GNOMEREPORT: He's Not Dead, Jim.

Have I gone into hiding? No, not really. As I've mentioned before, this year has been quite a tough one for me. In April, you might recall, TechTV and I parted ways. This coming Wednesday, you'll see my face on that channel again - if only for five minutes. John C. Dvorak and I were invited to be on their most risque show, Unscrewed, to talk about our new book. on Wednesdsay at 8:30pm PDT / 11:30pm EDT for a little more information. I don't spill all the beans, but I share enough of 'em to answer at least 50% of your questions. There are still a few projects that are still in progress, but at least I name a few names and... talk about other things that've been happening. We'll record and digitize the segment for folks who can't tune in for the broadcast, too. I'll expand on a few of the finer points after it airs - which might turn out to be a novel, considering how much has been going on. Oh, and... I've been working on setting up a blog for Mr. Dvorak, too.

The winds of change happen to be blowing across Windows XP - specifically, with the impending release of Service Pack 2 (slated to hit beta soon, if it hasn't already). Microsoft has released a preliminary document, which I took the time to comb through for your benefit. Here are the entries that caught my eye:

There will certainly be other notable changes coming, but most likely not documented until a later test release. As you can see, IE is finally blocking pop-ups (although the feature is not turned on by default). Complete ActiveX / BHO management will also be welcomed. Security seems to be at the top of their "must do" list, but I bet 99% of Lockergnomies would fail the Internet Explorer Address Bar Spoofing Test if they took it today. Fix? Download, install, and use the latest version of MyIE2; they just updated the binary this weekend to squash the bug. It's my default browser for a reason - with the Phoenity skin!

Yours Digitally,
Chris Pirillo

GNEWBIE GNOOK: E-mailing Essentials

Ken Colburn of Data Doctors helps Abe, who asks:

Q: I am new to this "e-mail" thing and have heard that many new users break a lot of the rules when they first get started. Can you give me an overview of the dos and don'ts of e-mail?

A: E-mail was originally created as an informal method of communication that is being abused by millions of people every day. Taking a little extra time when composing an e-mail message can make a big difference for the recipient. Learn the "netiquette" of e-mail, and the cyber world will be a better place.

Over the years of receiving messages from readers and listeners, here are the most commonly broken rules:

1. TYPING THE MESSAGE IN ALL CAPS!!! This is the Internet equivalent of shouting at the person. It also means I AM LAZY!!!
2. Spelling, Punctuation and capitalization (or lack thereof). Just as in the analog world, these basic components of communication are critical for getting your point across. (i am amazid by how many messages i get that make a mokery of the engilish langage!!!)
3. Long-winded messages. E-mail is meant to be short and sweet. Get to the point, as many people get dozens, if not hundreds of messages a day.
4. Refrain from attaching large files (over 50k) to an e-mail message unless the recipient is aware that it is coming. Sending a picture of "Muffy with Santa" may seem fun to you, but your recipient may not be amused when they see what a 20-minute download produces!
5. Don't leave the subject line blank. Many people will simply delete any message that has no subject line. Make it short and descriptive so the recipient can make a quick decision about the message without having to open it.
6. Read over your e-mail before you send it, especially if it is an inflammatory message. E-mail is a permanent record and is being used in many legal battles. (Just ask Bill Gates!)
7. Use acronyms and emoticons :-) sparingly. They do help to make a message shorter and to the point, but can often be overused.
8. Don't believe everything that you read and don't forward it to everyone you know! E-mail hoaxes are getting worse because of all of the gullible users that mindlessly send the message without doing any research. If a message contains the line "Send this to everyone you know" it is almost always a hoax. Some good resources to check before succumbing to such hoaxes are Hoaxbusters, About.com's list of current Netlore, and Snopes.
9. Don't repeatedly send jokes to anyone without first getting their permission. I receive the same joke dozens of times from dozens of well meaning people, but it is more of a nuisance than it is worth.
10. Learn how to cut and paste items to put into a new message instead of just forwarding the original message. This will keep you from having the long list of previous addresses from appearing at the top of the message that you send.

