Morph3ous’s Weblog

First there was Gator, now there is iDownload. The two programs are spyware, yet the companies do not like us calling their products by that name. My personal definition of spyware is any software program that installs itself on your computer without your permission through stealth techniques. I’m not sure what they consider the definition of spyware to be.

Quoted from this news item on DSLReports.com:

As we were the first to report (picked up by Slashdot), the makers of the IDownload and ISearch (“Crapware”? “Adware”? “Irritation-ware”?) have been sending cease and desist letters to security sites that dub their software “Spyware”, “Malware”, or even “Foistware”. Brian Livingston of the Windows Secrets Newsletter speaks to IDownload’s CEO, who claims “The majority of sites we’ve contacted have taken down or properly classified iSearch.” Our users have clearly documented that the software uses unethical installation techniques, and want it gone regardless of what it’s called

Trying to force public opinion by blocking free speech is a horrible thing to do. The best way to produce a product that gains positive public opinion is to develop a product that is useful and people actually want. The product would also need to be asked to be installed, not foisted upon unsuspecting prey. It is horrible that companies are installing products on consumer’s computers without their permission The legal threats to the anti-spyware companies and independent websites demanding that they stop referring to the software as spyware is just as horrible if not worse.

These companies remind me of little kids. Many young kids have problems taking criticism. When criticized they simply get upset and insult or try to take some sort of action against the one who has criticized them. When we grow older we learn not to be offended as easily and to take the criticism and learn from it. These companies need to grow up. They need to realize that forcing your products upon consumers is wrong. They need to scan the business environment and either shut down their companies, or find positive business models.

Here is some more scary news I obtained through DSLReports.com from this news item:

Salon and CNET are reporting that D. Reed Freeman, the “chief privacy officer” of Claria Corporation (makers of the much loathed Gator application) has been appointed to the Dept. of Homeland Security’s “Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee”. So we’ve got this straight: an exec for the same company that sued websites for calling its product spyware, buries ridiculous demands in its EULA, has a history of using stealth installation techniques to mislead customers, and has been sued by a half-dozen web publishers for being a “parasite”, is now advising Uncle Sam on privacy and integrity?

I find this to be absolutely ridiculous. When appointing someone to a position that is tasked with making sure that data is not compromised and that the data remains private, it is absolutely absurd to appoint someone who worked for a company who was the antithesis of this and who’s job was chief privacy officer for the company.

Could it be that he was hired because of the “turn around” (legal threats to abridge free speech) of Claria and its Gator software? I was under the impression that the Gator software was still installing itself without permission. I also find it hard to trust a company that once tried to force their software upon unsuspecting victim’s machines and tried to change public opinion through legal threats.

I doubt that Reed Freeman was responsible for all this. He could be a very good candidate for this position. It just seems very odd that of all the people that could be appointed to this position, he was.

I was reading this post on the WorldChanging blog and was overjoyed to learn that solar may be practical in developing nations.

The Kyoto treaty, which the United States has cowardly refused to sign, represents the chance to vastly reduce the amount of CO2 that we release into the environment. Nations that are able to reduce polution more than their allocation can sell their Carbon Credits to other nations.

More importantly, there is also a provision that allows for investing in renewable projects elsewhere and receiving Carbon Credits for that. Many countries are going to have a difficult time reducing their emmissions. This may mean that these nations will invest in projects in Africa and other developing nations that reduce the net emmissions of the globe.

These provisions if properly enforced will make it easier for developing nations to get foreign investment for renewable energy projects. A drop in the price of Solar Panels would also be welcome.

I have been frustrated with radio for the longest time. Once Clear Channel started gobbling up our spectrum, the end was near. We went from goofy semi-spontaneous radio to controlled playlists and constant concert and ad hawking.

Now Zeta 94.9 in South Florida is no more. To be honest, Zeta had been pretty bad for some time. I remember coming back down here after being away in college for four years and hearing the same songs that used to play before I left. The ads were also out of control.

Zeta was a fixture in the alternative rock community and before becoming part of the Clear Channel family was pretty decent. The station produced many local events and brought the listener base together.

There is a discussion about all of this going on in the Southeast forum at DSLReports.com

DSLReports.com > Southeast Forum > 94.9 Zeta

Robert Parsons of GoDaddy fame has written up a list of 16 Rules for Survival on his blog. I highly suggest that everyone read them. The rules stress going beyond your comfort zone, and not quitting.

“Robert, they can’t eat you!” My Rules for survival.

