >>BTW, I got my Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 off eBay in late 2003 for $20 - >>was a legimate CD, not an OEM licence, just a CD and no box or manuals... > > > Well I'll stick to the official version from Symantec, since they will owe > me money for the upgrade I just bought in August...they said they'd credit > me if I upgraded. Still another $40 dammit. > > From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 14:57:22 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:25:44 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > "Skiwi" wrote in message > news:cvd7op$jn6$1@news.spamcop.net... > >>I did a rebuild 3 weeks ago (horrible isn't it!??) and reinstalled >>Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 (i.e., AV is a part of it...) - and it >>reinstalled just fine - indeed, my AV subscriptiuon date was reset to >>one year after my reinstall date... *what sort of error did you get?* > > > The program just plain won't run - the icon shows in the systray but > clicking on it does nothing, and right clicking to configure brings "Norton > AntiVirus has encountered an internal program error. Uninstall and > re-install Norton AntiVirus" (3005,562). I followed their directions to the > letter about one dozen times, and nothing makes it run. > > >>I generally like Symnatec's stuff, indeed got there Enterprise edition >>antivirus for the office network (~45 usesr across 2 sites) and >>generally like it a lot - but most of the stuff in 'Internet Security' >>(IS) is just fluff IMHO - sort of like those web sites banners and >>pop-ups that say things like "your PC has issues, click here to see how >>our %19.95 software can fix the problem [sic] you didn't even know you > > had": > > Is it intrusive, or can you get rid of stuff that you don't want? > >> - personal firewall - use the one on on your DSL modem (?) or get one >>of the free ones that are better > > > I'm OK with Zone Alarm - I have a cable modem, seems to work fine. > >> - privacy control - I use AdAware, Spybot (proactive) and >>SpyWareBlaster (proactive) - all free and from what I have read better > > > Yeah, well Spybot broke my OS.... > >> - AntiSpam - well Spamcop email filtering of course and teach your >>email software to filter and file those that get through into a seperate >>folder, reday for reporting (I use Mozilla's junk mail filter's...) > > > Don't need it.....yet. > >> - did you have some whipper-snappers when we weren't looking? :-) > > > BITE YOUR TONGUE..... ;> > >>BTW, I got my Symantec SystemsWorks 2003 off eBay in late 2003 for $20 - >>was a legimate CD, not an OEM licence, just a CD and no box or manuals... > > > Well I'll stick to the official version from Symantec, since they will owe > me money for the upgrade I just bought in August...they said they'd credit > me if I upgraded. Still another $40 dammit. > > From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 14:57:46 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:25:48 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > > From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 14:57:55 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:25:53 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Berny wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I >> had to >> reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no >> longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet >> Security? >> The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit >> for the >> renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: >> >> Norton AntiVirusT >> Norton Personal Firewall >> Norton Privacy Control >> Norton AntiSpamT >> NortonT Parental Control >> >> TIA for any user experience From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 14:58:10 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:25:57 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Berny wrote: > Spamvireslayer wrote: > >> I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I >> had to >> reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no >> longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet >> Security? >> The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit >> for the >> renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: >> >> Norton AntiVirusT >> Norton Personal Firewall >> Norton Privacy Control >> Norton AntiSpamT >> NortonT Parental Control >> >> TIA for any user experience From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 14:58:17 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:26:02 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Spamvireslayer wrote: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 12:55:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:30:12 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation References: <2s3k11tqvbimn6d8lr49o1ub7jnojdghf1@4ax.com> Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 12:55:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:35:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 12:58:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:35:11 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: <2s3k11tqvbimn6d8lr49o1ub7jnojdghf1@4ax.com> Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 12:58:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:35:15 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 14:00:03 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:40:03 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 08:35:04 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Spamvireslayer) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:40:10 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: Norton AntiVirusT Norton Personal Firewall Norton Privacy Control Norton AntiSpamT NortonT Parental Control TIA for any user experience From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 13:05:03 