12 June 2020

Solving a Problem that Couldn't Possibly be Happening

Occasionally a problem crops up and, although it seems to be something that will be an easy fix, provides frustration and some degree of entertainment for several days. Initially you might question whether it's really happening.

Outlook was suddenly unable to contact to the simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) server at BlueHost about two weeks ago. Obviously something had changed, and a quick repair would probably take care of it. The same problem occurred on an IpadOS tablet, but not on an Android phone. That was the first clue that it might be a puzzler.

Microsoft had recently installed an update for Windows, so that could be part of the problem. But Apple had also recently installed an update for the IpadOS, and that could be part of the problem. Because the issue existed in multiple email programs on multiple devices running multiple operating systems, the obvious conclusion that the problem was at BlueHost.

Every application on every device was able to retrieve mail using either of the common protocols, POP3 and IMAP. The problem occurred only when I tried to send mail. My personal account didn't work. My TechByter account didn't work. Phyllis's personal account didn't work.

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An hour-long chat with BlueHost tech support ran through a variety of tests, most of which I had already done on my own. I spent nearly three hours over two days with three different level-1 technicians. Despite several requests, the issue was never escalated to a level-2 tech. I thought the problem would be solved when one of the technicians told me that my accounts were on a different server. Had BlueHost escalated the problem to a level-2 tech, that person would probably have asked one key question that would have led to a nearly immediate resolution.

Instead of being on box465, where the accounts have been for the better part of a decade, they're now on box2274, but apparently there's some redirection in the background because the old server name still worked on some devices. Now, however, the SMTP server should be either mail.blinn.com, mail.techbyter.com, or box2274.bluehost.com — all using SSL/TLS security.

One of the email clients complained about an expired security certificate, but one of the BlueHost technicians claimed that he checked the certificate and it was not expired. Maybe. Maybe not.

I do know that Thunderbird warned me about an expired security certificate and when I selected the option to set an exception, it worked. Because that worked, I thought that I might switch to Thunderbird, which I've used previously, even though Outlook provides some features that are exceptionally nice to have. After all, I couldn't examine the certificate myself. I'm in Ohio and the server is in Utah.

What I did is this: Some quick research led me to Sendinblue, a service that provides email distribution for newsletters (similar to what MailChimp does for the weekly TechByter program), and also offers free SMTP service for up to 300 emails per day with a maximum of 40 messages per hour. I doubt that I send 300 email per month most of the time, so the free service is more than adequate for my needs.

Setting up the account on the Windows computer in Outlook was easy. Setting up the account on the Android phone in BlueMail was easy. BlueMail is not related in any way to BlueHost or Sendinblue. I ran into a roadblock when I tried setting it up in both the Apple Mail app and BlueMail for IpadOS: Neither application could reach the server.

So although the main problem seemed to be at BlueHost, I thought that there might also be a problem with version 13.5.1 of IpadOS. That's seemed like the only logical explanation when two email applications from two different providers fail to connect to the Sendinblue server. There are workarounds: Both Gmail and Outlook.com accounts are installed in BlueMail, so I was able to reply to messages from either of the accounts hosted at BlueHost by just switching the sender to Gmail or Outlook.

There were other options that should have worked, too. I should have been able to use my internet service provider's server or connect to the Gmail server. Neither of those worked in BlueMail on the Ipad, though, which was another hint that there might be a problem in the IpadOS.

And indeed the problem was in the Ipad, but not with the Ipad itself or IpadOS. The Private Internet Access virtual private network (VPN) that encrypts connections was blocking connections to the SMTP server. The Private Internet Access knowledgebase explains the problem this way: Any VPN provider that does not retain logs must block outgoing SMTP traffic due to rampant spam associated with usage of VPN services. We can whitelist any outgoing email server that requires authentication and is correctly set up so as not to be an open relay. Aha!

I requested that the necessary servers be whitelisted and Private Internet Access said in less than an hour that they had made the change. Unfortunately they hadn't, and a later conversation with one of their technicians revealed that they would not whitelist that server. Meanwhile, BlueMail on the Ipad continued to be unable to deal with the need for two sets of credentials, one for incoming mail and one for outgoing mail. It authenticated when I entered the credentials for the SMTP server, but then switched the password back to the one required for the inbound server. If you have an Android device, I can heartily recommend BlueMail. If you have a IOS or IpadOS device, though, forget it.

