WServerNews: Fixing Windows 11 — already?!

In this issue:

Ask Our Readers: I need help help with my email email! (a logical response). Change for change’s sake? Banking with my phone? Securing enterprise mobile devices. And Finally: Looks like Machine Learning still has a long way to go. Geolocation service recommendation. Fish but no chips. Plus lots more — read it all, read it here on WServerNews!

This one doesn’t need a caption, right? Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! – We’re taking a much-needed break to recover from a busy and stress-filled year. Our next issue will be on January 10th and we’re looking forward to an exciting 2022! If you have any suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in the coming year, feel free to email us! In the meantime Ingrid and myself and the whole TechGenix team wish you Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and enjoyable holidays! 🙂

Ask Our Readers: I need help help with my email email! (a logical response)

In our last issue Brian asked us a question about a weird email problem he was experiencing. His email is too long to include again here but you can read about it in the Ask Our Readers section of our last issue. Anyways, Brian’s question drew the following logical response from reader Martin Urwaleck:

Hi Mitch, concerning the strange email problem: the email header is your friend in such a situation. I would volunteer to have a look at it if I get the real message headers…

Good point of course. So I asked Brian if he could provide some message headers and this was his reply:

OK so I asked someone – we’ll call him Bob and his email address is [email protected] which is not really it of course – to send me a test email to my old email address [email protected]. Sure enough, shortly afterwards Bob’s email message was reflected back to him sent from my new email address [email protected] and below are the headers – readacted somewhat – from the message that was reflected back to him. I can’t see anything helpful in them but maybe someone else can, one of your readers. And FWIW the problem hasn’t occurred again since last I emailed you…strange eh?

Received-SPF: neutral (mail1103c7.megamailservers.com: 192.185.XXX.YYY is neither permitted nor denied by domain of [email protected]) receiver=mail1103c7.megamailservers.com; client-ip=192.185.XXX.YYY; helo=gateway24.websitewelcome.com; envelope-from=[email protected]; x-software=spfmilter 2.001 http://www.acme.com/software/spfmilter/ with libspf2-1.2.10;

DMARC-Filter: OpenDMARC Filter v1.3.2 mail1103c7.megamailservers.com 1A32BN38020863

Authentication-Results: mail1103c7.megamailservers.com; dmarc=none (p=none dis=none) header.from= contoso.com

Authentication-Results: mail1103c7.megamailservers.com; spf=fail smtp.mailfrom= [email protected]

Authentication-Results: mail1103c7.megamailservers.com;

dkim=fail reason=”key not found in DNS” (0-bit key) header.d= contoso.com header.i=@contoso.com header.b=”A4SCoHbP”

X-Envelope-From: [email protected]

Return-Path: < [email protected] >

Received: from gateway24.websitewelcome.com (gateway24.websitewelcome.com [192.185.51.122])

by mail1103c7.megamailservers.com (8.14.9/8.13.1) with ESMTP id 1A32BN38020863

for <[email protected]>; Tue, 2 Nov 2021 22:11:26 -0400

Received: from cm17.websitewelcome.com (cm17.websitewelcome.com [100.42.49.20])

by gateway24.websitewelcome.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 72EF413440B

for < [email protected] >; Tue, 2 Nov 2021 21:10:45 -0500 (CDT)

Received: from box5609.bluehost.com ([162.241.219.26])

by cmsmtp with SMTP

id i5jhm7GhQgm2Ui5jhmyAp6; Tue, 02 Nov 2021 21:10:45 -0500

X-Authority-Reason: nr=8

DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/relaxed;

d= contoso.com; s=default; h=To:In-Reply-To:References:Message-Id:Date:

Subject:Mime-Version:From:Content-Transfer-Encoding:Content-Type:Sender:

Reply-To:Cc:Content-ID:Content-Description:Resent-Date:Resent-From:

Resent-Sender:Resent-To:Resent-Cc:Resent-Message-ID:List-Id:List-Help:

List-Unsubscribe:List-Subscribe:List-Post:List-Owner:List-Archive;

bh=ukZSjxYeAMgU6h1zy1B1J1S9k03f2yzoQs0cKyn2yAw=; b=A4SCoHbPCoamQFe84GS8mfxBet

xAlC8ySLn8gbfKO/FZP/smIwTO/zTUliYgRUl/jCcZ8PfSsoab7t7BKw+9++ZahS/39qisXyPkszL

ErA2v0RCEAbBWSVLB2E+3tcszYWonpQtketaO/vXCGfshYTDaEqb5h5rbxpo2pHlmuFKm4CKm/4ui

BJHsnOszaIYJfqmVq+51UVrYgAjMqcKv2Z2lD9XxkPIRjbXtvdJTdGYX3wIcRyB/uMKC/Yb0Ogn4W

MiGBLAawNaqqwmE1465ysb6HXIcXJ55IMXHoAcY+4p09/Rr5D09X+Re6lvstiVxDBmUbsvFxJcRj7

DH0R3pQA==;

Received: from wnpgmb0538w-ds01-169-55.dynamic.bellmts.net ([142.161.169.55]:54509 helo=smtpclient.apple)

by box5609.bluehost.com with esmtpsa (TLS1.2) tls TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384

(Exim 4.94.2)

(envelope-from < [email protected] >)

id 1mi5jf-00142T-0g

for [email protected]; Tue, 02 Nov 2021 20:10:45 -0600

Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=Apple-Mail-1568DC05-60A7-4D02-98FB-3AE4B3164209

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

From: Brian < [email protected] >

Mime-Version: 1.0 (1.0)

Subject: Re: This is a test message

Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2021 21:10:41 -0500

Message-Id: <FDAA9710-91F6-4982-95E9-020AE2C1E751@ contoso.com >

References: <009c01d7d057$3ad7eac0$b087c040$@northwindtraders.com>

In-Reply-To: <009c01d7d057$3ad7eac0$b087c040$@ northwindtraders.com >

To: Bob <[email protected]>

X-Mailer: iPhone Mail (19B74)

X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report

X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname – box5609.bluehost.com

X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain – northwindtraders.com

X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID – [47 12] / [47 12]

X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain – contoso.com

X-BWhitelist: no

X-Source-IP: 142.161.XXX.YYY

X-Source-L: No

X-Exim-ID: 1mi5jf-00142T-0g

X-Source:

X-Source-Args:

X-Source-Dir:

X-Source-Sender: wnpgmb0538w-ds01-169-55.dynamic.bellmts.net (smtpclient.apple) [142.161. XXX.YYY]:54509

X-Source-Auth: [email protected]

X-Email-Count: 1

X-Source-Cap: c2FuY3R1ZTg7c2FuY3R1ZTg7Ym94NTYwOS5ibHVlaG9zdC5jb20=

X-Local-Domain: yes

X-VADE-SPAMSTATE: clean

X-VADE-SPAMSCORE: 0

X-VADE-SPAMCAUSE: gggruggvucftvghtrhhoucdtuddr……….igvlhgtohhmvgdrtghomhdpmhgrihhlf

X-CTCH-Spam: Unknown

X-CTCH-VOD: Unknown

X-CTCH-RefID: str=0001.0A742F1E.6181EFD0.0013,ss=1,re=0.000,recu=0.000,reip=0.000,cl=1,cld=1,fgs=0