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:45:28 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: <2s3k11tqvbimn6d8lr49o1ub7jnojdghf1@4ax.com> Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 08:31:04 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:45:33 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 13:52:59 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:45:38 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 09:28:01 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:50:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 09:28:01 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:50:18 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 09:28:01 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:50:26 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 09:28:01 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:50:31 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 09:28:01 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:50:36 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 09:28:01 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:50:41 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From notgiven at nodomain.net Mon Feb 21 09:28:01 2005 From: notgiven at nodomain.net (C. S.) Date: Mon Feb 21 14:50:46 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: Sometime around Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:29:04 -0600, "Spamvireslayer" deemed it necessary to offer: > I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience > Since your subject asks for a 'recommendation,' I'll recommend that you keep the Norton/Symantec hackshop garbage outta the system. There are viable alternatives to the AV, firewall, antispam and other Norton products, and they don't worm their way into the system to nearly the destructive degree that Norton does. From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Mon Feb 21 22:24:46 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Mon Feb 21 17:25:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On 21 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cvd191$fui$1@news.spamcop.net: > When I tried to replace with the 'good' computer I always got "program > specified could not be found" and refused to accept the new values. > Yes, I forgot about that, the UI is too "stupid", you have to change it in the registry HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\scrfile\shell\open\command and Modify Default to "%1" /S -- | Ric | From wb8tyw at qsl.network Mon Feb 21 19:00:34 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Mon Feb 21 19:05:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Anon_ wrote: > "John E. Malmberg" wrote in message > news:cv8iqp$u0g$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >>Press Right-ALT + Print-Screen once, and then see if things are all > > better. > >>If not, try again after a Left-ALT + Print-Screen. > > **** > Neither one worked - next?? If you have missed the other sub-thread, I meant the Scroll-Lock key, not the Print Screen key. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Mon Feb 21 17:47:19 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Mon Feb 21 20:50:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "John E. Malmberg" wrote in message news:cvdsn2$2n2$1@news.spamcop.net... > Anon_ wrote: > > "John E. Malmberg" wrote in message > > news:cv8iqp$u0g$1@news.spamcop.net... > >> > >>Press Right-ALT + Print-Screen once, and then see if things are all > > > > better. > > > >>If not, try again after a Left-ALT + Print-Screen. > > > > **** > > Neither one worked - next?? > > If you have missed the other sub-thread, I meant the Scroll-Lock key, > not the Print Screen key. ** Left-alt+scroll-lock - nothing happened. Also tried right-alt+scroll-lock -- same nothing. Next??? -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > > -John > wb8tyw@qsl.network > Personal Opinion Only > > From skiwi at spamcop.net Mon Feb 21 19:09:05 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Mon Feb 21 22:10:17 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Speech recognition software? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mr K. Mean wrote: > Has anybody used any of this? I curious and would like to play around > with something like this, but I'm not curious enough to pay for it. I > see that ViaVoice is like $100, and that isn't something I'm willing to > pay for to just play around. [snip] Dragon Naturally Speaking seems to be the best all-around one as far as I can see - David Pogue seems to like it - see http://www.scansoft.com/naturallyspeaking/nyt/ - but at $190 for the personal seems motre than you want to pay (or need (?)) From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Mon Feb 21 20:04:01 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Mon Feb 21 23:05:19 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "Blammo" wrote in message news:Xns960492D1D6922blammo@216.154.195.61... > On 21 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cvd191$fui$1@news.spamcop.net: > > > When I tried to replace with the 'good' computer I always got "program > > specified could not be found" and refused to accept the new values. > > > > Yes, I forgot about that, the UI is too "stupid", you have to change it in > the registry > > HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\scrfile\shell\open\command > > and Modify Default to > > "%1" /S > ** Changing the registry was the answer - now clicking on the desktop icon launches the screensaver. Thanks very much - sorry it took so many steps to get there. -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > > -- > | Ric > | From wb8tyw at qsl.network Tue Feb 22 01:20:10 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Tue Feb 22 01:25:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Anon_ wrote: > Changing the registry was the answer - now clicking on the desktop icon > launches the screensaver. > > Thanks very much - sorry it took so many steps to get there. That is how we learn how some of the mystic rituals work, by trial and error. It appears that there may have been a change in the registry either for reasons unknown, or to prevent some malware from executing. After all, currently several worms are using the .SCR extension to execute automatically. And some of them are referenced in spam, apparently with the hopes of someone being ignorant enough to click on them. