A way to take out spammers? 3 banks process 95% of spam transactions

Remember "Follow the money?" It seems to work for spam, too.

I still get questions from people about things advertised in spam. Is this legit? I tell them, no.

If no one bought from spam that would shut it down, too. Sadly only a very, very small percentage of people have to buy from spam to make it very, very profitable. So barring people suddenly getting smarter, if we could shut down the banking end of it, it might help. Then again it might just be another form of whack-a-mole.

Days after being bought by Microsoft, Skype starts installing crapware on Windows systems without consent

In spite of the headline, I doubt this crapware has anything to do with Microsoft. You can be sure that if anything get's bundled in with a Microsoft version of Skype that it will be Microsoft crapware, not some 3rd party crapware.

Russia's ChronoPay Executive Linked to Mac Defender Scam - International Business Times

Here's an interesting article about who is possibly behind MacDefender. MacDefender certainly is a nasty scheme that caught Mac users off guard.

A little rant RE: IE

Someone please tell me, why do folks insist on doing sites that only work fully in Internet explorer? Don't get me wrong, I'm far from a windows basher but, I do like running Linux whenever I can. It's free, for starters. OK, there is IE Tab for Firefox but, if your not running windows, good luck. It won't even install. Yes, Crossover Linux has helped me a bunch, it's not and you can't expect it to be "perfect" and it's not free. Like Jack used to say about Wireless LAN's, "It's like trying to balance a chair on one leg on one hand". Also yes, I can run a virtual machine on Linux but, then I may as well run windows. If anyone out there knows a better way, please clue me in. :-)
TY rant over.

Ubunto 11.04 slow?

I installed Ubuntu 11.04 shortly after if came out. However, it ran sluggish, in my opinion. Slower than windows on the same computer. This has never been the case up to now. So, I did some Googlin'. Found the link in the title in the Ubuntu forums. In a nut shell:

Don't know if there's a bug report, the only related thing I found was this
topic...

Originally Posted by ShadowKyuzo
But i think i just solved it here on my pc.
Do you have Compiz Settings Manager?

I did this and video playback seems normal now:

1. Go to Compiz Settings Manager
2. On the "general" options, go to COMPOSITE
3. Disable "Detect Refresh Rate"
4. Set "Refresh Rate" to 60 (or your monitor's refresh rate)
5. Go back to the "general" options and now go to "OpenGL"
6. Disable "Synchronize to VBlank"

Thanks to the original poster. It help me a bunch.

Fake security software catches out Apple owners

Thanks to Rob for giving me this link in chat.

Mac users aren't used to this stuff. But just like Windows users the advice is "don't click on it."

Apple triggers 'religious' reaction in fans' brains, report says

This is not great science because there was not a large enough sample among other things, but who really cares? That Apple has its fanatics is not exactly a news flash.

Firefox add-on with 7m downloads can invade privacy

Because the Ant.com is not responding to inquiries, it at the least makes the behavior on the extension very suspect. Not so much because it does what it does, but because what it does was not accompanied by an privacy disclosure.

FAA warns pilots in Las Vegas vicinity on GPS

This is an interesting article about the clash of two technologies. I don't think anyone wants to see GPS impacted. What I don't understand is the hodgepodge that is seemingly being made of the spectrum. Why are these two technologies at odds with each other? Was the race to sell off spectrum to the high bidder ill considered?

I sometimes wish that spectrum could be allocated by impartial bodies whose only concern was the best frequencies being put to work for the highest purposes. Of course with humans who want to put spectrum to use to make profits, this seems to be impossible. Still spectrum allocation by the highest bidder seems to be leaving us with a royal mess that we will all be dealing with for years to come.

I wonder what will happen if all the people in cars in Las Vegas find their GPS units become paperweights during these tests. I guarantee you they don't have the warning systems that aviation does and there may be some unhappy surprises. Nor do they have the maps in their cars that pilots have in their planes. Most people I know no longer carry a map in the car. Do you?

e-smoking gets social - “You’ll meet more people than ever, just because of the wow factor.”

Jason Healy, founder of Blu, which makes e-cigarettes with sensors that let smokers know when other e-smokers are nearby. The New York Times reports that the socially inclined e-cigarettes will be available for sale next month at a cool $80 for “smart packs” of five.

FBI: You Might Sue Your Carrier If You Knew What They Were Doing

AT&T a powerful lobbying force, but because they're also now bone-grafted to the nation's surveillance apparatus. AT&T funnels all voice and data wholesale to the NSA, and helps the FBI not only with domestic spying, but has gone so far as to advise the FBI on ways to wiggle around privacy laws.

WSJ: Microsoft to buy Skype for $7bn. Rest of world: for real?

Okay, so what are they going to rename it? Microsoft Bing Windows 7 Live Voice Messenger Explorer?

Here's just hoping that MS doesn't screw it up. Hopefully they will take what users know and love about Skype and make it better. Let's also hope that they don't limit the platform to Windows either by design or neglect. Certainly MS has the people power and know-how to do Skype right, but do they have the vision? Only time will tell.

Microsoft to buy Skype

Posted without comment.

New jumbo jet performs ultimate aborted takeoff | Technically Incorrect

I think this is a very neat video. The only problem is that it makes it look easier than it is. This is no small accomplishment. It certainly is an example of better living through technology.

Oh and even though it is his first name, the fact that the pilot is Captain Kirk is kind of neat.

Password-storing service may have been hacked

Here's the reason I don't use a cloud based password storing service. No stored password is secure, but at least mine are stored locally and are not nearly the target for hackers that LastPass is.

If you do use LastPass do change your password as soon as you can (which do to overload may be a few days).

Amazon Tablet May Debut Late 2011

This seems to be a very logical move on the part of Amazon. Now the question is will there be a table and a color Kindle, or will a color Kindle and a tablet be one in the same. I do hope that Amazon will keep the option of a lower priced black and white Kindle. There still seems to me to be a place in the market for a small, light, inexpensive ereader.

After botched child porn raid, judge sees the light on IP addresses

From the article:

"Several recent government raids on computer users suspected of sharing child porn online hit the wrong targets. Instead of getting the perpetrators, some of the raids nabbed a neighbor with an open WiFi network instead. One obvious takeaway: letting total strangers use your Internet connection for any purpose comes with some risk. But there's another lesson: IP addresses simply don't identify the people behind the computers."

I'm glad that at least some courts are taking a closer and more critical look at the issue.

AT&T's broadband data caps start May 2nd, 2011.

The new limits—150 GB for DSL subscribers and 250 Gigabytes for UVerse users (a mix of fiber and DSL)—come as users are increasingly turning to online video such as Hulu and Netflix on-demand streaming service instead of paying for cable.

Carriers crack down hard on wireless tethering app for Android

The application, “Wireless Tether for Root Users,” is still available on the Android Market. But if you have a phone that’s on the Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile networks, you won’t be able to download or install it.

Wired.com attempted to install the application on a number of devices, and was only able to do so on a Sprint-carried Evo 4G and Galaxy Tab, as well as WiFi-only products. Our Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T devices were unable to receive the app for installation.

How can people be so mean? ;) Earl