The marketers often tell us that, thanks to concentrated expertise, training and buying power, national franchises are more trustworthy, and put out better quality products than locally owned operators. But after an encounter with the local outposts of national franchisor, Cartridge World, we felt both integrity and quality missing. As for training... the bit we experienced was precisely the wrong kind.
Looking for a fast, lightweight web-based form builder? Email Battles built a typical sign-up form on Wufoo, a friendly startup based out of Tampa. With the exception of a stubborn radio button that won't go away, we found the site lives up to its promise.
A powerful emarketing tool combines eyeball motion studies with heatmapping display to help sellers bump sales. Unfortunately, when the conclusions derived from email heatmaps are liberally applied, phishers and other evil-doers benefit from the camouflage required to do evil properly. Email Battles tells you how to undo the evil, whether intentional or otherwise.
Millions of vets' necks were laid on the chopping block on the third of May, when a hard disk containing their Social Security numbers was stolen from a VA employee's home. Over the next two weeks, a dozen officials of Veterans Affairs found out, yet nobody got around to telling the vets so they could start protecting their bank accounts and credit records. The reasons why are revealing.
The ink hadn't yet dried on IBM's announcement of Lotus Notes on Linux, before anti-Lotus partisans unleashed their venom. Few gave weight to the thought that desktop Linux has suddenly gained collaboration abilities acceptable to enterprise-level buyers. But like it or not, Lotus Notes just raised Linux to a breathtaking, Microsoft-defying, new level. Question is, how long will it take Redmond to do what needs to be done?
Self-installing programs can be nice, when you invoke them by choice. But researchers have found thousands of viruses that execute after you innocently click a promising search link. Outraged users are demanding that Google, MSN and Yahoo do something about it. Luckily, Microsoft already has.
Most folks don't know that the zombie capital of the world isn't China or the USA. It's the European Union, by a long shot. The secret has been kept by well-meaning reporters who are living in the past, preserving each European state as an individual unit, as opposed to the EU as a full-fledged competitor on par with China and the US. Sometimes, it seems, the EU is treated like Rodney Dangerfield. It can't get any respect... even from its very best friends.
The admins at Microsoft IT make their anti-spam strategy brutally clear: They depend, first and foremost, on the anti-spam technique most riddled with inaccuracies, failures and outright corruption: blocklisting. Email Battles compares Microsoft's first-contact blocklisting technique with first-contact deferral. While both methods get you to the same net delivery rate, one is far more likely to deliver the mail you want.
A security hacker is unleashing an exploit every day this month. HD Moore claims he's doing it to highlight the fecklessness of browser security, but admits that he also wants to draw attention to his new blog. While both might be noble goals, IT managers scrambling to protect end-points left vulnerable by Moore's publicity initiative may be forgiven if they aren't impressed.
Since a contractor used an FBI agent's password and ancient off-the-web utilities to repeatedly crack the Bureau's network, people are starting to ask questions. Problem is, they're the wrong questions. After blowing $581 million on its failed Trilogy IT boondoggle, the FBI re-badged it, then re-sold it to Congress for another $500 million. Unfortunately, the Inspector General's report shows that the "lack of people who know what they're doing" persists. Does J. Edgar Hoover's old team have the minimal competence required to protect itself in the Internet age?
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