TechCrunch is reporting that Swedish based Global Gaming Factory has purchased The Pirate Bay website for almost 8 Million Dollars, and apparently plans to turn it into a kosher endeavor.
Does this mean the end of cutlass wielding file sharing on the high seas for these Swedish buccaneers? Profits from the sale of this extremely popular torrent site might just cover the previous owner’s legal expenses. It remains to be seen how the sale will affect the appeal of the one year prison term, recently imposed on the Pirate Bays founders. All in all, this smells like a serious “belly up” for the once proud site, known for its in-your-face pirate bravado. While I agree that piracy is not a solution, this new twist in the epic battle over media distribution feels like the real issue will be buried on some deserted island beach for some other pirate to dig up.
Microsoft's latest attempt to do something about the fact that competing browsers are catching up fast with IE has a literal truth to it. The $10,000 they "hid" somewhere on the internet is for all intents and purposes dead and gone. The fact that they called Mozilla's Firefox "old", shows just how detached they are.
The EC's attempt to sever Microsoft's Internet Explorer from its operating system has produced yet another cruel joke. Microsoft has announced that their upcoming OS Windows 7 will be shipped IE free to European destinations - Yippee right? I don't think so.
Imagine you're French and you have just purchased and installed a new browser-less copy of Windows 7. Now you want to download that spanking new version of Opera, how you gonna do it?
Hey wait a minute, the only option you have in the operating system is to download IE??? Yes that means you will need to download IE in order to download Opera. I'm sure the guys at Opera are not pleased with the mess their complaint has instigated. Its no wonder the EC was quick to reject Microsoft's generous offer, problem is what they want is even more ludicrous. Even devout Microsoft haters would concur that forcing the Redmond giant to offer competing browsers alongside their own is a tad much. How many people do you think will agree to buy a machine without pre-installed browsing capabilities? So what's next, an FTP retro fashion?
Here's hoping they don't. This aggressive move in times of such uncertainty will either reshape the entire industry or give Oracle a bad sunburn. In any case the pun was inevitable. At least they'll enjoy good Java until the verdict comes in.
Friday brought a surprising end to act 37 in the epic battle between the power of the internet and the combined forces of the music and film industry.
The folks representing the copyright holders might have won the round, but there is no doubt in my mind they will loose the battle.
The decision unleashed the wrath of swedish file sharers who took to the streets in a show of support for their favorite pirates. Even ISPs seemed to join the effort when they refused demands by the IFPI to shut down the Pirate Bay website.
Now there is talk that reverberations from this verdict might affect the outcome of upcoming elections in sweden.
I have to say that I find the end of this act rather dissapointing only because it seems to be prolonging a lost battle and delaying new business pardigms from developing. I am left wondering about the fate of the Pirate Bay owners. Will their verdict be overturned, will their sentence be commuted or Will they do the time and become millionaires from some book deal?
You know how an older car gives you an uneasy feeling every time you go to turn the ignition switch? How will it act up today? These types of fears have mutated my morning routine when it comes to booting my PC. When will the boot be truly over? In my case the process is divided into two parts.
The first is the time it takes my PC to reach the Windows login screen from the moment I hit the power button. The second, and trickier part, is the wait until I actually have a responsive desktop after logging in. It's this second part I have a hard time with. How do I know when my PC is done booting and ready for work? I never know if just going for a cup of coffee will be long enough, or whether I should make myself a sandwich while I'm at it. All this is obviously bad for my diet, but is justified considering what happens if I attempt to launch an application mid-boot. Such foolishness will only throw my PC's awakening into utter chaos and launch my day on a sea of sour notes. Ain't that a bitch?
So, when is a boot over? wouldn't you like to know?
When it strolls down the street windows shut with a snap, doors slam, and noses are held high with a pinch. Yes, Windows 7 is just around the corner and everyone, is not happy. Despite Microsoft's huge efforts to market the new OS as, anything but, its forlorn predecessor, new statistics show that the Vista gag reflex has kicked in, big time. The register reports of a recent Kace poll that shows 84 percent of businesses will not be adopting the the new OS any time soon. Software and hardware compatibility which were the bane of Vista were the top concern among those polled. Those less afflicted by the Vista gag reflex, who ventured to try the pre-release Windows 7 Beta, got some nasty news this week when Microsoft announced it will not support upgrades from earlier builds of Windows 7. This means that those who dared to try will now have to toil to remove (Here's how). Microsoft also announced that as of next week the "more" standard compliant IE8 will be "pushed" in with automatic windows updates, and as much as I hate IE7 I am starting to feel my lunch turning tracks on me, excuse me...
