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Steve's Current Notes
Week of September 10, 2000

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Sunday, September 10, 2000

I have been an occasional reader of some of the Usenet news groups, especially the private group of notes for pair networks web hosts. However, since I installed the cable modem and WinGate I had been limited to just one source of newsgroups and in fact, had to map a link in Wingate to receive these. Therefore, I had chosen the RoadRunner groups, enabling me to have access to a larger set of groups. But I longed for access to the pair groups.

I hadn't had much time to mess with this, but thought yesterday would be a good day for this project.

I knew that I would have to map a separate link to the two sources of newsgroups. The default ports for NNTP servers is 119 and I wanted to create my new WinGate service with a port of x119 so it would be easily identifiable. The led me to a search of what various ports numbers are assigned to and I remembered I had put together a page with a link to a listing of port numbers. I checked here and didn't notice anything reserved for port 1119, so I gave that a whack. My RoadRunner groups would be linked to 119 and the pair groups to 1119.

The pair groups are password protected and for some reason did not like port 1119, so I switched the two around. For some reason this was successful, so I decided not to mess with the world. Just be happy.

Now I needed to make my Forte Free Agent newsreader have access to both sets of groups. The first thing I did was to look within Free Agent newsreader to see if I could assign a particular port and not seeing this option I tried assigning my news source as 192.168.1.20:1119 (my Wingate server and the mapped link), but this did not work either. I then went searching for another newsreader that might allow me to assign different ports and in the process found a new version of Free Agent. This updated version wasn't that much different from the version I was already using, so I was in a way back to square one. I found a beta package of another reader that would allow me to assign port numbers and this is what I used to test that my two mapped ports were working, but this package was not saving my message lists, so I went back to Free Agent.

I check the WinGate knowledge base for help. It had an entry for a single mapped link, but did not address what I was trying to accomplish. I then went directly to the Forte site and scanned through the FAQ's and presto, found an question that dealt with exactly what I was attempting to make happen. Here's the FAQ I found (http://www.hillm.demon.co.uk/agent/firewall.html):

Using Forté Free Agent and Agent through a Firewall

Forté Free Agent and Agent offline newsreaders do not contain options to access a firewall in the same way that Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer do. But this does not mean that it can not be done.

First off, it would be a good idea to talk with your network admin responsible for the firewall. He (or she) may not be best pleased if you pass through the firewall using a method that was not intended. The network admin may be required to even get through the firewall anyway, so be nice to them.

There are two ways that [Free] Agent can get through a firewall: mapped link and SOCKS proxy.

Mapped Link

Using a mapped link requires your network admin to create a mapped link through the firewall. This can use any available port number, although 119 or 8119 would be common ones. All connections to this port on the firewall will be passed to a fixed nominated news server. Multiple servers can be accessed by using multiple mapped links, each on a unique port.

To use [Free] Agent through a mapped link, set the specified news server in [Free] Agent to the full name of the firewall. If the port number being used is not 119, you will also have to edit the agent.ini file. The entry in agent.ini is found in the [Servers] section. For example:

[Servers]

NewsServer="proxy.foobar.com"
NNTPPort=8119

NOTE: You should use the fully qualified name of the firewall, and not just firewall. This is because [Free] Agent currently uses that name to generate MessageIDs; if you just use firewall, then the generated MessageIDs will technically be invalid and could clash with others on usenet. If your firewall does not have a full domain name, you have two options:

1.. Disable Message-ID generation in [Free] Agent. This is achieved in the agent.ini file by setting the following option to 0 in the [Message] section.

[Message]

GenerateId=1

2.. Create an alias for your firewall using the hosts file. This will be located in the \windows\system directory in Windows 3.1x and Windows 95 and in the \windows\system32\drivers\etc directory in Windows NT.

In the hosts file, add a line like:

proxy.foobar.com 12.34.56.78

Replacing 12.34.56.78 with the IP address of your firewall.

And that's it.

