JimWorld Gazette Issue #60 07/31/1998

Gazette - Issue #60 - July 31, 1998

This week Hayden sent me a very nice gift in the form of a CocaCola .exe file. If you haven't had the opportunity to enjoy this message from Coke, it's downloadable from the JimWorld site at http://jimworld.com/gift.exe (268,800 bytes) It's fun, so enjoy!

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I announced last week that I had started a review of the ClickTrade <http://www.clicktrade.com/default.htm> service that allows you to automatically arrange to be paid for putting links on your site to other sites that are listed in the service. I was interested in reviewing their service with an eye towards ways that you can generate income through advertising in your newsletters.

Unfortunately, I received a message from the nice folks at ClickTrade informing me that they do not make allowances for any type of advertising other than banners on web sites. Their reason? That text based advertising is too vulnerable to cheating and spamming.

I understand their position. Consequently, I have dropped my plans to review their service and have gone in search of a service that does support newsletter advertising.

With the steady and rapid decline in banner effectiveness, the best chance for advertisers to reach a responsive audience is through the various types of text based advertising.

Hopefully I will find such a service already in existence and be able to review that service. If not, I may have to start one myself. It is too much of a target rich environment to stay unserviced for much longer. Just what I need. Another service to administer.

I Told You So!
Hoax Letter Scams
Software Revieww - SharIt
It Pays To Read The Gazette
Get Linked
Snippets

Link to this issue of the Gazette as http://gazetteworld.com/go/to.cgi?l=g60

I TOLD YOU SO !

About a year ago when I first started writing about the Coming Of The Government into the Internet, everyone was pretty complacent about the entire subject. The then recent defeat of the CDA law had everyone glowing with victory. Once and for all the government had been told where to go. The Net was safe from the Washington Hacks.

Guess I was watching the wrong Washington. The State of Washington was the first to forcibly enter the Net. They passed a law that can cost anyone guilty of sending Spam into the state liable for a fine of $500 for each piece mailed. No real definition of what constitutes Spam other than to say that it is email not asked to be sent.

As best I can, I am not accepting Gazette subscriptions from Washington any longer. As soon as I get the bugs out I will be rejecting subscriptions from any person using an ISP in Washington State. The routine will look up the ISP in the Internic Whois file.

But, as I expected, the Washington farce is just the tip of the iceberg. Our government has much more in store for us. They claim they are doing it for us. We know they are doing it to us.

Remember all of those black background pages all over the Web? The color signified the end of the Web if the CDA bill became law. It didn't. The courts had enough sense to overturn it.

It was only a reprieve. Now comes Son Of CDA (Communications Decency Act), or CDA-2 (sponsored by Sen. Dan Coats [R-IN]) as it is being called. More closely resembles Son of Sam. They changed a couple of words and started putting it through the stages again. And guess what? It's passing Congress again. In the name of protecting our children. They know that the parents of this country can't raise their own kids without lots of help (?) from the government and they want to give us that help (?).

Next come the "Internet School Filtering Act" sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R -AZ).

But that isn't enough help (?) so now they are trying to Gore us with their horns. They've sent Al on the road to tell us all about the new laws that will protect our kids. Not to be outdone in the Who Can Pass The Most Restrictive Law, the White House is touting their desire to force every library, school and any other public facility to install and force the use of site Blocking software. You know. The same stuff that makes the Internet totally useless in the schools that already use it. Nick's school has it and the computers go all year without being touched. You can't even reach a search engine with the blockers turned on.

Maybe the next step is to create a job for Bill when he leaves office either at the end of his term or sooner if things keep going the way they are. He is such a fine judge of what is and isn't sex that he could become the Porn Czar in our War Against Porno and Free Speech.

Don't even think for a minute that the Tax-n-Spenders are sitting quietly by while all of this good action goes on. No, No. They have swung into action to grab as many taxes as they can lay their hands on and all at the expense of the Net. They got their hearts set on a whole bunch of new programs for the common good, all to be paid for with monies from the new tobacco taxes that didn't happen. So they are desperate for a different source of money. Desperate and drooling over the monies slipping through their hands every day that the Web remains free. A few billion from the Net each year will pay for a lot of programs.

