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Sunday, August 17, 2003

Random thought:

The fat lady wails!

Opera, the Web browser from Norway, has been on my "want to like" list for a long time and I've had a copy on my PC since about version 3. Back then, Opera didn't have a lot of features, but it was billed as being "standards compliant" at a time when Netscape and Microsoft were both doing their best to wreck the standards. Now at version 7, Opera still can't quite replace Internet Explorer for me, but I use it a lot.

If that sounds a little schizophrenic, it's not. Opera offers so many advantages that I use it whenever I can. Occasionally I find a website that doesn't work quite right with Opera and then I load IE.

And if that sounds like a lot of trouble for nothing, it's not.

I use a lot of websites regularly. I keep a Google window open because I use it to search for information once or twice an hour. Because I'm the list co-owner of two discussion lists that are housed at Indiana University, I keep one window open for each list's management screen. I want immediate access to GoodbyeSpam's site and the Technology Corner site. Because WeatherUnderground offers access to the National Weather Service's NEXRAD system, I like to keep an eye on that -- particularly this summer. Having immediate access to a WhoIs server is handy, too, when I want to know more about a website. And because security problems pop up without warning, it's handy to be on-line with Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team. I receive the paper version of the New York Times, but I probably read more of it on-line, so I want a window open there, too. I'd like to have immediate access to an on-line clip-art service that I subscribe to -- that's another window. The NY Times makes available on-line the "navigator" page that its reporters use and it's a handy place to start a research project. I like to have the Columbus Metropolitan Library's site available at a click and because people keep sending me urban legends, having an open link to Snopes.com is handy for sending quick replies to debunk the goofy reports. And then there's OneLook.com -- a kind of master dictionary that's a wonderful resource. I also like to keep an eye on my on-line calendar and those for other members of the family. (Whew!)

Having all of those sites open with MSIE would present several problems. First is that each of the sites would create a button on the task bar. I already reserve 2 lines for the task bar and having 15 or more websites open would force me to increase that to at least 3. With Opera, I have just 1 button and Opera has tabs that let me pick which site I want to look at.

The second problem would be opening each of the websites whenever I started the system. Yes, I could put each of the shortcuts in the StartUp directory, but that's an ugly solution. Opera saves "profiles" and I can tell it to always start with my favorite sites loaded, or I can have it ask me whenever Opera starts.

Opera also allows me to import IE "Favorites" and to display them in a long list. Instead of having to pull down a long list of Favorites and navigate through the list, all I have to do with Opera is press Ctrl-N to open a new screen and then click the bookmark for the page I want to open.

You don't like this face? I'll show you another

Opera is "skinnable", meaning that I can make it look however I want it to look. This isn't an essential feature, but it's a fun feature. I spend enough time looking at the computer, that I'd like to make what I see "fun".

If you look at the screen capture showing opera, you might think it's running on a Mac. There is a Mac version of Opera (and a version for most other operating systems) but what you're looking on is the Windows version. What's up with the apples on the list of open websites and the interface that looks like it belongs on OS X? Opera's website offers various "skins" (currently about 50 of them) that users can download and use for free. If you want Opera to look like it's running on BeOS, get the BeOS skin. You've already seen the OS X look. There's even a DOS skin for those who are more than a little warped. Click the small image on the left to see a larger image.

		This is a face called "Azurno" and it looks like what I'd see on my Apple.
		I've never owned a BeOS computer, but -- if I had -- this is what I would have seen.
		DOS didn't do graphics (at least not very well) but here's an example what Opera might look like as a DOS application.
		This is another Apple look, but it's an Apple OS that hasn't yet been released! This is really cool. I can see an Apple OS on my PC that not even Apple owners can see!
		This is the look I've been using lately. You can see the entire screen, including the bookmarks (imported from Explorer) on the left and all of the open sites (on the right).

Skins are "worthless" except for their fun value -- and if you value fun, that makes skins not so worthless after all!