SOCKS Proxy

If your firewall is running a SOCKS proxy, usually on port 1080, then it is possible to make [Free] Agent go through that, using a winsock addon which "socksifies" any winsock application. There are several such addons available, two of which are free.

SocksCap from NEC : FREE

This comes in two flavours - 16-bit and 32-bit. The 16-bit version works on Windows 3.x and Windows 95 and will "socksify" any 16-bit application that is run once SocksCap is installed. It will not run on Windows NT.

The 32-bit version will socksify 32-bit applications, but only if they are started through SocksCap. This isn't a major problem, as it just requires a minor command line modification so that the shortcut runs SocksCap which in turn runs [Free] Agent. This version works on Windows 95 and Windows NT.

Configuration is performed from the SocksCap control panel. You will need to specify the address of the SOCKS proxy, as well as addresses or subnets for machines that are local to you and do not need to go through the firewall.

Hummingbird SOCKS : FREE

Only available in a 32-bit version and works on Windows 95 and Windows NT.

The latest version works with NT 4.0 SP3. Once installed, this "socksifies" every 32-bit application that is loaded without having to fiddle with command lines. Excellent for "socksifying" services on NT where command line alteration is a problem.

Requires configuration via a socks.cnf file located in \windows\system (Windows 95) or \windows\system32 (Windows NT). Configuration is easy and can be just two lines:

DIRECT 12.34.56.0 255.255.255.0

SOCKD @=12.34.56.78 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0

This indicates that everything destined for machines on the 12.34.56 subnet should go direct, while everything else goes via a SOCKS proxy on 12.34.56.78.

AutoSOCKS : Prices start from US$49

Details on this are available via the above link. Configuration should also be relatively easy. While this option does cost money, this is the only one of the three options that will include support - very useful since NT 4.0

SP3 initially broke the Hummingbird SOCKS; fortunately, Hummingbird released a fix.

Once you have installed and configured your choice of "socksifier", you should be able to access your chosen news server directly (eg msnews.microsoft.com). You won't need to fiddle with the hosts file or agent.ini file.

Hopefully, the above information will prove useful.

My first step was to install two complete copies of Free Agent in different directories and change the agent.ini in each directory to indicate the new mapped link. This worked well and I was a happy camper.

I then posted a message in the pair users group as to how this could be done (not as lengthy as this message) since I found nothing on this subject in a search of the messages. As typical with the pair groups I received a fairly quick response from another web host, Duncan Murdoch [dmurdoch@pair.com]:

I use Agent, not Free Agent, but with that version it's not necessary to have two full copies: you only need to copy the Agent.ini file to another directory, and set up your shortcut to start the original exe file in that directory. I'd guess this is the same with Free Agent too, so you can save some disk space.

I took his advice and saved myself some disk space.

My Free Agent directory structure looks something like this:
....Program Files\Agent
....Program Files\Agent\internet\data	only the agent.ini file with the NNTP port address of 1119 and message files are in this directory
....Program Files\Agent\pair\data	only the agent.ini file with the NNTP port address of 119 and message files are in this directory

The Free Agent FAQ had suggested mapping port 8119, but I had already chosen 1119, so I am leaving it at that for now. However, knowing me, I'll bet I will go back and change my mapped link to 8119 sometime in the future at which time I'll probably screw the whole thing up. Maybe I should adopt the guidance: "it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I added two shortcuts on my desktop for newsgroups:

Pair News Groups (shortcut properties)

Target: "...\Program Files\Agent\agent.exe"
Start In: "...\Program Files\Agent\pair"

Internet News Groups (shortcut properties)

Target: "...\Program Files\Agent\agent.exe"
Start In: "...\Program Files\Agent\internet"

I can now place a shortcut on the desktop of any machine on my network and have access to these newsgroups. The important thing is I will be reading from one source, so my newsgroup messages are the same, not matter which machine I access the groups from.

I also turned this note into a saved page in the computers section of this site

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Monday, September 11, 2000

I never think I am getting older, but every once in a while something pops up to remind me. Like the pizza delivery boy saying he was born after I graduated from high school or this list.

