Thanks for the clarification. Åre you looking for extended mapi support, or simple mapi support?
You may find the following useful: 1. Does Lotus Notes support set program and defaults? If not, goto step 2. If so, goto step 2. 2. In the Programs tab on the Internet Options control panel, is Mail set to be Lotus Notes? a. Set it to blank. b. set it to Lotus Notes
This may solve your issue. Or have you already gotten MAPI to work with Word?
Summary: simple vs. extended? some troubleshooting steps
This knowledge base article seems to suggest that it was possible in Outlook 98.
If you haven't heard of MAPI, it's worth a Google search.
--Sam P.S a support call to Microsoft might reveal some workarounds, and they will then post a knowledge base article about it. ($35 only if they can solve your problem) You might make it clear that you consider it a bug (bugs are free).
You know I really do not appreciate that. I switched from Mac to Windows as soon as I could (Windows 98), because it appeared more stable when looking at Windows 95. And in all honesty, it was. stable. I even stabilized Windows ME, by carefully tracking resource leaks in.. Eudora, and deciding to ditch it because it was too leaky. (Outlook was not an option at this point because it didn't filter existing messages.. it does now.)
What I slowly discovered was that Active Desktop caused major stability and speed issues on Windows 98. Spyware soon arose and made the problem worse. Windows XP SP2 eliminated almost all of the problems, but for me, caused some more error messages in the error reporting module. (dw.exe). Both iedw.exe and dw.exe that shipped with Office XP would crash regularly on my system. IE could not be repaired because Windows XP no longer had that option, given some lawyer's desire to insist that IE was part of the operating system.
I use software that works, which sometimes is Microsoft's. Onenote is a work of genius, and I used it when Office was unstable, because of its autosave/never save functionality.
Microsoft should be applauded for Windows 95, the NT kernel, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. I look forward to the auto-hardware failure (RAM and hard disk) detection features which should make diagnosis of blue screens much less painful. I look forward to Vista, and Onecare.
One of the problems I had with contacting Microsoft with my problems was that because dw.exe is also the name of spyware, and I had installed Kazaa in the past to test to see if it had spyware, it took longer to convince them and myself that it wasn't spyware, and it may have been. (I ran every antispyware tool on the planet --over 15 and more like 25, checking registry entries and startup items, before I assured myself that it wasn't spyware and did a paid support call.) Whether it was or not, it was in the Office directory with an Office icon. (Removing it got rid of the error message. Microsoft was still not satisified with that solution, because it involved removing a Microsoft componet.) The issue never got resolved -- in part because Microsoft called me at home even though I told them that I would be at college. The support appeared to be reasonably good though. I also have a physical disability which makes dialing numbers off of a voicemail difficult.
Because MS is a corporation, and it is impossible to actually affect change, using the legal settlement to reach Microsoft insiders is an effective strategy. I do not intend to hurt them or their profits.
I have a tendency to assume that everyone is US based. My apologies. I really don't like getting Microsoft in trouble. If they had a place to report an issue with "Set Program Access and Defaults" that was not legalistic, I would do so.
I just had an idea that perhaps an Ask Slashdot would be appropriate for this. We could get several complaints. For me, the complaint is two part or possibly three parts: a) Outlook should be in the "Mail" section of "Set Access Programs and Defaults". It is "middleware". b) Let me know if this is still the case. Installing patches, reinstalling Office, or repairing Outlook set Outlook as the default mail client. As my father points out, this isn't Microsoft being malicious, as third party clients don't necessarily register MAPI correctly. c) we finally get to your complaint.
Have you thought about contacting the mail client's support? In other words, if you use Eudora, contact them. If you use The Bat! contact them. Sometimes, it's a simple matter of installing a Simple MAPI handler.
As for the "bundling" argument, once it registers with MAPI, you could argue that it is "iilegal tying", esp. since MAPI is proprietary. Again, a letter from the vendor saying that they agree would maybe bolster your claim. Although in the US, it is the "consumer" who has to be harmed, not the vendor. You might be able to get a Mozilla dev to say so, on the appropriate bug. I filed some bugs related to MAPI using the Bat!'s bug tracking system.
On win32 you might get some annoyances though - for example in MS Office 2k3 MS removed the ability to use the file -> send -> email option unless you use outlook. Atleast untill Office 2K it worked fine with everything else too.