If you live in a country where legislators vote to ban the teaching of evolution in schools (no, not Saudi Arabia), you are probably not flabbergasted by a legislative proposal to prohibit the purchase of an American made operating system, just because someone said it sucks. Well, hats off to the state of Texas for not understanding the Darwinian process which allows only the fittest to survive. Windows Vista is most definitely not a candidate for long term survival but god damn what a stupid idea. I bet that part of the Lone Star state's budget still funds the search for WMDs in Iraq.
"I just gave away 12 MILLION DOLLARS of somebody else's money" This tweet sent during trial by a juror to his online buddies, is at the heart of a mistrial motion. This story illustrates just how deeply Twitter has seeped into the fabric of our lives. New forms of real time communication platforms are threatening to render the impartiality of any jury impossible. The story demonstrates the difficulties of rendering an unbiased decision by a jury in today's age of incessant tweeting, poking & plurking. Imagine the OJ Simpson trial taking place today. No doubt modern communications are going to have a deep impact on judicial systems, also.
Gmail down again in certain areas, it really feels like things are falling apart. Here is my cartoon from the previous gmail flop followed by today's, get in line!
Google has been showing signs of weakness lately and I wonder whether I should be worried about it or relieved that it hasn't happened more often. With Gmail's collapse two weeks ago and the most recent blunder involving Google Docs' sharing of users files, I'm afraid to think whats next. Net based applications are the way of the future and the blunders of this era will be largely responsible for how this future looks.
Pretty soon we will be able to uninstall internet explorer from our computer, WTF? The winds of change have apparently forced Microsoft to amend their ways and allow users of the next generation OS to uninstall Internet Explorer 8. The dramatic about face comes almost a decade to late for the now mythological Netscape Navigator, and right on the heels of a European court's imminent decision that Microsoft will have to make room for their browser software competitors. All in all this seems to be an appropriate decision because it eliminates the problem of how to get your "first" browser after OS installation, but still leaves you with the option to choose which Browser you want to work with. It remains to be seen how simple (or not) it will be to uninstall IE from Windows 7.
The Pirate Bay trial is winding towards an end mere days after beginning, and after the prosecution drops half of the original charges. Most people seem to be rooting for PB, what a SHAM! When will regulators and media companies realize that the times-they-are-a-changin'? They have been changing for the better part of two decades, and still prosecutors take a BiTorrent company to trial without understand how BiTorrent works. Wake up and smell the Humus! File sharing is as simple as breathing, and you just can't fight that. When will these archaic sloths learn to start breathing the new air the interent has given us? Kudos to the brass ball slinging folks at Pirate Bay, Ahoy, Avast, and will someone please man the Poop Deck.
Talk of Google's interest in Twitter has been circulating for a while, now Twitter's newest user has just thrown a match into this fiery discussion. Is this a pre-purchase test drive, or just torture for us speculators.
UPDATE: As of 0700 EST it seems that the world has been given a second chance by the lords of google who control our lives so deftly and totally - Gmail is up.....for now.
Corporate interests are trying to infiltrate their way into Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package. If one of these attempts succeeds it will spell the end of internet Privacy, and demolish its neutrality.
As part of Obama’s pledge to bring broadband connectivity to rural America, US senator Dianne Feinstein is pushing a proposal that calls for “Network Monitoring” in an effort to curb child pornography and copyright infringement. This proposal would basically allow ISPs to throttle network traffic and rifle through your packets in search of “evil”. The problem is that network monitoring has nothing to do with content filtering, remember the Comcast story? According to Public Knowledge, the Motion Picture Association of America is behind Feinstein's language. And as Cade Metz of The Register puts it, “the ‘network management’ bit sounds like ISP speak”.
This proposal reeks of greed and medieval intents, and reminds me that there was a time when Microsoft was considered an unbeatable monopoly until the smart and innovative guys from Google found a way to compete. Feinstein’s amendment deserves to be monitored and scrutinized until it dies quietly in some US senate hallway. Every netizen knows that privacy and net neutrality are at the heart of the Internet phenomenon. It should also be abundantly clear by now that copyright infringement should be countered by creative business thinking and not pointless litigation. Look no further than South Park Studios or Hulu to catch my drift.
You'd think that following the Belkin Debacle from last week, any suspicion of doctored reviews would have sent companies scrambling to check themselves.
