the News Letter Archives - 1999 to 2006

          1999 to 2006

From July 2005

Formmail Attack (headline)
Funny exploits and script hijacking involving most any script that sends mail puts most of the 'Net on alert

Oops (headline)
The Senior Editor has a round of really bad health scares and publishing becomes (and remains) a tad erratic

VizUp (headline)
It's back in a new freeware form - with deluxwe pay-for versions, too
From March 2006

Blaxxun Rumors (headline)
Odd rumblings at Blaxxun leave the community wondering if they're gonna go bust again
Macromedia 8 (headline)
Studio 8 comes out and it's a winner, especially the new tricks in Fireworks and Flash - too bad Macromedia gets bought out by Adobe, the future of Homesite looks grim
Urge to VRMLMerge (headline)
It's a wonderful and needful  tool - change VRML to X3D or make lots of small VRML files one big one
From July 2005

Linux Arrives (headline)
Yes, you can have it all, Windows and Linux with no partitions

Internet Explorer Blinks (headline)
Round Two of the Browser Wars and IE appears to be sinking fast
From April 2005

Hacked and Packed (headline)
The Rangers & Rangerettes get hacked repeatedly, track the problem to server security, and change webhosts
From March 2005

VRDimension (headline)
The VR Web3d VRML successor to GoonieTown opens with a virtual splash
From November 2004

XPPro SP2 (headline)
It's once again that magic time  when Microsoft releases another Service Pack for XP and XP Pro

Crescendo Redeux (headline)
LiveUpdate.COM joins the dotbomb meltdown, but its superior midi and mpeg music player marches on

Incognito Proxy (headline)
Everyone's favorite anonymizer returns - surf in style in fullon stealth mode

Spamcop Exposed (headline)
A major scandal involving hacked servers and wholesale theft of clients' personal information occurs

Vizx3d 1.2 (headline)
The truly superb lovechild of Spazz3d sets new vistas for ease of use and features

GoonieTown Gone (headline)
They disappeared (for just a bit), then reappeared at a new URL
From August 2004

Alignment (column)
A concise review on how to get what you want - by Jess Mickelson

Grand Tour (headline)
Everyone's favorite Senior Consultant careens around North America and learns a thing or two about customer service

Contact 6.2 Beta (headline)
The long awaited 6.2 has arrived - it's DirectX 9 compliant, too
From May 2004

A Love/Hate Relationship (column)
Advertisers (and website owners) love the advertising monies, but bemoan how it may negatively impact surfing - by Jess Mickelson

Web3D.ORG Back Online (headline)
Accidentally taken offline by multiple webmaster and server errors, everything's back online and better than ever

Ethics Pledge Program (headline)
The Vision Award applies for and is accepted into a prestigious accredation program

Chisel Flaw (headline)
A previously unreported bug that rears its head on extremely long lines describing organic shapes
From March 2004

Website Wizardry (column)
Getting clients to your site is only a part of the process - now you get to make them want you - by Jess Mickelson

Objects Tools Wanted (headline)
Insiders believe that Eolas will likely lose any appeal and that its patent will be rescinded

Websearch Trojan (headline)
Curious about how come Internet Explorer's been using offbrand search engines
From February 2004

Awards Of The Web (headline)
WebRing.ORG gets in touch with Pacoima Ranch and asks a favor - to take over the Awards Of The Web Ring

The Portal Is Reborn (headline)
A beloved freehost returns as the online business and advertising communities once again begin generating profits

Contact 6.1 Unstable (headline)
Strange problems surface in the most recent versions - but workarounds are possible

Lost Headlines (headline)
Fun and games with virii and hackers causes the loss of three stories - maybe YOU have a copy
From December 2003

Blaxxun Platform 7 (headline)
Blaxxun Platform is the 'Net standard for 3D Chat, now available in the advanced Version 7

Change Sweeps The 'Net (headline)
An unbelievable jury ruling threatens Internet Explorer, and the very 'Net's continued existence - not for the weak minded