Because I dislike the IpadOS mail client, I'm trying Canary, and it looks promising. When I have enough experience to rate this application, I'll tell you more about it. I've also switched from Private Internet Access to Nord VPN, which blocks SMTP access only when it's on port 25. If the server requires an encrypted connection on port 485 or port 587, Nord allows it.

BlueHost would have saved time for everyone had any one of the level-one techs simply escalated it to level two because one question would have provided the solution. The question: Are you using a VPN? In fact, I should have seen this myself because I knew that VPN providers block access to SMTP by default, but I thought the VPN was off because I was at home.

The Bright Lining

If you want to look for the silver lining in a dark cloud, Sendinblue is it. After creating the free account and confirming your email address, the service displays the information needed to set up the SMTP service in your email application, or most of it. There was one minor omission.

The server is smtp-relay.sendinblue.com on port 587. You'll be provided a password, but the instructions omitted security information. I assumed SSL/TLS, but that didn't work. Instead, Sendinblue needs STARTTLS. Because of the omission, setting up the account took about 30 seconds longer than it would have otherwise.

What happens next is the interesting part. Once messages have been sent, you can visit a dashboard that shows when each message was sent and the addressee. OK, so your email program already does that by placing the message in the "sent" folder. What the dashboard also shows is the time that the message was delivered to the recipient's server and when the message was opened.

Sendinblue is headquartered in Paris, but also has offices in the US, Germany, and India. The service I'm using is referred to as "transactional" because it describes personal messages that are sent to one, or just a few, recipients. The limit of 300 messages per day may seem excessive for that, but Sendinblue also handles campaigns such as newsletters, service reminders, and other messages that businesses use to connect with their clients.

Anyone who's in charge of electronic marketing could spend a profitable few minutes looking at what Sendinblue has to offer and its prices. The prices are competitive with other services such as MailChimp or ConstantContact, and there's a wide variety of additional features. Besides email marketing, SMS marketing messages are available and a website component allows visitors to start a chat with someone at the company.

Think carefully about adding that feature to your website because you'll need to have someone who's ready to respond to messages.

Automation is another feature and you'll see it in action when you sign up. Seconds after creating the account, I received a message from the co-CEO. There are also customer relationship management (CRM) features, ways to use the system with a Facebook presence, and several other useful options.

So despite the several hours of frustration, an outstanding service caught my attention.

Short Circuits

Choosing an Email Application that will Never be Updated

During the time I was wrestling with Outlook's inability to send mail, I tried using Thunderbird. Although it complained about a problem, it let me set an exception and then just worked. I considered switching to Thunderbird because, while it's unlikely to ever see another significant update, it's a fine email client.

If you don't care for Outlook or the email clients provided by Microsoft or Apple, Thunderbird is worth looking at. It's from Mozilla, the developers of Firefox. There's no version for Android, IOS, or IpadOS devices, though.

Tabbed email browsing, smart searches, custom folders, and spam filtering make Thunderbird a good choice and it works well with most email services. And, like Firefox, Thunderbird accepts plug-ins. When combined with Thunderbird's built in settings, the plug-ins make it the most customizable email application around.

There's even a built-in calendar that can be synchronized with the Google calendar.

From a usability standpoint, there's absolutely no reason that switching from Outlook to Thunderbird would have been a problem. It would have been an organizational challenge though because several years worth of messages are stored in Outlook and there's no inexpensive, easy way to transfer Outlook messages to Thunderbird. There are inexpensive methods, but they are all cumbersome and labor intensive because Thunderbird's built-in import function is prone to crashing. There are easy ways, but they all require purchasing an application for $40 or more.

The alternative would be to keep Outlook and its files on the computer for historical messages while using Thunderbird for all new messages. If you want to automate the process, Aid4Mail is a good choice.

The current version of Thunderbird is 68.9.0, and it was released in early June, so security updates and bug fixes are still being provided; just don't look for any major updates. To give Thunderbird a try, download it from the Thunderbird website. Around the end of January, Thunderbird became a part of MZLA Technologies Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mozilla Foundation.

Since We're Already in Mozilla's Neighborhood, Let's Glance at Firefox Version 78

Firefox still can't get the respect it deserves, but the Mozilla development team keeps making the browser better. There's no question that Chromium-based browsers have the greatest market penetration, but Firefox is back in the game with some new features to accompany the browser's emphasis on privacy and security.

