[PL] 2004 Discussion: INTERNET

[Susan Bugher]

The Nominations page is here:

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php

Nominated programs can be evaluated at this time. A valuable program may
been have been overlooked during the nomination period. Late nominations
and seconds are permitted during the discussion period if there is
support for the program.

This thread is for review and comments related to programs on the
INTERNET page.

Programs that were nominated and seconded are listed below. The
subcategory is shown after the program name.

K-meleon (1 Browser)
Mozilla (1 Browser)
Mozilla Firebird (was Phoenix) (1 Browser)
Avant Browser (1 Browser Shell)
Crazy Browser (1 Browser Shell)
MyIE2 (1 Browser Shell)
SlimBrowser (1 Browser Shell)
OffByOne (1 Browser-Small)
Amphetadesk (2 Browser Tool)
Dave's Quick Search Taskbar Toolbar Deskbar (2 Browser Tool)
Google Toolbar (2 Browser Tool)
IE 5 Power Tweaks Web Accessories (2 Browser Tool)
IE 5 Web Accessories (2 Browser Tool)
IE 5 Web Accessories - Quick Search (2 Browser Tool)
Optimoz (2 Browser Tool)
SetBrowser (2 Browser Tool)
Weather Watcher (2 Browser Tool)
Hosts File (2 Content Filter)
Hosts Toggle (2 Content Filter)
Privoxy (2 Content Filter)
The Proxomitron (2 Content Filter)
Webwasher (2 Content Filter)
Cookie Muncher (2 Cookie Manager)
CookieWall (2 Cookie Manager)
Popup Manager (2 Popup Killer)
PopupStopper (2 Popup Killer)
Columbine Bookmark Merge (CBM) (2 URL: Bookmarks-Favorites)
WebMon (2 URL: Bookmarks-Favorites)
AM-DeadLink (2 URL: Checker-Validator)
Xenu's Link Sleuth (2 URL: Checker-Validator)
CopyURL (2 URL: Clipboard tool)
UrlRun (2 URL: Clipboard tool)
Visit URL (2 URL: Clipboard tool)
Bookmark Wizard (2 URL: Convert To HTML)
IceChat (3 Chat Client)
Miranda IM (3 Chat Client)
Trillian (3 Chat Client)
Geminisoft Pimmy (3 Email And News Client)
Noworyta News Reader (3 Email And News Client)
Outlook Express (3 Email And News Client)
Sylpheed (3 Email And News Client)
Hamster (3 Email And News Server)
Korrnews (3 Email And News Tool)
OE-Quotefix (3 Email And News Tool)
Outlook-Quotefix (3 Email And News Tool)
UUDWin (3 Email And News Tool)
ePrompter (3 Email Checker)
Magic Mail Monitor (3 Email Checker)
Mailwasher (3 Email Checker)
nPOP (3 Email Checker)
POP Peeper (3 Email Checker)
PopCorn (3 Email Checker)
PopTray (3 Email Checker)
YahooPOPs! (3 Email Checker)
Calypso (3 Email Client)
FoxMail (3 Email Client)
Pegasus Mail (3 Email Client)
Scribe (3 Email Client)
K9 (3 Email Spam Tool)
POPFile (3 Email Spam Tool)
SpamPal (3 Email Spam Tool)
Kookie Jar (3 Email Tool)
QuickSilver (3 Email Tool)
40tude Dialog (3 Newsreader)
Gravity (3 Newsreader)
Pan (3 Newsreader)
Super Gravity (3 Newsreader)
Xnews (3 Newsreader)
AGO Agent Group Order (3 Newsreader Tool)
Binary News Reader (BNR) (3 Newsreader: Binary)
DLExpert (4 Download Manager)
DownloadExpress (4 Download Manager)
LeechGet (4 Download Manager)
Octopus (4 Download Manager)
Star Downloader (4 Download Manager)
HTTRACK (WinHTTrack) (4 Download Web Sites)
Webreaper (4 Download Web Sites)
GrabIt (4 Download: Binaries)
PowerGrab 2002 (4 Download: Binaries)
eMule (4 Download: Peer To Peer )
KaZaA Lite (4 Download: Peer To Peer )
Shareaza (4 Download: Peer To Peer )
WinMX (4 Download: Peer To Peer )
FileZilla (4 FTP Client)
FTP Wanderer (4 FTP Client)
LeechFTP (4 FTP Client)
SmartFTP (4 FTP Client)
WS_FTP LE (4 FTP Client)
CesarFTP (4 FTP Server)
FTP Server (4 FTP Server)
Proxy+ (4 Proxy Server)
IntelliTamper (4 Spider)
Putty (4 Telnet Client)
TightVNC (5 Network Computing)
VNC (5 Network Computing)
CyberKit (5 Network Tool)
NetStat Live (5 Network Tool)
Sam Spade (5 Network Tool)
TCP Optimizer (TCP/IP Optimizer) (5 Network Tool)
NetLaunch (5 Network: DUN Manager)


