The Risks Digest
Volume 23: Issue 48: Many popular instant-messaging tools interpret text 'emoticons' and replace them with graphical icons. For example, if you send your buddy a colon-right-parenthesis, your correspondent's messaging client may replace the :) with a yellow smiley-face icon.

This is very nice, but the sender has no control. And it's hard to know in advance what character-strings will be parsed into what kind of unintended image.

A colleague was discussing his 401(k) plan with his boss, who happens to be female, via instant messaging. He discovered, to his horror, that the boss' instant-messaging client was rendering the '(k)' as a big pair of red smoochy lips. :(

- posted by Sophont @ 5:18 PM

 
InformationWeek > Langa Letter > Langa Letter: Ten Ways To Make Windows XP Run Better > December 10, 2001
InformationWeek > Langa Letter > Langa Letter: Ten Ways To Make Windows XP Run Better > December 10, 2001: "9) Take The Brakes Off Your Network Settings
XP's default network settings for Maximum Transmission Unit, Receive Window, and such, may or may not be ideal for your circumstances. The only way to know is to take a close look: For example, DSL Reports http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks and SpeedGuide http://www.speedguide.net/%20target= have excellent free information, online tests, and even one-click tweaks that can automatically optimize all or some of XP's internal plumbing for high-speed connectivity. DSL Reports also offers a free, simple network tweaking tool called DrTCP that lets you instantly and easily adjust a variety of parameters; this tool makes iterative testing a snap, as you experiment to find the best settings for your particular setup.

(Incidentally, when WinXP-specific solutions aren't offered, use those for Windows 2000; that's the closest match for XP.)"
- posted by Sophont @ 4:37 PM