These are very important principles to consider. If there is any reason why many of us do not make it in business, it is because we do not push the envelope.

I am currently at a point in life where I need to decide whether to continue my entrepreneurial activities, or try to get what many call a “real job”. I have been trying the “real job” thing, and I only earn a tiny fraction of what I earn in my consulting business. The difference between the “real job” and the consulting is that the “real job” is stable.

My family of curse is pushing that I do things the traditional way. I am now doubting my ability to run a successful business. After reading Robert Parson’s post, I am going to keep trying to make it as an entrepreneur.

With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of “undefined consequences.� My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, “Well, Robert, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you.�

The worst thing that can happen is that I will have to mooch of my parents a bit. This is not something that I would be proud of. It is also certainly not something that they would enjoy. This; however, would not be the end of the world.

For those of you who do not know about Magnatune, it is a record company that is fair to its artists.

From Magnatune’s site:

We’re a record label. But we’re not evil. We call it “try before you buy.” It’s the shareware model applied to music. Listen to 342 complete MP3 albums we’ve picked (not 30 second snippets).

We let the music sell itself, because we think that’s the best way to get you excited by it.

Our selection is intentionally small: we never waste your time with mediocre music.

If you like what you hear, download an album for as little as $5 (you pick the price), or buy a real CD, or license our music for commercial use.

Artists keep half of every purchase. And unlike most record labels, our artists keep all the rights to their music.

No major label connections and no venture capital.

We are not evil.

According to this post at Buckman’s Magnatune Blog Magnatune has signed a digital distribution deal that will make their music much more available. The songs will even be available in iTunes!

I wish Magnatune the best of luck, and will start to peruse and purchase songs from them that i like. (I admit that I’ve listened to their iTunes streams, but not yet bought any music. Some of the songs were really good, and I am tempted.)

According to this post (in Spanish) at the ALTO1040 Blog, one of the major providers of Internet access in Ecuador has blocked P2P access.

According to the post, customers of Satnet when asking customer service why their P2P was blocked were given various answers such as “The fiber optic connection has failed”, “Our bandwidth is not working as we expected”, …

It is dangerous when ISPs begin deciding what users can and cannot do. The ISP is there to provide the access. If the user decides to do something illegal, then it is they who are assuming the risk. All P2P by the way is not illegal despite the media’s grumblings, just the majority of it.

Edit:

The ISP also appears to be blocking the ALTO1040 Blog according to some comments that appear below the post. It is looking more and more like a true attempt at blocking P2P, and less like a technical glitch.

I am of the opinion that International Domain Names, or IDNs are important to the world-view of the Internet. It has recently been demonstrated that by using letters in different alphabets that look similar, one can establish a pretty convincing phishing operation.

The post IDN - The Sky has still not fallen? on The Quiet Earth Blog has led me to a very informative article about where we should go from here.

Here is the link: IDN Solutions With Balance by Paul Hoffman

I hate popup ads with a passion. Mozilla Firefox has for some time afforded me some peace from the nasty little creatures. Well no more. Advertisers have figured out ways to circumvent popup blockers. What marketing idiot actually believes that someone who went through the trouble of getting a popup blocker and is now slammed with popups is going to actually click on them?

Advertising when done tastefully is very important as it gets the word out. It has become an unfortunate trend as of late to try to force advertising down our throats. A word of advice to the advertisers and marketing firms: It’s not about how many people view the ad, it is about how effective it is. The more you cram ads down our throats, the more we will dislike you and your ilk.

There is a discussion on Slashdot about this. I have done you the favor of setting the threshold to 4 so that hopefully most of the comments will be relevant and interesting.

The Return of the Pop-Up Ad

SocietyGuardian.co.uk, a website that I have never visited before today, has an interesting article on a trial of Ecstasy on American soldiers.

The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Scientists behind the trial in South Carolina think the feelings of emotional closeness reported by those taking the drug could help the soldiers talk about their experiences to therapists. Several victims of rape and sexual abuse with post-traumatic stress disorder, for whom existing treatments are ineffective, have been given MDMA since the research began last year.

I am not sure what to think of this. The last that I had heard was that Ecstasy could have the long-tern effect of lowering the brain’s level of serotonin.

Ecstasy Trials for Combat Stress

Eric Meyer has a demo of how this is done, and it looks great. It’s a bit complicated, but I would bet that tools to take advantage of this will come out soon.

S5: A Simple Standards-Based Slide Show