Subject: [os2genau_digest] No. 978
From: Digest <deadmail>
To: "OS/2GenAu Digest"<deadmail>
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 00:01:11 EST-10EDT,10,-1,0,7200,3,-1,0,7200,3600

**************************************************
Friday 12 November 2004
 Number  978
**************************************************

Subjects for today
 
1   Banks brace for cashpoint attack : Ian Manners" <deadmail>
2  Re:  Orian Systems : Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
3  Re:  Cable Broadband : Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
4  Re:  Cable Broadband : Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
5  Re:  Cable Broadband : Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
6  Re:  Orian Systems : Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
7  Re:  Cable Broadband : Paul Smedley <paul at smedley.info>
8  Re:  Orian Systems : Kev <kdownes at tpg dot com dot au>
9  Re:  Orian Systems : Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
10   Forefox and Thunderbird : Kev <kdownes at tpg dot com dot au>
11  Re:  Forefox and Thunderbird : Dennis Nolan <dennik at swiftdsl dot com dot au>
12  Re:  Cable Broadband : Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
13  Re:  Forefox and Thunderbird : Kev <kdownes at tpg dot com dot au>
14  Re:  Linux vs OS/2-eCS (was:  Orian Systems) : Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
15  Re:  Cable Broadband : Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
16  Re:  Cable Broadband : Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
17  Re:  Cable Broadband : Paul Smedley <paul at smedley.info>

**= Email   1 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 01:51:17 +1100 (EDT)
From:  "Ian Manners" <deadmail>
Subject:   Banks brace for cashpoint attack

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/banks_prepare_for_atm_cyber_crime/

Cheers
Ian Manners
http://www.os2site dot com/

If at first you succeed, hide your astonishment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   2 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 06:07:09 +1100
From:  Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Orian Systems

Please read:

http://www.orionsolutions dot com dot au/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=23&zenid=f465baed79163515a5ace022e5f6b374

For the reason why. This is not a vote against eCS but rather the fact that resellers
(rather than distributors) are hit by import duties and this simply raises their cost
when compared to on-line purchasing directly from the, now sole, distributor - Mensys.

By the way, the company name is Orion Solutions, not Orian systems.

Cheers/2

Ed.

Eric Schilke wrote:

> On Thu, 2004-11-11 at 06:04, Dennis Nolan wrote:
> > Hi
> >
> > I was just at their web site to bite the bullit and update eCS and
> > firstly noticed that the number available was zero, last week it was 1000.
> >
> > Then read the notice, seems like they've pulled the plug on eCS.
> >
> > The eComStation site still has them listed as a reseller.
> >
> > I supose we will have to deal with Mensys in the future.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Dennis.
> >
> I am just *this* close to forgetting about OS/2 forever.  I'm writing
> from Linux....
>
> Eric Schilke
>

>  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   3 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 06:14:43 +1100
From:  Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Cable Broadband

John Angelico wrote:

> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote:
>
> Hi David.
>
> >I am thinking about going for cable broadband - upgrading from ADSL.
>
> That's an interesting way to move, given the hype over ADSL as *THE* greatest
> thing in broadband...
>
> >Can anyone advise on Telstra Bigpond?
>
> I suggest that you check the whirlpool site http://whirlpool dot net dot au/ if you
> on't already know it.
>
> Kipling said "The race is not alwayus to the swift, nor the battle to the
> strong, but that's the way to bet!" IOW going by the form guide, Telstra
> service may be somewhat lacking...
>
> >How does it work under OS/2 or eCs?
>
> I'm on Optus, but I would guess that Telstra techo's only know how to install
> to a Win box. So rig up a simple Win box as similar to your OS/2 as you can
> (dual boot would be a great way to do it...) and get them to install. Then
> take all the settings over to the OS/2 side.
>
> >Does the cable modem connect to your network card and
> >issue IP addresses via DHCP like my current ADSL one?
>
> Yes, that much I know is common.
>
> Best regards
> John Angelico
> OS/2 SIG
> os2 at melbpc dot org dot au or
> talldad at kepl dot com dot au
> ___________________

The major difference between Bigpond Cable and Optus is that although both use the
DOCSIS communications standard, Telstra uses an additional heartbeat signal that must
be sent ever 7 minutes (or less) otherwise the link will be disconnected.