For website designers, there's more

I use Javascript on most Web pages I create. It's handy for validating data on a form, for disguising an e-mail address so that spam-bots can't see it, for doing any task that needs to modify settings in the document object model, and lots more. Javascript is a simple language, but any computer language has strict syntax, punctuation, and spelling rules. If I spell a variable name "lineCount" in one location and "LineCount" in another location, Javascript will see those as two separate variables. So if I set "lineCount" to some value and later check for the value of "LineCount" the application will throw an error.

Internet Explorer will display a cryptic error message that gives the line number of the error. The problem with that is that some of my pages use a Javascript function that calls a function that might be in another file and that function may call yet another function from still another file. Knowing which line number the problem is on isn't much help if you don't know which file it's in! Opera's Javascript debugger, when it encounters an error, names the calling function and each called function (and file name), so finding the problem is much easier.

Why not use Opera exclusively?

Unfortunately, Opera still has display problems with some pages. Usually these are pages written to take advantage of a specific Netscape or Internet Explorer functionality. The problem is actually the result of bad website design, but that doesn't matter because the page won't display readably in Opera. When I encounter a page like that, all I can do is open MSIE and view the page there.

But don't try to take my Opera away!

Apple OS X (how to say it)

I mentioned Apple and OS X a couple of weeks ago and pronounced the X as the letter X. Mark Nandor wrote to tell me that Apple pronounces X as "ten". I think I've been told that before, but I keep forgetting. I know X is the roman numeral for 10, but OS X is a kind of double entendre -- and a clever one -- on Apple's part because OS X is powered by Unix. Unix and Linux are known as the "X operating systems". So I thought more emphasis would be on the Unix connection than on OS X being the follow-on to System 9. And besides, I wondered, does the next version become OS XI?

Mark said: I'm not trying to be tooooo picky, since I enjoy hearing your Sunday show while getting ready for church Sunday mornings. However, you should know that "OS X" is not pronounced "Oh Ess Ecks," but rather "Oh Ess Ten." Apple has two versions of its operating system. Mac OS (sometimes now called Classic OS or OS Classic) and OS X. The latest version of Mac OS is 9.2.2. The latest version of OS X is 10.2.6. When they come out with a new version (other than Panther) that is labeled 11, it will be OS X version 11.0, pronounced "Oh Ess Ten, verion 11.0."

And then I said ...

I believe that I've never heard anyone from Apple say it. I always assumed (bad thing to do) that X (as in Unix) would be highlighted, hence pronunciation of the roman numeral as "X" instead of "ten". I'll have to work to mend my ways.

As for calling the next version of the operating system "OS Ten Version 11", only Apple would do something like that! Or maybe Sony, the Apple of the PC world. Yes, there's Microsoft's dumb numbering scheme -- from 1 to 2 to 3 to 3.1 to 3.11 to 95 to 98 to 98SE (with a little detour to Me) to 2000 to XP -- but so far they haven't come up with a Windows 5 version 7. That kind of name reminds me that Apple is also the company that makes getting video out to a projector from an iBook impossible if you forget to carry a small and easily lost "dongle". Apple does a lot that's right, but sometimes they do things that are unspeakably stupid. (And don't get me started on their lame mice. Yes, I know Apple buyers can purchase a real mouse from any of several 3rd-party manufacturers.)

Mark also said, "I enjoy your show, and I'm glad you occasionally talk about the better computers." Thanks, but I don't see either as being inherently better or worse than the other. Compared to the Mac's System 9, Windows 2000 and XP were light years ahead at the system level. Apple's OS X finally brought decent memory management to the Mac even though the initial release of the operating system left a lot to be desired. OS X 10.2 is robust and stable. I really like where Apple is going with it. I just don't consider it to be inherently superior.

Blinnhouse is now home to a new dual-processor G4 system for my younger daughter who will be a commercial artist. While she and I both know that she could do everything she needs to do on a Windows machine, the commercial art community has standardized on the Mac platform.

