It’s apparently impossible to get the jerks at Vocus Inc. to stop spamming me. My mailbox is filled with messages sent out via their PR spamming service. And now they’re working hard to make sure that you don’t realize that that the spam comes from their company. What a bunch of losers. I’ve been trying […]
Where’s the money in the software business? Increasingly, it’s in the consulting or maintenance contracts or in software rental – anything but in the software itself. Consulting around enterprise software isn’t new. One of the tenants of the open-source software movement is that software itself should be free – and that customers should pay for […]
A great way to become a better programmer is to read code. As Andrew Binstock began his most recent Integration Watch column, The programming section of Reddit occasionally receives posts from comp-sci majors and early entrants into professional programming who want to know about best practices for becoming a great developer. One of the consistent […]
Here’s a sales pitch received today, from an account rep we had trouble with at a service provider three years ago. He came off our account shortly thereafter. Do you think my response involved the “delete” key? If so… you’re right! Subject: Touching base It has been some time since we talked. This is [name], […]
The first question about the new iPod nano is, how did Apple cram so much stuff into a 1.28 ounce (36.4 gram) package? (Well, actually, now that the iPod nano can serve as a video camera, sound recorder, FM radio and pedometer, as well as an external hard drive, appointment calendar and contact database, the […]
The same guy — Rev. Dr. Paul Adams — has figured in two separate confidence scam emails. One was received today, claiming to be from the FBI’s Robert Mueller. The other came in on July 30, and was signed by Hillary Clinton. What are the odds that this is a coincidence? See the messages at: […]
“Made with real cheese!” That’s what it says on the bag of Cheetos Twisted Puffs, which I was cheerfully munching last night. “We grow the best snacks on Earth!” adds the brightly colored packaging from Frito Lay, which manufactures the tasty treat. General hilarity ensured when I read the ingredients out loud. Here’s what it […]
Note symptoms. Search for them on Google. Download update or apply fix. Test results. Rinse, repeat. Wait for the next problem to appear. That’s been my life for the past several days, after updating my MacBook Pro to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, the minor update to Apple’s desktop operating system. Snow Leopard came […]
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission had made my day. In their release entitled, New Rule Prohibiting Unwanted “Robocalls” to Take Effect on September 1, we learn: Beginning September 1, 2009, prerecorded commercial telemarketing calls to consumers – commonly known as robocalls – will be prohibited, unless the telemarketer has obtained permission in writing from consumers […]
Third-party developers, using Facebook’s published APIs, can gain access to nearly everything on your personal Facebook profile — no matter how your privacy settings are configured. You can learn about this in a disturbing post, “What Facebook Quizzes Know About You,” by Sarah Perez on ReadWriteWeb. Sarah writes that the American Civil Liberties Union is […]
What do I wish that open source project teams understood about dealing with the press? That’s the question posed by my dear friend Esther Schindler about six weeks ago. She was doing a panel on open-source software at OSCON, and was also researching an article. I shot some thoughts back to her in an email, […]
Stephen Pastis’ strip, Pearls Before Swine, is almost always excellent and evokes a smile (if not outright laughter). The adventures of Ego-Man, shown at right, are a bit older but still among the goodies. (Click the comic to enlarge.) Fun characters, interesting adventures, exciting wordplay. Read the current Pearls Before Swine here. Z Trek Copyright […]
As was widely reported on Tuesday, Microsoft admitted doctoring a stock photo image of a black businessman — used for a U.S. campaign — to depict a white businessman instead for a Polish campaign. You can see the two versions of the photo on CNet, under the story, “Microsoft apologizes for race-swap photo incident.” Would […]
It’s back… From Beyond the Crypt! A good friend and colleague, who shall rename nameless (you know who you are!), had an unfortunate incident involving a 24-ounce cup of iced coffee, a two-year-old Apple 15″ MacBook Pro, and a canvas tote bag. The end result was a soggy tote bag and a thoroughly dead MBP. […]
How young is too young for texting? My teenage son has an iPhone 3G. Maybe we’ve spoiled him, but he does use the technology: he checks and updates our shared family calendar, he texts with his parents and friends, and he checks email. Sure, he plays games and listens to music too, but imho a […]