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From MikeE at ster.invalid Tue Feb 22 11:49:43 2005 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Tue Feb 22 14:55:25 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Block attachments... References: Message-ID: David Dean wrote: > Anyone here know how to configure INN (InterNetNews NNRP server) to > block attachments from being posted to a newsgroup? I can't find > anything with google. There's a usenet newsgroup news.software.nntp. There's a website with some help at http://cspry.co.uk/computing/Indy_admin/INN_news.html The INN home page is at http://www.isc.org/ in the section/frame http://www.isc.org/sw/inn/ I would be concerned about blocking attachments because there are so many different kinds of structures which might be 'confused' with attachments -- at least that is a big problem between different families of newsreaders of different operating systems. You know how non-compliant MS is compared to other OSes - and yet how popular their newsreader OE is. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Wed Feb 23 00:03:04 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Tue Feb 22 19:05:27 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On 21 Feb 2005 John E. Malmberg entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cveiuq$fgu$1@news.spamcop.net: > That is how we learn how some of the mystic rituals work, by trial and > error. > > It appears that there may have been a change in the registry either for > reasons unknown, or to prevent some malware from executing. > > After all, currently several worms are using the .SCR extension to > execute automatically. > > And some of them are referenced in spam, apparently with the hopes of > someone being ignorant enough to click on them. > The first time I got "Snow White & ..." I thought it was actually a screen saver, DOH! When nothing happened I realized it was a virus and removed it before rebooting. -- | Ric | From devnull at spamcop.net Tue Feb 22 22:17:01 2005 From: devnull at spamcop.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Feb 22 22:30:31 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Get String From Object (C&C) Message-ID: http://www.funnypics.cc/index.php?rate=872 I could not help myself. From h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com Tue Feb 22 20:05:30 2005 From: h9vzc2i02 at sneakemail.com (Anon_) Date: Tue Feb 22 23:10:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: "Blammo" wrote in message news:Xns9605A37EE703Ablammo@216.154.195.61... > On 21 Feb 2005 John E. Malmberg entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cveiuq$fgu$1@news.spamcop.net: > > > That is how we learn how some of the mystic rituals work, by trial and > > error. > > > > It appears that there may have been a change in the registry either for > > reasons unknown, or to prevent some malware from executing. > > > > After all, currently several worms are using the .SCR extension to > > execute automatically. > > > > And some of them are referenced in spam, apparently with the hopes of > > someone being ignorant enough to click on them. > > > > The first time I got "Snow White & ..." I thought it was actually a screen > saver, DOH! When nothing happened I realized it was a virus and removed it > before rebooting. > ** Hey - I thought that I was the only 'knowledgeable' one who did that. Sort of a reflex action when I was looking at all the spam in the preview window. Now I leave the preview window closed except when I know the e-mail is good - that at least keeps me from doing something stupid like above. -- A SpamCop user and forum reader, Not Admin *** > -- > | Ric > | From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Wed Feb 23 12:04:30 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 23 07:06:09 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On 22 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cvgvep$7pd$1@news.spamcop.net: > Now I leave the preview window closed except when I know the e-mail is > good - that at least keeps me from doing something stupid like above. > In Netscape (since Communicator at least) there was always the option to press CTRL+U to view the selected message's source. When spam started getting so bad (and, well, that virus I mentioned) I got so much into the habit of pressing CTRL+U on every message (rather than showing all headers above the message, which I find wastes space), that I actually pause and think before double-clicking anything (like to read one normally). Also I don't rely too much on virus scanners, since I know those who do, that still get infected. -- | Ric | From wb8tyw at qsl.network Wed Feb 23 08:17:13 2005 From: wb8tyw at qsl.network (John E. Malmberg) Date: Wed Feb 23 08:20:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Blammo wrote: > On 22 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left > news:cvgvep$7pd$1@news.spamcop.net: > >>Now I leave the preview window closed except when I know the e-mail is >>good - that at least keeps me from doing something stupid like above. I aways read from the preview window, it is much more convenient. I have HTML disabled by default to make the stuff more readable, but I can turn it back on if I want. If you are running Outlook Express and do not have that option, it likely means that you are very far behind in