OS X: The "better" system?

Yeah, sure. Apple likes to encourage the myth that their computers don't crash or do other odd things. Late in July, I bought a Mac G4 dual-processor system for my younger daughter to use in the commercial art program at the Columbus College of Art and Design. Apple evangelists should keep in mind that in general I like what I've seen from both my iBook, which I've owned for about 2 years, and the new dual-processor G4. Even with OS X, though, I see some serious shortcomings in what Apple has to offer. This is not to say that Windows computers do not have similar or worse problems.

In other words, when I say something critical about the Mac, don't point out a flaw that's common to Windows systems as if that somehow makes Apple's hardware or software flaw unimportant. Equal and offsetting flaws are unacceptable. Example: A directory I'm trying to copy over the network to Kaydee's new computer contains about 1500 files. Every time the process gets to about 980 files, I get an apology from the computer because it can't go on. I know that Unix doesn't have a limitation (particularly one so small) on the number of files that can be copied across the network. So I don't know if I'm looking at a bad implementation, a hardware problem, or what. But all I can do is copy these files in groups of about 50. Fortunately, this isn't something that I'll need to do regularly.

The Apple faithful can rail against Microsoft's security flaws and I'll be right there with them. I'll be in the front line. But when somebody complains about shortcomings by Apple, I'd like to see Mac users realize that some days Steve Jobs is human, that Apple engineers are human, and that Apple computers aren't quite perfect.

I've found a few things to complain about so far ...

• Every time the system displays its "screen saver", the system crashes. I have a single choice: Press and hold the power button until the computer turns off and I can restart it (which causes Unix to go through a 5-minute "disk cleaning" process.

  This seems to have been the result of a bad CPU. For more than a week after the new Mac came in, I spent a lot of time trying to get it to run reliably. I know that even Apple can make a lemon, but shipping a computer with a bad CPU or a bad motherboard is ridiculous. As my wife said, "You pay all this money for a computer and you expect it to work." The computer spent Monday through Thursday at the Apple Store at Easton. It's back and appears to be happy.

• I tried to copy some files from Kaydee's PC to the Mac and invariably the process failed because a file was busy. In the process, I created a temp directory (sorry, "folder") on the Mac. When I tried to empty the trash, I was told the file was "busy". Eventually, by logging on as "root", I was able to delete the contents of the Temp folder and even the Temp folder itself, but the Mac's "Trash" bin still thinks Temp exists and won't let me delete it even though it isn't there any more.

  While it's true that the Mac is technically more secure than Windows XP, this is a problem I've never seen on XP. The "System Administrator" can delete any file. "Root" should be able to do that on a Unix system, too. Apparently not on an Apple system that runs Unix. These problems, while not common, happen enough to be written up in locations such as MacOSXHints.com.

• The mouse suddenly stopped allowing me to drag and drop items. Single-clicking did nothing, so I thought that re-installing the operating system might help. I didn't want to have to format the drive and reinstall all of the applications, so I let the OS installer create a "Previous System" folder. After installing the operating system and running through all of the system updates, I tried to delete the Previous System folder and couldn't because it was owned by the system. So I enabled "root" (which Apple does not enable by default) and was able to delete about 20,000 files -- but 1 remains and cannot be deleted. Additionally, in Kaydee's workspace, the trash cannot be emptied because the operating system thinks a folder called "Temp" has a busy file in it. As "root", I went to the .Trash folder and deleted the file inside "Temp" and then deleted "Temp". In other words, not only is the operating system wrong when it tells me there is a busy file inside a folder called "Temp" in the trash, it's also wrong about the existence of the folder!

  This is no worse than what happens on a Windows computer, but it's also no better. The Windows System Administrator can delete any file. There may be a way to get rid of an "in use" file under Unix, but Apple provides no information.

