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25 Feb 2022 - Podcast #781 - (18:59)
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Many Windows users are already familiar with built-in tools such as the Task Manager and the System Resource Monitor. These are helpful, but they need to be started when the user wants to know what's going on with the computer, and often that means the computer is already in trouble.
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Imagine, if you will, an airplane that has no gauges. If the pilot notices that something seems odd, they would need to take a gauge out of a case that's stored under the pilot's seat and connect it to the airplane. Only then would the pilot be able to see what's going on; and, if there really was a problem, the gauge might not connect properly. That's about the position many computer users are in when something malfunctions.
Of course, there's no guarantee that having proper gauges would be helpful. I spend an embarrassing amount of time watching a YouTube channel called Just Rolled In, which shows videos of cars that have been brought in for service. One recent example was a car that hadn't had an oil change in 15 years. So just having diagnostic tools is no more helpful for computer users than it is for automobile owners who neglect the basics.
But to return from that off-topic tangent, consider the Task Manager and the System Resource Monitor. Wouldn't it be nice if there was an application that combined the best features of both, that ran automatically when Windows starts, and has the ability to display some of the most significant readings in the Tray? Such an application exists, and it's free. The developer does ask for donations if you find his application useful, and that seems only fair.
System Explorer offers basic information at a glance and can provide an in-depth analysis of your computer that includes start-up programs, running processes, network connections, and more. There's even an option that allows you to check the safety of running applications. That feature doesn't always work, but there is a workaround. I'll get to that in a bit.
The Processes tab shows all running processes and what resources they're using. The Security column has links to look up information about the process. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for the developer's website to return an HTTP 500 error, which indicates a problem with the server. If this happens, you can visit the website's process database and try to find the file. There's no search function, so it's necessary to scroll through a lot of pages, perhaps hundreds of pages, to find the executable file or dynamic link library you're looking for.
The Performance tab gives users information about the CPU usage overall, on a per-core basis, and memory. One of the items shown is memory page faults, and this is something that needlessly concerns users. Page faults are normal and common. Lower numbers are better and higher numbers suggest that your computer may need more RAM.
Page faults (sometimes called PF or hard fault) occur when a program requests an address on a page that is not in the current set of memory resident pages. The thread that experienced the page fault is put into a wait state while the operating system finds the specific page on disk and restores it to physical memory. The operating system's kernel handles the exception by making the required page accessible in the physical memory or denying an illegal memory access, so usually page faults aren't a serious problem.
The Connections tab shows which processes have active network connections, the protocol, the process ID, the source and destination of the connection, the port in use, and the status. The thing that many people will be surprised by is how many connections are active. You may think that your computer is doing little and anxiously awaiting instructions from you. Instead, it may be communicating with your cloud-based backup system, Google drive, many localhost connections, a VPN provider, your email service and preferred browser, and more. These connections are all normal unless you see an unexpected remote connection.
A plus sign at the right of the open tabs offers less common, but still useful, components such as the ability to view applications that start with Windows, see scheduled tasks, list all installed drivers, get a close-up view of inbound and outbound data usage, open a Windows Management Instrumentation browser, uninstall applications, obtain a list of all users who are logged in, and examine security information. If you'd like to have some of the extra tabs open when you start System Explorer, they can be added.
There's even a built-in security function that checks all running processes for suspicious activity using an online security database. Unfortunately, it often terminates with an error message: "Error - Unknown error occurred." That would be a lot more useful if it actually worked, and the failure is probably related to the problem noted earlier in which the security check for an individual application fails.
Those relatively small problems aside, System Explorer is well worth having on your computer. Unlike the built-in applications, System Explorer can start with Windows and place an icon in the Notification Area. Hovering the mouse over that icon provides a snapshot that shows the CPU's speed and usage, memory consumption, battery level, computer up time, and computer idle time.
You can download System Explorer from the developer's website.
If you've had problems with blocked or refused email messages, there's an easy solution to the problem and it's free unless you need to send more than 300 messages per day.
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Perhaps you've received a message with the subject "Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender." Inside you'll find text like this:
This is the mail system at host qproxy4.mail.unifiedlayer.com.
I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.
For further assistance, please send mail to postmaster.
If you do so, please include this problem report. You can delete your own text from the attached returned message.
The mail system
The most important part of the message will follow the boilerplate text:
<address@domain.com>: host domain.com[67.222.41.89] refused to talk to me: 550-"[66.147.248.250]:39493 is in an RBL on bl.websitewelcome.com, see Blocked 550 - SAbuse"
"[66.147.248.250]:39493 is in an RBL on bl.websitewelcome.com, see Blocked 550 - SAbuse" is shorthand, but it shows that the sending IP address is in a RBL (real time blacklist) and that the reason is "SAbuse", spam abuse. The message could be a lot clearer, and it should be. The exact wording varies among systems, but the content will be similar.
So at this point you know that you sent a message to someone and the receiving server blocked it because the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) server you used is on somebody's blacklist. There are several vigilante organizations that operate blacklists. Some are better maintained than others.
The good news is that the block will usually be remove automatically after 72 hours, but maybe you don't want to wait three days to send your message. I'll get to the solution in a moment, but let's consider why your email address was blocked when you're not a spammer.
It's not actually your email address that has been blocked, it's the IP address of the sending server. In my example, the IP address is 66.147.248.250 and it belongs to Bluehost. According to Wikipedia, Bluehost is a web hosting company owned by Endurance International Group, and is one of the 20 largest web hosts, collectively hosting well over two million domains. TechByter.com and Blinn.com are two of those two million. That's the first clue toward understanding why mail from your account has been blocked.