-- That is a blatant violation of the US DOJ Antitrust Settlement. Kindly contact your attorney-general. The point of "Set Programs and Defaults" was so that any middleware could work equally well with Microsoft programs. It is an uphill battle --Outlook isn't even listed in that control panel.
But it is very important that you are firm on this.
Apple now has a certification program. All accessories that have a "Made for iPod" logo on them will work with all iPods Apple ever makes.
Apple gets royalties. Creative has a similar certification program which is free.
But in any case, this problem should not occur in the future as long as you buy certified accessories.
MSN Messenger supports SIP for text messaging. While it is admittedly not fully supported (ie. no voice or video), it is supported and Google will soon support SIP in addition to Jabber.
According to Wikipedia, Session Intiation Protocol is an IETF standard, although it was not originally intended for instant messaging, which is what I remember as well.
Launch Windows Media Player.. note the version. (If 9.0 or 10.0 or earlier) Enable "Acquire licenses automatically" and "Send unique Player ID to content providers." (This second one shouldn't have a heck of a lot to do with anything, but we are covering our bases.)
Lastly, join the customer improvement program. This isn't a joke -- even though it probably sounds sick.
If you can, reinstall Windows Media Player or update windows media player's componets.
Do this by clicking Help-->Check for Player Updates.
Make sure YME, Windows Media and other processes have full permissions to get through your firewall. Put your firewall into Learning Mode if need be.
Creating a new profile may also help.
--Sam
After doing this, if it still doesn't work, reinstall YME.
Very insightful questions. I really appreciate them. Stephen hawking and helen keller were geniuses by innate ability, even more so because of their decisions to let conscience reign over any emotional troubles they may have had. (Helen Keller certainly had emotional disturbances.)
The questions you are asking are interesting, because they shed light on a danger. We can only improve so much-- progress has its limits, and at some point, the human body must be made stronger through the act of will, and perserverance, not through technological mudslinging-- the operating system of a person's ambitions must come first before the operating system of the computer.
Which leads me to wonder -- are these Linux systems accessible to the disabled, certainly not. And that is indeed a travesty.
Perhaps they use Tidy. I know I won't get as many mod points, but hey karma isn't everything.
Tidy should do a nice job of cleaning up Word HTML/X(H)ML
http://tidy.sourceforge.net/ (also has a simple win32 editor and links to win32 help files, good documentation for all operating systems.
I generally use it as integrated with a good editor.
www.chami.com (Windows and WINE [seriously])
I feel the need to comment that having worked through high school with physical and other challenges some deem "LD", I find your comment highly offensive.
I will be entering college as a sophmore next year and am a budding lawyer.
First to the "reporter", if your server leaked information, perhaps you should work on that. Did you place it in a location that was reachable through the Internet, even to be denied later on? It's easy to do, but still.
Second, Mozilla should only install software from whitelisted locations. This should mean that the "exploit" should popup a whitelist window, with the URL and ask for your consent to 'install software" which significantly reduces the 'clinical' effects of this exploit. My mother would call me.
Spyware programs access the Internet a lot, and frequently via low-level calls. By monitoring what programs access the Internet, they can indeed know what spyware is on your computer faster than by scanning.
Their virus package does include support for 'expanded threats' including spyware.
But their antivirus engine is designed to assume 'all viruses are bad.' This new product can --and does-- tread more carefully. It tells you what programs will stop functioning if a given adware module is removed. (according to Symantec.) I do not touch Symantec's products, though it is getting more and more tempting.
If a company does good research, you think they could write good, lean, code without dependencies on TCP/IP. Uninstalling the program is a pain (for some), and manually uninstalling it without removing the TCP/IP dependency.. results in no Internet connection.
With XP's system restore, I would be willing to take more risks, and this is a 'beta' product, but still..
"The ability to work with linux (mounts as a removeable disk prefered)" Can't you mount and unmount anything in Linux? Do not forget-- Linux junkies despise auto-mount for a reason.
Any player that can be plugged in and removed is mountable and unmountable. Any hard-drive based player or Flash player that supports Mass Storage should work.
I have CP (Cerebral Palsy), and friends with CP, as well as a sister who is very similar to what you described. I'll have my father post as well but: 1. Have the school teach him how to read one-on-one through the educational plan (IEP)--they are required to educate any person until age 21. 2. Use ESL books of popular stories or Sparknotes. 3. There are some really good thought-provoking stories written for the third-fifth grade level. I know he is not there yet--get him there.