Codehelp For Developers (headline)
Despite the hysteria of the Eolas rulings, code- and webdevelopers need suggestions and code snippets, and here they are

W3.ORG Weighs In (headline)
The 'Net standards body and Tim Berners-Lee say their peace about the Eolas problems, and they come out swinging
From October 2003

New GoonieTown Projects (headline)
Pacoima Ranch is once again tapped to create 3D chat worlds for the GoonieTown community

Incognito Proxy Suspended (headline)
Amid a flurry of veiled legal threats and webhosting reluctance, a surf anonymizer closes shop

Octagon Web3D Player (headline)
VRML and X3D player competition heats up with the introduction of a new full-featured 3d plugin
From September 2003

GameGodz - The Revolution (headline)
One of the 'Net's more popular gamers sites has reopened with a splashy new look

VizX3D And Spazz3D (headline)
A favorite VRML authorware revitalizes itself for the 21st Century and X3D
From August 2003

Extensible 3D - Plain Graphics (headline)
The successor to VRML has arrived - illustrated using plain graphics

Extensible 3D - VRML Graphics (headline)
The successor to VRML has arrived - illustrated using VRML graphics

Extensible 3D - X3D Graphics (headline)
The successor to VRML has arrived - illustrated using X3D graphics

Internet Explorer Wins (headline)
As so often happens, a Microsoft product steamrolls all competitors

Contact 6.1 (headline)
The wonderful programmers of BitManagement.DE release the next generation of Contact - everyone's' favorite Web3D viewer

X3d-Edit (headline)
It's an XML and X3D editor, a VRML to X3D convertor, and it's free and perfectly standards compliant
From June 2003

Blaxxun Reborn (headline)
Everyone'ss favorite VRML company emerges intact from bankruptcy

KeenValue.COM (headline)
New scumware vendor in the predatory advertising arena

Jim Wilson Obituary (headline)
A voice of reason is remembered
From May 2003

AdAware 6 (headline)
The new release is done and very much worth the wait

Jpeg 2000 (headline)
Highly compressed with photo quality in a new type of graphics

Messenger Spam (headline)
An old NetBIOS exploit returns to the scene
From April 2003

Xbox Review (headline)
It's beautiful, awesome AND fatally flawed

SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics (headline)
Light, amazingly animated and scriptable, text-encoded graphics

New Look (headline)
Same content and mission, with a totally new 'do
From February 2003

OpenOffice.org (headline)
It's all grown up and ready to take on MS Office

Do Virtual Assistants Need To Be Cutthroat? (column)
by Kathy Ritchie
From January 2003

VNet+ And ABNet (headline)
A complex Java and VRML chat system roars back on the scene with stunning success

Button Colors (headline)
New breakthroughs in DHTML and CSS2 allow the coloring of virtually all buttons, inputs and forms

Contact 6 (headline)
BitManagement.DE is passed the torch and issues the new Contact client for VRML

Cybertown Changes (headline)
The premier VRML cybercity goes pay-for-play

Tainted Graphics (headline)
New ways to hide trojans and virii in graphics revealed - with an easy cure for the afflicted

Scumware Script (headline)
A truly crossbrowser, nonOS specific, nonserver specific script for detecting scumware infections
From December 2002

New Cards (headline)
Fresh graphics and holiday-specific theme cards now available as service expands

Incognito Proxy (headline)
Surf more securely and anonymously via the Incognito Proxy anonymizer script

Guest Columnists (headline)
The News Letter is once again trolling for columnists and essayists

WhatUSeek.COM Banned (headline)
Porno results returned by a once reliable search engine

Ralsky Loses (headline)
A 'Net pest and spammeister suffers an humiliating, stunning, and well deserved loss

Pacranch 2002 (headline)
15 months of continual recoding as the entire site is brought forward into HTML 4.01
From October 2002