updates, including one that allows a virus to infect Outlook Express when you connect to the POP3 server and just get a list of the messages. > Also I don't rely too much on virus scanners, since I know those who do, > that still get infected. I do not rely on them at all. I do not have one on this computer, and none of my home computers have ever been infected. -John wb8tyw@qsl.network Personal Opinion Only From ric.gates at bigsleep.org Thu Feb 24 00:02:50 2005 From: ric.gates at bigsleep.org (Blammo) Date: Wed Feb 23 19:05:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On 21 Feb 2005 Anon_ entered spamcop.geeks and left news:cveavu$bh6$1@news.spamcop.net: > Changing the registry was the answer - now clicking on the desktop icon > launches the screensaver. > > Thanks very much - sorry it took so many steps to get there. > You know, if you have the Plus! pack you can load one of the "theme" screensavers and configure it to activate the screen saver when you move the mouse to one of the corners of the screen. You can then change to a different screen saver and the "hot corners" will still work. It will even work with "Blank Screen". I used to have some fancy screen saver packs for Windows 3.1 and (maybe some other app) had these "hot corners", then when I went to '95 none of these screen savers worked. But when I got the Plus! pack I discovered the hot corner feature was there, and once you activate it it remains activated, but you can't change it without switching to one of the Theme screen savers. I mainly used this when I didn't want the screen saver activated, as one corner would deactivate the screen saver. I think some versions of '98 came with the Plus! pack, but as a seperate install on the CD. -- | Ric | From nobody at nowhere.invalid Thu Feb 24 11:02:50 2005 From: nobody at nowhere.invalid (Steven Maesslein) Date: Thu Feb 24 05:06:16 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: screensaver problems References: Message-ID: On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 00:02:50 +0000 (UTC), Blammo coughed into spamcop.geeks and left this in : > I think some versions of '98 came with the Plus! pack, but as a seperate > install on the CD. It was integrated into W98SE. -- Steve If at first you don't succeed, redefine success. From driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com Fri Feb 25 03:31:33 2005 From: driehuis.fcnzpbc2005 at playbeing.com (Bert Driehuis) Date: Thu Feb 24 21:35:22 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: <20050225033133.57ce8910@wednesday.playbeing.org> On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 10:16:16 -0600 "Spamvireslayer" wrote: > > "Berny" wrote in message > news:cvcr7f$cda$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > > Mind you I also sweep the computer weekly with spybot s&d, adaware > > and microft (formerly giant) spyware program. > > It's spybot that got me into this mess - my OS got totally hosed while > I was running it - no idea why... I'd suggest covering your OS with a tarpaulin next time you're playing with a fire hydrant. If you meant "hosed" in the informal technical sense, a brief description of how it failed would help the readership understand. I sort of presume that you meant "Spybot Search & Destroy" by the way, as it wouldn't be the least surprising that a spybot got you into dire straits, but I digress. My gut feeling tells me your system got into trouble after using SBS&D's "Innoculate" feature. I have yet to figure out what exactly it does, but the description of that feature scares me. For what it's worth, I've helped numerous people solve weird problems on their computers where the resolution was to de-install Zone Alarm and/or Norton AntiVirus. A number of ISPs in the Netherlands save money by giving away McAfee (they've worked out they spend less time on the phone with their customers that way; obviously this doesn't save money for ISPs that just stonewall issues so YMMV) The McAfee virus checker is sort of okay, if you steer clear of the personal edition ( unless you enjoy a user interface that is reminiscent of a cheap plastic toaster). My personal laptop runs TrendMicro and I like that a lot. I also hear many good stories on Sophos, but I haven't seen their product first had in years. I have yet to find a software firewall that I like. Actually, the one in XP is very good if its limited functionality matches your requirement, but for a stunning percentage of the market that is the case. So far, the XP firewall is the only one that has yet to bring my PC down. Oh, and I have yet to witness a Spybot Search&Destroy failure first hand. But I know how easy it is to screw up Windows (more particularly, the DLL environment COM lives in, with its associated registry entries). As a side observation, being raised in the Open Source environment I always analyze failures on Windows to a point where an error description makes sense to a developer. An interesting thing developed: commercial vendors stonewall my reports, and users who just yell at them achieve more. On the other hand, shareware and internet-only-sales authors do actually issue fixes when presented with a well-researched problem, with at most one e-mail asking me to reinstall/reboot/whatever. From skiwi at spamcop.net Thu Feb 24 19:29:46 2005 From: skiwi at spamcop.net (Skiwi) Date: Thu Feb 24 22:30:04 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Any MS SQL security gurus out there? Message-ID: Hey there, Just installed MSDE 20000 (asl SQL Server Desktop blah-de-blah) locally on my laptop so I could use this as a testbed for ADO.NET out of Visual Studio.NET I can make new databases in Server Explorer (SE) in VS.NET but *not* in Access 2000! Hmmmmmm - Access / associated wizards say I need to get CREATE DATABASE permissions. In SE no permissions are asked for (so I guess using Windows Logon) but in Access it wants a username and