I got a virus from Technorati!

I was looking at Technorati a couple of days ago.  I clicked on the “Help” link.  McAfee popped up that it caught a virus and deleted it.  I then clicked help again and my machine got infected with a version of the “Internet Security 2010” virus.  What is that all about?  Was it another bogus ad pushed through to mainstream sites?  I don’t know, but it took me 3 hours to clean it up.  I’ll post about the cleanup in a little bit.  Has anyone else experienced this with Technorati?

I was running Windows XP with IE7.

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Hello Again!

It’s been a while since I posted anything, and I’ve got a few things to day.  Lets see what comes out…

Corporate Lawers at Creative and T-Mobile are like Dumb and Dumber

 Credit to Ryan Block for the image.

Just when I thought corporations and their lawyers couldn’t get any dumber, I’m proven wrong.  There’s been two incidents in the last few days that show just how out of touch most corporations care.  First, Creative sent a Cease and Desist to an independent developer for writing working Vista drivers for some of their products.  (Warning: This post is high on internet dramaboy-ism.)

Then our friends at T-Mobile send a Cease and Desist to Engadget for using the color magenta.  Apparently the color magenta is trademarked property of Deutsche Telekom.  Who knew?  Anyway, Engadget and the Internets are fighting back.  Engadget is “Painting the Town Magenta”  and others are joining in solidarity.  I’m joining in on the fun because I can’t resist a meaningless internet revolt.  Besides, someone has to stand up against the over-excited corporate lawyers. 🙂

So for today, I’m painting the blog magenta.  And I’d like to say to Creative and Deutsche Telekom in the words of Ben Stern: “Don’t be stupid you morons.”

A year on WordPress

The blog has now been up a year.  It has been a fun, interesting, and educational experience.  I’m proud of what I have been to contribute over the last year.  I look forward to another exciting year.  Thanks for being a part of it!!!  Harry

emoms at home: Top 10 Blogging Mistakes I Made in My First Year

Fellow WordPresser Wendy Piersall at e-moms at home posted an incisive list of “10 blogging mistakes she made in her first year.”  It’s worth reading.  BTW, I’d suggest that the 11th mistake is wallpapering the site with advertisements.

All kinds of goodies to post tonight

I have not been posting much over the last few weeks because of:

1. An upcoming wedding that is keeping me busy (June 30.  Be there!)
2. Writers Block
3. Lack of inspiration

Tonight I’m back, and I’ve got all kinds of goodies for you including a first hand look at MS Surface.

09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the most recited number since 867-5309.

Last night I witnessed the digital equivalent of the LA Riots.  You probably know the story already, so I am going to give you my take.  Someone posted a 2 month old  hex code that somehow cracks HD-DVD DRM on digg.com.  The code was deleted.  Then someone reposted it.  It got 15K+ diggs.  It was deleted and Digg.com users went nuts.  Digg’s CEO pulled a Rodney King and asked people to “give peace a chance.”  That didn’t work out so well.  The site was inundated with stories that included the code soon after.  Anything that wasn’t the code was dugg down.  Eventually digg caved.  I have a few thoughts on this:

• People went nuts because someone was trying to delete something as simple as a hex code off the Internet.  It’s not just about cesorship or just about DRM.  The idea that someone would try to delete something off the internet is offensive, scary, and revolting.
• The code is unimportant.  Most people don’t know what to do with it and those that do will get it either way.  Reminds me of the history of the 21 Club.  Coincidentally, I had lunch there today.
• The RIAA, MPAA, AACS, and others need to stop treating “consumers” like criminals.  We’re customers, not criminals.  Make a worthwhile product and people will buy it.  It’s a bad thing when your “customers” hate your guts.
• Yesterday’s Digg riot will go down as a significant moment in the history of the Internet.  It’s a day when a Top 90 site had to face a digital revolt over bad policy.  The site’s own features were used against it.

There are plenty of news articles on this all over the place, so I am going to link to something else.  The cynics at Something Awful had a lot of interesting things to say.  Check them out here and here.

Update: And the You Tube responses are just hysterical.

Microsoft is Dead. Long Live Microsoft.

Last night I saw an article pop up on Digg titled: Vista sales propel Microsoft’s profits to almost $5 BILLION.  It states that “Microsoft Corp. posted a 65 percent rise in quarterly profit Thursday, topping Wall Street estimates thanks to better than expected demand for its new Windows Vista operating system.”

What?  This can’t be true.  Some guy on the Internet just announced that Microsoft Is Dead.  Then some more people got together, declared victory for Apple (Apple’s role in Microsoft’s downfall), and pissed on Microsoft’s grave (gotta love Slashdot).

The blogosphere loves bombastic, NY Post worthy headlines about Microsoft’s demise; especially where Apple fanboys hangout.  The fact of the matter is that Microsoft is flawed, but fine.  Microsoft isn’t going anywhere.

Here’s a prediction on the future of the home PC/OS.  Apple and Microsoft will both have a stake in it, and a large number of Mac buyers will kick in a few extra bucks to run Parallels/Fusion/Boot Camp/etc..  People will do this because they still want to run their Windows apps as seamlessly as possible while playing with their Apple toys.

I have so much to say….

And I don’t know where to begin.  I want to discuss “virtulization” and the virtualization of virtualization, the future of the PC, RIAA hysteria, and many other topics.  Let’s see what I can accomplish on this blog in an hour….

Copyblogger: The 5 Immutable Laws of Persuasive Blogging

Today is Day 2 of this blog.  I have a few things I want to share, but for now I’ll take some advice.  Our friends at Copyblogger have posted the “Laws of Persuasive Blogging.”  I don’t like laws.  😉

http://www.copyblogger.com/the-5-immutable-laws-of-persuasive-blogging/

 Update: I found this and it’s interesting.  http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/04/02/blogging-is-about-writing/