GREAT NEWS!The LangaList is Merging with Windows Secrets!
I have great news! The LangaList is merging with the Windows Secrets
Newsletter, a well-known source of little-known tips published by Brian
Livingston. I'll be the editor of the combined publication and Brian will be editorial director.
Brian will be familiar to many of you--- he's been writing about tech and personal PCs ever since there first *were* PCs. <g> He's the author or co-author of 10 books, including the best-selling "Windows Secrets" series. He also wrote a column for InfoWorld Magazine for 12 years--- an incredibly long time in this business, and a sign of his expertise--- and has been a Contributing Editor of CNET News.com, PC/Computing, PC World, Windows Sources, and Windows Magazine. But in the unlikely chance you don't know Brian or his work, check this out: http://brianlivingston.com/aboutbrian/
Together, the merged newsletter will have double my previous circulation — more than a quarter of a million subscribers, compared with about 140,000 today. This will extend the reach of the newsletter and help me to bring you even better content. At first, the combined newsletter will be called Windows Secrets & LangaList. On Jan. 1, 2007, the name will revert to simply the Windows Secrets Newsletter.
What's in it for you? For one thing, better service. As you probably know, I've been a one-man shop for most of the last 10 years, and running the newsletter simply has grown beyond what one person can reasonably handle. Brian, on the other hand, has an excellent, professional staff and a sophisticated email-publishing system that will remove almost all the quirks and oddities that have cropped up from time to time with my home-grown system.
For example, Brian's system automatically uses a form of digital signing ("domain keys") for each copy of his newsletter. Many ISPs look for this kind of digital signature as a way of validating email: With a domain key, it's much less likely that your newsletters will be falsely flagged as spam, so you get more reliable newsletter delivery. And best of all, this happens behind the scenes--- you don't have to do anything different.
Brian's system has many other benefits--- built-in anti-phishing protection, a one-click way to have any issue re-emailed to you (starting Nov. 16), a vastly improved subscribe/unsubscribe and change-address system, and lots, lots more--- including input from some truly world-class tech talent: http://windowssecrets.com/about/
You'll start seeing these benefits almost immediately: I've already moved my operations over to the WindowsSecrets.com server. (That's why you may have seen the "under maintenance" pages at Langa.Com these last few days: That was the move, in progress.)
The LangaList will keep publishing in its current format for a few more issues, and then you'll receive the first combined issue of the new, merged newsletter on Nov. 16, 2006. But there's a lot we need to do in the meantime, and the transition will go better if you know what's going on:
1. As mentioned above, I've already moved my operations over to the WindowsSecrets.com server. It's much faster and has a more powerful database engine than my old server. That means you'll see the name WindowsSecrets.com in my Web addresses from now on. But don't worry; it's still me! <g>
2. I've already given you a unique reader number as an anti-phishing measure, and to help keep things straight. How will you know that mailings from Langa.com and WindowsSecrets.com are really from me? Look for your unique reader number at the top or bottom. Spammers couldn't possibly know this number, so you can be assured my messages are legit.
If you didn't receive a reader number by email yet, you will, soon.
3. I'm upgrading all subscribers, both free and paid, to HTML. After the newsletters merge, free subscribers will still get a meaty, substantial newsletter and Plus! subscribers still will get all that, plus access to lots more content that's not in the free version--- and extra benefits besides (stay tuned for details!). But *everyone* will enjoy better delivery reliability and fewer format problems:
Why HTML for all? In the past, due to due to problems with early mail clients that existed when we started the LangaList, I couldn't let free subscribers get the HTML version by email: With just one of me here, I couldn't afford the time it would have taken to sort out all the myriad display and delivery hassles that would have happened. But today, almost every e-mail program works fine with HTML; and also lets you turn off images or turn off HTML entirely, if you wish. With the email clients taking care of that part of the problem, there's now there's no reason not to send everyone an HTML version.
But if you still want a plain-text email, no problem: Both free and paid subscribers can switch to a "notify-only" version, which will continue to be nothing but plain ASCII text and a link. (This is explained in point 4.)
And BTW: I'm discontinuing the "digest" version of the newsletter, because only about 250 readers out of 140,000 selected it. If you still want a short-and-sweet "just the facts" version, the Notify edition is a better option; see next item, below)
4. You need to choose a new set of preferences today. The Windows Secrets server allows me to offer you options that I simply couldn't offer you before. You can have an alternate address, in case your main one gets flaky at times. You can specify a particular locale to help us plan local content. And you can select the complete version or the notify-only version.
To set your preferences, please use the following link:
http://WindowsSecrets.com/langa/prefs/
If you didn't receive your reader number by email yet, you can use the "Forgot your reader number? Let us e-mail it to you." link on the above page to have the number mailed to you immediately. If that still doesn't work, please drop a short note to the address shown in #5 below, for assistance.
5. I have a new e-mail address. Now that I'm editing Windows Secrets & LangaList, I'll be using a new address to send and receive e-mail. Please add the following to your e-mail program's address book and its "safe-senders" list:
69.56.202.236
216.182.80.209
64.81.161.108
If your ISP or IT department needs reassurances, show them this note; and refer them to our ironclad privacy policy here: http://windowssecrets.com/privacy/ In short: Just as before, we'll never, ever spam you, and we'll zealously protect your privacy .
7. You'll be in good hands if you have subscriptions to both publications. (a) If you paid for subscriptions to both newsletters, I've moved your expiry date forward so you won't lose any of the time you've paid for. (b) If you have a paid sub to only one title, you'll still be a paid subscriber to the combined newsletter. (c) If you have free subscriptions to both, you'll only receive one copy of the merged publication. (d) If you used two different addresses to subscribe, wait until Nov. 16, then simply unsubscribe one of your addresses to eliminate any duplication.
Next week, around Nov. 6 or 7, I'll send you a very short HTML message as a test. Brian and I have developed a simple e-mail format that works well in virtually every e-mail program that's in use today. If you set your new preferences by then, you'll get the format you prefer, even if that's just a notification of the new message.
That's it for now! I'll still be bringing you great tips in the free version of the combined newsletter and even more great tips in the paid version. I'll just be sending the information to a lot more people.
Remember to SET YOUR PREFERENCES NOW!
http://WindowsSecrets.com/langa/prefs/
Thanks for your support. And now, on with the show!
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