There is software such as Kurzweil 3000 or WYNN that are reading aids.. that will speak text, highlight text, and have a built-in dictionary. (the dictionary talks too.)
There are also children's dictionaries on CD-ROM.
Ultimately, you need to look at electronic books in general, and audio books. Get him interested in the material, and give him the motivation neccessary to succeed.
Bookshare.org is an organization that provides an e-book sharing service for disabled people, legal under U.S copyright law. This service works with the Kurzweil 3000 software I suggested earlier.
But the ultimate thing that worked for my sister was Instant Messaging. She had to learn how to decipher acronyms, which also gave her the feeling of fitting in. She figured out tenses and complex sentences, from barely reading at all.
Do NOT get frustrated with him. Your mileage may vary. He may not even be interested in IM. But if you can get him to have a screenname and get his buddies to write him as they normally would any other person, he will learn by immersion and things will improve.
--Sam P.S One more note: Do not prevent him from using materials that are "too young" for him. It is sometimes neccessary, and if he can realize that *on his own* so much the better.
A belief must have a basis. People believe in Jesus because they were moved, although even that is questionable. An opinion must be defensible without hiding--that is why they call it "free" speech.
Let's see.. I learn about:
* The SMTP protocol.
* How to telnet in to an SMTP server
* How it will accept any input as to who I am without checking it, and send mail.
* How to write a shell script to automate the above
Oh wait.. I can already do that. This better be a 1 credit course.
But seriously, it gives these students information about why we have a spam problem, and vital background information so that they can fix it.
These students are e-mail users themselves (most spammers aren't, and the one I heard on NPR that is uses I Hate Spam(R):-)
These students hate spam just as much as we do.
Gmail, anyone? Automatic Bayesian Filtering across many users.. works great.
--Sam
Dell has the option of shipping Firefox on their system. And then when they return the Dell and go buy a Gateway because Gateway can browse the Internet with less problems, they will realize that their Dell is more stable and runs better.
If I wete an OEM, I'd offer a "what do you want to do?" screen. (This idea came from HP). But instead of booting into a custom version of Windows if Internet was selected, I would boot into a small version of Linux running Mozilla that was not modifiable.
I'd market it as "Spyware-free Internet" gaurenteed. You could even use the "Internet Explorer skin".
We need to start demanding OEMs, banks, and other players in this industry to take security out of Microsoft's hands entirely, and into the consumer consciousness.
--Sam
I'm a little confused. The bloat AOL added was Netscape 6.0, which although it required a lot of RAM for those days (my fsther ran it fine with 256MB); it was much more stable than Netscape 4.x.
Back before this release, you could download Netscape Navigator 4.08, which was fast to launch and was only the browser.
Netscape 6.0 was just a prepackaged and branded release of the Mozilla Suite. So blame Mozilla.org if you want to complain about "post-AOL bloat".
A browser's download manager is a natural vector for malware. (as is any web-based application with access to your hard disk.)
historically, browsers like Netscape have tried to ensure that the code is acting with reverence to the user's preferences, the system administrator's policies, and the web developer's wishes as expressed through his/her code.
The packaging systems in both IE (ActiveX) and Mozilla (XPI) have been proven capable of delivering malware. So let us ignore the wishes of the web developer, and satisfy the user.
Think of my mother.
The desktop stores shortcuts to programs she uses, and she does not want it cluttered. She does not understand why PDF files she accessed appear on the desktop, nor does she want them there. (They appeared in-line after all--to her, they are part of her web browsing session, and she can bookmark them in Firefox if she wants access to them later.)
On Windows, the desktop can disappear if Internet Explorer crashss, until it is "repaired". The "repair" instructions generally are not visible on most machines, because of the icons.
Going back to system administrators, system administrators absolutely will not tolerate it if a.PDF or.RAM file gets downloaded to the desktop. Some places have policies set up so that the Desktop folder isn't writable. On Windows XP, it can even be hidden.
To make matters worse, the desktop is user-specific. Mozilla profiles are seperate from Windows profiles--so this could cause confusion to a user who does not understand they are seperate.
"The Desktop is associated with the profile."
"But the desktop doesn't change when I switch profiles?"
"Go to Run, and type 'regedit'." "We have a lot of work to do."
I still think that a dynamically changing "Recently Downloaded Files" shortcut (specific to Windows profile in origin) would be a very good elegant idea.