Susan
--
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org
PL2003: http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/about2003PL.htm
PL2004 Review: http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php
alt.comp.freeware FAQ (short) - maintained by John F.
http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html

 

[Jordan]

The Nominations page is here:

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php

Nominated programs can be evaluated at this time. A valuable program
may been have been overlooked during the nomination period. Late
nominations and seconds are permitted during the discussion period if
there is support for the program.

I'd like to nominate Cookie Monster 3.00.
http://www.ampsoft.net/english/Utilities.html#CookieMonster

This utility is a manager for cookies created by the most usual Windows
browsers: Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape and Opera. It also works with
any Gecko-based browser and most of the browsers based in Internet Explorer.
The program allows you set a list of the cookies you want to preserve and
then delete the remaining ones with a simple mouse click. It also have the
option of detecting the cookies for the sites included in your favorites
and/or bookmarks.

Useful for people who cares about his privacy but don't want to disable or
block all the cookies (a lot of pages need them to work properly).

What's new:

Redesigned interface:

The preserved cookie list is managed straight from the main window.
The two cookie lists are splitted vertically instead of horizontally, to use
better the available space, specially at high resolutions.
Several parameters for displaying the cookie lists are now configurable.
All the the options are now located in a separate window.
Full support of Windows XP Themes (using Windows XP Theme Manager by Mike
Lischke).
The full list of preserved cookies is now remembered even if some of the
cookies are not found.
Added the option of searching for matches between favorites/bookmarks and
the cookies found.
Added a help file.
The 'www.' is now ignored when sorting the lists by web site.
Some other minor changes.
Partial fix for a display problem when the desktop is set to 120 DPI.
Fixed other minor bugs.

 

[George Skandalidis]

Programs that were nominated and seconded are listed below. The
subcategory is shown after the program name.

40tude Dialog (3 Newsreader)
Gravity (3 Newsreader)
Pan (3 Newsreader)
Super Gravity (3 Newsreader)
Xnews (3 Newsreader)
AGO Agent Group Order (3 Newsreader Tool)
Binary News Reader (BNR) (3 Newsreader: Binary)

So, Forte Free Agent has failed the nominations phase once again?
Don't many people use it? A tool for Agent was nominated, but not the
free version of the program? I was reluctant to nominate it myself,
because the last free version I've tried was 1.21 and I don't know if
the newer free versions have severe limitations. Do they?

Anyway, here goes: I nominate Forte Free Agent.
Program: Forte Free Agent
Category: Internet-Newsreader
Version: 1.93
Company: Forte Internet Software
Home Page: http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php
Download link: ftp://ftp3.forteinc.com/pub/agent/english/a32en193.exe
Size: 2,29 MB
OS: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, & XP (also 16-bit version for 3.1)
Description: Free Agent 1.93 is a scaled-down version of Agent that is
free for personal use. See homepage for features.

 

[Duddits]

So, Forte Free Agent has failed the nominations phase once again?
Don't many people use it? A tool for Agent was nominated, but not the
free version of the program? I was reluctant to nominate it myself,
because the last free version I've tried was 1.21 and I don't know if
the newer free versions have severe limitations. Do they?

Anyway, here goes: I nominate Forte Free Agent.
Program: Forte Free Agent
Category: Internet-Newsreader
Version: 1.93
Company: Forte Internet Software
Home Page: http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php
Download link: ftp://ftp3.forteinc.com/pub/agent/english/a32en193.exe
Size: 2,29 MB
OS: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, & XP (also 16-bit version for 3.1)
Description: Free Agent 1.93 is a scaled-down version of Agent that is
free for personal use. See homepage for features.

AFAIK, Free Agent doesn't support Yenc therefore making it ineffective, if
not useless, as a binary news downloader.

regards

Dud

 

[me]

So, Forte Free Agent has failed the nominations phase once again?
Don't many people use it? A tool for Agent was nominated, but not the
free version of the program? I was reluctant to nominate it myself,
because the last free version I've tried was 1.21 and I don't know if
the newer free versions have severe limitations. Do they?

