Welcome to the July 29, 2002 issue of Hewie's Favorites Views & Reviews. Be sure to visit Hewie's Favorites at http://www.hewie.net/. Hewie's Quick Thoughts appear almost daily at http://www.hewie.net/weblog/.

Make it a daily routine to see what is added. It is a log of items as I find them. There are archive pages, so you can catch up on older items. Feel free to let your friends know about this page and the entire site.

+++ Changes in Free E-Mail Services
+++ Parasites
+++ Human Clock
+++ Browser Checkup
+++ Clock Your Internet Connections
+++ The world's smallest Web site
+++ Help me increase distribution
+++ Hewie's Favorites was updated since the last newsletter.

July 29, 2002

+++ Changes in Free E-Mail Services

Microsoft made a change in their Hotmail service which has angered many of their users. Users, who depend on sent messages being saved, have discovered that all but those sent in the last 30 days were deleted. Microsoft, who owns Hotmail, said that those messages cannot be retrieved.

This is an example of the free services that are disappearing. While many free services are turning into paid options, some are just being eliminated. Microsoft said that a notice from Hotmail was sent warning of the change. If you missed it, it was probably lost in the deluge of junk mail (spam) that you get.

I haven't been able to use my Hotmail account in months because of all of the spam. I opened a new hotmail account, did not use it anywhere and within days it was filled with junk mail. Many of the reader's of this newsletter have told me about spam filling their account at Yahoo!Mail, ExciteMail, NetscapeMail or other free accounts. My Netscape, Yahoo! and other accounts receive some spam, but nothing like Hotmail.

Both Yahoo!Mail and now Microsoft are reducing free services and expanding paid services. Are we seeing the end of the free e-mail and other free services? It could be. Read more about the Hotmail change at http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-946513.html .

+++ Parasites

Many people have parasites installed on their computers. They can cause system instability, add unwanted advertising, spy on everything one does on the web, and compromise security. You can check your browser and find out more about them at this site's parasite section at http://and.doxdesk.com/parasite/ .

+++ Human Clock

For something truly unique, The Human ClockWebsite consists of about 2500 pictures, each representing a single minute of the day in some shape or fashion. See the time and picture change every minute at http://www.humanclock.com/ .

+++ Browser Checkup

This is a Free Browser Checkup. It is a series of audits designed to test and fix your browser's security vulnerabilities. However, this application supports only Microsoft Internet Explorer on the Windows operating system. To get started, click on the button to see what intruders could learn about you through your browser. These tests automatically assess your browser for selected vulnerabilities and offer you the most up-to-date patches from Microsoft, when available. This is a free service to educate users about the security of their Web Browsers. All tests are safe and no information is collected. They "recommend that you save your work before proceeding." On my machine, it detected: browser info, JavaScript and engine info, browser history, and a System Overview (Platform: Win32, OS: WinXP, CPU Class: x86, IP Address, Host Name, System Language, User Language, System Time), and Display Settings). Find the Free browser checkup at http://browsercheck.qualys.com/ .

+++ Clock Your Internet Connections

How fast can you really surf? Use "YourSpeed" to measure your true internet throughput to the 40 most popular web sites in the world. It's very easy to use. Also, there is a collection of bandwidth calculators. If you input some parameters, you will see how much bandwidth you need, or what can you do with what you've got. They also have a small utility called Stopwatch that can measure the time it takes to download any page on the internet. Take a look at http://www.numion.com/ .

+++ The world's smallest Web site

This is the world's smallest Web site, or at least it claims to be. There are games, news, art, and more. You need to have your glasses on to see this one. See it at http://www.guimp.com/ .

+++ Help me increase distribution

Please pass this newsletter to your friends and ask them to subscribe at the site.

I write 2 columns. I write the Central Florida Computer Society Windows SIG Newsletter and one for my website, "Hewie's Favorites," which I call "Hewie's Views and Reviews." I try not to overlap articles, and you should find interesting and helpful information in each. To subscribe, send blank messages to
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Make sure that you check my Blogger page on a regular basis at http://www.hewie.net/weblog/. Visit Hewie's Favorites at http://www.hewie.net/ .

+++ Hewie's Favorites was updated since the last newsletter