• When something fails on the Mac, I see a terse description of the problem ("Sorry, the operation could not be completed because an unexpected error occurred." Apple also has "expected errors"?) and a numeric error code (-128). So far, any attempt to find the error code in the OS X "Help" system has been unsuccessful and I've been unable to find it on Apple's website. Numeric error codes are useful only if there is a reference somewhere to what the digits mean. Compared to Apple's error codes, Windows XP is years ahead. Long-time Apple users thing the dock is terrific, but that's only because they have nothing better to compare it to.
• And for reasons known only to the great Apple gods, "System Preferences" has disappeared from the "Dock", Apple's lame attempt to create a Start Menu without having it look like they copied from Microsoft. System Preferences is like the Control Panel on the PC. I don't believe I've ever seen or heard of the Control Panel just "falling off" the Start Menu.
• I shouldn't mention the lame Apple mouse, but I will. Instead of pressing a button to click (there is only one "button" on Apple mice), the user must press the mouse casing. If you click and drag, and you need to lift the mouse and move it to get a larger dragging area, you must press two special tabs on the left and right of the mouse (and press them HARD) while picking up the mouse and moving it. A day of this made my arm ache.

Yes, I do like the Mac

Honest, and I know that the problems I'm seeing are largely the result of a hardware problem. I expect this problem will go away when I receive a replacement unit for this computer. I also understand that the Mac is like any other computer -- that it will crash, that functions will fail, and that designers can make stupid choices. I like the computer. I'm not so sure about the company, though. I disdain the company because it holds out the Mac as something it isn't, as something it will never be. Unfortunately, Apple manages to "brainwash" some of its users into buying the corporate line that Macs are "better" computers.

For all its bluster, this is something Microsoft doesn't do. I could easily develop a list of faults with Windows -- a list as long as or longer than my complaints about the Mac. The difference would be that Windows users would admit that the system they use isn't perfect. Many Mac users will not believe that Apple could ever design something wrong. And that's just plain silly.

MS Blasted?

If you took my advice a few weeks ago, you had all the security patches in place with the MS Blaster worm started making its rounds on Monday. Hundreds of thousands of computers were affected. This is being written before Saturday, when any machine that still has the worm will begin attacking windowsupdate.microsoft.com. I'm trying to obtain access to information about Saturday's attack.

If you've been off the planet for the past few days, here's information about the MS Blast worm.

The BLASTER worm is already on tens of thousands of computers, including those of a well known auto club's headquarters. Most of that organization's branches have been hit, too. I haven't seen it yet, but it has been close. Blaster is similar to the Code Red virus that affected 300,000 computers and caused an estimated $1.2 billion in cleanup costs in July 2001.

The Carnegie Mellon Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has a full description here: http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2003-20.html.

If you're running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP (Pro or Home), or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 press Ctrl-Shift-Esc now. This will open the Windows Task Manager. Sort the list of processes alphabetically. If you see a running process called MSBlast, your computer is running the worm and is attempting to communicate with other computers to spread the worm. Those who haven't yet applied the latest Microsoft security patches are vulnerable because Microsoft (stupidly) turns on unneeded services by default.

IF YOUR COMPUTER IS NOT INFECTED

Go IMMEDIATELY to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and download the latest critical security patches.

IF YOUR COMPUTER IS INFECTED
(You see "MSBlast.exe" in the list of running Processes)

WARNING: Never attempt something like this on the basis of an unsolicited e-mail or what you see on a website. Confirm what I have reported from independent sources before you do anything.

If you have a home network and other computers have been running, they are probably already infected. REMOVE ALL NETWORKED COMPUTERS FROM THE NETWORK BEFORE STARTING THE CLEAN-UP PROCESS. If you fail to remove other computers from the network, the computer you clean will be re-infected before you can obtain the necessary patches from Microsoft.

1. Select MSBlast.exe and then press the "End Process" button.

2. Close the Task Manager.

3. Open the Task Manager again and confirm that MSBlast.exe is no longer on the list.

4. Close Task Manager.

That's the easy part. The problem is that the process will run again when you reboot your computer because it's been added to the AutoStart section of the Registry. IF YOU HAVE NEVER EDITED THE REGISTRY BEFORE, you may want to have a computer technician do the following step. It's not difficult, but an error in the Registry can make the computer unbootable.

