Shoveling on Digg
Published Wednesday, April 04, 2007 by Technology Monster.| As much as I like the idea of Digg --a site where a community chooses the most interesting or relevant news--I must confess that I just don't use it that much. And in that context, most of the endless new posts on Digg look like junk, geek tabloid fare, or spam. I believe social media accounts are currently available for rent or for sale, rewarding active users with paid placements or account resells in much the same way as a World of Warcraft character might be resold on eBay. |
What A Sarbanes-Oxley For Computer Security Might Look Like
Published by Technology Monster.| It's not clear whether or not we've had our "digital Enron" yet, but already some pundits are putting forth their ideas for a digital Sarbanes-Oxley. Ira Winkler at Computerworld argues that Congress should mandate ISP liability for malicious traffic on their networks, something which we've argued many times is a bad idea, since it's an approach that goes after the wrong party. |
Digg's Dicey Decision
Published by Technology Monster.| Digg President Kevin Rose explains his controversial decision to remove from the use-powered news site the list of the top "diggers" to reduce spam and discourage people who try to game the site. (Not to mention, Christopher Finke of rival Netscape promptly wrote a program to divine the top users anyway.) Svetlana: And how do you think your activities on Digg will change without the top users list? With no top users list you won't have motivation. |
Vista Firewall Isn't Quite What It Seems
Published by Technology Monster.| The XP version could block incoming attacks, but the Vista edition watches traffic both in and out of your system, which can help stop malicious programs from stealing data or spewing spam e-mails." In fact, Vista's firewall can monitor and selectively block both inbound and outbound network connections. Strangely, the firewall control panel, part of the Windows Security Center, does not let you set up outbound filtering. |
Spamhaus Decides To Fight For Its Right To Build A Spam List
Published Wednesday, October 18, 2006 by Technology Monster.| Following the loss in the Illinois case where a judge fined Spamhaus $11 million, and the proposed punishment of taking the site offline, Spamhaus has decided that it needs to get back into this lawsuit. However, with the threat of being shut down, Spamhaus has decided that it needs to play ball and will appeal the decision, though it's likely that they'll try to make the case that they are out of the court's jurisdiction. |
Will Spamhaus Get Shut Down Over Dispute?
Published Monday, October 09, 2006 by Technology Monster.| The court is now thinking about asking ICANN to suspend spamhaus.org, which would cause all sorts of problems for the many, many, many ISPs, companies and individuals out there who rely on Spamhaus' list of spammers. However, if they are forced to defend each and every lawsuit filed by an upset spammer, it would make it prohibitively costly for Spamhaus (or any other such list) to remain in business -- in which case all of us who rely on such lists lose out. |
EU Doesn't Buy Spam Trademark From Hormel
Published Friday, October 06, 2006 by Technology Monster.| Hormel, maker of the infamous spam meat-like product, has had a love/hate affair with the unsolicited email version of spam. While they were upset about its use at first, they later said it was okay (and sometimes bordered on embracing it). Yet, there were times when they'd still sue over the use of "spam" in a trademark case, though, they never seem to win. The latest move, is that they tried to register "spam" across the European Union as a trademark when used in talking about unsolicited email. |
This Old Space
Published Thursday, October 05, 2006 by Technology Monster.| For better (broader audience) or worse (yuck, who are all these sketchy old guys here?), some 68% of people on MySpace are 25 or older, according to Comscore. It's that younger people are all too willing to spam their entire IM or email contacts to join MySpace, while people older are more careful of annoying their friends. I'm sure it's more than that, but it does make you wonder if the nature of these social networks is very different for older people. |
Spammers Targeting Geeks For No Good Reason
Published Tuesday, October 03, 2006 by Technology Monster.| Generally speaking, if you're looking for a group of folks who almost universally dislike spam and would like to see it gone from existence, a bunch of techies is probably that group. It seems that some spammers are going a page beyond their use of classic literature to fool spam filters, and are now starting to include various geek terms and phrases, hoping to bypass various bayesian filters, or (perhaps) make them useless. They're not going to buy from the spam. |
You're Better Off Just Assuming You're Not Safe Online
Published Wednesday, September 27, 2006 by Technology Monster.| However, the latest bit of research points out that privacy policy or not, people have no clue if a site is going to spam them if they give it their email info. They simply assume that the site will (at some point) spam them, whether or not they promise not to. It's just not worth the bother to figure out what a site is actually going to do with your info... especially since it's likely that they'll change their policy at some point in the future and you won't be able to do a damn thing about it. |
About me
- I'm Technology Monster
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Last posts
- Shoveling on Digg
- What A Sarbanes-Oxley For Computer Security Might Look Like
- Digg's Dicey Decision
- Vista Firewall Isn't Quite What It Seems
- Spamhaus Decides To Fight For Its Right To Build A Spam List
- Will Spamhaus Get Shut Down Over Dispute?
- EU Doesn't Buy Spam Trademark From Hormel
- This Old Space
- Spammers Targeting Geeks For No Good Reason
- You're Better Off Just Assuming You're Not Safe Online