Look out, Microsoft: The Free Software Foundation is on a crusade to cast out sin, and they’ve done everything but name Windows 7, “Beelzebub.” Once upon a time, the FSF’s mission was to promote and support “free” software. The company emphasize the goodness of free software, including its own GNU tools and operating systems. It […]
This looks like the usual lottery scam: Yyou reply, they’ll ask for your bank account number, and there you go. But check out the bottom of the message. What’s with that? The headers reveal that hackers compromised an email account at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio (uhhospitals.org). Thus, the automatic footer (starting with “Visit us”) […]
Please don’t link your Twitter account to automatically update your Facebook status, but if you do, remember it when you tweet. (This was a separate item in my “Facebook tips” blog post, but I’ve pulled it out.) Facebook and Twitter are different social media, with different communication styles and conventions. If you do link your […]
An American friend forwarded an expensive message from AT&T. He took his smartphone on a business trip to Canada, and didn’t think about it. Oops. Or rather, “Ouch!” From: AT&T Customer Care for Wireless High International Data Usage Alert Our systems have detected that you are using a substantial amount of data internationally. Unlimited domestic […]
Hello, Oscar the Grouch here. Here are some suggestions that I have for my friends and colleagues who use social media — Facebook, particularly. These are based on my observations; while they probably overlap other lists, that’s coincidental. (This posting was prompted by a story, “The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers, on CNN.) 1. […]
A bogus organization calling itself the “U.S. Commerce Association” is mass-emailing out bogus emails hyping a bogus award, so that it can sell business owners bogus plaques. Here’s what I received: From: “Board of Review” Subject: Second Notification: Camden Associates Inc Receives 2009 Best of Greenwich Award I am pleased to announce that Camden Associates […]
This is unbelievable. My profile on United Airlines’ website is configured to send me three copies of every flight notification, like if my flight is going to be changed or delayed. One of the notifications goes to my wife’s email, one goes to my regular email, and the other goes to my iPhone’s email. That […]
Thank you, Natalie Dee, for ruining my afternoon! Z Trek Copyright (c) Alan Zeichick
Sometimes I get off-beat press releases, and highlight them on my “Stop-the-PResses” blog. This extremely off-topic release, though, was so appropriate (given the perennially messy state of my office) that it seemed worth sharing. While there’s no dirty laundry in here, I do have plenty of old coffee cups. DORM ROOM SURVIVAL GUIDE 101 CONQUER […]
On Monday, a colleague on the East Coast asked me to call him at 12:30 EST. EST means Eastern Standard Time. However, in the United States, we’re not using Eastern Standard Time, which is the time used in the fall and winter. We’re currently using Eastern Daylight Savings Time, or EDT. That’s an hour different […]
“Developers,” said my friend Mac, “are really bad at guessing how long it takes to write software.” Michael “Mac” McCarthy and I go back to the mid-1980s. What Mac likes to do most, beyond enjoying a fine Chardonnay and talking politics, is making observations about the world of technology. While he’s not a programmer himself, […]
I’ve won an amateur photography contest, sponsored by the International Library of Photography. According to the letter accompanying the award, signed by Russell Hall, Senior Editor, Congratulations! Out of literally thousands of entries, your photograph, “Jenny,” has been award Second Prize in our International Open Amateur Photography Contest! As one of the editors and judges […]
My every need fulfilled — that’s what Network Solutions is promising! I’ve heard it said that “friends don’t let friends use Network Solutions,” but I’ve persisted in using them for most of my domain-registry needs. The main reason is inertia. While NetSol’s registry services are more expensive than some of their competitors, and they drive […]
The Mozilla project says that as of today, Firefox — in all its versions and platforms — has been downloaded a billion times. That’s pretty impressive. I use Firefox for the Mac (current version 3.5.1) almost exclusively, though Apple’s Safari serves when I want to have a second, independent, browser running. Every so often (generally […]
Someone keeps calling my mobile phone number. Their phone number is blocked from showing up on Caller ID. They hang up if I answer, and don’t leave a message if I don’t answer. It’s happened six times so far today. Amazingly, neither the mobile device (an iPhone 3GS) nor the carrier (AT&T Wireless) will let […]