IF YOU ARE AT ALL UNSURE ABOUT THE FOLLOWING STEP, have it done by someone you trust.

5. Open Registry Editor by pressing Start and then Run.

6. Type Regedit and press Enter.

7. In the left panel, double-click this entry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>Software>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>Run

8. In the right panel, find and delete this entry: "windows auto update" = MSBLAST.EXE

9. Close the Registry Editor.

10. Restart the system.

11. Open the Task Manager one more time to confirm that the application is no longer running.

12. Go IMMEDIATELY to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and download the latest critical security patches.

Nerdly News

Microsoft finally gets (some of) the message

[Warning: Editorial comments masquerading as news.]

Microsoft has finally decided to change the way Windows XP installs itself. To make computers easy to network, Microsoft has shipped its operating systems with far too many services turned on by default. The result has been widespread, fast-moving viruses and worms. The trouble with doing that is that's it's not unlike leaving all the doors on your house unlocked and posting a large sign on the outside with clear instructions to everything of value inside.

After saying for at least two years that it now takes security seriously, Microsoft has finally announced that the firewall built in to Windows XP will be fully activated when the system is installed. It's about time!

Shipping systems with the firewall turned off and lots of unnecessary services running makes it easy for users to connect to their banks, but it also leaves their machines highly vulnerable. If this strikes you as being more than a little short-sighted, maybe you should be running Microsoft's security division. Until now, it appears nobody saw anything wrong with that strategy.

Microsoft's director of security strategy, Steven Lipner says the company didn't activate the firewall because customers have told the company that they don't want it turned on. Using that logic, automakers would still be selling cars with drum brakes, bias-ply tires, and no seatbelts. Sometimes a company has to give more weight to customers' NEEDS and less weight to customers' WANTS.

Trying to make the earlier decision seem more intelligent, Lipner is quoted in the New York Times as saying, "Doing it the way we did was probably the right decision when we shipped XP. "Obviously times change, and the things we do to protect our customers change." Sorry, but it was a dumb decision the day XP shipped.

Those who criticize Microsoft for its frequent security bug fixes seem not to understand that other operating systems have security problems, too, and that these problems are fixed by issuing operating system patches. But they are right in criticizing Microsoft as the only operating system company that seems intent on shooting itself and all of its customers in the foot.

Today there is no viable alternative to Microsoft for desktop operating systems, but interest in Linux is building and Apple's new Unix-based OS X is another possibility. Microsoft's arrogant disregard for security should not be tolerated.

Did Microsoft's server get pounded Saturday?

We may never know for sure. On Thursday, I asked if Microsoft would have anyone available to answer questions about the MS Blast worm's attack that was scheduled for Saturday. The response:

Microsoft [will] update its customers as more information becomes available. While Microsoft is unable to discuss specific remedies it is taking to prevent an attack on the 16th, we are doing everything we can to ensure that the Windows Update remains fully available to our customers. At the same time, we are also taking aggressive steps to ensure that, in the event of any disruption, customers can continue to access and download the patch in alternative ways. For example, customers can go directly to www.microsoft.com/security to access the patch via the download site. Our main goal is to ensure that ALL customers can download and apply the patch and we are currently evaluating several additional options for distributing the fix to customers to make sure all systems get and remain secure.

Of particular interest here is this: "we are currently evaluating several additional options for distributing the fix to customers to make sure all systems get and remain secure". Security experts know that the vast majority of computer users never download security patches. Microsoft's real commitment to security will be measured by how well it delivers after evaluating several additional options.

Perhaps Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates could go on a road trip to meet every Windows user and install the patch.

Let us know what you think about this program! Write to:
Bill Blinn --
(wtvn@blinn.com still works)
Joe Bradley --

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