RSS: Afraid to Ask?

You've heard about it over and over again, but maybe you don't even really know what it is, so you skip over any references alluding to this mysterious acronym in hopes that it'll just go away. We wouldn't want to be responsible for scaring you away from something that could very well prove useful in the quality of your day-to-day Net life! If you're curious or confused about the hubbub surrounding RSS (Really Simple Syndication), here are a few places we recommend looking:

O'Reilly's What Is RSS? Article by Mark Pilgrim is an excellent resource that includes a nice chart explaining the differences between the various types of RSS in use.

RSS - A Primer for Publishers & Content Providers

And, of course, there's Lockergnome's vault of various sites proficient in the art of RSS instruction tailored to your specific needs, whether your field is education, research, publishing, or ghost hunting. Yep, the possibilities are truly endless, but it's a different way of gathering and sharing information that's still catching on. Good news, though: You're not too late!

DOWNLOAD: PhoneTray Free v1.01

• [1907K]
• Win2k/XP
• FREE

Download PhoneTray here!

PhoneTray is an easy to use Caller ID software that speaks and can show the caller's name and number before you answer the phone. You can choose to set a different ringtone for different types of callers and automatically zap telemarketers with a special disconnected tone. In addition, the program can play a do-not-call warning, instructing telemarketers to remove you from their lists. PhoneTray can also reject other types of unwanted calls (blocked numbers, out of area, etc.) by answering and playing a user-defined message (some samples included). Another handy feature is the option to keep a log of all incoming calls that can be filtered by date and type. You need Caller ID service, a compatible modem, and a phone line connected to your PC.

HOLIDAYS: Your Favorite Sites

Recently, we asked you about your favorite holiday sites - now we're sharing them over the week. For political correctness, folks, if you're concerned about the oversight of a holiday, it's because we didn't get submissions for it!

Christmas in Iceland.

Christmas in Sweden.

NPR (National Public Radio) Does Holidays.

TALK: SAH, Humbug!

Gnomie Ric Corso writes:

I'm a tech in a non-profit in Vermont and have been a Gnomie since 1999. I want to share a story, partially to voice my displeasure that this has happened, but also to share the information with LG readers.

Recently I was doing some company research on the Internet and spent a good deal of time going to a number of sites. I closed Internet Explorer, and when I went back in, I had a new toolbar from ShopatHomeSelect.com. It wasn't there the last time I was in IE, and it had installed without my knowledge. There were no cues that anything was installing when I was last in IE. I found I now had the ShopAtHome Agent in my list of Add/Remove programs, so I removed it. I was met with a cutesy message to the effect that "This is not spyware. Why do you want to remove such a great program?" which I, of course, ignored and continued with the process of uninstalling. I also went to the registry and removed a number of keys relating to ShopAtHome. I ran Ad-Aware and Spybot and was satisfied that SAH was gone.

I then went to IE and received a message that page could not be displayed. I could receive e-mail in Outlook, still had Internet connectivity, and everything else was working fine except IE. While troubleshooting, I went to Windows Explorer and tried to go to a site and that worked fine. I could pop up my Links toolbar and use Windows Explorer like IE without a problem, but I could only get to the Internet through Windows Explorer; IE had ceased to work. I'll spare you all of the steps, but I did go through uninstalling/reinstalling IE using steps in MS KB article 318378, with no results, and even restored WinXP from a restoration CD. Everything else still worked fine except IE. I had exported the registry keys I removed, so to test a theory that SAH was still the culprit, I restored those keys and IE started working again. The agent is no longer installed and I don't believe data is being sent to SAH (when I first noticed the toolbar, I would see an SAH address pop up before redirecting me to my chosen site but it no longer does that).

