Neat Net Tricks Issue # 103
June 1, 2001

http://www.NeatNetTricks.com
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IN THIS ISSUE:

01.  Confirm.to
02.  Address Book
03.  WebCopier revisited
04.  Bootlog
05.  Hardware Info Utility
06.  Quick Who Is
07.  Human Spell Check
08.  WinZip Self-Extractor
09.  Find sounds
10.  Personalized weather report
11.  Troubleshooting page
12.  URL printing
13.  Readers write

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01.  CONFIRM.TO.  There is a little-known feature that hides an 
HTML tag which in turn triggers a relay system to post a read 
receipt to the sender.  The tag is planted in Outlook Express 
4.x and Netscape Messenger 4.0 or later (and possibly any email 
software that supports HTML message browsing).  The message can 
be sent on any email software by placing "confirm.to" in an 
address as: "anyuser@sample.com.confirm.to" (without the 
quotes). When addressed this way, an email relay system 
intercepts the mail, plants the tag in the message, and then 
delivers it to the recipient to which it is addressed.  When 
the recipient displays the message online, the html tag 
triggers the relay system to send a read receipt to the 
sender.  No software or download is required for this to work. 
The relay is performed by Postel Services.  The first 30 such 
relays per month are free and no sign-up is required.  Greater 
usage is available for less than 2 cents per receipt by setting 
up an account at their site, http://www.postel.co.kr .

02.  ADDRESS BOOK.  Netscape Messenger conveniently displays 
address book entries according to the way they were entered or 
the display name.  This means that "Joe Brown" would be 
retrieved by a search on the first initial J rather than on the 
last name.  If you'd prefer to change this, go to 
Edit|Preferences|Mail & Newsgroups and click on Addressing.  
Then, click the button to select "Show Names Using Last Name, 
First Name."

03.  WEBCOPIER REVISITED.  A reader noted that WebCopier, 
featured in NNT Issue #102, is Aureate/Radiate spyware and that 
there is no warning to that effect until after the program is 
installed.  In fairness, the WebCopier folks were asked to 
reply.  They acknowledge that the free version is using the 
Aureate/Radiate advertisement module.  They deny the "spyware" 
label because the module works only when WebCopier is running 
and will be removed when WebCopier is uninstalled.  They also 
note that the module doesn't collect any personally 
identifiable information but uses an Internet connection to 
download ads.  The company says all that is revealed in the 
license agreement, the Readme file, the FAQ, the Website 
privacy policy statement, and the Website register section.  
Nonetheless, we're told that the next version, probably out by 
the time you read this, will not use Aureate/Radiate.

04.  BOOTLOG.  Repeating a worthwhile oldie, here's an easy way 
to determine why Windows may be failing to boot properly.  
During the reboot, press F8 to call up the Windows StartUp menu 
and select the Logged (\Bootlog.txt) option.  This records each 
step Windows takes during the reboot process.  Then, reboot 
(use the Safe mode if it is necessary) and locate the 
bootlog.txt file in the root directory. Use a text editor such 
as WordPad to open that file and look for any steps reported as 
"failed" for a clue as to the culprit.

05.  HARDWARE INFO UTILITY.  Residing within Windows 98 is a 
nice reporting feature known as the Hardware Info Utility.  Get 
to it with Start|Run and enter "hwinfo /ui" (without the quotes,
and be sure the space is entered before the /).  The system 
summary and a list of the hardware, registry keys, and drivers 
are displayed.  Of particular interest, errors are displayed in 
red, making it easy to identify and isolate any problems.

06.  QUICK WHOIS.  Another oldie worth repeating, you can 
identify who is behind a Web site by using a "who is" utility 
and one of these can be found at 
http://205.177.25.9/cgi-bin/whois? .  It's very convenient to 
drag this link to the Personal Toolbar.  It's even more 
convenient to simply add the domain name immediately after the 
question mark in that link to get the desired information.  
For example, http://205.177.25.9/cgi-bin/whois?netscape.com 
will provide the information for Netscape's domain.

07. HUMAN SPELL CHECK.  That's what we do with every issue of 
NNT, but we invariably get a ping every now and then from our 
proof-reading friends quick to point out when we have erred.  
That's OK, that keeps us on our toes.  And may we suggest 
http://humanspellcheck.com/ for those who keep a sharp eye out 
for textual indiscretions!

