S o f t W h e r e for 18 July 1999 You can also read this issue online at this location: TEXT: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Mouse/7502/archives/text/18071999.txt HTML: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Mouse/7502/archives/html/18071999.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- C o n t e n t s - Chit Chat - Software - Microsoft's Windows 98 System Update - IrfanView 3.02 - CoolRuler - Desktop Architect 1.0 - NetLaunch 3.14e - WindowBlinds 0.95 - LeechFTP 1.3 build 207 - Contraband 9h - MP3 Fiend 4.1 - News - A new Mersenne prime is worth $50,000, next one $100,000 - Back Orifice 2000 - Yahoo/GeoCities changed "Terms of Service" - Microsoft delivers Windows 2000 RC1 - Cool Sites = Dating / Friend / Relationship - Friend Finder - One And Only - Emailing List - ResearchBuzz - WinInfo - Projects - Essential files - Notes - Technical notes ---------------------------------------------------------------- C h i t C h a t Hi guys (and gals too) :-), How are you all doing ??? (Welcome to our new subscribers.) Yeah, yeah I know that I am late again because I have been busy lately. Both then again there is a bonus for you for me being late because I have more software, more sites and more news this time to tell you. Well, I have updated my site to a great extent. It is now in working condition, so I would suggest you guys to give it a try and tell me your suggestions, comments, criticism about the site. http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Mouse/7502/ or if you would like to have a redirecting shortname http://softwhere.4all.cc And yeah spread the word about the list to your friend. Come on people forward this message to your friends, colleagues, co workers or just about anyone (hey, but don't spam) because we need more subscribers. Amit ---------------------------------------------------------------- S o f t w a r e Microsoft's Windows 98 System Update Microsoft's Windows 98 System Update provides updates and bug fixes for several networking, security and accessibility bugs. It fixes the following "issues": color scheme problems when using MIcrosoft Active Accessibility options; a problem that causes the computer to hang when connecting to a USB (Universal Serial Bus); problems with a computer not becoming visible in Network Neighbourhood to other computers in the network after upgrading from Windows 95; network validation problems; a problem which causes you computer to hang if it runs for 49.7 days without restarting; and problems with dialing long-distance numbers in Spain or Italy. Licence Freeware Size 1.04 MB OS Win98 Download http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/contents/wurecommended/systemupdate/default.asp?site=98 Approx. download time 6 min. at 28.8 kbps ---------------------------------------------------------------- IrfanView 3.02 IrfanView is a fast FREEWARE image viewer/converter for Win95/98/NT. Supported file formats: JPG/JPEG, GIF, BMP, DIB, RLE, PCX, DCX, PNG, TIFF, TGA, RAS/SUN, ICO, CUR, ANI, AVI, WAV, MID, RMI, WMF, EMF, PBM, PGM, PPM, IFF/LBM, PSD, CPT, EPS, CLP, CAM, MPG/MPEG, MOV, LWF, AIF, G3 and Photo-CD. Some features of IrfanView: Thumbnail option, preview option, drag & drop support, slideshow, fast directory view (fast moving through directory), batch conversion, audio CD player, print option, change color depth, scan support, cut/crop, effects (sharpen, blur, photoshop filter factory etc.), capturing, many hotkeys ... The first graphic viewer WORDLWIDE with Animated-GIF support ! The first graphic viewer WORDLWIDE with Multiple-ICO support ! One of the first graphic viewers with Multipage-TIFF support ! Licence Freeware Size 392 KB OS Win95/98/NT Download http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9227474/ Approx. download time 2 min. at 28.8 kbps ---------------------------------------------------------------- CoolRuler If you design Web pages, work with graphics, or create user interfaces, you could probably use a quick tool for measuring the objects on your desktop. CoolRuler is an on-screen ruler that you can move freely about your screen. You can stretch the ruler to any length, and display it horizontally or vertically. Measurements can be made in pixels, inches, or centimeters, and you can even create your own measurement system. Licence Freeware Size 867 KB OS Win95/98/NT Download http://www.fabsoft.com/products/ruler/ruler.html http://www.softseek.com/files/review?GRSC25006sw Approx. download time: 5 min. at 28.8 kbps ---------------------------------------------------------------- Desktop Architect 1.0 Desktop Architect lets you easily install, customize, and create Windows desktop themes. As a theme installer, Desktop Architect is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Plus!. It also has powerful