XP Player Scandal (headline)
MicroSoft's newest software is ALL spyware

Gator Sued (headline)
The online community's first salvo in the predatory advertising battle is a stunning Federal lawsuit

Blaxxun Webring (headline)
The Blaxxun Web Ring is acquired by Pacoima Ranch
From September 2002

Alexa Settlement (headline)
The long awaited money damages are mailed
From July 2002

Blaxxun Goes Bust (headline)
The VRML community is again shaken to its core

Mall Closed (headline)
Faced with an unprecedented scandal involving merchant cheating, the Pacoima Ranch Mall closes
From June 2002

Flash 6 Flaws (headline)
Serious flaws in the new Flash 6 plugin are noted and documented, with creative workarounds explained
From April 2002

Asian Spam (headline)
Inundated by Asian spam (unsolicited E.Mail), North America and Europe react

Affiliate Fraud (headline)
The affiliate networks are rocked to their core by illegal predatory practices
From March 2002

GameGodz
by Kindred Spirit (site review)

IsaGaming
by Isabella (site review)
From January 2002

Gator Scandal (headline)
Illegal Gator popup advertising promoting kiddie porno sites

Spam Onslaught (headline)
Spammers and mainsleaze companies unleash torrents of UBE and UCE (spam)

Sales Anomalies (headline)
One of the strangest holiday sales seasons in twenty years

New Templates (headline)
Continuing support of E.Commerce through free ready-to-use templates
From November 2001

MSN Lockout (headline)
Microsoft lies again. This time they maintain that Internet Explorer renders HTML 4, CSS2 and XML (XHTML) code better than all other browsers

Confusing Conversationss (column)
by Kathy Ritchie
From October 2001

Advertising Scandal (headline)
Virus-like hidden files in many popular downloads are ripping off webmasters and tracking surfers

Grey Days and Blackout Days (headline)
The 'Net celebrates a holiday all about digital thievery

Happy Second Birthday (column)
by Kathie Ritchie

Storm Season (column)
by Kathie Ritchie
From August 2001

Second Ever Editorial (editorial)
Senior Editor Murphy examines the last seven years of the 'Net's brief history, in "What A Ride"
From July 2001

Advertising Scandal (headline)
Amazon.COM accused of spamming and selling customers information in unfolding marketing mistake

Vision Awards (headline)
The Vision Awards find a new permanent home

Business Park Webring (headline)
100 members and counting

Are They Legit (column)
Researching an online company is good practice

Heavy Sites (column)
Bells and whistles are fun, but how do they affect surfers
From June 2001

Excelland Collapses (headline)
Spot on reporting of the emerging collapse of serverfarm Excelland and freehost The Portal

Search Engines: Love 'Em Or Hate 'Em (column)
How to use them and not be ripped off
From April 2001

Elections 2001 (headline)
Coverage of the elections for the now defunct freehost--The Portal

Porno Emergency (headline)
Serious problems with "pink contract" pornography at Yahoo and GeoCities
From February 2001

Major Upgrades (headline)
Things get faster, new maxiupload feature in File Manager is unveiled, and SSI (Server Side Includes) are enabled

PageMaker Contest (headline)
The winners are revealed in our newest online editor contest
From December 2000

Captains Corner (headline)
Captain Fr. Peter Darin talks about what being a Captain means to him
From November 2000

Captains Corner (headline)
Captain Debbie Anne explains why she's a Captain

Reasons Why Dot Coms Fail:
How to Avoid the Pitfalls Of E.Business (column)

by Kathy Ritchie

Banner Exchanges (column)
by Kathy Ritchie

The Portal: A Review (column)
by Kathy Ritchie

Web Standards (column)
by Kathy Ritchie

How to Critique (column)
by Kathy Ritchie
From October 2000

Captains Corner (headline)
A continuing series with Captain Traveleg and Captain Fonzamundo

Eddie2Dogs Obituary (headline)
We'll miss you, Eddie
From September 2000

Captains Corner (headline)
Candid interviews with Senior Captain Kindred and Captain Derelict