This bug was a security bug in part because Firefox 1.0 changed the default download directory so that downloadable files were saved directly to the desktop. Microsoft is always criticized for having bad defaults. In this case, having the default download directory be the desktop was a bad default. I would argue that you wouldn't neccessarily do bad to create a folder for each downloadable file. No one would be annoyed by that, and it would provide protection in the file system for any future holes.
You could also have a "recently downloaded files" directory on the desktop. Even a shortcut to "Location of downloaded files". Mozilla has been known for its innovation. Using the desktop is not innovative--the desktop should never be a permenant storage location. Everything Microsoft puts there is a shortcut.
I also question whether it was wise to change or set defaults in a "1.0" milestone release.
Actually, my Mom found out. I am not close enough to maintain her computer on a regular basis. When the outbreak, I walked her through installation of Zonealarm Suite, which promised by process control to stop the first virus born from the vulnerability.
It also had built-in antivirus.
Later, she told me that her neighbor Beatrice had recieved an e-mail asserting that IE was not safe anymore.
After walking her through installation of Mozilla Firefox, I told her that she could still use IE for Yahoo! Mail, and sites that didn't work in Mozilla Firefox. (Yahoo! Mail has a bunch of IE-only features. My mom said she didn't care abot those.)
That seems an indication to me that people know, and are switching. It made me happy, and hopeful.
Now I'm going to go download WebEyes, a great proprietary IE extension. There's nothing like it for Mozilla.
Firefox is being patched at exactly the same rate--it uses the latest stable branch in its nightly, and Mozilla and Firefox, save technical difficulties, are kept on constant synch.
Security issues are patched by releasing new binaries, and today also via XPI.
By the way, for non-Mozillazine readers, the XPI patches an existing binary that is not 0.92 to be equalivent to the patched binary. It is not neccessary for 0.92 or above. (for historical purposes.)
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for the clarification. Åre you looking for extended mapi support, or simple mapi support?
You may find the following useful:
1. Does Lotus Notes support set program and defaults? If not, goto step 2. If so, goto step 2.
2. In the Programs tab on the Internet Options control panel, is Mail set to be Lotus Notes?
a. Set it to blank.
b. set it to Lotus Notes
This may solve your issue. Or have you already gotten MAPI to work with Word?
Summary:
simple vs. extended?
some troubleshooting steps
Ok. so you are talking about Lotus notes. Good to know.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=190146
This knowledge base article seems to suggest that it was possible in Outlook 98.
If you haven't heard of MAPI, it's worth a Google search.
--Sam
P.S a support call to Microsoft might reveal some workarounds, and they will then post a knowledge base article about it. ($35 only if they can solve your problem) You might make it clear that you consider it a bug (bugs are free).
You know I really do not appreciate that. I switched from Mac to Windows as soon as I could (Windows 98), because it appeared more stable when looking at Windows 95. And in all honesty, it was. stable. I even stabilized Windows ME, by carefully tracking resource leaks in .. Eudora, and deciding to ditch it because it was too leaky. (Outlook was not an option at this point because it didn't filter existing messages.. it does now.)
What I slowly discovered was that Active Desktop caused major stability and speed issues on Windows 98. Spyware soon arose and made the problem worse. Windows XP SP2 eliminated almost all of the problems, but for me, caused some more error messages in the error reporting module. (dw.exe). Both iedw.exe and dw.exe that shipped with Office XP would crash regularly on my system. IE could not be repaired because Windows XP no longer had that option, given some lawyer's desire to insist that IE was part of the operating system.
I use software that works, which sometimes is Microsoft's. Onenote is a work of genius, and I used it when Office was unstable, because of its autosave/never save functionality.
Microsoft should be applauded for Windows 95, the NT kernel, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. I look forward to the auto-hardware failure (RAM and hard disk) detection features which should make diagnosis of blue screens much less painful. I look forward to Vista, and Onecare.
One of the problems I had with contacting Microsoft with my problems was that because dw.exe is also the name of spyware, and I had installed Kazaa in the past to test to see if it had spyware, it took longer to convince them and myself that it wasn't spyware, and it may have been. (I ran every antispyware tool on the planet --over 15 and more like 25, checking registry entries and startup items, before I assured myself that it wasn't spyware and did a paid support call.) Whether it was or not, it was in the Office directory with an Office icon. (Removing it got rid of the error message. Microsoft was still not satisified with that solution, because it involved removing a Microsoft componet.) The issue never got resolved -- in part because Microsoft called me at home even though I told them that I would be at college. The support appeared to be reasonably good though. I also have a physical disability which makes dialing numbers off of a voicemail difficult.
