They interviewed an exec from a popular security company who, not surprisingly, explained the need for his companies products.  The 60 Minutes crew completely fails to explain the best and cheapest way to avoid the danger: don’t use Microsoft Windows.  The media never seems to grasp there are alternatives, like Linux, that will protect you from 99% of the malware without the need for special security software.  Are these media outfits on the Microsoft and Symantec payroll or are they just not doing a thorough reporting job?  The answer is yes to both.

Media ignores Linux because Microsoft is a major advertiser and they don’t want to lose millions of dollars in ad revenue.  Another reason is most people producing these stories are ignorant of Linux and the technical issues involved.  The OS (operating system) is never even mentioned.  Wake up and smell the conspiracy, folks.  You can and should ditch Microsoft Windows and use Linux – it’s faster, more secure, and free.

Video links:
The Internet is Infected
Sabotaging the System

Related Stories:
The Conficker worm on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes Missed the Elephant in the Room

Changing Amazon Associates email is incredibly convoluted and stupid.  At every other site, you change your  email by logging in, changing your email,  and verifying the new address (with a notice sent to the old address).

Not at Amazon!  They are very security-minded.  I had to add another user (me) to my account.  Then click the link in the email sent to the “new user” (me) and register a new account (for myself).  Next, I logged back in as “the old me” and confirmed the new user (the new me), and deleted myself (the old me).

After logging back in as “the new me”, I find “the old me” is gone and my email is changed.  Who’s programming this crap for them, Microsoft?

I had an idea several years ago for a web site that acted as an exchange for real and virtual currencies. I was never an avid gamer but, after discovering Second Life and IMVU, I realized how many people were spending (and earning) money in these 3D virtual worlds. While there are some companies (IGE and others) that facilitate buying and selling of virtual goods and currencies, there didn’t seem to be a true virtual/real currency exchange market yet. One that would provide daily exchange rates for directly changing one currency into another, virtual or real, for a small fee. Like most of my ideas, this was added to a very long “projects” list. I had a good idea, I was sure, but neither the time nor resources to develop it.

Fast forward to 2010. IMVU and myYearbook are the first partners of the new Currency Connect, “a service that allows virtual world and social networking site members to exchange virtual currency among partner websites.”¹ They don’t (as far as I can tell) offer exchange with real currencies, though. That would certainly involve regulatory compliances which would complicate matters. But how long can these virtual currencies, purchased with real money, be unregulated? Over two years ago, “Linden Lab, the company that runs the popular virtual world Second Life, announced… that all in-world “banks” must now be registered with real-world banking regulators.”² Dave Rosenberg noted, in his blog on CNet News last December³, that the door is open for much larger players to bring their huge user bases to the game. Certainly PayPal, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft could stake a claim in this, as yet, wide open territory.

Where does that leave me? Crossing yet another promising idea off my list? Probably. I still don’t have the resources needed for development. So I’m throwing this idea out into the blogosphere. Maybe someone with capital or connections can make use of it.

What do you think? Thumbs up or down?

¹ http://www.currencyconnect.com/FAQ

² http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/second-life-welcomes-bank-regulators

³ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10415702-62.html

Image courtesy of Pulsar Media

You don’t think Google is making them nervous, do you? The problem with this deal is that Yahoo is now an old school company. They’re stale, trying to keep up rather than leading the way. And what is this deal going to do for Yahoo? You don’t find any company staler and more old school than Microsoft. But this is how The Beast from Redmond approaches every challenge: if you can’t beat them with technology, buy your way out of it. This is similar to their reasoning for “supporting” Linux. Picture this, if you will: Ford makes an offer to buy GM because those pesky Japanese are starting to make pretty good cars.  Clueless! It’s all about evolution, folks. Look around you and tell me where the 500 lb gorilla is? Hiding in the jungle eating grubs while the higher primates are dining in style and feeling sorry for the poor bastard.

You’ll note my new Utterz widget in the sidebar below. I think it’s pretty damn cool (kewl?), but a little confusing yet. I’m supposed to call one number to record a voice message, text another number to post a text entry, or email an address from the phone to upload video, photos, or text in one post. Huh?

I’m determined to keep practicing. Luckily, Utterz seems to have a very helpful support staff. I sent the first post attempt from my t-mobile cell to the utterz email address. Unfortunatey, Utterz didn’t recognize me. I’d registered the phone number with them, but my email came from my_name@tmomail instead of my_number@tmomail. But I received a “who are you” message with instructions and my entry was soon posted! Twitter seems simpler, but less powerful.

The point of this rant, if there is one, is that the world seems to demand that we are in touch, on the grid, within ear/finger shot of anyone who’s trying to reach us. And we must publish our daily movements, plans and mood swings as they happen. I have listened, with difficulty, to 16 year old PopTart Baby from J-Town High School babble on for 3 minutes or more about how she resents people who think she’s too young to understand some things. That’s because, of course, she’s too young to understand.

Ajmac has kindly posted a photo of “more flipping meds” for “whatever they think is wrong with me”. One young lady mentioned how drunk she is and how much she normally drinks (too much), while another was clearly posting from work about how lazy her co-worker is and what an ass the boss is. I’m sure her co-worker, the boss and any future prospective employers would love to read her thoughts. And now, they can.

This generation seems to be almost completely unconcerned with privacy. It requires a constant flow of data and source of entertainment. In the meantime, it is providing both for law enforcement officials. They no longer need a wiretap warrant, just a web-enabled mobile device and a Twitter account.

In Jean-Jacques Rousseau‘s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, he states:

The first man, who, after enclosing a piece of ground, took it into his head to say, “This is mine,” and found people simple enough to believe him, was the true founder of civil society. How many crimes, how many wars, how many murders, how many misfortunes and horrors, would that man have saved the human species, who pulling up the stakes or filling up the ditches should have cried to his fellows: Be sure not to listen to this imposter; you are lost, if you forget that the fruits of the earth belong equally to us all, and the earth itself to nobody!

Why do I get the feeling he somehow had Bill Gates , et al, in mind!

But there is, of course, a second meaning to the subject of this post: LAMP – the Linux/Apache/MySQL/(Perl, PHP, Python) server platform on which so many web sites (including this one) are built. All free, as in free speech and as in free beer. It is BOTH of these types of freedom that have allowed the growth of the Internet and the spread of the free interchange of ideas (both good and bad) that is the byproduct of the Internet’s popularity.

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