E-Musings Mon Immorata

Winner Takes All Why Google Desktop Search can be a bummer without the right interface There's a lot of Internet hype right now about the "best" desktop search client. The principal contenders are the free Google Desktop Beta, HotBot Search, Copernic Desktop Search, Lookout for Microsoft Outlook (requires .NET Framework 1.x), MSN Deskbar Beta. As also the $99 X1 Search. AskJeeves also recently released its Advanced Desktop Search. threw its hat into the ring. I plan checking all the options in early 2005. But by far in the usability wars, Copernic Desktop Search appears to be the easiest to use with an intuitive interface. Yet recently the stakes seem to have been upped. The free gdSuite 1.1 provides a GUI to Google Desktop Search (Beta) and considerably improves on the interface and features. Consider Google Desktop as the framework powering gdSuite. This search multiplier allows you to index files, e-mail messages (and their attachments), web pages visited and AIM conversations. The developers plan to release an upgrade that can index Trillian chats and Gmail messages. And if you use an alternate chat client (like Gaim) you can configure gdSuite to index the folders where your chat clients save their log files. The Google Desktop is a data indexer that also supports Internet searching (using the Google web site). It indexes Outlook and Outlook Express folders and the Internet Explorer (IE) History. And can find files by name and search Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. However Google Desktop's default user interface loads in IE plus the application is missing advanced filters. These shortcoming are well addressed by gdSuite which supports filtering based on file name, extension, folder location, date, text and more. gdSuite also integrates into Windows Explorer Trillian 3 has also been released in a single installer that supports both Basic (free) and Professional versions. From a downloading perspective, I wish they'd separated the two because you need to contend with a single 9 MN install file. The key difference between the two versions is that Professional supports video chat for AOL, Yahoo and MSN. As well as support for Jabber servers, Rendezvous for Mac and user-defined plugins. The Pro version is enabled at startup when you provide it with a valid user name and password. For me a software's popularity is best indicated by cracks (warez) available. Trillian 3 is no exception. There's already a patch for Version 3 to offer Professional features for naught. And on P2P search engines, I've spotted .torrents for Trillian 3 Final + crack. However personally, I find Trillian over kill. And prefer the open-source Gaim that sports powerful features but with a smaller resource footprint. Gaim's great if you aren't into video chat or need web cam support. Whether you're (still) transitioning to Mozilla Firefox for web browsing. Or have already done so and proudly proclaim that you're Taking Back The Web. You might want to view the New York Times double-page spread published December 15, 2004. This lists all those who directly contributed to making Firefox the great product it is today. You can view a lighter image. Or choose to view the complete advertisement as a single PDF file or purchase a poster reproduction. As for the PDF file, I strongly recommend downloading it instead of attempting to view it in your browser. The ad is known to choke computers with less than 256 MB RAM! Next week I'm offering my near-complete take on what makes Firefox so wonderful. But meanwhile as a Firefox (or Mozilla Thunderbird, Mozilla Suite, or Netscape) user, do checkout the free MozBackup software utility. This frees you from manually backing up the various software profiles. Now a wizard-driven interface lets you select the installed software to backup (or restore). The next screen prompts for the profile to be backed up (one at a time only). And the items to be archived like book marks, browsing history, mail accounts, saved passwords and even browser cache. You can also password-protect backups for added security. Restoring backups is equally easy. MozBackup is one utility you shouldn't go without. There's also a new anti-spy and adware program, SecureWorld, that claims to detect and clean all pests found on your computer. It includes a LiveUpdate feature, but you need to register to get signature updates. The software is free for personal users (who still need to register from within the interface). Corporate users pay a $10 annual fee. And to coincide with Christmas shopping and Season's Cheer, comes a new worm, WORM_ZAFI.D. This will ensure that for many people cheer is replaced by gloom, sadness and sorrow. Zafi.D is memory-resident, mass-mailer with a built-in SMTP engine to send malicious Christmas greetings. And affects all Windows versions. When executed, the virus displays a message box while dropping a copy of itself as NORTON UPDATE.EXE, WINAMP 5.7 NEW!.EXE or ICQ 2005A NEW!.EXE. These files will be listed in all capitals on both the infected folder as well as in the Windows Task Manager. Copies of the worm are also dropped as .DLL files with random 8-character names. Some are cloned copies of the worm while others are email log files saved to the Windows %System folder. The worm also drops a log file S.CM in the root folder and adds a registry entry so that it loads with Windows. The worm appear to target those who use P2P clients like KaZaA, Shareaza and Morpheus, or who have folder names with share, upload or music as part of the folder name string. The language used in the infected message body depends on the user's TLD (Top Level Domain). Thus if your email address ends with .COM, the message is sent in English. For .DE, its transmitted in German. And so on. Zafi also targets and terminates antivirus and firewall programs. It searches folders and files for the string 'firewall or virus'. If this string is detected in more than 3 files, the folder name is stored in a registry entry. The worm them terminates any running processes from such folders. Use one of the many online scanners to remove the virus if you infect your computer. Better, be suspicious of any holiday cheer-related messages. Including those from people you know. And finally, if you often face problems getting rid of software listings from the Windows Control Panel's Add/Remove Software dialog. Do consider using a registry hack to rid yourself of applications that no longer exist physically. Do remember before beginning that editing the Windows Registry can cause problems. So be careful. That said, open Regedit (Start > Run > Regedit), navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and selectively delete any programs you want to permanently remove from the right-hand window. That's it for now. Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings. Do remember not to open an email attachments. Click Here to Email Me