Because MS is a corporation, and it is impossible to actually affect change, using the legal settlement to reach Microsoft insiders is an effective strategy. I do not intend to hurt them or their profits.
--Sam
I have a tendency to assume that everyone is US based. My apologies. I really don't like getting Microsoft in trouble. If they had a place to report an issue with "Set Program Access and Defaults" that was not legalistic, I would do so.
Here are the US websites:
http://www.microsoft-antitrust.gov/
http://www.thetc.org/
My AG recommended reporting complaints to both.
I just had an idea that perhaps an Ask Slashdot would be appropriate for this. We could get several complaints. For me, the complaint is two part or possibly three parts:
a) Outlook should be in the "Mail" section of "Set Access Programs and Defaults". It is "middleware".
b) Let me know if this is still the case. Installing patches, reinstalling Office, or repairing Outlook set Outlook as the default mail client. As my father points out, this isn't Microsoft being malicious, as third party clients don't necessarily register MAPI correctly.
c) we finally get to your complaint.
Have you thought about contacting the mail client's support? In other words, if you use Eudora, contact them. If you use The Bat! contact them. Sometimes, it's a simple matter of installing a Simple MAPI handler.
As for the "bundling" argument, once it registers with MAPI, you could argue that it is "iilegal tying", esp. since MAPI is proprietary. Again, a letter from the vendor saying that they agree would maybe bolster your claim. Although in the US, it is the "consumer" who has to be harmed, not the vendor. You might be able to get a Mozilla dev to say so, on the appropriate bug. I filed some bugs related to MAPI using the Bat!'s bug tracking system.
http://bt.ritlabs.com/
--Sam
On win32 you might get some annoyances though - for example in MS Office 2k3 MS removed the ability to use the file -> send -> email option unless you use outlook. Atleast untill Office 2K it worked fine with everything else too.
--
That is a blatant violation of the US DOJ Antitrust Settlement. Kindly contact your attorney-general. The point of "Set Programs and Defaults" was so that any middleware could work equally well with Microsoft programs. It is an uphill battle --Outlook isn't even listed in that control panel.
But it is very important that you are firm on this.
--Sam
Apple now has a certification program. All accessories that have a "Made for iPod" logo on them will work with all iPods Apple ever makes. Apple gets royalties. Creative has a similar certification program which is free. But in any case, this problem should not occur in the future as long as you buy certified accessories.
MSN Messenger supports SIP for text messaging. While it is admittedly not fully supported (ie. no voice or video), it is supported and Google will soon support SIP in addition to Jabber.
According to Wikipedia, Session Intiation Protocol is an IETF standard, although it was not originally intended for instant messaging, which is what I remember as well.
http://www.iptel.org/ietf55/use_msn.html -- instructions for setting up SIP with MSN (or SIMPLE, the instant messaging subset)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMPLE
possible troubleshooting instructions:
Launch Windows Media Player.. note the version. (If 9.0 or 10.0 or earlier) Enable "Acquire licenses automatically" and "Send unique Player ID to content providers." (This second one shouldn't have a heck of a lot to do with anything, but we are covering our bases.)
Lastly, join the customer improvement program. This isn't a joke -- even though it probably sounds sick.
If you can, reinstall Windows Media Player or update windows media player's componets.
Do this by clicking Help-->Check for Player Updates.
Make sure YME, Windows Media and other processes have full permissions to get through your firewall. Put your firewall into Learning Mode if need be.
Creating a new profile may also help.
--Sam
After doing this, if it still doesn't work, reinstall YME.
It looks like they do have an enterprise version. Can you explain exactly what didn't work?
--Sam
Very insightful questions. I really appreciate them. Stephen hawking and helen keller were geniuses by innate ability, even more so because of their decisions to let conscience reign over any emotional troubles they may have had. (Helen Keller certainly had emotional disturbances.)
The questions you are asking are interesting, because they shed light on a danger. We can only improve so much-- progress has its limits, and at some point, the human body must be made stronger through the act of will, and perserverance, not through technological mudslinging-- the operating system of a person's ambitions must come first before the operating system of the computer.
Which leads me to wonder -- are these Linux systems accessible to the disabled, certainly not. And that is indeed a travesty.