Anyway, here goes: I nominate Forte Free Agent.
Program: Forte Free Agent
Category: Internet-Newsreader
Version: 1.93
Company: Forte Internet Software
Home Page: http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php
Download link: ftp://ftp3.forteinc.com/pub/agent/english/a32en193.exe
Size: 2,29 MB
OS: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, & XP (also 16-bit version for 3.1)
Description: Free Agent 1.93 is a scaled-down version of Agent that is
free for personal use. See homepage for features.

delurk

Forte Free Agent

Seconded



Peggy

 

[George Skandalidis]

This thread is for review and comments related to programs on the
INTERNET page.

Programs that were nominated and seconded are listed below. The
subcategory is shown after the program name.

Star Downloader (4 Download Manager)

Once again (and sorry if this is tiring) :
Anyone having a problem with corrupted downloads when using this tool?
Tried it for a couple of months, latest version, nice interface, clean
install/uninstall, good features. HOWEVER, more than 10% of
downloaded files were corrupted during the download process. This is
a conservative estimate. Could be more than 20%.

I can live with few features (WackGet)
I can live with a clunky interface (DL Express)
I can live with iffy handling of redirects (all except DL Express)
I can (well,not really) live with maddening limitations (LeechGet)
But when a manager says "download complete" the file must be intact.
This is very important for large files over slow connections.

So, was it me or the program?

 

[George Skandalidis]

AFAIK, Free Agent doesn't support Yenc therefore making it ineffective, if
not useless, as a binary news downloader.

I am sure you are right, but are many people in need of such a
feature? I don't subscribe to a premium usenet service and cannot get
a binary even if I wanted to. My guess is the same applies to the
majority of usenet users, but I could be wrong.
I have tried other programs and the only one that has left me
half-satisfied so far has been XanaNews. All others seemed to be
either online-only (XNews-Pravda) or too glossy for my taste
(MesNews). I guess I have grown too fond of the Agent interface.
If there was no full version, what would you use for news
reading/posting?

 

[omega]

Re: Free Agent

I am sure you are right, but are many people in need of such a
feature? I don't subscribe to a premium usenet service and cannot get
a binary even if I wanted to. My guess is the same applies to the
majority of usenet users, but I could be wrong.

Statistics I've read, by news admins, it's pretty startling. Majority of
total usage is binaries. Most popular type of the binaries are, uhm,
pictures, and not of things like landscapes and architecure. (Disclaimer:
usage stats I used to read were from 4+yrs ago. Still, I don't think the
pattern would have shifted towards text in the interim.) Remember that
Playboy outsells Scientific American by ratio of what...whatever number,
it's a beach of sand compared up against a few seashells.

Despite this, I do not see dismissing a news client on the basis of its
binary handling. I thought that those who spend their attentions collecting
binaries would use news programs dedicated to that function.(?) Then
those of us who do use our readers for the original, intended purpose
of Usenet, textual communication, we evaluate news readers according to
their capabilities therein.

I have tried other programs and the only one that has left me
half-satisfied so far has been XanaNews. All others seemed to be
either online-only (XNews-Pravda) or too glossy for my taste
(MesNews). I guess I have grown too fond of the Agent interface.

Free Agent is getting in here so very tardy, especially for something
that thas a shadow of controversy, as far as sufficient functionality.
There's dispute about some other aspects of its limitationss, not binary,
but I don't recall the details...

If there was no full version, what would you use for news
reading/posting?

I'll leave that question for others. (I would be pained to picture a world
where I didn't have my full $Agent there for me.)

 

[REMbranded]

Statistics I've read, by news admins, it's pretty startling. Majority of
total usage is binaries. Most popular type of the binaries are, uhm,
pictures, and not of things like landscapes and architecure. (Disclaimer:
usage stats I used to read were from 4+yrs ago. Still, I don't think the
pattern would have shifted towards text in the interim.) Remember that
Playboy outsells Scientific American by ratio of what...whatever number,
it's a beach of sand compared up against a few seashells.

All points are good. There might be a y-enc subcategory and one
without it?

While the new format is popular, many still post in the old format
also, so I don't think I would call this a cripple unless all I did
was binaries. The program is a "news reader" <G>.

<alt.binaries.pictures.scenic> is a really nice group as far as
binaries go!

 

[omega]

(e-mail address removed):

<alt.binaries.pictures.scenic> is a really nice group as far as
binaries go!