If you are sharing your connection across several PCs, use a hardware router with
Telstra Bigpond cable compatibility (ie the heartbeat). If you wish to connect only
one PC, you will need a BpLogin client. There are two - one is JAVA the other an OS/2
port of a Linux one.  A search using Google should bring up their location on the web.

Cheers/2

Ed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   4 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:09:24 +1100 (EST)
From:  "Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Cable Broadband

John Angelico said:
> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote:

>
>>Can anyone advise on Telstra Bigpond?

AFAIK, Telstra uses some proprietary 'heartbeat' 'protocol' ? to check for
?...

so, I think it needs a heartbeat client.

most cable routers will have that built -in, AFAIK

also, Dr Martinic sp ? in Sydney converted the heartbeat code to OS/2, so,
there is an OS/2 client.

though, all-in all, I don't see big problem with using OS/2 on T cable

-- 
Voytek
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
**= Email   5 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:12:20 +1100 (EST)
From:  "Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Cable Broadband

Ed Durrant said:
>
>
> John Angelico wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote:

>
> The major difference between Bigpond Cable and Optus is that although both
> use the
> DOCSIS communications standard, Telstra uses an additional heartbeat
> signal that must
> be sent ever 7 minutes (or less) otherwise the link will be disconnected.
>
> If you are sharing your connection across several PCs, use a hardware
> router with
> Telstra Bigpond cable compatibility (ie the heartbeat). If you wish to
> connect only
> one PC, you will need a BpLogin client. There are two - one is JAVA the
> other an OS/2
> port of a Linux one.  A search using Google should bring up their location
> on the web.

Ed, I should have read all the messages nefore posting my half-reply.....

I agree, a hardware router with T client is the preferred way

I also heard T will ditch the heartbeat soon ? and use non-p protocols

-- 
Voytek
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
**= Email   6 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:17:19 +1100 (EST)
From:  "Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Orian Systems

Eric Schilke said:
> On Thu, 2004-11-11 at 06:04, Dennis Nolan wrote:

> I am just *this* close to forgetting about OS/2 forever.  I'm writing
> from Linux....

Eric,

if I could get performance even similar to OS/2 on Linux, perhaps I would too

but, I'm not willing to throw all this hardware at Linux just to try to
approach, let alone, match, the performance of an OS/2 box

too say nothing about WPS.

-- 
Voytek
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
**= Email   7 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 07:08:50 +1030
From:  Paul Smedley <paul at smedley.info>
Subject:  Re:  Cable Broadband

Hi David,

David Shearer wrote:
> I am thinking about going for cable broadband - upgrading from ADSL.  Can anyone advise on Telstra 
> Bigpond?  How does it work under OS/2 or eCs?  Does the cable modem connect to your network card and 
> issue IP addresses via DHCP like my current ADSL one?

Yes the cable modem connects to your network card and issues an IP - 
however, with Telstra you need a login client.

Fortunately, there is an OS/2 version of bpalogin (the opensource login 
client) at http://bpalogin.sourceforge dot net/index.php?page=download

Or just get a router with a built-in Telstra Bigpond Cable login client.

BP Cable works fine with OS/2 - both Ed and I at least are using it.

Cheers,

Paul.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   8 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 10:29:43 +0800
From:  Kev <kdownes at tpg dot com dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Orian Systems

Voytek Eymont wrote:

>>I am just *this* close to forgetting about OS/2 forever.  I'm writing
>>from Linux....