08. WINZIP SELF-EXTRACTOR.  You're probably familiar with 
WinZip if you compress (zip) or extract (unzip) files. But if 
you haven't tried the WinZip Self-Extractor, you're in for a 
treat.  The idea is to make it easy to open zipped files with a 
click even when the recipient doesn't have an unzip utility on 
his or her system.  This software allows customizing a user 
interface to appear when the self-extractor runs.  You can 
create text for the "About" box as well, and both English and 
German are supported.  Optionally, a setup program can be run 
when the unzip operation finishes.  A dialog box provides a 
familiar Windows interface to quickly and simply talk the user 
through the process. Optional disk spanning accommodates larger 
files needing more than one floppy for storage. You can 
identify self-extracting file with your own icon.  
Try it free at 
http://winzip.com/winzipse.htm?wzt or buy it for $49.95.

What will $20 bring you*?  Four diskettes to your door, in 
3-month intervals, each one updated with all Neat Net Tricks 
ever published. The next volume has about 1,100 items in Word, 
WordPerfect, and text format, plus EBook format, at no added 
cost, with improved search, highlight, annotation, read aloud, 
dynamic links, etc.  (*Slightly higher outside U.S.) Go to 
http://www.neatnettricks.com/archives.htm for more details and 
order conveniently from the NNT Store at 
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com/store .

09.  FIND SOUNDS.  At http://www.findsounds.com you can search 
for sound effects and sample sounds with file formats AIFF, 
AU, and WAVE.  Specify mono or stereo, the desired resolution, 
sample rate, and maximum file size from 16 kb to 2 mb.  Create 
your own sounds and use this site to automatically find similar 
sounds on the Web.  Find the sound you like and email it to a 
friend.  Email enough of this and he will not likely continue 
as your friend.

10.  PERSONALIZED WEATHER REPORT.  Select cities and/or regions 
for your weather report and choose the days and times you'd 
like your report delivered via email.  Infobeat at 
http://www.infobeat.com does the rest.

11.  TROUBLESHOOTING PAGE.  Your friends at Netscape provide a 
page to troubleshoot "most problems with Windows 95/98 and 
Navigator/Communicator." If it was only that easy; but the 
site, for what it's worth, is at 
http://help.netscape.com/kb/consumer/19990126-5.html .

12.  URL PRINTING.  Several issues ago we provided a way to 
turn off the underlining and color of URL before printing from 
Word and WordPerfect. The procedure involved cutting and 
pasting of text and a reader replied with a much easier 
process.  Just select the URL and press CTRL+Shift+F9 to 
convert the link to plain text; or use CTRL+A to select all the 
text, then CTRL+Shift+F9 to convert all links before printing.

Debbie Weil, president of a marketing strategy firm, believes 
that one of the best ways to spend your email marketing dollars 
right now is to place a sponsorship text ad in a targeted 
e-newsletter. In a recent column at 
http://clickz.com/print.jsp?article=3882 , Debbie cites ad 
rates commonly about $50 per CPM (the cost per thousand 
subscribers).  Neat Net Tricks offers one of the best 
advertising opportunities:  as little as $2 per CPM gets your 
message to 82,000+ readers.  Spend your marketing dollars 
wisely, and first read what NNT has to offer at 
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com/advert.htm .

13.  READERS WRITE.  Jim Smith, Managing Director of Cambridge 
Management Sciences, Inc., wrote to congratulate on ".. a 
stellar inaugural issue of NNT Plus".  Jim gave permission to 
reprint his comments and went on to say "I'm impressed not just 
with the subject matter but also the fine writing style.  Too 
many newsletters today are knocked off without regard for 
grammatical rules or stylistic niceties. I look forward to 
future issues."  Thanks for the praise, Jim, as well as the 
other nice comments we've received.  If you'd like to look 
forward to the next issue of NNT Plus and 23 more, with one 
topic in-depth every couple of weeks, just $10 will do it.  
Order at http://www.NeatNetTricks.com/store or send a check to 
Neat Net Tricks, PO Box 2002, Rapid City, SD  57709-2002.

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NNT makes no endorsement or warranty, expressed or implied, 
with regard to featured products or services.  Results may 
vary based on operating systems and other variables beyond 
our control.

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Copyright 2001 by Jack Teems.  All rights reserved. Neat Net 
Tricks is registered with the U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 
1533-4619.