Honey, those pictures? Oh, they're from alt.binaries.pictures.scenic. You
don't need to look them over. What? Why I encrypted them? Oooh, well that
makes their file sizes smaller, that's all, dear.

(Hey Rem, you I do believe, though. I took a glance yesterday at the
gorgeous lake, as well as a few snapshots of the goats, and other)

 

[omega]

(e-mail address removed):

All points are good. There might be a y-enc subcategory and one
without it?

Pasting from <[email protected]>:

Geminisoft Pimmy (3 Email And News Client)
Noworyta News Reader (3 Email And News Client)
Outlook Express (3 Email And News Client)
Sylpheed (3 Email And News Client)
UUDWin (3 Email And News Tool)
40tude Dialog (3 Newsreader)
Gravity (3 Newsreader)
Pan (3 Newsreader)
Super Gravity (3 Newsreader)
Xnews (3 Newsreader)
Binary News Reader (BNR) (3 Newsreader: Binary)
GrabIt (4 Download: Binaries)
PowerGrab 2002 (4 Download: Binaries)

It looks tricky to me, to do the y-enc subcat into there? One thing
from this list, the binary users appear to have their needs pretty well
addressed.

While the new format is popular, many still post in the old format
also, so I don't think I would call this a cripple unless all I did
was binaries. The program is a "news reader" <G>.

Right, exactly. A news reader, which you use to read news on Usenet. A
binary downloader does not fit into that definition. It might be an extra
feature added into a news reader, but it should not be a feature whereby
you judge a news reader's essential functionality.

Of course, I am a traditionalist, re Usenet. And even if you told me
someone just posted a whole bunch of nudes of Jean-Claude Van Damme...
Where then I found a barrier, that my reader couldn't do the y-enc decode,
I'd just use a different tool for my immmediate need to get those pics.

 

[Duddits]

Right, exactly. A news reader, which you use to read news on Usenet. A
binary downloader does not fit into that definition. It might be an extra
feature added into a news reader, but it should not be a feature whereby
you judge a news reader's essential functionality.

1. I beg to differ. I use Agent, XNews and 40tude Dialog for news readers
*and* binary downloaders. IMNSHO, binary only downloaders are clunky and
unjustly reduce newsgroups to FTP servers.
2. Don't paint binary download folks with such a broad brush. Remember
SPAM makes up the large majority of E-mail yet most folks strive not to
view it.

regards

Dud

 

[BillR]

Once again (and sorry if this is tiring) :
Anyone having a problem with corrupted downloads when using this tool?
Tried it for a couple of months, latest version, nice interface, clean
install/uninstall, good features. HOWEVER, more than 10% of
downloaded files were corrupted during the download process. This is
a conservative estimate. Could be more than 20%.

I can live with few features (WackGet)
I can live with a clunky interface (DL Express)
I can live with iffy handling of redirects (all except DL Express)
I can (well,not really) live with maddening limitations (LeechGet)
But when a manager says "download complete" the file must be intact.
This is very important for large files over slow connections.

So, was it me or the program?

I also had some problems (Win2k) with incomplete/corrupt downloads
using Star Downloader. A major aggravation when I am not warned.

I've been using NetTransport (AKA Net Transport) recently. It is
fairly feature rich, has a reasonably clean interface, is moderately
good with redirects, and doesn't have too many limitations. My
complaints:
1. Download doesn't start immediately while I am modifying the
properties(moderate aggravation);
2. Default download name has to be copied in order to modify it
(minor);
3. Small comment window that can't be resized (without a hack)
(minor);
4. Comment is not stored as or copied to a Windows file attribute
(minor);
5. Can't reorder job folder order (creation order only) except by
renaming folders as a temporary set of folders, creating new folders
in order desired, moving all jobs from temp folders, and finally
deleting temp folders (minor);
6. Fails with some redirects and doesn't catch all downloads (minor).

My basis for comparison is Flashget, which I generally liked. I'd
probably still be using it except that I cannot tolerate anything that
flashes/blinks other than the text cursor. My problems with Flashget
were (and remain): 1. Obnoxious flashing ads; 2. Ads downloaded every
time it was opened; 3. Tracking cookies used; 4. Downloads didn't
start immediately.