Firefox's default search engine is Duck Duck Go, which doesn't track users the way Google does. You can still use Google if you need or or even switch the default search engine to Google, Bing, Amazon, Ebay, Twitter, or Wikipedia.

One of the primary new features in version 78 is a resdesigned layout that you'll see when you open a new tab. Initially, you'll see links to top-ranking websites and popular search engines. Over time, Firefox will learn which sites you use frequently and will add them to the display. Of course the user can customize which sites appear there and even move or eliminate a section if you don't need it.

Private browsing has some extra features to protect your privacy. Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks many of the trackers that would otherwise follow you around online to collect information about your browsing habits and interests. It also includes protections against harmful scripts. Currently this feature is available only on the desktop version of the browser.

When you start typing in the combined address and search bar, Firefox provides suggestions based on your existing bookmarks and tags, history, open tabs, and popular searches. This is one of those clever little features that seems so obvious in hindsight.

Firefox can synchronize bookmarks if you use several different computers and devices. I like having my bookmarks on Window, MacOS, Android, and IpadOS devices.

Spare Parts

Facebook Scammer Stupidity Increases

It's not unusual for Facebook users to get a private message from someone they don't know. Sometimes they message is nothing more than "Hey!" but occasionally it will continue at some length to say that the person thinks you're really cute and wants to be your friend.

The quality of the scams has declined quite a bit in the past year as the senders re-use images that they've stolen from various websites. If there's more than one image, mismatches are common. A light-skinned white woman becomes a dark-skinned black woman. And the names! Some of the scammers clearly don't quite understand how names are formed in English; instead of being "Joan Smith", the bot says she's "Smith Joan".

But one of this week's scam bots hit a new low. The name is Joseph Russell, but the photo shows enough cleavage that it's abundantly clear this is not a Joseph. You'd think that the scammers would be smart enough to have a list of last names, a list of first names for women, and a list of first names for men. The stolen images could be classified by whether the subject is male or female, and perhaps they could even name the images in their little stolen stash so that the fake Facebook accounts they create would at least have plausible names and pictures.

Even then there would be lots of clues. If you look at the fake person's profile, you'll find that she was born, went to a prestigious university, accepted a new job, and moved to a new city all on the same day. You'll also find that she has few or zero friends. These are all hallmarks of fake accounts. I just report them to Facebook, block the account, and move on.

Keeping Employees Safe Has Exposed Data and Networks

Speakers at the online virtual TetherView Cyber Security Summit agreed that keeping employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic has inadvertently exposed organizations' networks and proprietary data.

Speakers from the FBI, Oppenheimer, Columbia University, Cyxtera, and Akamai addressed the online conference, which had two panel discussions and two keynote addresses on security and cloud market outlook. The first panel, titled "Defining IT Chaos", shed light on topics as far-reaching as the economic effects of the pandemic, to specific topics like virtual company culture and the importance of finding ways to make human contact in this work-from-home environment.

The second panel, titled "Cyber Security Best Practices", focused on the changes and the surprisingly fast increase in the frequency of cyber-attacks. According to the group, cyber-attacks are up 30% to 40%. Additional topics discussed touched the importance of establishing a zero-trust policy; and the dangers of remote access to data and e-mail, and the co-mingling of personal and business data.

A recording of the conference is available online at YouTube.

Twenty Years Ago: "Bigger! Faster! And (sometimes) cheaper!"

I've written several times about prices of disk drives. My first hard drive, purchased sometime in the 1980s, was amazing! It was 60% larger than the 10MB hard drive in IBM XT computers, lived in an enclosure about the size of a shoe box, and cost around $1600. That would be $100 per megabyte and today it would take two of those disk drives just to hold a single raw-mode photograph from my digital camera.

So in June 2000 I was impressed by Maxtor's "Ultra ATA/100 DiamondMax IDE hard disk drives that support data transfer rates of 100 MB per/second in all systems that support the new Ultra ATA/100 standard." The drives would be larger — 30 to 60 gigabytes — and the IDE interface was claimed to rival the performance of more expensive SCSI drives, and would be fast enough for use with demanding applications like sound and video editing.

Prices weren't available at the time, and I warned "Ultra ATA/100 isn't yet an industry standard" even though it was already being supported by Acer, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, and NEC.