features for creating your own themes. It lets you preview themes and customize them by selecting the settings you wish to apply, selecting a screen saver, selecting a scheme, customizing the appearance of different desktop items (such as title bars, icons, scroll bars, menus, and windows), selecting and previewing logos (startup, shutdown, and wait), selecting cursors, selecting icons (for My Computer, Network Neighborhood, Full Recycle Bin, Empty Recycle Bin, and My Documents), and choosing sounds for different sound events. You can open and save themes, randomly switch your themes, create a BMP screen shot of a theme, and generate a self-extracting EXE file for distributing your theme. Licence: Freeware Size: 1.45 MB OS: Win95/98/NT Dowload: http://home1.gte.net/fosterk/da/index.htm http://www.softseek.com/files/review?DEDEUT25024sw Approx. download time: 8 min. at 28.8 kbps ---------------------------------------------------------------- NetLaunch 3.14e NetLaunch automatically launches all of your Internet applications as soon as your computer is connected to the Intenet. NetLaunch runs quietly as a System Tray icon. When it detects a successful Dial-Up connection, NetLaunch executes any programs you've configured for it to run, and automatically closes them down when it senses you've disconnected. Adding programs to the Launch List is a simple matter of dragging icons into the Launch List window. NetLaunch's menu displays all your configured dial-up accounts, as well as all the programs in your Launch List, so you can conveniently connect to your provider and/or launch programs from the menu. NetLaunch also provides connection scheduling and command-line options. Licence: Freeware Size: 152 KB OS: Win95/98/NT Dowload: http://www.blackcastlesoft.com/netlaunch/index.html Approx. download time < 1 min. at 28.8 kbps ---------------------------------------------------------------- WindowBlinds 0.95 Like to change the look of your Windows desktop? WindowBlinds lets you do just that. WindowBlinds lets you dramatically change the look and feel of Windows. You can change the style of title bars, buttons, checkboxes, toolbars, and more. Sound effects can be configured for various window actions, such as pressing buttons. The system icon can be placed on title bars. Buttons can be placed on the title bar that launch specific programs. Double clicking on the title bar can have an assigned action. WindowBlinds comes with few "skins", each with a unique look, and you can download additional skins from the author's Web site. You can also create your own skins. This newest release is a major update that improves stability, and performance, and adds additional default skins. Licence: Freeware Size: 938 KB OS: Win95/98/NT Dowload: http://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/ http://www.softseek.com/files/review?UTTASH22674sw http://www.windowblinds.net Approx. download time: 5 min. at 28.8 kbps ---------------------------------------------------------------- LeechFTP 1.3 build 207 LeechFTP is a well-designed multi-threaded FTP client. LeechFTP can download from both FTP and HTTP servers. Because of its multithreaded design, you can perform multiple file transfers while browsing FTP sites and connecting to other servers. The features of LeechFTP include: proxy support, the ability to upload and download entire directories, a built-in ZIP and RAR archive viewer, a queue timer for scheduled transfers, smart file resuming, and a bandwidth limiting option. Licence: Freeware Size: 623 KB OS: Win95/98/NT Dowload: http://linux.fh-heilbronn.de/~debis/leechftp/ Approx. download time 4 min. at 28.8 kbps ---------------------------------------------------------------- Contraband 9h Ever heard of "Steganography" ? Probably not. It is the science of embedding a file into an image file such that the file is blended into the image which cannot be recognized with your eyes. The file can also be extracted out from the file also as and when required. There is no or very little loss of quality of the image. Contrband embeds any file into 24-bit true-color BMP's (and extracts it out of the BMP). Make file invisible for outsiders by hiding it in picture ! Make censorship over any data-exchange a useless activity. Legal anti-spionage pro- privacy utility. Of course, it will also extract extract the embedded file out of the BMP. The interface is still primarily of Win 3.11 days but the program works. Licence: Freeware Size: 245 KB OS: Win 311/95/98/NT Dowload: http://www.xs4all.nl/~jult/4u.htm#32 Approx. download time: 3 min. at 28.8 kbps Note: You may encounter some problem downloading this software. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MP3 Fiend 4.1 MP3 Fiend helps you locate and download free MP3 audio files on the Internet. MP3 Fiend searches 11 different MP3 search sites at the same time. It locates files on both FTP and HTTP servers, and when it finds the same file on more than one server, it displays the server with the fastest speed. To make downloading a snap, MP3 Fiend can work in conjunction with GetRight or Go!Zilla, two reliable downloading utilities. This newest release returns more search results, offers improved stability (less crashes), and provides for more efficient operation. Licence: Freeware Size: 2.88 MB OS: Win 311/95/98/NT Requirements VB Runtime files Dowload: http://www.mp3fiend.com http://www.softseek.com/files/review?HOMUAE21094sw Approx. download time: 15 min. at 28.8 kbps ---------------------------------------------------------------- N e w s A new Mersenne prime is worth $50,000, next one $100,000 For those of you who weren't serious about the Collaborative computing projects [N.1.1] should get serious now because ...... On July 1 the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search [N.1.2] announced discovery of the 38th Mersenne prime: 2^6,972,593 -1. This number has over two million decimal digits and won for its discoverer, Nayan Hajratwala, the first of the EFF's [N.1.3] Cooperative Computing Awards: [N.1.4] $50,000 for the first prime with more than a million digits. (Hajratwala can claim the award when the results are pub- lished in a referred academic journal.) The next Mersenne prime discovered is expected to qualify for the follow-on EFF prize: $100,000 for a 10-million-digit prime. [N.1.1] http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Mouse/7502/projects.html [N.1.2] http://www.mersenne.org/prime.htm [N.1.3] http://www.eff.org/ [N.1.4] http://www.eff.org/coop-awards ---------------------------------------------------------------- Back Orifice 2000 A group of uber-hackers going by the name of Cult of the Dead Cow have released a follow-up to Back Orifice, its popular stealthy Windows control software. Back Orifice 2000 (BO2K) is designed to be installed - usually by nefarious means such as a Trojan horse program - on a target Windows machine and allows the perpetrator near total control over the hapless computer. The July 10 release of BO2K at Def Con 7 (a hacker convention) prompted quick countermeasures from most major security software sites which apparently engaged in a mad stampede to get copies. Ironically - or not, hacker humor being what it is - the BO2K CD-ROMs distributed at Def Con were apparently infected with a virus. CNet has an informative article on the convention. The official BO2K site at press time still lacked the files, but does manage to mutter about US crypto export regulations. The Cult site has a press release with more detail. Cult: http://www.cultdeadcow.com/news/ BO2K: http://www.bo2k.com/ Def Con: http://www.defcon.org/ Articles: http://xforce.iss.net/alerts/advise31.php3 http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,39017,00.html Most anti-virus companies have already posted countermeasures for bo2k. Be sure to visit your Anti-Virus vendor and update your data files... McAfee http://www.mcafee.com/viruses/bo2000/ Norton AntiVirus http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/download.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo/GeoCities changed "Terms of Service" Yahoo/GeoCities has changed their terms of service again. You can read the new terms at http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/geoterms.html Here's the new content rights request: "By submitting Content to Yahoo for inclusion on your Yahoo GeoCities Site, you grant Yahoo the world-wide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, modify, adapt and publish the Content solely for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting your Yahoo GeoCities Site on Yahoo's Internet properties. This license exists only for as long as you continue to be a Yahoo GeoCities homesteader and shall be terminated at the time your Yahoo GeoCities Site is terminated." It has been a PR mess for Yahoo and they have been getting some brickbats about the terms of service and it is expected that the terms to be revised soon. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft delivers Windows 2000 RC1 Microsoft Corporation signed off on the first Release Candidate (RC) for Windows 2000, signaling the beginning of the end for the product's beta cycle and the wind-down to its final release this fall. Windows 2000 RC1, the first of two expected Release Candidate (the second is due in early September) follows the "feature complete" Beta 3 release, which became available in late April. The biggest news with this release, of course, is that it silences the critics, who claimed that Windows 2000 would never make its late 1999 target date. With the RC1 release coming in right on target, however, Microsoft is set to deliver the final version of Windows 2000 in October or November, just in time for Fall Comdex in Las Vegas. Uncork the bubbly, people, Windows 2000 is here and it's for real. "Delivering Windows 2000 to customers by the end of the year is an important goal for Microsoft. The development team has a number of internal goals they are working toward fulfilling to help achieve this goal. Microsoft's goal is to ship this product in 1999 though ultimately, customer feedback will drive the ship date," the company announced. Windows 2000 RC1 will be sent to customers of the Windows 2000 Corporate Preview Program (CPP) as well as technical beta testers and MSDN Professional and Universal subscribers. [Source: Wininfo Mailing List.] ---------------------------------------------------------------- C o o l S i t e Dating / Friend / Relationship Love is in the air. (At this time ? It ain't Feb. yet) Well because this time I got few relationship sites on my sleeve. If you are looking for a friend or a date or just a pen pal or an activity partner online, just visit one of these sites and 'll find that lucky one ... Friend Finder (http://friendfinder.com/go/f8385) They have 2 Million active users world wide. And that is huge for a personal site. The interface is cool and they even let you upload your video for others to view. One And Only (http://www.one-and-only.com/menu1.htm?MID=122735) They are one of the largest personal site on the net. Interface is simple and fast loading. Searches are fast. ---------------------------------------------------------------- E m a i l i n g L i s t ResearchBuzz ResearchBuzz is for people who use internet as a medium to help them find relevant information fast, generally meant for researches but you can also benefit from it. It tells you about whats happening on the net in terms of searching and researching information online. For e.g. if there is a new search engine for specific information like goverment records, or an index of Encyclopedia, it 'll be there. http://www.researchbuzz.com/news/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- WinInfo If you want to know whats happening on the Windows plateform, about Microsoft and itz future OS strategy or about product releases, this is the list for you. If you are interested in Windows plateform you should read this. WinInfo is mailed every Week Day. http://www.wugnet.com/wininfo ---------------------------------------------------------------- P r o j e c t s Do you have processor power to waste or is your computer too fast ? Participate in these Collaborative computing projects and be useful to something. And you might even win prizes upto US$ 100,000. And best of all these projects run in idle time of your PC. And don't forget to join the SoftWhere Teams on these projects. Visit: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Mouse/7502/projects.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- E s s e n t i a l F i l e s Some of theprograms mention in this list may require the following files. VB Runtime file You can get the Visual Basic Runtime files for versions 3, 4, 5 and 6 at: http://support.microsoft.com/support/vbasic/runtime.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------- N o t e s Hey come on people send me some feedback. What you like, what you don't about this list. Whether you want more software, or more news, whether you want more system software or entertainment software or if you have something intersting to share or you have found a cool site or cool software or whatever just right to me. ---------------------------------------------------------------- T e c h n i c a l N o t e * A technical note for the readers* If you get an error page when you click links in this newsletter, please try copying the entire link (including the .html) and then pasting it into your browser's URL field. There are a variety of email clients in use by our subscribers, and since each client handles links differently, broken links sometimes occur. ---------------------------------------------------------------- SoftWhere is Copyright 1999 by Amit Arora . Commercial use prohibited. For non-commercial purposes please forward, post, link, print, spread as you see fit. If you use any material from this list, please mention us and a quick word about us. SoftWhere acknowledges all the copyrights of the respective owner, authors of the sources of SoftWhere and all the respective companies mentioned in this list or on the site. Please forward this to anyone you think maybe interested in subscribing. Visit SoftWhere at: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Mouse/7502/ Subscribe SoftWhere at: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/SoftWhere ---------------------------------------------------------------- Amit Arora amit.arora@bigfoot.com