password (tried 'sa' and blank respectively, tried 'sa' and the password I used in the CMD install of MSDE 2000, tried the windows logon, etc, etc) In Access I can create tables in databases I create in Server Explorer so Access does have some permissions - just not enough... Note that in Access I see only the server instance named after my PC - not the "(local)" instance I see at work... Note that the main reason I want to do this is so I can upsize (sic!) northwind.mdb to SQL so I can poke at it from VS.NET using ADO.NET... Very frustating stumbling block - so if anyone can make any suggestions I would sincerely appreciate it! TIA! Greg... From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Feb 25 14:16:23 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (indigo) Date: Fri Feb 25 14:15:07 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: <20050225033133.57ce8910@wednesday.playbeing.org> Message-ID: Bert Driehuis wrote: > Oh, and I have yet to witness a Spybot Search&Destroy failure first > hand. But I know how easy it is to screw up Windows (more > particularly, the DLL environment COM lives in, with its associated > registry entries). Only thing I can think of is that SB could have deleted a registry key that shouldn't have been deleted. But a restore to the previous registry file should have been a simple solution to fix that (if one has that auto restore function enabled). From devnull. at devnull.spamcop.net Fri Feb 25 17:28:51 2005 From: devnull. at devnull.spamcop.net (Heidz) Date: Fri Feb 25 17:35:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: <20050225033133.57ce8910@wednesday.playbeing.org> Message-ID: "indigo" wrote in message news:cvntc3$338$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Only thing I can think of is that SB could have deleted a registry key that > shouldn't have been deleted. But a restore to the previous registry file > should have been a simple solution to fix that (if one has that auto restore > function enabled). > If it did that, it did it midstream. The program hung, I had to reboot (the bad way, no other choice) and it all went to hell in a handbasket from there. I worked backwards from Safe Mode, trying ever trick I knew, trying to restore to a previous date, that bombed out in the middle, and I ended up having no choice but to reinstall Windows. Fortunately I was smart enough to save my OE files and anything else in the Windows directory that I didn't want to lose before I did it. From brunorivera at netzero.net Sat Feb 26 01:46:43 2005 From: brunorivera at netzero.net (Juan B. Rivera) Date: Sat Feb 26 00:50:30 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Speech recognition software? References: Message-ID: I have Dragon Systems "Point and Speak", which outputs text into any Windows text application; but I do not know if it is available any more. "Mr K. Mean" wrote in message news:cva5kn$q8n$1@news.spamcop.net... > Has anybody used any of this? I curious and would like to play around > with something like this, but I'm not curious enough to pay for it. I > see that ViaVoice is like $100, and that isn't something I'm willing to > pay for to just play around. > > I see there is CMU Sphinx, but it is is just an SDK and looks very end > user unfriendly. Sphinx 4 is written in Java and maybe I'll be able to > hook into the API and write something quick in Swing to have it dump > text into a text area or something. > > But does anybody know if something already exists that would save me the > trouble? I just want something that would dump speech into a simple > text editor, or even straight to a text file on disk. From mele at enia.net Sat Feb 26 04:18:49 2005 From: mele at enia.net (Melvin C. Etheridge) Date: Sat Feb 26 04:20:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: Message-ID: AVG "Spamvireslayer" wrote in message news:cvdbfc$mel$12@news.spamcop.net... >I spent the weekend rebuilding my computer, windows got hosed and I had to > reinstall - BLEH! When I did, Norton AV 2003 no longer works and they no > longer support it so they want me to upgrade. Anyone use Internet > Security? > The upgrade price is $39.99 and the supposedly will give me a credit for > the > renewal I just bought in August. The pacakge includes: > > Norton AntiVirusT > Norton Personal Firewall > Norton Privacy Control > Norton AntiSpamT > NortonT Parental Control > > TIA for any user experience From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Feb 26 11:34:26 2005 From: nobody at spamcop.net (indigo) Date: Sat Feb 26 11:35:33 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: <20050225033133.57ce8910@wednesday.playbeing.org> Message-ID: Heidz wrote: > "indigo" wrote in message > news:cvntc3$338$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> Only thing I can think of is that SB could have deleted a registry >> key that shouldn't have been deleted. But a restore to the previous >> registry file should have been a simple solution to fix that (if one >> has that auto restore function enabled). >> > If it did that, it did it midstream. The program hung, I had to > reboot (the bad way, no other choice) and it all went to hell in a > handbasket from there. I worked backwards from Safe Mode, trying ever > trick I knew, trying to restore to a previous date, that bombed out > in the middle, and I ended up having no choice but to reinstall > Windows. I've never used the auto registry restore function, but having it crash is obviously a problem! I normally copy my reg file once a month or so to a seperate directory on my PC and save another copy on a company server just in case. You can avoid using the auto restore function that way if you can boot straight to a DOS prompt with a bootable floppy (delete old reg file, rename saved one). Fortunately I was smart enough to save my OE files and > anything else in the Windows directory that I didn't want to lose > before I did it. Ah, I learned the hard way about that _long_ ago. Whomever decided everything you own should be stored under "documents and settings".....must work for M$.......my OE stores folder has it's own directory in C:\ and many programs I install get their own directories instead of going into C:\Program Files (talk about subdirectory bloat!). From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Sat Feb 26 15:03:43 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Sat Feb 26 15:05:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Speech recognition software? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mr K. Mean wrote: > Juan B. Rivera wrote: > >> I have Dragon Systems "Point and Speak", which outputs text into any >> Windows >> text application; but I do not know if it is available any more. > > > I hadn't realized that Windows already included this stuff. I installed > Voxx off of Sourceforge and tried it a bit. I noticed that the training > sessions were all Microsoft things. Either installing the software > installed that or activated it somehow. > > I guess I need to go buy a microphone though. The training sessions > seemed to go ok, but then when I tried to dictate things into the Voxx > notepad, they were not even close. They were words, but not very much > like the ones I was saying But I was just using the built in microphone > in the laptop. When I tried doing it in Word, it wouldn't even let me > past the testing stage because it complained about how it couldn't > figure out the purple papaya phrase or whatever it was. With a low-grade Dell PC microphone (circa 1999), I'm able to get decent recognition using MS Word. The trouble with it is, you must speak "naturally" for best results. When I am composing text, my ideas aren't always clear from the start. For example, this very message was not dictated one sentence at a time, in sequential order. Perhaps some people are capable of that. I'm not very good at it. I always think of a 1950's movie where a corporate boss would dictate a memo/letter to his secretary. That mode of operation seems so strange to me, because it requires a different way of composing text in your brain. For the speech recognizer to have high results, your sentence must be complete and natural (i.e., no pauses, mistakes, etc.). Engage brain before opening mouth... During the training process, you're reading aloud from pre-composed text, and this process is very mechanical -- I'm not saying you have to speak like a robot, but you don't have to think too much about what you *want* to say. We learn to read aloud mechanically as children. In the training process, the text is already written for you -- no composition thoughts are needed. I think this is a fundamental problem with training VR technologies for this use. Furthermore, editing, if and when you *do* make a mistake or the VR software does, is a disaster if you try to use the spoken commands to move the cursor, insert, delete, etc. Entering single words that were misrecognized is tough, since you're not in "context" anymore. For example, the word "edit" could not be recognized, all by itself on my system (with moderate training). If I used it in a sentence, it sometimes could be. Perhaps this is a limit to Microsoft's (acquired and re-bundled) technology. It's another example of where, if they put their resources into it, MS as a monopoly could probably give some value added and advance the technology. For now, as long as my body allows me to enter text through a keyboard, I'll stick to that way. It's much more productive for me for text composition. From TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com Sat Feb 26 20:10:45 2005 From: TMHRVMFWREVN at spammotel.com (Rob) Date: Sat Feb 26 15:15:05 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: <20050225033133.57ce8910@wednesday.playbeing.org> Message-ID: "indigo" wrote in message news:cvq88c$k0d$1@news.spamcop.net... > Heidz wrote: > > "indigo" wrote in message > > news:cvntc3$338$1@news.spamcop.net... > >> > >> Only thing I can think of is that SB could have deleted a registry > >> key that shouldn't have been deleted. But a restore to the previous > >> registry file should have been a simple solution to fix that (if one > >> has that auto restore function enabled). > >> > > If it did that, it did it midstream. The program hung, I had to > > reboot (the bad way, no other choice) and it all went to hell in a > > handbasket from there. I worked backwards from Safe Mode, trying ever > > trick I knew, trying to restore to a previous date, that bombed out > > in the middle, and I ended up having no choice but to reinstall > > Windows. > > I've never used the auto registry restore function, but having it crash is > obviously a problem! I normally copy my reg file once a month or so to a > seperate directory on my PC and save another copy on a company server just > in case. You can avoid using the auto restore function that way if you can > boot straight to a DOS prompt with a bootable floppy (delete old reg file, > rename saved one). > > Fortunately I was smart enough to save my OE files and > > anything else in the Windows directory that I didn't want to lose > > before I did it. > > Ah, I learned the hard way about that _long_ ago. Whomever decided > everything you own should be stored under "documents and settings".....must > work for M$.......my OE stores folder has it's own directory in C:\ and many > programs I install get their own directories instead of going into > C:\Program Files (talk about subdirectory bloat!). > > My C:\ partition is just for my OS. OE Stores Folder is on my second HD. I Right Clicked the My Documents folder on my Desk Top and changed its location to another partition just for documents and pictures, now when a program or web download wants to save to My Documents or Pictures etc. it is automatically saved to that partition. Documents