Today, I updated Spybot, ran it again, and it came up with a long list of SAH registry keys. Since the agent was uninstalled, I let Spybot get rid of those entries and IE stopped working again. I selectively restored them one by one, and have pinned the source of the problem to a VGroup registry key in HKLM/Software. Removing this key makes IE stop working. I went through and edited the string values, e.g., changed "DateToCheckForNewUpdate" from 2003-12-03 to 2045-12-03 (don't expect to be using this computer by then), so the values in those strings are entirely useless and mostly gibberish. IE is still working after editing all of the values, but I can't get rid of the entire Vgroup key.

Who are these people and why are they allowed to co-exist with decent folk? Does anyone have any information about problems with these [expletives deleted]?

Thanks for listening!

If anyone has any advice for Ric or would just like to discuss this issue further, we'll be over in the forums! Drop on by!

PC WORLD PICKS: Put Hallmark To Shame!

Add music and animation to personalized greeting cards with these programs.
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/collection/0,collid,464,tk,lg,00.asp

FreeCard Multimedia Greeting Cards
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,4246,tk,lg,00.asp
Bowl over your friends with an enthusiastic, animated greeting card.

Christmas Card
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,5666,tk,lg,00.asp
Boycott Hallmark and send an electronic holiday card of your own.

FunE-Cards: Christmas Set
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,5575,tk,lg,00.asp
Create Christmas cards with a juggling Santa, a nativity scene, or a photo of your own.

Holiday Card Organizer 2003
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,5569,tk,lg,00.asp
Maintain address lists and keep track of incoming and outgoing holiday cards.

Multimedia Greeting Card Maker
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,7910,tk,lg,00.asp
Give your holiday cards the homemade touch with this program.

DRIVE: SingleDrive v0.2.0.0

• [544K]
• Win98/2k/XP
• FREE

http://weblogs.asp.net/jkey/posts/40360.aspx

{Combine multiple drives into a single drive} Some of us don't have the luxury of buying a new computer when we run out of space. Instead, we buy hard drives and after a while, they become cluttered (eww). The utility shows all of the drives including networked drives as a single virtual drive. If you have "My Documents" on Drive A, B, and network drive F; it will show up only once on the virtual drive with all the files from the three drives. Just like Windows Explorer, you can view file and folder properties and send files and folders to the recycle bin. I loaded my C: drive and my card reader's drive and saw everything in one shot. The only drawback is that I couldn't move files between the two drives. [Meryl]

DOWNLOAD: Mouse Off-Road v2.15

• [360K]
• Win98/2k/XP
• FREE

http://mof.aklabs.com/

{Measure your mouse} See just how much running around your mouse does with this utility, which is an odometer that tracks the mouse's activities. Maybe you can finally get the answer you were looking for as to why your mouse is acting strange or tired. It also helps you in selling the mouse because like a car, the lower the mileage, the higher the price. After installing and rebooting the computer, it'll ask you to calibrate your mouse. This took me four times to get it right. What you have to do is move your mouse slowly at 10cm, hit Enter, and it's calibrated. Hot dang! My mouse is a fast one. It travels over 185 miles per hour. Does that mean it qualifies for the Indy 5000? As an American, I am too stupid to convert it to the metric system, which is what the rest of the world uses except America. Vroom! Vroom! [Meryl]

FAVORITE: The Opte Project

http://www.opte.org/

{Visual representation of Net space} Draw a map of the entire Internet in one day. OK, science was not one of my stronger areas in school even though I enjoyed learning about some of the topics. This is a tough one to explain, so I have to quote the site on how it maps the Internet. "Boarder Gateway Protocol (BGP) generally does not deal with classless or subneted networks. Instead of mapping every single IP address on the Internet (theoretical maximum of 2^32=4,294,967,296 hosts) we simply traceroute to each class C network. This reduces the theoretical maximum to 16,777,216 hosts." The site generates a new map every week. In the past, you could find yourself or make a map, but these features are offline until it finds a new mega-computer donor. The maps on the site are still a sight to see and admire. They look more like works of art than maps. Ooh! Aah! [Meryl]