--Sam
Perhaps they use Tidy. I know I won't get as many mod points, but hey karma isn't everything. Tidy should do a nice job of cleaning up Word HTML/X(H)ML http://tidy.sourceforge.net/ (also has a simple win32 editor and links to win32 help files, good documentation for all operating systems. I generally use it as integrated with a good editor. www.chami.com (Windows and WINE [seriously])
Any distro that uses the ndis wrapper will be able to run your wireless card.
I feel the need to comment that having worked through high school with physical and other challenges some deem "LD", I find your comment highly offensive.
I will be entering college as a sophmore next year and am a budding lawyer.
--Sam
First to the "reporter", if your server leaked information, perhaps you should work on that. Did you place it in a location that was reachable through the Internet, even to be denied later on? It's easy to do, but still.
Second, Mozilla should only install software from whitelisted locations. This should mean that the "exploit" should popup a whitelist window, with the URL and ask for your consent to 'install software" which significantly reduces the 'clinical' effects of this exploit. My mother would call me.
Spyware programs access the Internet a lot, and frequently via low-level calls. By monitoring what programs access the Internet, they can indeed know what spyware is on your computer faster than by scanning.
Their virus package does include support for 'expanded threats' including spyware.
But their antivirus engine is designed to assume 'all viruses are bad.' This new product can --and does-- tread more carefully. It tells you what programs will stop functioning if a given adware module is removed. (according to Symantec.) I do not touch Symantec's products, though it is getting more and more tempting.
If a company does good research, you think they could write good, lean, code without dependencies on TCP/IP. Uninstalling the program is a pain (for some), and manually uninstalling it without removing the TCP/IP dependency.. results in no Internet connection.
With XP's system restore, I would be willing to take more risks, and this is a 'beta' product, but still..
"The ability to work with linux (mounts as a removeable disk prefered)"
Can't you mount and unmount anything in Linux? Do not forget-- Linux junkies despise auto-mount for a reason.
Any player that can be plugged in and removed is mountable and unmountable. Any hard-drive based player or Flash player that supports Mass Storage should work.
I have CP (Cerebral Palsy), and friends with CP, as well as a sister who is very similar to what you described. I'll have my father post as well but:
1. Have the school teach him how to read one-on-one through the educational plan (IEP)--they are required to educate any person until age 21.
2. Use ESL books of popular stories or Sparknotes.
3. There are some really good thought-provoking stories written for the third-fifth grade level. I know he is not there yet--get him there.
There is software such as Kurzweil 3000 or WYNN that are reading aids.. that will speak text, highlight text, and have a built-in dictionary. (the dictionary talks too.)
There are also children's dictionaries on CD-ROM.
Ultimately, you need to look at electronic books in general, and audio books. Get him interested in the material, and give him the motivation neccessary to succeed.
Bookshare.org is an organization that provides an e-book sharing service for disabled people, legal under U.S copyright law. This service works with the Kurzweil 3000 software I suggested earlier.
But the ultimate thing that worked for my sister was Instant Messaging. She had to learn how to decipher acronyms, which also gave her the feeling of fitting in. She figured out tenses and complex sentences, from barely reading at all.
Do NOT get frustrated with him. Your mileage may vary. He may not even be interested in IM. But if you can get him to have a screenname and get his buddies to write him as they normally would any other person, he will learn by immersion and things will improve.
--Sam
P.S One more note: Do not prevent him from using materials that are "too young" for him. It is sometimes neccessary, and if he can realize that *on his own* so much the better.
A belief must have a basis. People believe in Jesus because they were moved, although even that is questionable. An opinion must be defensible without hiding--that is why they call it "free" speech.
Read John-Paul-Satre.
--Sam
Let's see.. I learn about: * The SMTP protocol. * How to telnet in to an SMTP server * How it will accept any input as to who I am without checking it, and send mail. * How to write a shell script to automate the above Oh wait.. I can already do that. This better be a 1 credit course. But seriously, it gives these students information about why we have a spam problem, and vital background information so that they can fix it. These students are e-mail users themselves (most spammers aren't, and the one I heard on NPR that is uses I Hate Spam(R) :-)
These students hate spam just as much as we do.
Gmail, anyone? Automatic Bayesian Filtering across many users.. works great.