BillR

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=]

Pasting from <[email protected]>:

Geminisoft Pimmy (3 Email And News Client)
Noworyta News Reader (3 Email And News Client)
Outlook Express (3 Email And News Client)
Sylpheed (3 Email And News Client)
UUDWin (3 Email And News Tool)
40tude Dialog (3 Newsreader)
Gravity (3 Newsreader)
Pan (3 Newsreader)
Super Gravity (3 Newsreader)
Xnews (3 Newsreader)
Binary News Reader (BNR) (3 Newsreader: Binary)
GrabIt (4 Download: Binaries)
PowerGrab 2002 (4 Download: Binaries)

It looks tricky to me, to do the y-enc subcat into there? One
thing from this list, the binary users appear to have their needs
pretty well addressed.

AFAIK, the only readers on the nominations list which do not decode
yEnced binaries are FreeAgent and OE, but there are some I am unsure
about.

Right, exactly. A news reader, which you use to read news on
Usenet. A binary downloader does not fit into that definition. It
might be an extra feature added into a news reader, but it should
not be a feature whereby you judge a news reader's essential
functionality.

Define "read".

IMO, people who are looking for a Usenet client which will handle
binaries are unlikely to search for a "binary downloader." Since
yEnc gained popularity, a /lot/ of users of apps which do not support
it have found their way to news.software.readers to ask for
suggestioned readers that can decode it. When looking at
pricelessware.org for a solution, I think they will look for
"newsreader" or "Usenet client" /much/ more frequently than "binary
downloader."

 

[Susan Bugher]

Define "read".

IMO, people who are looking for a Usenet client which will handle
binaries are unlikely to search for a "binary downloader." Since
yEnc gained popularity, a /lot/ of users of apps which do not support
it have found their way to news.software.readers to ask for
suggestioned readers that can decode it. When looking at
pricelessware.org for a solution, I think they will look for
"newsreader" or "Usenet client" /much/ more frequently than "binary
downloader."

See if those subcategories look better now - are other changes needed?

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/PL2004CategoryIndex.htm

Susan
--
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org
PL2003: http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/about2003PL.htm
PL2004 Review: http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php
alt.comp.freeware FAQ (short) - maintained by John F.
http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html

 

[omega]

(e-mail address removed) (BillR):

Anyone having a problem with corrupted downloads when using this tool?

I also had some problems (Win2k) with incomplete/corrupt downloads [...]
I've been using NetTransport (AKA Net Transport) recently. [...]
My basis for comparison is Flashget

[...]

That's what I much enjoy reading...a review of similar tools, all
together.

Thanks, BillR!

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=]

<
[about newsreaders]

See if those subcategories look better now - are other changes
needed?

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/PL2004CategoryIndex.htm

I think that should work fine, letting people easily see all the
choices. On the eventual PL page, I think it might be a good idea to
have the 'newsreader' and 'newsreader: binary' subcategories right next
to each other, with 'newsreader tools' below them, but that's no
biggie.

 

[Harvey Van Sickle]

On 17 Nov 2003, Susan Bugher wrote

The Nominations page is here:

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php

Nominated programs can be evaluated at this time. A valuable
program may been have been overlooked during the nomination
period. Late nominations and seconds are permitted during the
discussion period if there is support for the program.

This thread is for review and comments related to programs on the
INTERNET page.

SmartFTP (4 FTP Client)

Is this for the "last non-nagware" version, or for the current version?

(The one I tried had a randomly-generated nag screen during office
hours, to remind you of its restriction to non-commercial use.)

 

[jason]

I am sure you are right, but are many people in need of such a
feature? I don't subscribe to a premium usenet service and cannot get
a binary even if I wanted to. My guess is the same applies to the
majority of usenet users, but I could be wrong.

If you're into downloading MP3s, you'll definitely need yEnc!

 

[omega]

[about newsreaders]

See if those subcategories look better now - are other changes
needed?

http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/PL2004CategoryIndex.htm

I think that should work fine, letting people easily see all the
choices. On the eventual PL page, I think it might be a good idea to
have the 'newsreader' and 'newsreader: binary' subcategories right next
to each other, with 'newsreader tools' below them, but that's no
biggie.

Agree, I like the change to how it's laid out now.

(Note there's just one entry under newsreader tool: a trivial F/Agent add-on,
which I can't see as making it to Pricelessware.)

.. . .

Since yEnc gained popularity, a /lot/ of users of apps which do not support
it have found their way to news.software.readers to ask for
suggestioned readers that can decode it.

[...]

Since it's a widely-sought feature for binary users, seem it'd be a good
help for PL2004 winners to have their yenc support mentioned as part of
their descriptions? (A "find" on the current nominations page brings up
only 2 hits as now.)