etc. plus important files I don't want to loose from C:\ are backed up to second HD using good old drag and copy, none of those fancy back up programs for me and definitely not Windows Back Up :-) Rob From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Sun Feb 27 16:49:16 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Sun Feb 27 16:50:33 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Zombie hunting how-to Message-ID: http://pages.infinit.net/filmore/educateYourISP.htm From porpoise1954 at yahoo.co.uk Sun Feb 27 23:42:01 2005 From: porpoise1954 at yahoo.co.uk (Porpoise) Date: Sun Feb 27 18:55:53 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Zombie hunting how-to References: Message-ID: "Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting" wrote in message news:cvtf8q$s1v$1@news.spamcop.net... > http://pages.infinit.net/filmore/educateYourISP.htm Interesting reading. Pity I didn't see this to add to the other URLs I put in my response to the guy who likes autoresponders From MikeE at ster.invalid Sun Feb 27 17:03:31 2005 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sun Feb 27 20:06:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Zombie hunting how-to References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > http://pages.infinit.net/filmore/educateYourISP.htm I've been using senderbase to rag on EL about their approx 3000+ apparent zombified spamsources for months. The article is right on the money about the 'monopoly' problem for broadband users. My cable modem can be to EL, RR, or AOL. Previously I was RR which once upon a time long ago was actually a good boy in my area [not nationally] with its regional security management of virus sources and zombies -- but eventually that changed. By the time I left RR not for its zombie problem but because its local news management was atrocious, it also was gaining a bad rep about its spam irresponsibilities. Now I'm EL and EL has a significant zombie problem but less than RR and I don't want AOL, thank you, even tho' they have a better antispam record than either RR or EL. AOL has too much other baggage. Broadband customers don't have much choice about providers, so the customers can't bail on the provider for a reason like having too many spamzombies. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at devnull.spamcop.net Sun Feb 27 23:28:34 2005 From: nobody at devnull.spamcop.net (Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting) Date: Sun Feb 27 23:30:54 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Zombie hunting how-to In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike Easter wrote: > Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > >>http://pages.infinit.net/filmore/educateYourISP.htm > > > I've been using senderbase to rag on EL about their approx 3000+ > apparent zombified spamsources for months. Have you seen an impact on the senderbase entries? I mean, do they change/go away after your complaining? I realize it's hard to say. I'm very curious -- when I have spoken to my ISP about senderbase entries, they say that there are many security problems and they are trying to deal with them by priority. But I haven't yet seen any changes -- you'd think that senderbase would be a priority! I haven't watched them every day, but the do move around. I'm not sure if it's because other zombies "beat out" the current leaders by sending more spam... :-) Anyway, let me quote from one of the articles ("ISPs divided over blocking spam zombies") cited on the "Educating" page: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/15/1079199135645.html?oneclick=true 8< "It is a vexed issue, because we are trading the 'protection of the many' for the potential to really annoy a minority who would see such activity as 'interference' in their internet service," he said. >8 Do you suspect that this is a big issue? Or do you suppose that the reason so many zombies exist is that ISPs generally have lame support staff, tracking systems, etc.? > The article is right on the money about the 'monopoly' problem for > broadband users. My cable modem can be to EL, RR, or AOL. Previously I > was RR which once upon a time long ago was actually a good boy in my > area [not nationally] with its regional security management of virus > sources and zombies -- but eventually that changed. By the time I left > RR not for its zombie problem but because its local news management was > atrocious, it also was gaining a bad rep about its spam > irresponsibilities. > > Now I'm EL and EL has a significant zombie problem but less than RR and > I don't want AOL, thank you, even tho' they have a better antispam > record than either RR or EL. AOL has too much other baggage. > > Broadband customers don't have much choice about providers, so the > customers can't bail on the provider for a reason like having too many > spamzombies. I'm surprised you have a choice, let alone three choices! Not exactly a monopoly :-) From MikeE at ster.invalid Sun Feb 27 20:59:19 2005 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Feb 28 00:00:29 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Zombie hunting how-to References: Message-ID: Sofa King Tyred of Lar Ting wrote: > Or do you suppose that the > reason so many zombies exist is that ISPs generally have lame support > staff, tracking systems, etc.? We argue about this all the time around here, and some folks have some very good ideas about what the ISP should be doing -- but they don't. On top of all of that, EL claims to be a part of this big antispam consortium and also claims that they are going to/ are/ implementing this selective port 25 blocking, but they don't/aren't. What I've tried to do is make reasonable 'in your face' kinds of challenges to EL 'staff' by publicly posting in the EL email support ng. One of my faves is to take the top 3 mindspring spamsources as listed by spamcop -- I'll