--Sam
Dell has the option of shipping Firefox on their system. And then when they return the Dell and go buy a Gateway because Gateway can browse the Internet with less problems, they will realize that their Dell is more stable and runs better. If I wete an OEM, I'd offer a "what do you want to do?" screen. (This idea came from HP). But instead of booting into a custom version of Windows if Internet was selected, I would boot into a small version of Linux running Mozilla that was not modifiable. I'd market it as "Spyware-free Internet" gaurenteed. You could even use the "Internet Explorer skin". We need to start demanding OEMs, banks, and other players in this industry to take security out of Microsoft's hands entirely, and into the consumer consciousness. --Sam
I'm a little confused. The bloat AOL added was Netscape 6.0, which although it required a lot of RAM for those days (my fsther ran it fine with 256MB); it was much more stable than Netscape 4.x. Back before this release, you could download Netscape Navigator 4.08, which was fast to launch and was only the browser. Netscape 6.0 was just a prepackaged and branded release of the Mozilla Suite. So blame Mozilla.org if you want to complain about "post-AOL bloat".
A browser's download manager is a natural vector for malware. (as is any web-based application with access to your hard disk.)
.PDF or .RAM file gets downloaded to the desktop. Some places have policies set up so that the Desktop folder isn't writable. On Windows XP, it can even be hidden.
historically, browsers like Netscape have tried to ensure that the code is acting with reverence to the user's preferences, the system administrator's policies, and the web developer's wishes as expressed through his/her code.
The packaging systems in both IE (ActiveX) and Mozilla (XPI) have been proven capable of delivering malware. So let us ignore the wishes of the web developer, and satisfy the user.
Think of my mother.
The desktop stores shortcuts to programs she uses, and she does not want it cluttered. She does not understand why PDF files she accessed appear on the desktop, nor does she want them there. (They appeared in-line after all--to her, they are part of her web browsing session, and she can bookmark them in Firefox if she wants access to them later.)
On Windows, the desktop can disappear if Internet Explorer crashss, until it is "repaired". The "repair" instructions generally are not visible on most machines, because of the icons.
Going back to system administrators, system administrators absolutely will not tolerate it if a
To make matters worse, the desktop is user-specific. Mozilla profiles are seperate from Windows profiles--so this could cause confusion to a user who does not understand they are seperate.
"The Desktop is associated with the profile."
"But the desktop doesn't change when I switch profiles?"
"Go to Run, and type 'regedit'." "We have a lot of work to do."
I still think that a dynamically changing "Recently Downloaded Files" shortcut (specific to Windows profile in origin) would be a very good elegant idea.
You could also implement it on other platforms.
--Sam
This bug was a security bug in part because Firefox 1.0 changed the default download directory so that downloadable files were saved directly to the desktop.
Microsoft is always criticized for having bad defaults. In this case, having the default download directory be the desktop was a bad default. I would argue that you wouldn't neccessarily do bad to create a folder for each downloadable file. No one would be annoyed by that, and it would provide protection in the file system for any future holes.
You could also have a "recently downloaded files" directory on the desktop. Even a shortcut to "Location of downloaded files". Mozilla has been known for its innovation. Using the desktop is not innovative--the desktop should never be a permenant storage location. Everything Microsoft puts there is a shortcut.
I also question whether it was wise to change or set defaults in a "1.0" milestone release.
Actually, my Mom found out. I am not close enough to maintain her computer on a regular basis. When the outbreak, I walked her through installation of Zonealarm Suite, which promised by process control to stop the first virus born from the vulnerability.
It also had built-in antivirus.
Later, she told me that her neighbor Beatrice had recieved an e-mail asserting that IE was not safe anymore.
After walking her through installation of Mozilla Firefox, I told her that she could still use IE for Yahoo! Mail, and sites that didn't work in Mozilla Firefox. (Yahoo! Mail has a bunch of IE-only features. My mom said she didn't care abot those.)
That seems an indication to me that people know, and are switching. It made me happy, and hopeful.
Now I'm going to go download WebEyes, a great proprietary IE extension. There's nothing like it for Mozilla.
http://www.webeyes.us
Firefox is being patched at exactly the same rate--it uses the latest stable branch in its nightly, and Mozilla and Firefox, save technical difficulties, are kept on constant synch.
Security issues are patched by releasing new binaries, and today also via XPI.
How do I know? I read Mozillazine's status reports.
By the way, for non-Mozillazine readers, the XPI patches an existing binary that is not 0.92 to be equalivent to the patched binary. It is not neccessary for 0.92 or above. (for historical purposes.)