My advise? Build your sites into profitable operations and find a cash buyer for big bucks. Get out and find the next wave of opportunity that can remain free for at least 3 years. Then move again. And again. And again.....

With action on so many fronts it is unlikely that we can avoid the taxes and content blocking laws. But it is a good likelihood that we can avoid most of the Spam laws. Why, you ask? Because politicians have learned that Spam is a powerful way to raise money and support for their campaigns. I even had a local judge flood me with Spam during her last campaign.

Maybe they will just pass the laws but exempt all politicians from it's limitations. That does sound more like our current pack of politicians, doesn't it? Maybe the medical community can come up with a pain pill that helps when the government gets their boot installed on your neck.

Would you be interested in hearing about the FBI's proposed plan to allow wiretaps of cellular phone calls without a warrant? These are the same people that want to be able to unlock the encryption of Internet traffic whenever they feel it is warranted.

What a terrible lead-in to the next article. Yuck!

HOAX LETTER SCAMS

-- Don't believe everything you e-read.

"Subject: Slim-Jim and Side-Impact Air Bags Could Be Deadly Combination

The US Police Dept. sent out this helpful warning: Don't try to use a coat hanger or any other metal device, such as a Slim Jim, to unlock a car door that has side-impact bags. You could accidentally deploy the air bag, launching the jimmied device upward with enough force to penetrate your chin (and brain). At least three law enforcement officers have been killed using a Slim Jim by inadvertently deploying the air bag.

Even when lockout assistance efforts do not prove to be deadly, the damage costs can be significant and may include thousands of dollars for replacement of the dashboard, which is designed to breakaway so as not to harm the driver or front passenger."

This information was provided by Tom Murphy, Safety Manager, DCMC San Francisco, CA"(1)

-=+=-

Suppose this message were to appear in your email box. Would you pass this letter on, feeling you are doing a good deed to all who would receive it?

You wouldn't be. Why not? Because this email is a hoax. How do we know? A message sent out by NLETS (National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System) on December 12, 1997, at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin, stated:

"NHTSA states that they have been unable to confirm any instances of a slimjim triggering a side-impact airbag. NHTSA further states that the vehicle manufacturers state that it is impossible to deploy an airbag using a slimjim." (1)

Thus we are brought to the focus of this article: email hoaxes abound. We need to be aware of these hoaxes so that we can know when to ignore a 'warning,' and why we should do so.

You might say, though, that although a false alarm, this hoax air-bag message would not actually be causing any harm.

Although in this particular case no direct harm is done, there are other hoax letters that can cause much harm. For example, all of the fraudulent 'virus warning' emails, especially those which claim that you can receive a virus by simply reading an email! This type of hoax may cause some to stop using email out of fear, which can hurts them because they lose a valuable tool for communication, and hurts online businesses because they lose a potential customer.

Although this is an extreme reaction, a more common reaction is being expelled from listservers for spam by passing on such letters which may have seemed to the reader to be valid. The reader may have thought they were doing a good deed, only to be denied further access to the listserver.

According to Aaron Lynch, author of the book Thought Contagion, hoax emails swamp "real virus fighters with false alarms that can cause risky delays in an actual emergency."(2)

So how can you tell if a message you receive is a hoax?

If the warning is concerning a virus, you can check it against a list of known virus hoaxes at the Sophos anti-virus and data protection site for known virus scare hoaxes: http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/scares/

For a list of more general 'warnings', visit the Computer Incident Advisory Capability's (CIAC) site of hoaxes: http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html

Even if you cannot locate any direct reference to the message you received, you can test it against these 4 principles given by the CIAC, a division of the U.S. Department of Energy:

The hoax uses technical sounding language that make it sound credible.