> if I could get performance even similar to OS/2 on Linux, perhaps I would too
> but, I'm not willing to throw all this hardware at Linux just to try to
> approach, let alone, match, the performance of an OS/2 box

Well I went to Linux for 10 months - and I'm back.  Sad to say tho, I 
know that I'll end up on Linux - eventually.  When a desktop version is 
finally sorted out (within the next 3 yrs I reckon at the current rate 
of development) it'll be the only non-M$ OS with enough support for 
modern hardware.  The main thing holding Linux back from universal 
acceptance now, in my opinion, is the Linux community itself.  There 
appears to be very few of them who want drop their exclusivist stance 
and actually help newbies and non-technical people who just want to do 
their work on Linux boxes.  Most of the "help" you get now is derision 
and virtual sniggering.

I do still run a Linux box so that I can play with it in my own time and 
hopefully be up to speed when that aweful day arrives.  I have just (in 
the last couple of weeks) installed SimplyMEPIS (http://www.mepis dot org/) 
It seems to have some promise for the future.  When I can get a free one 
I'll install Novell's brand of SuSE and have a run with that.  The demo 
I saw of it shows some merit there also.

> too say nothing about WPS.

I wish the old rumours about IBM porting the WPS to Linux were true. 
This is the item which will make me hang on to the very last.  There 
really is NOTHING out there in the PC world with that amount of power.

Cheers
Kev Downes

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   9 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 14:13:41 +1100 (EST)
From:  "Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Orian Systems

Kev said:
> Voytek Eymont wrote:

> Well I went to Linux for 10 months - and I'm back.  Sad to say tho, I
> know that I'll end up on Linux - eventually.

what about a Mac ?  I'm very tempted to get one, actually
the OSX Mac are *nix under cover

fwiw, I'm about to set up for myself a windoze box, yes, I'm giving in..

well, not exactly - I just want a windoze box to sync the Palm, that's all

as for Linux, I have Linux servers, and, clearly, as servers, they're
unmatchable
as for desktop, as you and I said, WPS is hard to beat
or, even come close to

-- 
Voytek
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
**= Email   10 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:27:30 +0800
From:  Kev <kdownes at tpg dot com dot au>
Subject:   Forefox and Thunderbird

Hi all (and one)

I have Firefox and Thunderbird setup and running and using my default 
HOME settings (shown below).  At least I assume they're using these 
settings, as they both said they would import the Mozilla settings when 
I installed them.  For sure all my mail folders came over to TB and all 
my bookmarks came over to FF.

SET HOME=G:\HOME\Kev
SET MOZILLA_HOME=G:\HOME\Kev
SET MOZ_PLUGIN_PATH=G:\PROGRAMS\MOZ_PLUG

I need help with ....

1.  Do you know how to make FF fire up when I click a link in an e-mail?
2.  Do you know how to make TB fire up when I click a link in FF?
3.  Also, how do I get FF to tell me of all the installed plugins that
     it's using?

I've scoured all the helps I can find - and I can't find!  I have a 
default plugin environment variable set, but I fear that there are none 
being used in FF.  I tried copying all of the plugins in the default 
directory over to the plugins directory under FF, but I can't find how 
to check that they're in use.

Thanx
Kev Downes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   11 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 20:39:25 +1100
From:  Dennis Nolan <dennik at swiftdsl dot com dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Forefox and Thunderbird

For Plugins

Firefox Tools menu item/Options

Select Downloads
At the bottom of the file types panel is the Plugins Button

As for the auto opening of firefox from Thunderbird: I think you have to 
make Firefox your default browser. I recall I had the problem and fixed 
it, but my memory is becoming selectivly inconsistent, and so I can't 
remember what I did to fix it.

Regards
Dennis.