Not so the case with Carbonite, a popular online data backup service. These guys are probably too busy promoting themselves. Allegations of review doctoring arose months ago, but apparently nothing was done about it until David Pogue exposed the story Tuesday. So the question begs itself "How can smart people be so dumb?" While the vast majority of PC users might not notice reviews that look a little fishy, it takes only one sharp tack, and a hungry journalist to humble a company's efforts to establish a solid reputation. Stories like these are like rocket fuel for PC user's suspicions, and PC Frustrations.
You'd expect Belkin to have been a rude wake up call wouldn't you?
Let’s say I’m a Norwegian who’s been out all night celebrating the European Commission’s decision to force Microsoft to exclude their Internet Explorer Browser from future editions of Windows OS. Let’s also say that in my reverie I throw my PC out the window, and then run out and buy a new Dolphin Free…Err…IE Free machine.
The following morning I am driven by a pounding headache to search the web for some relief. I plug in my new Quad core hyper spaz PC and connect to the Internet, only to realize I don’t have a browser application to browse with.
Duh…I know, I’ll download my national browser, Opera, Duh…how do I do that without a browser? I seem to recall that in the distant murky past, somewhere before October 1995 there was this way to download a browser application called F-T-P. Is that option still alive?
How can smart people be so dumb? How can a quarter century old company with an outstanding reputation like Belkin, fail so miserably in their effort to gain customer recognition?
Serious and compelling allegations that Belkin offered people money to write positive reviews for their award winning products are bound to blow a hole the size of New Jersey in their good reputation. The only good thing about this story is that the price they were apparently offering per review was a measly $0.65! The ridiculous offer leads one to hope that this colossal gaffe was the solitary handiwork of a low level nincompoop. I’ve been using Belkin equipment for years, in fact I have been using one of their powered KVM switches for over ten years now, and it has always given me little electrical shocks when touched, (so I use the hotkey options). From now on every time I get zapped I will suffer a tinge of PCDisorder from the memory of this sorry affair. Belkin’s response was basically an emphatic begging for forgiveness. Their claim that a single misguided individual was behind these shilling attempts sounded genuine and was a good start to putting this thing behind us.
Update - Since posting this there has been more exposure of wanton wickdness by what is being described as a rogue employee. read more about it here - Thanks to Arlen Parsa of the thedailybackground
Only the shadow knows what secrets lurk in ordinary folks’ documents and it should probably stay that way. When we use a postal service we expect the content of our packages to stay private and safe while in transit. We assume that the postal service has policies and procedures to insure this. Shouldn't we expect no less for our online documents?
Web based software applications are the stuff of the future, but I don’t recommend embracing every new doohickey that comes along without understanding the risks involved. In a poignant post, ReadWriteWeb’s Sarah Perez exposes how all of your Google Docs documents are vulnerable to attack by default. Google chose to send all data from your PC to their servers over un-secure connections (http) which offer a faster transfer rate. Gmail offers an almost hidden switch to enable document encryption, and this is the good news; the bad news is that other online mail services such as: Yahoo, AOL & Microsoft don’t even offer a similar option.
It’s hard enough to keep your data safe and secure on your own PC at home, now the advent of online applications promises to have all of our most sensitive documents floating around in space, and prone to all sorts of new attacks. This is the future, and I believe it should be embraced, but not blindly. Even secure channels are never fool proof, but the more we know about the risks the less likely we are to get hurt.
Tired of hearing soft rock music while waiting for customer support (CS)? You might be trying to get their attention the wrong way. Corporate CS is held globally as a symbol of user frustration. For instance, internet providers promising lightning quick connection speeds often provide CS that runs on geological time, if that.
Many companies spend their money attracting new customers while polite automated CS systems piddle on the ones already stuck with the product. Well, good news for some of us comes in the form of word of mouth advertising, and its conduit in this case is called Twitter. The quickly growing micro-blogging tool and its community of users are being recognized by many corporations as a means of taking their customer’s pulse and hearing what they have to say about the product or services. The power of word of mouth is evident in the use some companies have found for Twitter which is namely lurking around in the background and taking action only when bad stuff begins to circulate about them. Rumors have it that in many cases, starting a rant on Twitter is the fastest way to real customer support, here is just one good example.
See how many data loss scenarios listed below you are personally familiar with:
Power Surge fried my PC.
My Hard drive with three years worth of family photos is going tic, tic, tic. (fried in other words).
An attempt on my part to "fix" a slow PC has caused a major system failure and all my data is on the system drive.
My 3 year-old realized he can make things disappear by pressing a button on the keyboard.
Fire swept through my friend's apartment and burned everything, including his data to a crisp.