"For example, the Good Times hoax says that '...if the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in an nth-complexity infinite binary loop which can severely damage the processor... With a little research, you find that there is no such thing as an nth-complexity infinite binary loop and that processors are designed to run loops for weeks at a time without damage."(3)
Credibility by association.

"If the janitor at a large technological organization sends a warning to someone outside of that organization, people on the outside tend to believe the warning because the company should know about those things. Even though the person sending the warning may not have a clue what he is talking about, the prestige of the company backs the warning, making it appear real."(3)
Pass it on...

"Individuals should also be especially alert if the warning urges you to pass it on to your friends. This should raise a red flag that the warning may be a hoax."(3)
The sender claims the warning is FCC issued. "According to the FCC, they have not and never will disseminate warnings on viruses. It is not part of their job."(3)

Why is it that people would send out false alarms like this? There are a number of reasons. Some people are just bored, and get a thrill out of sending out a false alarm to see what kind of reaction is stirred up from it.

Others have personal vendettas against certain organizations and wish to damage their reputation by sending out incredulous messages.

Still others are sent with an email address in their contents to respond to, which is the email address of an enemy of the sender. This causes the enemy's email to be spammed and gives the sender of the hoax some kind of wicked satisfaction.

As long as there is "a sucker born every minute," there will be those who find dark pleasure in playing with those suckers' minds. You can save yourself embarrassment, and others harm, by making use of the hoax-lists and principles provided.

So when so-called 'warning' messages appear in your email box, exercise extreme caution.

[ SITED REFERENCES ]

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"Of Slim Jims, Organ Reapers, and the KKK", David Emery
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa041598.htm
"Email Thought Contagions", Aaron Lynch
http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/contagion.htm
"Internet Hoaxes"
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html#identify

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Jonathan Leger is the author and publisher of the Internet Scams Ezine <http://www.bcity.com/newsletter/>. The ezine is dedicated to educating the online community against the scam artist, and to reviewing available online opportunities. He can be reached via email at: InetScams@cp-tel.net>

SOFTWARE REVIEW - SHARIT

-- The Shareware submitter

I must admit, I was a little concerned when Jim asked me to review a product produced by a company that also produces another product in direct competition with one of my own products. However, as Jim quickly extracted from me, SharIt is an invaluable tool for those in the software / shareware / freeware business - and yes, I do use it myself.

SharIt <http://www.msw.com.au/sharit/> is a Windows program that does for software authors what the automated search engine submission tools did for the average web site owner. Specifically, it saves dozens or hundreds of hours in the process of submitting a software product to the hundreds of software / shareware / freeware collection directories.

This review will not cover the program details or its user interface, as last week's issue of the Gazette contained a review of the Submission Wolf. Virtually all the products produced by MSW use the same interface and function almost identically. This review will focus on the impact (both pro and con) this type of program has had - and will continue to have, on the software business.

In essence, SharIt allows the software author to enter the basic information required by most software collection type sites into a client-side file. You then select the specific sites where you wish to submit the software and click the "Submit" button and you are done. Auto-magically your software is almost instantly submitted to the sites. Believe me, from long-experience, this beats the heck out of going to each site and filling out a hundred forms to accomplish the same thing manually. There are, however, a few drawbacks to this process (especially when it deals with submitting software to a site).

A year or so ago, when the Internet was still a curiosity to most, there were only a dozen or so shareware type sites in existence. It wasn't much before that when TUCOWS <http://www.tucows.com> was nothing more than a short collection of links on its founder's home page. Today, TUCOWS has over 500 mirror sites and receives about 14 million hits a day. And, they are not alone. Almost all the big names in the industry have software collection/download sites and, for better or for worse, you have to be listed on a great number of them to be successful with your shareware.

But, is using an automated submission tool the best way to go? Sure, it can save you hundreds of hours, but can it cultivate relationships? This brings us to the downside of this particular product (since it is unique in its field). I started this review by admitting I use SharIt myself - I guess I should clarify that a little.

I make my living with computers and the Internet. I've built a business that has been profitable since day one and continues to grow every month - all controlled by the computer(s) I sit in front of 8-10 hours a day. This is what I know, what I am good at and what I do.

