Protection from Attempted Malware and Spyware Installation

Chris Pirillo is offering a software program that efficiently monitors attempted installation of malware and spyware onto the computer. The program, WinPatrol, offers constant surveillance of computer system and alerts when there are any changes. Some of these changes may be legitimate and the computer owner may want to allow the changes. That is easily done. However, an alert may be a warning of a stealth installation of malware that could slow the computer, compromise the confidential data and just cause general havoc.

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Romance and Spyware

Valentine’s Day may bring thoughts of romance. It may also bring thoughts of spyware. It seems that suspicions of infidelity also trigger increased sales of spyware:

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SUPERAntiSpyware Offering from Chris Pirillo

It is astounding how lax people are about their computer security - until disaster strikes. Some people rationalize not focusing on the security of their computer by saying that there is nothing valuable on their machine. That misses the point completely. We are all connected. An unsecured machine for some user who thinks that there is nothing valuable to steal makes it a bit less secure for others online.

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How Your Dog Drinks Water

It happens so quickly that even people who have had dogs for years would not notice. Most people assume that dogs lap at the water bowl in the same manner that a human would. However, slow motion recordings show that it is an unexpected method:

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Spam Visits DogReader

In the time since Chris Pirillo asked me to start posting articles here, spam has been a constant. There is not a single day during which there is a lull in the spam. Today is a milestone of sorts. DogReader has passed thirty one thousand (31,000) spam messages.

In order to put this in some context, let’s say that I spend four second with each spam message. That would be to check if it is indeed spam or whether some legitimate comments were sent there. Then that spam is marked and deleted.

At four seconds per spam, that is 124,000 seconds or 2,066 minutes. In hours, it is 34.444. Let’s just call it thirty four hours, for the sake of round numbers. That is a week of work. That is wasted time that is not financially compensated, no matter how many Google clicks the site generates.

It is just so annoying - spammers are such a blight!

Catherine

Google May Have More Ambitious Blogging Goals

If spending is any hint of a possible future target, Google has blogging in its sights:

“Google Inc has bought Korean blogging software developer Tatter and Company, the two companies said on Friday.

The companies did not disclose how much Google paid for the acquisition.”

link: Google buys Korean blogging software company

The acquisition gives Google an immediate test market in Korea. There is little doubt that Google has a more ambitious plans. Google recognizes that the blogging market is growing (for example, see Chris Pirillo’s growing ‘geek’ community) and there are greater advertising opportunities available. Those bloggers translate into dollars.

Catherine Forsythe

NASA Needs Some Security Software

It may be a dubious first. NASA may be the first space agency to put a computer virus into outer space:

“A computer virus is alive and well on the International Space Station (ISS).

Nasa has confirmed that laptops carried to the ISS in July were infected with a virus known as Gammima.AG.”

link: Computer viruses make it to orbit

The question is ‘why do the astronauts not have anti-virus software installed?’ Even if the government does not fund for things like security software, some programs are free.

It must be that not enough astronauts read Chris Pirillo and Lockergnome.

Catherine

Google Ads - A Disparity

Within days of each other, there were two political articles posted to this DogReader space. One was critical of Senator Obama. The other was critical of Senator McCain. Both of these articles have Google ads, as this is how Chris Pirillo pays the bills. What is striking is the disparity of the Google advertising on those two articles.

As I look at these articles on a Sunday morning to archive them, every Google ad space on the Obama article has an Obama-related advertising. It ranges from things like polls to show Senator Obama’s lead to a soda drink which features Senator Obama’s photo.

By stark contrast, the Senator McCain article has one Google ad related to the Arizona senator. Oh course, the Google ads will change and the disparity may change. However, it is clear that the advertising advantage goes to Senator Obama, as far as a limited sample on an internet site.

This may illustrate the ‘coca-cola phenomena’. Everyone on the planet knows what Coca Cola is. It is synonymous with what is a soft drink or a soda pop. Nevertheless, Coca Cola continues to advertise. There are continual Coca Cola advertising campaigns. And the reason for this is that Coca Cola wants its name presented to you continually. It is emphasizing name recognition. It wants to be first and foremost on your subconscious. Think soft drink and then think ‘Coca Cola’. Coca Cola wants to be the first name that comes to mind. And Senator Obama wants exactly the same thing.

Senator McCain supposedly has people telling him what is happening on the internet. Perhaps he might be interested in seeing this for himself. As Anna Quindlen noted in a recent article, there are “tens of millions of voters” out here on the internet.

Catherine Forsythe