Believing the webcam was active, burglars dunked my neighbor's PC in a bathtub filled to the brim. (bzzzzzzzt)
I backed up my data on a CD but it got scratched and is unreadable.
What no backup? The word backup alone can raise procrastination from the dead. However the undeniable truth is that, the more our life revolves around the use of computerized machines, the more our well-being and sanity depend on regular data backups. All of these machines have an expected lifespan and there is no reason for us to suffer when they kick the bucket. The idea to write these words came to me after I saw an ad for a 1TB (1000 Gigabytes!) external Hard drive that was selling for about $100. It's Obvious that good & simple solutions can be found for those heart breaking, data-loss blues . How much would you pay to get back three years of your family 's photos? Probably more than $100 right? A thorough article on how to backup your data properly can be found here.
Sometimes when you spend a lot of your energy working on a project you tend to loose your grip on what's going on around you. I've been busy trying to define, and explain the phenomenon I call PCDisorder, and today I received this video which helped put things back into perspective. Who knows, with the world going through a financial meltdown, PCDisorder might just be eradicated along with PCs and that thing called technology. This video will put a smile on your face and a tear in your eye. Enjoy - David
In october ZoneAlarm released a new unified Vista/XP version of its popular firewall application, and with it a new strain of PCDisorder. Users who responded favorably to ZoneAlarm's upgrade offer, experienced a serious problem. After installing the upgrade, The application froze, and displayed a "Protection is on, UI is initializing" notice, but that was only the beginning of their problems, they also lost internet connectivity. Nasty huh?
Nothing left to do but uninstall the software and try installing it again, or go back to the older version, right? Not so simple. Up until now I described what might sound like an annoying PC Frustration, here is where it got ugly. Try uninstalling ZoneAlarm and you quickly find out it wasn't really designed to do that. Like other well known PC protection applications ZoneAlarm needs to be exorcised from your PC. Quite Ironic considering these companies are here to "help" users.
With no internet on their machines, affected users were forced to seek the oracle of Google on other computers. A search using the "Protection is on, UI is initializing" phrase revealed a community of pissed off ZoneAlarmers but no official response from the manufacturer.
On a ZoneAlarm forum one user offered a 27 step (27 - count it!) solution for completely removing the software from a PC.
I am glad to inform my readers that PCDisorder.com has joined the ranks of RSS aggregator Alltop under the Tech category. Sort of like a digital magazine rack, Alltop keeps RSS readers up to date on the newest content within given fields of interest. Guy Kawasaki provided a good explanation about what Alltop is, and ReadWriteWeb's Sarah Perez wrote the accompinying homily. Bottom line is it will offer me a larger reader audience and that's a good thing!
Some folks have reason to fear a knock at the door. Who could it be? Taxman, Collection agencies, or just a plain old nagging neighbor. Our front doors have always been the firmest barrier against unwanted persons, not so anymore. In what seems to be a world first, an Australian court has allowed a Mortgage Agent to serve legal notice to a couple via Facebook! That's right, Facebook.
The Telegraph's website reports that the couple had apparently been falling behind on their payments, and the mortgage lender's attorney has managed to convince a judge that the couple are purposefully playing hard to get. This case might just set a slew of legal precedents that will have debt collectors scrambling for a Facebook or Myspace account. Anyone with something to hide will be leary of any interaction over social networks and, well, the whole thing sounds really spooky.
One good outcome from this story might be that we can finally rid ourselves of the outdated concept of front doors, it's so passe.
How do you spell scam on the internet? That’s easy: F-R-E-E -T-R-I-A-L.
Let’s ponder on this for a second; normally when you let someone try something, it’s for free. When you take a car for a test drive you actually get to drive it before deciding whether to buy it. Yesterday I ran into this deceptive term on a website soliciting software (Prevx) that promises to protect your PC from all sorts of evil things. Excited about a new alternative to my existing, performance hogging antivirus suite, I decided to try it out.
First I read the Terms Of Service (TOS) agreement to see what I was getting myself into. I have to admit that I get a little concerned whenever the word death shows up any liability clause for a software application designed for home PCs. I could go on about this TOS agreement, and perhaps I will in some later post.
I downloaded and installed the application. It ran what looked like a thorough scan which concluded with an ominous declaration claiming my PC was infested with all sorts of creepy crawlies. The program graciously offered to “FIX IT” for me. Hoping for a happy ending I agreed, that’s when I learned what “free trial” means. It means the download, installation, scan and scare are free; for the fix I was asked to cough up $30.
You'd think that following the Belkin 