I also have a 5 year old son who I don't allow to play with computers. I don't want him near them. In fact, he goes to a private school that does not teach even the most basic computer skills until High School. Why this seemingly contradictory situation? Very simple, I was given the chance in my early years (yes, both Jim and myself received our primary education and upbringing long before computers) to develop interpersonal skills. I was taught how to shake hands when greeting someone, how to listen to what they were saying, to develop compassion and intuition based on inflections in someone's voice or the look on their face. I learned, through experience, how to develop relationships that could be both business and personal simultaneously. I want my son to have that same opportunity

I see the dawn of an entire generation of people that can't look you in the eye when conversing (it would divert them from their monitors). Who expect instant responses, instant results (via Email of course), and who, instead of letting their inner nature manifest into the world - let their world be formed by the constant bombardment of vast amounts of non-personal data being pumped through their substitute umbilical cord - the Internet. Forgive the ranting, but the point I'm trying to make is fairly simple.

I love the business I'm in, I rely heavily on my T-1 line, my Email, the desktop WebSuite servers that spit out more than 8 gigs of file downloads every month. However, I never sign a contract with a software author, I never write an article for someone, I never conduct any serious business with someone who I have not at least spoken to on the phone - preferably several times. I have established very sound, mutually-beneficial relationships with the computer press, the major shareware collection sites and others who I feel are having a major positive impact on the future of the Internet. None of those relationships have been formed by using an automated "personal biography" submission tool.

So, how do I "rate" or "review" SharIt? It is a great tool. One I use often to update the listings of our software products on the hundreds of related sites. However, I will get out of this business if things ever evolve to the point where automated submissions to hundreds of contacts is the preferred method of developing "relationships."

If you are a software author I would highly recommend using SharIt - it will make your life a lot easier. In fact, since I started using it to update our listings, I have much more time to actually get on the phone and talk to the contacts it has helped me make - and sometimes we even get around to talking business.

T.J. Walker
Software Solutions
http://www.softwaresolutions.net

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Jim Here: TJ, so where do I go to sign up for a job that only requires me to sit in front of a computer for 8-10 hours a day? After 15 years of software development experience, I went into the advertising business to get away from computers. What a fine mess this has turned out to be. Now I sit in front of 4 of them more hours then ever.

Thanks for a great review.

IT PAYS TO READ THE GAZETTE

Dear Jim,

Remember when you announced about the contest using the PhotoAnimator software at http://www.extensis.com? Well, I hustled over there, downloaded the software (which I have since purchased), put together some graphics and submitted them.

I was just notified that I won! The winning entry is displayed at: http://www.extensis.com/products/PhotoAnimator/pagallery9.html

The prize? In case you don't remember -- a copy of every single piece of Extensis software ("the whole enchilada"). I cannot tell you how thrilled I am about this!

Thanks -- without the Gazette I might never have known about the competition (or the great software).

Gleefully,

Claire Amundsen Schaeffer
http://wockyjivvy.com/

GET LINKED

Industrial Classifieds
http://www.industrialclassifieds.com

A short time ago you had a article about our services. We recently had a server failure and our database was partially lost. As aresult all free ad's that were placed by many of your subscribers were lost and are no longer in on database. This problem only affected our free listing and not our paid options that we offer.

If you could please advise your subscribers who had placed a FREE 3 month ad between June 21 and Aug 29 1998 to resubmit there ad listing once again.

We have posted a press release at our company web site if you wish to view it yourself. We are located at http://www.arrowleads.com. Click on NEWS.

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QuestFinder
http://www.questfinder.com/

Here's a place to get your site listed for free. They have over 40,000 sites in this directory. They have ways for you to upgrade your listing so that it gets seen. If you don't upgrade, it is unlikely to bring you much traffic since the directory is divided up into categories, but no subcategories. When I looked at the Internet category, it came up with a list of 2,135 listings. The directory would greatly benefit from a subcategory structure. But until then, it is well designed, easy to use and free. So go get listed.