Kev wrote:

> Hi all (and one)
>
> I have Firefox and Thunderbird setup and running and using my default 
> HOME settings (shown below).  At least I assume they're using these 
> settings, as they both said they would import the Mozilla settings 
> when I installed them.  For sure all my mail folders came over to TB 
> and all my bookmarks came over to FF.
>
> SET HOME=G:\HOME\Kev
> SET MOZILLA_HOME=G:\HOME\Kev
> SET MOZ_PLUGIN_PATH=G:\PROGRAMS\MOZ_PLUG
>
> I need help with ....
>
> 1.  Do you know how to make FF fire up when I click a link in an e-mail?
> 2.  Do you know how to make TB fire up when I click a link in FF?
> 3.  Also, how do I get FF to tell me of all the installed plugins that
>     it's using?
>
> I've scoured all the helps I can find - and I can't find!  I have a 
> default plugin environment variable set, but I fear that there are 
> none being used in FF.  I tried copying all of the plugins in the 
> default directory over to the plugins directory under FF, but I can't 
> find how to check that they're in use.
>
> Thanx
> Kev Downes
 
>
> 

>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   12 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 20:37:13 +1100
From:  Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Cable Broadband

Voytek Eymont wrote:

> Ed Durrant said:
> >
> >
> > John Angelico wrote:
> >
> >> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote:
>
> >
> > The major difference between Bigpond Cable and Optus is that although both
> > use the
> > DOCSIS communications standard, Telstra uses an additional heartbeat
> > signal that must
> > be sent ever 7 minutes (or less) otherwise the link will be disconnected.
> >
> > If you are sharing your connection across several PCs, use a hardware
> > router with
> > Telstra Bigpond cable compatibility (ie the heartbeat). If you wish to
> > connect only
> > one PC, you will need a BpLogin client. There are two - one is JAVA the
> > other an OS/2
> > port of a Linux one.  A search using Google should bring up their location
> > on the web.
>
> Ed, I should have read all the messages nefore posting my half-reply.....
>
> I agree, a hardware router with T client is the preferred way
>
> I also heard T will ditch the heartbeat soon ? and use non-p protocols
>
> --
> Voytek

 No Problems.

 I use BP Cable myself. I know Telstra are upgrading their network with newer, less
fragile modems that are able to scan channels for the best connection, however as far
as I know, the heartbeat will stay.

 Not all hardware routers have the heartbeat function. In the case of the Linksys
WRT54G wireless / wired router that I have, I had to load a new (non-Linksys) firmware
to get the feature. At present I would NOT recomend this model for Telstra BP cable as
I am having problems with it dropping the link every 2 to 3 days. I believe others
don't have this problem, so it could be a combination of configurations / impacts. I
only know that my previous OS/2 WArp 4 based router NEVER dropped the link except when
Telstra had a network outage. I guess I down-graded when I went to the embedded *nix
device just to get wireless !!

Cheers/2

Ed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   13 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 17:57:20 +0800
From:  Kev <kdownes at tpg dot com dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Forefox and Thunderbird

Hi Dennis

Dennis Nolan wrote:
> For Plugins
> 
> Firefox Tools menu item/Options
> 
> Select Downloads
> At the bottom of the file types panel is the Plugins Button

Right!!  Found it!  What an obscure place to put it.  It shows a blank
list. ie no plugins.  However, if I type   about:plugins in the location 
bar it gives me the list I expect to find there.  I think I'll have to 
write off to Bugzilla.
> 
> 
> As for the auto opening of firefox from Thunderbird: I think you have to 
> make Firefox your default browser. I recall I had the problem and fixed 
> it, but my memory is becoming selectivly inconsistent, and so I can't 
> remember what I did to fix it.

I think for now I'll call it off and stick to Mozilla until a few more 
bugs are ironed out.  I just found a new one.  About an hour ago I 
upgraded to FF v1.0 ga from FF v1.0 pr.  With the ga version installed I 
couldn't even open the 2 apps (FF and TB) at the same time.  It had to 
be 1 or the other.  Now I'm back to the pr version I can at least have 
the 2 open at the same time.

