Neat Net Tricks Issue #70
January 15, 2000
Sender: owner-neatnettricks@neatnettricks.com

IN THIS ISSUE:

01.  A different approach to spam
02.  Power Browsing Tools
03.  BrowserSpy
04.  Readers write
05.  Ping's the thing
06.  The dollar dilemma
07.  PassMark gets good marks
08.  Security blanket
09.  Translate by email
10.  Super System Info
11.  Excite Assistant
12.  I-Drive
13.  Special note

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01.  A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO SPAM.  Youve tried filters, changing 
email addresses, pulling out your hair, but the spam continues.  
Heres another approach.  Set up a free account at 
http://www.msgto.com/ and place all your friends into a key list.
Everyone else emailing you is required to respond to a simple test 
before the mail goes through.  The idea is that your human 
correspondents will have no problem, but a bulk-mail-bot will flunk, 
causing the spam to be filtered into a different folder.

02.  POWER BROWSING TOOLS.  The package at http://www.inquare.com/pbt/
is an add-on that provides several helper programs to Netscapes 
capability. It allows a full-screen toggle by installing a widen 
button near the top of the browser screen.  Its Download Manager has 
the capability of resuming interrupted downloads, provides a log of 
activity, file renaming, and customization.  Save With Images stores 
Web pages with all links active.  Enhanced scrolling is provided if 
you have a three-button mouse.  Other features are planned.  Try free 
or buy for $24.00.

03.  BROWSERSPY.  No download is needed at 
http://www.gemal.dk/browserspy/spy.html to provide information about
your browser, to include cookies, components, IP, Java, plug-ins and
much other data.

04.  READERS WRITE.  Neat Net Tricks Issue #66 discussed a site that
purportedly defines just about every file extension. Some suggested 
another good site at http://www.whatis.com/ff.htm and another is 
http://kresch.com/exts/ext.htm .

05.  PING'S THE THING.  If you'd like to know how your mail server is 
doing, ping it.  First off, you'll need to know your IP address and, 
if you don't, you can determine that with START|RUN and enter 
"winipcfg" (without the quotes) in the window and click on OK.  Make 
note of those numbers, four sets separated by periods.  Now, go back 
to START|RUN and enter "command" (without the quotes) and click on OK.
A DOS window will open with your cursor on a command line.  Type in 
"ping" (without the quotes) followed by the IP address and Enter.  The
utility sends four test packets along with the time, in milliseconds, 
that it takes for the packet's return trip.

06.  DOLLAR DILEMMA.  If you're a seasoned traveler and cross 
international borders, you know that yesterday's exchange rate is not
necessarily today's.  At http://www.oanda.com you can instantly view
15 major currency exchange rates or with a click check out the rates
for 164 currencies.

07.  PASSMARK GETS GOOD MARKS.  You should check out a couple of nice
diagnostic tools developed by our Australian friends at PassMark.
PerformanceTest assesses performance of your computer and then compares
it with other systems' "baselines" to see how you're doing.  Small 
enough to install from a floppy disk, take it with you when you go 
shopping for that next PC.  It presents an easy-to-read report and new 
baselines are being added all the time.  A companion piece, BurnInTest,
analyzes all major subsystems of your computer and reports their 
reliability and stability.  Both are super easy to set up, work on 
Win 95/98/NT and can be tried out for free with a short download at
http://www.passmark.com.  But, if you like these utilities as well as I
did, you may want to buy them.  And, if you do, PassMark has allowed 
readers of NNT at least 25% off the regular price.  Only until February
29, you can have PerformanceTest V2.0 for $12.00, BurnInTest V1.0 for 
$14.00, or save even more with both for just $25.00.  To get this 
special deal, you must order by Visa or MasterCard at NNT's secure 
site, http://www.ourshowcase/com/nnt/

08.  SECURITY BLANKET.  Check the security of your Internet connection
by entering your email address in the Free Security Analysis section 
at http://www.antionline.com .  You'll get information by email in a 
day or two, telling you if you have things to worry about.

09.  TRANSLATE BY EMAIL.  Several past issues of Neat Net Tricks have 
contained translation services, but this is the first I've seen that 
does the work automatically by email.  You simply compose email in 
your native language to your English, French, German, Italian, Spanish,
or Portuguese friend; and in the CC address of your email, you include 
the address for language conversion that's listed at 
http://www.t-mail.com/ .  The results, as the site emphasizes, is a 
machine translation and is not precise.  It handles straight text only 
and no html or attachments.  But, T-Mail is fast, it's automatic, and 
no one but the intended recipient will read your mail.

10.  SUPER SYSTEM INFO. Although Microsoft's System Info can give you a
lot of technical data, check out http://scp.u4l.com/ where you can 
download Super System Info for free.  This 365kb download has a nice
interface that gives you a good summary of your general operating
system, processor, memory usage, drive info, display/keyboard/mouse and
printer setup, installed software, file extensions, battery life, and
dial-up networking information.

11.  EXCITE ASSISTANT.  At http://www.excite.com/assist/html/download ,
this works with Internet Explorer or Netscape versions 3.0 or higher 
and with RealAudio G2 to provide an array of radio stations, weather, 
personalized news, TV schedules, sports, email notifications, and more.

12.  I-DRIVE at http://www.idrive.com gives you 25 megabytes of free, 
secure online disk space.  Store and access files from any Web browser;
and share files with others as well.  This is of particular value when
something won't fit on a floppy and no zip drive is available.  Upload 
and download is very fast and free registration short and painless.

13.  SPECIAL NOTE.  On Saturday, March 4, Neat Net Tricks will be
featured on Rich Levin's PC Talk.  The show is heard on CBS Talk Radio
AM 1210 from noon to 3:00 p.m. US EST if you have an affiliate in your
area.  Circle your calendar and tune in, will you?

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