SNIPPETS

iSpeed for Windows 95/98 and NT 4.0
http://www.dimensional.com/~cstone/ispeed.htm

This little free goody claims to speed up your Internet access by doing a complete analysis of your TCP/IP setup in your computer and then making small changes to fine tune it for better performance based on the way you use TCP/IP. That makes a lot of sense. It seems to have speeded up my access, but to be entirely honest about it, I can't tell for sure. With this cable modem I have such fast response from the Net that there isn't much that can be done to improve it. I usually run as fast as a site's server can put out.

The price is right (free) and the few people that I asked to test it for me with their ISDN and dial-up access fell in love with it. It would be nice to get 30% faster throughput while surfin' wouldn't it?

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IC Font
http://www.iridis.com/dsabljic/icfont.htm

Since my first days on my venerable old Mac Plus I have had a serious problem resisting fonts. They call to me in the middle of the night. 'Download Me. Download Me!' Until recently I couldn't walk past a Font store without stopping in for a quick one or two.

Fortunately, I discovered the Font Twelve Step Program just before I would have run out of disk space. I now have a 12 week lead coin and hope to last through this latest temptation.

IC Font lets you browse through all of the fonts installed on your system and compare the screen fonts and the printer fonts looking for mistakes. You can view each font looking for redundant styles or missing weights. Cool stuff. Makes me want to run out and get some more fonts to look at, but I will try to resist. This is a must have for anyone designing sites and graphics.

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Browser Sizer
http://www.vasile.com/racecar/stampware/

This is a VERY handy program for Windows users. It doesn't look like much, but it does a critical function for any web site developer. It lets you open a browser window in the correct sizes to view your pages as they would appear at 640X480, 866X600, 1024X768 and as WebTV users will see it. This is a handy program to keep around on your task bar and use it every time you work on a page. Sure wish I hadn't used it before telling you about it. Now I've got to figure out where to put it on my task bar.

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Free Webmaster Tools
http://www.guarding-our-earth.com/webmasterlinks.htm

Find free webmaster tools such as free graphics, free cgi scripts, free java applets and scripts, free hosting, free search engine submissions, free html validation, etc. No time bombs or sucker deals - absolutely free resources.

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Imaging Machine
http://www.vrl.com/Imaging/

If you need to make some nice graphics for your site, complete with a full array of special effects, head over to the Imaging Machine. Lots of filters. Even let it turn your images into an animated GIF without having to buy a package to do it for you.

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The Banner Generator
http://www.coder.com/creations/banner/banner-form.pl.cgi

Speaking of graphics, here's a nice tool to use when you need to make a text-based banner or button. Lots of fonts and effects you can apply, and it's all done on-line. And free.

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1998 WebAwards
http://www.WebAward.org/index1.html

The Web Marketing Association is holding its 1998 WebAwards competition for corporate web sites and is looking for qualified sites to enter.

The WebAwards are designed to celebrate the best use of the World Wide Web in more than 75 industry categories. Sites are judged by independent Internet experts against sites within the industry category and against a set standard of excellence.

This contest has entry fees of $150 per category entered.

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The Server Side Includes Tutorial
http://www.carleton.ca/~dmcfet/html/ssi.html

They are a bit tricky, but something that you should learn about. As your site grows and you want to increase the level of interactivity on your sites, it becomes a must. This is one of the better learning resources around and one I have been using the past couple of months.

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The Gazette Subscription Banner continues to spread like a virus thoroughout the web. Here's one new spot. http://jrmstudios.hypermart.net/tools.html

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Cary Brown, our occasional contributor, sent me the following message:

Take a look at http://www.pos-tel.sk/msch/garden.htm

Take a look at this page. It's for-real and not a hoax. It helps us realize how our sites might appear to others when we don't take a great deal of care in language translation. BTW - the products on the page look very cool.

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ClickQuick
http://www.clickquick.com

Reviews of the top internet opportunities and affiliate programs. Visit our message board to discuss what opportunities really work.