Actual spam subject lines:
let us fight with your creditors
afraid to fight your creditors? we’re not
I’m imagining two guys in a boxing ring with the viking warriors from those Capital One commercials. If only Spamusement had a submissions page!
Category: Tech
Suggestive logo
Here’s another example of using a design that suggests a logo, rather than using it outright. This is a “Win Compatible” badge from the package of a KVM switch. (I think it was from IOGEAR.)
What I like about this is that it manages to get the idea across clearly even though it doesn’t use the actual Windows name or logo. “Win” is enough to get the name across, and the overlapping colored rectangles immediately call to mind the look of Windows 2000, Windows Me, and Office 2000. Sure, it’s one redesign back, but it’s still recognizable.
As for why they made their own logo? Well, it’s all hardware, with no drivers needed, so there really isn’t any point in putting it through the OS compatibility tests. You might as well label a monitor as being “Designed for Windows.” But not everyone knows what is and isn’t OS-dependent. Even those who do are more likely to buy it if they have that reassurance. I’ve looked at devices that I was 90% certain should work with any OS, but bought the one that specifically mentioned Mac or Linux compatibility because it filled in that last 10%.
An offer you can’t turn down
Some amusing “word salad” variations:
To update passive your e-mail address regulator from <remove> to cellist, please visit adoptive My Profile barge.
I got another one with the same structure, and they’re just dropping random words into the sentence. But I kind of like the idea of a “My Profile barge.”
If you would rather not receive E-mail outshine diffuse alerting you of special offers, product announcements, sensuous and other news, just let us know by rapier
Oh, the temptation!
Reinventing the Upgrade Wheel
The internet is a hostile place. Viruses, worms, and worse are constantly trying to break or break into your computer. Software developers are constantly fixing the holes that can let them in. It’s become critical to keep your system up to date. Unfortunately this can be very frustrating, even for a power user, for one simple reason: you have to keep track of each program individually.
Sure, the operating systems have their own centralized places. Microsoft has Windows Update, and Apple has Software Update. But every application that exposes itself to the network directly or opens untrusted files has to be updated, and there are many that aren’t part of the operating system.
So Symantec has Live Update. Real Player has its own updater. iTunes and QuickTime for Windows can update themselves. Adobe Reader has an update function. Firefox is redesigning its update system. Games check for updates when they connect to the network.
But wouldn’t it be nice if Windows would grab the Acrobat updates overnight, instead of waiting until the next time you launched it? Wouldn’t you like to be able to patch everything on your system at once and just not worry about it? As a software developer, wouldn’t you like to be able to let someone else deal with the update problem instead of re-inventing the wheel yet again?
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Devoured by the Mandriva
The Mandrake/Conectiva merger has had a chance to sink in. I’m almost getting used to the name Mandriva. But I’m still trying to figure out last week’s announcement that Mandriva has bought Lycoris—or rather, has “purchase[d] several assets from Lycoris.” The big news is that they’re combining Mandriva Discovery (their entry-level desktop OS) with Lycoris Desktop/LX.
The main thing is, I can’t make out just what Mandriva has and has not bought. I can’t figure out whether there’s anything left of Lycoris, the company. Their CEO is moving to Mandriva to head up the new product. Their software collection and user forums are moving to Mandrake Club. Their flagship product is being merged with one of Mandriva’s. But the wording of the press release implies that they haven’t bought everything. If I were to guess, Lycoris might start focusing on their Tablet PC line.
What does seem to be happening is that Mandrake has begun collecting a number of the smaller commercial players in the Linux arena. Who knows? They may be in a position to challenge Red Hat and Novell soon.
Spinning Beach Balls of Death!
The Mozilla-based Camino web browser for Mac OS X has just launched 0.9 alpha 1, and the release notes include this item:
Rarely see “beach balls of death”.
I don’t remember whether I’d heard the term before (I recall the “spinning pizza of death,” or maybe of doom), but I knew exactly what it meant.
Viruses: They’re not just annoyances anymore
If you’ve been paying attention to computer security, you already know that spam, viruses, and organized crime have been in bed together for at least a year. The recently-discovered theft of 40 million credit card numbers [edit: originally linked to Yahoo News] illustrates this point clearly:
CardSystems was hit by a virus-like computer script that captured customer data for the purpose of fraud, [MasterCard spokeswoman] Gamsin said. She said she did not know how the script got into the system. The FBI was investigating. (emphasis added)
Given the current porous state of many networks and operating systems, and the general public’s attitude that catching a computer virus is as inevitable as catching a cold, I’d guess it got into the system the same way most spyware does. An email attachment squeaked by the filters. Someone installed a tool that claimed it would make their web access faster. Someone got a well-designed phish, followed the link, and got infected by a backdoor because their browser was behind on security patches. Someone brought a laptop home, plugged it into their insecure home network, and brought back a virus.
Sadly, I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of this.
Update June 20: Netcraft is reporting that it was indeed lax computer security that did them in:
MasterCard International said it “worked with CardSystems to remediate the security vulnerabilities in the processor’s systems. These vulnerabilities allowed an unauthorized individual to infiltrate their network and access the cardholder data.” Officials at affected institutions were not specifying the vulnerability and exploit used to breach CardSystems’ security. (emphasis added)
Netcraft seems to think it was likely their website, which runs on Windows 2000 and IIS 5, and they go on to promote their own security consulting services. So it’s not entirely an unbiased look at the incident.