Bluehost doesn't have more than 2 million IP addresses for its SMTP servers, so messages sent from your account will use the same IP address as thousands of other sites. All it takes is one bad actor to get an IP address blacklisted. Bluehost works with spammers to either bring them into compliance or remove the account, but that takes time.
To find out which vigilante group has blacklisted the IP address, visit the MX Toolbox Blacklist checker and enter the SMTP server's IP address. When I checked, the IP address was still on three lists. MX Toolbox queries more than 100 blacklists. Whether or not any given recipient's email server rejects messages from your server depends on which blacklists they subscribe to.
This isn't a problem only for those who operate their own domain. Sending mail through an internet service provider's SMTP server has some of the same shortcomings. It takes only one bad actor to get the ISP's IP address blacklisted.
Many people have GMail accounts and some have tried to use that account to send email from Outlook, Thunderbird, or some other email application. It works, but the problem is that the messages clearly show that they have been sent by GMail "on behalf of" your account. So although that works, I don't care for the presentation.
For me, the solution is SendInBlue, a bulk email provider that specializes in email marketing. In addition to bulk marketing emails, SendInBlue also offers what they call "transactional" messages — emails that are sent to one or just a few people. If you send no more than 300 messages per day (and no more than 40 per hour), you can sign up for a free account. After creating an account, you need only to modify your email program's SMTP server setting to direct messages through SendInBlue.
There's another advantage: The SendInBlue website shows when your message was sent, when it was delivered, and when it was opened. Because of security measures introduced by Apple, the time a message is opened on an Apple device is unavailable.
It's important to know that a message with one recipient and one CC recipient counts as two messages. If you send one message to a primary recipient and 60 BCC recipients, that will count as 61 messages. The hourly limit is 40, so the first 40 messages will be transmitted immediately and the remaining 21 will be transmitted in an hour as long as they wouldn't exceed the daily 300-message limit. In practice, I've encountered a delay caused by the hourly limit twice and I've never come close to sending 300 messages per day.
SendInBlue runs a tight operation. After sending a message that included a PayPal logo, I heard from the support department almost immediately. My message wasn't spam or a scam, but it did reveal that the automated system does analyze messages so that the organization can be proactive. This is doubtless one of the primary reasons why its IP addresses never appear on real time blacklists.
Several million people have probably recently received an email from Equifax offering four years of credit monitoring and other services for those involved in a data breach that's so old most people have forgotten about it.
On 7 September 2017, Equifax announced an attack estimated to have affected 143 million Americans. Yes, September 2017 — four and a half years ago. The breach exposed Social Security numbers, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, and other data.
In December 2018, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Republicans released a staff report about the committee's 14-month investigation. Among the conclusions:
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If you filed a claim for compensation following the breach and selected the option to receive free credit monitoring from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, you must enroll before 27 June 2022. The email from Equifax provides a URL for the website where you can sign up and an activation code.
Equifax will then provide daily credit monitoring from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion; alerts when new accounts are opened, when credit reports are requested, and when some other changes occur; on-demand online access monthly to your Equifax consumer report; non-credit-related alerts if your information is seen on the dark web; identity theft insurance that covers certain costs and unauthorized electronic fund transfers; identity restoration service if you are the victim of fraud or identity theft; and child monitoring services if you have any children younger than 18.
The service is free and those who sign up do not need to provide any payment information to enroll. There is also no need to cancel the service when it ends. Equifax blames the long delay on the judicial system and notes that appellate courts have now affirmed the settlement.
In 2002. there were still many people who felt that film was better than digital, much as some people felt that vinyl discs were better than digital audio. Back then inventor Carver Mead said film is headed for the scrap pile. Mead's company, Foveon, was about to begin shipping sensing circuitry for digital cameras. The new technology is reported to be so good that it literally matches film. Here's what I wrote:
Sigma, a lesser-known Japanese camera and lens maker says it will begin shipping cameras with the sensors by the end of February and that the first models will sell for about $3000. Depending on how many manufacturers adopt the technology, prices for cameras with the new sensors could be selling for around $1000 within a year.
National Semiconductor will be manufacturing the chips for Foveon and the initial specs aren't overwhelming -- about 3.5 million pixels. That's toward the high end of today's consumer market, but what's interesting is this: Images from the sensor look like they were made by a camera with 7-million-pixel resolution -- and cameras in that range aren't available elsewhere for less than about $5000.
Eastman Kodak is reportedly planning to use the new sensors in some cameras and -- if that happens -- it's a virtual certainty that manufacturers such as Nikon, Olympus, Canon and the other big-name manufacturers will follow.
For reasons known only to marketers, the world's top seller of digital cameras is Sony. It's probably because Sony packs unremarkable performance under the Sony name and surrounds it with gadgets, gizmos, and tricks that make the company's cameras seem like they do everything. And largely they do, but cameras that can do everything tend to do nothing well. (WOW! Did this ever change in the past 20 years!)
Photo marketers know that there are more than 5 billion film cameras worldwide and see replacing all those cameras as an immense marketing effort. Digital camera sales are currently running about 8 million per year in the US and another 10 million elsewhere in the world.
Mead founded his company in 1997 and retired from the California Institute of Technology just 2 years ago. He may not be a rocket scientist, but Mead was instrumental in developing technologies that led to huge changes in the semiconductor industry. In the 1970s, he developed processes that led to VLSI (very large system integration), which allowed manufacturers to cram tens of thousands of transistors onto a single chip. Single chips now contain millions of transistors.
As of 2022, Foveon technology is still in use, although it's a minor player.