X-CSC: 0

X-CHA: v=2.4 cv=SOkh6MjH c=1 sm=1 tr=0 ts=6181efd1 cx=a_idp_f

a=4DtisaYJ9ASkaQTlkIuNmA==:117 a=U1J11oY6jfxniY8sQPkCbw==:17

a=dLZJa+xiwSxG16/P+YVxDGlgEgI=:19 a=zKGEi97-9SUA:10 a=vIxV3rELxO4A:10

a=7NT7ryqjPSwA:10 a=r21BsZtpAAAA:8 a=1VYNyTLnAAAA:8 a=vggBfdFIAAAA:8

a=jU4qhlNgAAAA:8 a=jI4Q_TffbbXpnfsJ5ekA:9 a=QEXdDO2ut3YA:10

a=xcf_ONoG5FfEX9AlMlAA:9 a=yPGI6Zi_0VQA:10 a=ffw_ayR4lZogCSLm8GdM:22

a=B6a7q4dj-VdoLzGfO8O4:22

X-Origin-Country: US

X-WHL: LR

If any of our newsletter readers can see anything in these headers that might offer a clue as to why Brian’s problem was happening, please let us know. Thanks!

Got questions? Ask our readers!

WServerNews goes out bimonthly to almost 200,000 IT pro subscribers worldwide! That’s a lot of expertise to tap into. Do you need help with some technical problem or are looking for expert advice on something IT-related? You can Ask Our Readers for help by emailing us your problem or question. Do it today!

Editor’s Corner

Here’s where our editor gets to inform, illuminate and inspire you…and also amuse you!

Change for change’s sake?

US President John F. Kennedy once said that “Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” I wonder if Microsoft has made this their new corporate mantra? I like “Your potential, our passion” a lot better than “Change for change’s sake” and I think it’s a better way to build for the future than changing things that work well and everyone likes.

Like the taskbar. Which in Windows 11 no longer lets you drag and drop apps onto the taskbar to create shortcuts for them. Why remove functionality like this that has been around for some time in Windows and which many users find useful? Why, Microsoft? Why give us this Christmas present now?

Fortunately it seems Microsoft has plans to bring that functionality back. But it’s simply one example of several of how Windows 11 is a product whose “improvements” were not thought out carefully and which Microsoft needs to fix in order to placate angry users.

Of course Microsoft isn’t the only big tech company that does stuff like this. Apple for example received a similar level of user complaints when they redesigned how tabs work in Safari as John Gruber explains on his blog Daring Fireball. And that happened at a company whose mantra “design is how it works” originated from the genius of Steve Jobs. Gruber, a die-hard Apple affectionado, even says it’s “hard to express in words how perverse” this design change is because it undermines much of the functionality of tabs in Safari.

Did Microsoft change the taskbar and Start Menu in Windows 11 for similar reasons? Microsoft has been accused in the past of being more of a copycat than an innovator, and I’ve always felt that the move to rolling releases with Windows 10 instead of the traditional Service Pack approach smells more like trendy Apple than tried-and-true Microsoft. Lots of enterprises were upset with having to deal with frequent upgrades to the latest Windows 10 version, and confusion often reigned regarding needing the proper deployment tools and policy templates for each version.

So here is Microsoft now trying to fix what they should have got right in Windows 11 by simply leaving things alone the way they were in Windows 10. In fact why even release a new version of Windows anyways? Just because it’s now got rounded corners? How does that improve functionality? And they even don’t work properly yet!

What are your own thoughts about Windows 11? Let us know.

And now on to some other news and stuff…

Banking with my phone?

While I’m interested in watching the bleeding edge of technology, I’m careful to not get cut. Because I don’t like to bleed—and especially to bleed money.

That’s why I don’t do banking on my phone. I’m conservative about things that are important to my daily life and business.

And this news item from several weeks ago merely reinforces this conservatism in my behavior.

Finland Faces Blizzard of Flubot-Spreading Text Messages (ThreatPost)

https://threatpost.com/finland-flubot-text-messages/176649/

And Scandinavian countries like Finland are already very into mobile banking and similar stuff.

Which is why I stash my cash under my mattress.

Not really of course—it makes the mattress too lumpy to get a good night’s sleep. Maybe hide it under the doormat instead? Or in the chimney? No, Santa might steal it, or one of his elves!