hop over there and see if there is such right now: 24.171.157.27 (user-0can78r.cable.mindspring.com) 66.47.4.11 (user-112u10b.biz.mindspring.com) ... at this moment there are only 2; but still mindspring is overall #19 for sources, also, right now senderbase shows 3186 mindspring IPs used to send mail; the number of those on blocklists and apparent trojan proxies is a little bit more work to figure out, but the majority of those 3186 are not legitimate servers or anything like it. So, I try to demand that EL do something about the top 3, or maybe the top 10 which I identify as clearly trojan proxies from senderbase and the proxy blocklists. But even if I stick it in their face in front of the other EL ng participants nothing happens, even if I post day after day that they are still spamcop blocklisted and other blocklists. Oh, yeah. EL also doesn't accept unmunged SC reports. I mean why not do something about one or two or three IPs, or ten, just to shut me up about the thousands. Thousands of IPs spewing millions of spams and you don't do anything? Very bad netizenship. > I'm surprised you have a choice, let alone three choices! Not exactly > a monopoly :-) When I first signed up with RR, there wasn't a choice. But when AOL & TW got married, there were a lot of rules that started happening, including that TW had to give choices about what they carried, which resulted in the 3 providers for the cable. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From none at domain.invalid Mon Feb 28 20:50:29 2005 From: none at domain.invalid (HillsCap) Date: Tue Mar 1 00:15:06 2005 Subject: [SpamCop-Geeks] Re: Norton recommendation References: <20050225033133.57ce8910@wednesday.playbeing.org> Message-ID: "Bert Driehuis" wrote in message news:20050225033133.57ce8910@wednesday.playbeing.org... > My gut feeling tells me your system got into trouble after using > SBS&D's > "Innoculate" feature. I have yet to figure out what exactly it does, > but > the description of that feature scares me. The Spybot Search & Destroy 'Immunize' feature works just like Spyware Blaster does... it sets CLSID kill-bits, so that programs with specific CLS numbers won't be allowed to run. > For what it's worth, I've helped numerous people solve weird > problems on > their computers where the resolution was to de-install Zone Alarm > and/or > Norton AntiVirus. A number of ISPs in the Netherlands save money by > giving away McAfee (they've worked out they spend less time on the > phone > with their customers that way; obviously this doesn't save money for > ISPs that just stonewall issues so YMMV) I second that... the programs I've seen people having the most problems with are Norton / Symantec / McAfee AV and ZoneAlarm. I've had problems with them myself, and had to switch to AVG and Sygate. I learned the hard way that if you're going to uninstall Norton 2002, you might as well wipe and do a full reinstall, since uninstalling Norton 2002 screws up so many things it's unbelievable. Pretty much the same for Norton 2003, but it isn't so obvious... it just messes up your browser functionality and local scripting, so the machine doesn't seem to run correctly. At least that's fixable without a full wipe / reinstall. As for ZoneAlarm, I was one of its very first users, many years back when it first came out. I remember sitting in my office in my house in Hawaii, surfing the internet via my 33.6 dial-up, when my screen suddenly went crazy... a hacker had found my machine (unsecured, of course, since personal firewalls weren't really around back then) and performed a buffer overflow that made my screen look like it was filled with tiny little smiley faces, alternating blue and white in color. So, I rebooted, hooked up to the internet again, and searched for "keep intruders out of my computer" (I still remember the exact phrase). I didn't know about hackers or hacking back then, but I found the ZoneAlarm website. I downloaded and installed it, and used the ZA firewall for years. Unfortunately, the latest versions have had vsmon.exe memory leaks that crippled my high-bandwidth-usage machines, and the issue of ZA disabling Norton AV email scanning (while making Norton AV seem to report that email scanning was still enabled) was the straw that broke this camel's back. I uninstalled ZA and searched for a better alternative. Now, I use Sygate for machines that are used by people, and the built-in WinXP firewall for machines that basically sit there crunching numbers. > I have yet to find a software firewall that I like. Actually, the > one in XP is very good if its limited functionality matches your > requirement, but for a stunning percentage of the market that is the > case. So far, the XP firewall is the only one that has yet to bring > my > PC down. Have you tried Sygate? It's a bit of a resource hog (not bad, really, on a fast machine... and far better than ZA), but it's robust and highly configurable. I've just completed a wipe / reinstall on this machine, and set up the firewall rules so the programs could only connect on the ports they're supposed to, and to the IP addresses they're supposed to, and all other connection attempts are blocked. Did you know that Explorer.exe tries to contact Microsoft when you do a search for local files using Advanced Options? It tries to connect to sa.windows.com (207.46.248.249). This is with the Search Assistant completely disabled via registry tweaks... I've got it set up so I'm using the old-style search. > Oh, and I have yet to witness a Spybot Search&Destroy failure first > hand. But I know how easy it is to screw up Windows (more > particularly, > the DLL environment COM lives in, with its associated registry > entries). I've only seen one... I was running the latest beta version and it crashed hard. The machine was fine, but Spybot wouldn't even start up again after the crash. I uninstalled and reinstalled, and it worked fine.