Client Configurations for LES DUMMIES

FAQ

You're kidding, right? All the URLs are your own.
Why would someone want 4 URLs all pointing to the same thing?

It is meant for the dummies: it has to be foolproof.
Mixing keyrings and stats from different origins is a known Source Of Problems.
While I know that *all* 4 sources from me are synchronized.
While I know that *all* 4 Websites will not be down at the *same* time.
So, unless I am on vacation, configurations proposed will *always* work.
And info after the first working link is not used anyways.

There are other sources of stats out there, why don't you list some of the better alternatives?

There is the problem of pingers disappearing, temporarily or forever.
These 'Client Configurations for LES DUMMIES' pages are meant to be 'static'
   as opposed to All Pinger's Index and MetaStats which are fully automated since 2002/10/01.
I can't imagine myself taking weekly ScreenShots from softwares I don't even use on my machine.
And I don't want this page to become one more source of links to obsolete Stats/Keys webpages.

And YES most of my 'competitors' are quite good
   and I am happy with that
   and I respect them
   and I think they know it

How do you keep your stats and keyrings up to date?
What should I do to get the same result?

There is no mystery:
    Time spent gathering information, a few programs, and final manual review.
Most remailers announce their birth in apas, some only in remops list.
But some won't and I just find them in 'competitors'' pages: I have to keep tuned.
Then there are updates: key changes are generally announced in apas and remops list,
   but not always.
Capability-string updates are nearly never announced,
while it might ruin one's mail just as bad as a key change.
As I maintain a Thesaurus, I automatically send remailer-xxx queries to all known remailers.
The answers sit on my disk where they can be compared to what is in my public keyrings.
Programs take care of that:
   Interactive Thesaurus Query
   Interactive Thesaurus Capability-String Analysis
   Interactive Thesaurus Key Analysis
But the last say belongs to a human -me- to defeat potential MITM attacks.
Besides security reasons, the semi-automated way is just cheaper.

OK, you are the best, but how can I choose a good pinger if you are not here?

You better be ready because I usually take long summer vacations.
And remote control of my computer from my secluded island is not always convenient.
I am happy there are other good pingers around because it keeps me awake,
   and I dont want to take the whole responsibility of the whole world
   single links easily become weak links or targets: I don't want that.
I designed the MetaStats as a convenient way to compare the different pingers.
'Reverse analysis' listings allow to pinpoint pingers which hold 'abnormal' information:
     they might be precursors who are referencing a brand-new remailer
     they might be unmaintained keyrings which keep old corpses.
It is not too difficult to make the difference, and after a few times you know who is reliable.
At very least, you know which keyrings / stats are still online, but have been abandoned by indignant parents.

Call me stupid, I don't understand a thing to those 'X' 'H' 'T' 'F'... in those pages referencing pingers.
And how do you get the URLs anyways?

Not every pinger supplies all flavours of stats/keyrings:
    a ' ' means he does not supply the thing
    a 'X' means he does
    a 'T' stands for a .txt version
    a 'H' stands for a .html version
    a 'F' stands for a finger version
    a 'M' stands for mail
a page like All Pinger's Index contains a few hundreds URLs:
    nobody wants to see them
    it would not be readable by a normal human
Depending on your browser, you generally have to right-click the active 'X' 'H' .... to copy the link:
You will just have to paste it directly into your client to avoid any typo.
(It is a good idea to click first and check both existence and content of the linked page....)

I keep having dead remailers on my keyrings...Isn't that thing automated?

No client I know of will take the liberty to *remove* anything from your keyrings.
Except for Mix where newcomer replaces previous key (older or newer...), it works on 'append' mode.
Basically, you got 3 strategies:
     choose a 'clean' source and let it perform additions
         you manually perform the 'remove' as instructed
                in my Comments on Keyrings Updates
                or in the 'Carnet' part of my daily Stats doublepost in apas
         be aware than an un-clean source will make that policy a Sisyphus' work
     choose a 'clean' source and regularlty zap your keyrings for a full reload
               this is particularly advisable as an initial strategy
               if you accumulated the whole worlds's refuse on your keyrings
     don't let the adds be performed automatically: opt for manual maintenance

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