Thanx gize
Kev Downes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   14 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:02:48 +1100
From:  Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Linux vs OS/2-eCS (was:  Orian Systems)

Kev wrote:

>
> The main thing holding Linux back from universal
> acceptance now, in my opinion, is the Linux community itself.  There
> appears to be very few of them who want drop their exclusivist stance
> and actually help newbies and non-technical people who just want to do
> their work on Linux boxes.  Most of the "help" you get now is derision
> and virtual sniggering.
>

  And don't forget the still open legal issues ! If it is proved that Linux includes
"stolen" code, people using it could effectively be considered as accepting stolen
goods (the fact that they didn't know it was stolen is no defence).

>
> > too say nothing about WPS.
>
> I wish the old rumours about IBM porting the WPS to Linux were true.
>

  I thought the rumours were that thw WPS was being ported to "codename K42" , not
Linux.

> This is the item which will make me hang on to the very last.  There
> really is NOTHING out there in the PC world with that amount of power.
>
> Cheers
> Kev Downes
>

Cheers/2

Ed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   15 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:08:58 +1100 (EST)
From:  "Voytek Eymont" <voytek at sbt dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Cable Broadband

Ed Durrant said:

> Voytek Eymont wrote:

>> Ed Durrant said:

>> > John Angelico wrote:

>> >> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 21:33:09 +1000, David Shearer wrote:

>  I use BP Cable myself. I know Telstra are upgrading their network with
> newer, less
> fragile modems that are able to scan channels for the best connection,
> however as far
> as I know, the heartbeat will stay.
>
>  Not all hardware routers have the heartbeat function. In the case of the
> Linksys
> WRT54G wireless / wired router that I have, I had to load a new
> (non-Linksys) firmware
> to get the feature. At present I would NOT recomend this model for Telstra
> BP cable as
> I am having problems with it dropping the link every 2 to 3 days. I
> believe others
> don't have this problem, so it could be a combination of configurations /
> impacts. I
> only know that my previous OS/2 WArp 4 based router NEVER dropped the link
> except when
> Telstra had a network outage. I guess I down-graded when I went to the
> embedded *nix
> device just to get wireless !!

a friend of mine has Dlink 804, and, also has drop outs, he power cycles
his Dlink on regular intervals, and, blames it on h/beat

 the WRT54G, that's the one I'm thinking of getting, when I go wireless

for now, I've gone wireless with Palm on Bluetooth

-- 
Voytek
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
**= Email   16 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:20:22 +1100
From:  Ed Durrant <edurrant at bigpond dot net dot au>
Subject:  Re:  Cable Broadband

Voytek Eymont wrote:

>
> a friend of mine has Dlink 804, and, also has drop outs, he power cycles
> his Dlink on regular intervals, and, blames it on h/beat
>
>  the WRT54G, that's the one I'm thinking of getting, when I go wireless
>

The heat suggestion is a possible I suppose. I had the WRT54G sat on top of the
Telstra Modem which gets quite hot.  I've now moved it so, we'll see ahat happens.

When the link stops, the rest of the router is OK and I only need to do a disconnect
and re-connect via the Web Interface (effectively a logoff - logon), so this may not
be the same problem your friend has.

Cheers/2

Ed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**= Email   17 ==========================**

Date:  Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:43:08 +1030
From:  Paul Smedley <paul at smedley.info>
Subject:  Re:  Cable Broadband

Hi Ed,

Ed Durrant wrote:
> When the link stops, the rest of the router is OK and I only need to do a disconnect
> and re-connect via the Web Interface (effectively a logoff - logon), so this may not
> be the same problem your friend has.

I had the same issue with my Netgear WGR614v2 - for a while there I even 
disabled the login on the router and had bpalogin running on the desktop 
but still using the router for wireless.

The Telstra heartbeat server is sporadically not sending the regular 
heartbeat - bpalogin and the telstra login automatically log back in if 
the heartbeat is not received - most routers don't.

Mine is much better since I change the frequency used by the cable modem 
- how to do this depends which cable modem you have...  there were 
thread on Whirlpool about this.

Cheers,

Paul.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------