I was all set to head down to the courthouse in the morning and get my civic duty over with, thinking surely I would be called for jury duty. After all, I was juror no. 12. But the stars must be aligned just right for me. The recorded message said only jurors no. 129 through 240 need to report. Whew!

If you're into politics you might want to drop by Portrait of America. This site keeps a tab on the political news and rumblings as well as running poll numbers on the various races. Find out if the poll numbers you hear on the evening news resemble the polls taken with a larger sample.

Presidential Race Tracking Poll
Congressional Tracking Poll

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Tuesday, September 12, 2000

I have been working today on a new look for this page, The java script will float the navigation bar on the left as you scroll down the page. The new design, probably ready to go into full production is here. Drop me an email and tell me what you think.

The link to fatbrian books is new. I might not have it totally set up correct, so I am leaving the Amazon link. in for now. When I get it all figured out and someone buys a book at fatbrain through this site, I'll earn a few pennies, which will go towards the cost of operating this baby,

One book you might want to consider is Bob Thompson's PC Hardware in a Nutshell, due to hit the streets early next month.

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Wednesday, September 13, 2000

I'm heading off to Loudon, NH tomorrow for this Winston Cup race there this weekend. I'll be returning to this site on Monday, September 18. See you then.

Sidebar: It's ironic that I am going to be staying in the town that Bob Thompson often mentions on his site, Laconia, NH. Maybe I should warn them he's coming! Just kidding, Bob. It is a beautiful part of the country and I'll hate to see he and Barbara leave Winston-Salem.

Bob Thompson has put the word out on another ugly virus creeping around the net. Here's the link he offered. Here's another link offered by DayNoter Brian Bilbrey.

I have a ton of links to search engines on this site. However, I am considering making Google my main search engine for the web. Google's affiliate program claims it'll pay you $.01 for every search and if that's the case and the search engine gets used some it could help defray some of the costs of this site. I am currently having FreeFind spider my site daily and use it for local and web searches, but I am not too impressed with the way it returns results. The one good thing going it is as the name mentions, it's free. I used Atomz at one time but this site is too large for their free service (we're now close to 900 pages). I've added the FrontPage search bot right above the link for Google, so we'll do some testing. I have removed nothing, just added. Here's a link to some of the search engines.

I may finally be getting through my thick skull. In my notes yesterday I introduced a feature that I thought was pretty cool when I added the sliding buttons on the left hand side of a new notes page. In the past I would have just changed my production page and raced on. However, something told me to build a test page and try it out first. Then another little voice in the back of my head said to post a link to this test page and ask for some reader feedback. Thankfully I listened to these voices, for I must have the Microsoft disease and think that everyone has a big pipe to the internet, everyone uses Internet Explorer and everyone's screen size is 1600 x 1200. Not.

It appears the new little feature I was playing with doesn't like Netscape or some othre browsers very much and my thanks to Neil Heidorn for pointing this out. I think I should install Netscape one of these days just to see how my pages come across with a browser other than IE.

Actually the new feature I was testing is just a little bit of java coding and I would have thought Netscape, etc. would get along friendly with this kind of scripting. Maybe some even have java turned off. Oh, well. I'll keep playing around and I'll keep asking for your advice. Thanks again.

Here's the note from R. Neil Heidorn [nheidorn@sigecom.net] that brought this snafu to my attention:

A few notes on the new design:

As I'm sure you're probably aware, it doesn't work in Netscape. The floating frame displays, but no content. On Mozilla I get content, but the frame doesn't slide.

In IE4 if the window is narrower than around 850px the floating frame overlaps the text and makes it impossible to read. Even with IE maximized to full screen, users with 800x600 or (heaven forbid) 640x480 screen resolutions won't be able to read your notes.

Just some thoughts.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'm glad I had not gone into full production with this enhancement. Actually, whenever something doesn't work with one of computers my wife always calls it an enhancement I have made. I guess she's correct after all. I'll never admit it.

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