Securing enterprise mobile devices

Since we’ve raised the topic of making sure mobile transactions are secure, some good news is that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a guide to help secure enterprise-managed mobile devices. The guide is only two pages long and highlights simple but important best practices organizations should follow. You can download it here (PDF). And they also released a similar mobile device security checklist for consumers which you can download here (PDF), though IMO this will probably not help the average consumer much who only wants to use their phone to take selfies and check their Facebook. Still, you might use that second checklist and go over each item with your grandma when you have her over for Christmas dinner.

Our thanks to Roger one of our colleagues who forwarded us information about these.

And Finally: Looks like Machine Learning still has a long way to go

Machine Learning (ML) which is often used interchangeably to mean Artificial Intelligence (AI) — although the two are somewhat different — gets a lot of people really excited nowadays as it promises to simply many difficult tasks that businesses face in their operations. And the easier your business becomes to run, the more money you can make, right?

But what if you simply want to use ML to make money directly by automating your investment decisions? Can ML help you find which stocks are going to go up in the near term so you can invest heavily in them and make a million bucks? One trader tried that and his experience is worth a read—enjoy!

Got comments about anything in this issue?

Email us! We love hearing from our readers!

Please tell others about WServerNews!

Enjoy this issue of WServerNews and feel free to send us feedback on any of the topics we’ve covered — we love hearing from our readers! And please tell others about WServerNews! It’s free and always will be free — and they can subscribe to it here. Thanks!!!

Tip of the Week

Geolocation service recommendation

Need a good geolocation service for the online solution you’re building? Some services out there are not very accurate when it comes to certain countries or urban areas. But one service that’s been recommended to me by colleagues who work at CDNs and Tier 1 ISPs is IPInsight.io, check it out:

https://ipinsight.io/

Admin Toolbox

>> Got any admin tools or software you’d like to recommend to our readers? Email us your recommendations!

dtSearch®-Instantly Search Terabytes. Doc. filters for popular file types, emails, databases & web data; 25+ search options; Win/Lin/Mac C++/Java/.NET Core APIs; Azure/AWS FAQs. Enterprise/dev evals available.

https://dtsearch.com/

SmartTaskbar is a lightweight windows taskbar enhancement utility:

https://github.com/ChanpleCai/SmartTaskbar

IPBan Monitors failed logins and bad behavior and bans ip addresses on Windows and Linux:

https://github.com/DigitalRuby/IPBan

Pathcopycopy lets you copy file paths from Windows explorer’s contextual menu:

https://github.com/clechasseur/pathcopycopy

Factoid: Fish but no chips

Our previous factoid and question was this:

Fact: It’s now been proven that future spacecrafts can use the pressure of light collected from the sun to power their flight into outer space.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-11-lightsail-months-paving-future-solar.html

Question: Which science fiction author first came up with this idea? Which author came up with the best story using this idea? Think it might ever be practical for us to use it to colonize the universe?

Dawes responded to this by saying:

Russell Saunders, Clipper Ships of Space

I believe that’s correct as you can read about here. And for those interested the author’s real name was Carl Atwood Wiley and he was a mathematician and engineer who eventually retired as a chief scientist in the technology division of Hughes’ Space and Communications Group.

As for the feasibility of us earthlings getting to the stars by harnessing the pressure of light from our sun, reader Wayne Hanks had some sobering comments to make concerning this:

Regarding light sails, my favorite is the Motie ship in The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. A classic first contact story, with an intriguing alien thrown into the mix. However I also remember Arthur C Clark and Isaac Asimov both wrote stories about them. The biggest problem though with light sails is that they are only able to reach a percentage of light speed, and probably not a very high percentage at that, simply because of the damage incurred as they strike debris in their path. Like sailing boats, light sails have a huge blind spot and very slow turn avoidance.

Now let’s move on to our next factoid, and I know Black Friday is already behind us, but…

Fact: Chip Shortages Loom Over Black Friday

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-11-26/black-friday-deals-are-undercut-by-chip-shortages-but-the-end-may-be-in-sight

Question: How has the chip shortage been affecting your own purchases and/or that of your business or the company you work for? Email us your answer and we’ll include it in our next issue!

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