Technical Tidbits

I am supposed to be finishing up some things in preparation for our anniversary celebration and I’m just so livid I have to write this. I cannot focus on anything else right now.

Our Chief Marketing Director, Jeff Staebell, coming across a piece of software, while researching one of our special reports for our anniversary celebration. He called it to my attention, which led to him listening to my rant about it a few days ago. (And of course, he ranted about the spiritual implications of this to me!)

Today, a student brought up a question about a similar software in the discussion area and started me on my rant all of again. I need to get this off my mind so I’m putting it out there.

The two software products that have been brought into question were: PC Pandora by Pandora Corp. and Spector Pro by SpectorSoft. (And I will not honor either of them by giving you the link.)

Just what are these two pieces of software and why am I in such a RAGE about them?

They are keylogging spyware programs disguised as legitimate software!

In case you missed it, let me repeat it for you! I’ll even make sure you can’t miss it!

THEY ARE KEYLOGGING SPYWARE PROGRAMS DISGUISED AS LEGITIMATE SOFTWARE!

Got it now? Good!

The PC Pandora software is supported and raved about on many sites about cheating husbands and online safety for kids. And I was stunned to see that many of the television stations from well known ABC News through NBC News, as well as well-known radio programs and PC Magazine support this kind of behavior and software! You all should be ashamed of yourself!

And Clickbank is handling their affiliate program so you’ll be seeing rave reviews from all kinds of money grubbers who have no ethics other than to promote a product they know nothing about in order to make a few bucks.

Here are my issues with this kind of marketing….

If you have to install software to catch your spouse cheating, what does that say about you as a person? What does it say about your marriage?

You don’t need this software, you need a marriage counselor!

As for the children, mom and dad, WAKE UP! Call it what you will, you aren’t protecting them, you are spying on them!

I’ve had about enough of all this lack of personal responsibility as one person can take! And I’m so sick and tired of hearing that the reason we need this kind of garbage is because we can’t be every where as parents. Yes, that’s true, but you can at least be PRESENT when you are there! You don’t need a V-chip to block your kids from the television programs you don’t want them to watch - you need to be a parent! There’s a two letter word called, “NO!” Have you heard of it? You don’t need spyware, keylogging software, you need, “NO!” coupled with SUPERVISION. Ever hear of that word?

Do you bother to hear what your children are saying to you? Do you listen to their conversations with their friends? Are you paying attention? Or is invading their privacy your way of being a good parent?

Spector Pro is no better either. Only this one lends its marketing more toward the businesses. Excuse me? If I have to install this kind of monitoring software on my employees machines, there’s a few issues I need to really address!

One would be, “What is wrong with me as an employer that I’m hiring the wrong people?” (After all, I must be hiring the wrong people if I’m needing this kind of software!)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m in favor of businesses blocking access to certain websites that may compromise the network or the employees ability to work effectively. (Like blocking porn, gambling, and such - do it on your own time!)

But, as long as the staff members are getting their work done, who am I to care if they are making a personal phone call or answering a personal e-mail? It’s work, not a concentration camp - isn’t it?

The support and advocation of this kind of malware stuns me! What are you teaching your employees, your children, your spouse? That malware is OK under certain circumstances? And those circumstances are any time I feel I’m being victimized? Get counseling - get over it!

What are we showing society? That it’s OK to spy on people and use malware when we deem it appropriate?

I see the pot calling the kettle black is what I see!

You rant at your television set and send mass e-mails about the government passing laws (currently being voted on!) about losing your rights in the new proposed law about wire tapping, and yet you illegally do the same in your own home or office?

As you can see, this has really hit a sore spot with me.

Wake up people! Call PC Pandora and Spector Pro what you will, it’s still spyware and it still stinks!

What are we coming to as a society????? This is sad. So very, very sad.

As a P.S. Do you want to see what TrendMicro thinks of the PC Pandora site? Look at this screen shot:

Kudo’s to TRENDMICRO!

written by Admin \\ tags: ABC, ABC News, affiliate, affiliate program, clickbank, clickbank affiliate program, Jeff Staebell, keylogger, keylogging, malware, NBC, NBC News, PC Magazine, PC Pandora, pc pandora spyware, Spector Pro, Spector Pro spyware, SpectorSoft, spyware, trend, trendmicro

The other day, my older sister tells me she’s buying this new Dell PC that is on sale. The problem with the PC is that it has Vista Home Premium pre-installed. Aside from the fact that I warn her I can help her with troubleshooting Vista and I have no intention on learning nor purchasing this POS (Piece of Sh*t) software, she asks me to just help her with a few minor problems she’s having with it.

What constitutes minor? Well, she can’t install a single piece of software for starters! And that’s only the beginning.

First the new Dell comes with Google apps and Desktop. When you open the browser (IE), the positioning of the Google toolbar and the fact that the cursor automatically lands on the search address bar as opposed to the actual address bar, she can’t navigate anywhere. Not surprising when I find out that she’s searching as opposed to going anywhere!

Okay, so I remove the Google junk. We’re back to a regular IE and I get her home page established. We’re making progress.

I try to install the first program she wants installed.

I now understand the Apple/PC commercials for Vista. You know the ones where there’s this guy in a black suit with dark sunglasses standing behind PC and every time Apple tries to talk to PC, the suit says, ”Apple is requesting to talk to you, accept or deny?”

OMG! That is an understatement of the annoying crap within this new operating system. Excuse my language here, but what the %&*#  were you thinking Microsoft??? Are you out of your gosh darned mind???

I have been in the technology business for nearly 20 years now. And I have never been reduced to tears by frustration as I had been last night. What a $*%(&&$#  nightmare!

I finally get the darned thing turned off so I can start installing software, and low and behold, Windows Defender decides to put its two cents in!

Something happened with one installation that actually wiped out the DSL modem settings and there was no Internet connection after that. I had to call tech support and we ended up having to reset the modem back to factory!

Every time I tried to install any type of protection software other than what Vista wanted, we lost Internet connection.

World of Warcraft, my nephews favoritest game in the whole wide world won’t connect. Yet, we can connect to his account through the browser.

I have not been so frustrated since I first learned how computers worked in the early days of desktop PCs.

Vista is a *$%&;ing nightmare and I cannot fathom why anyone would ever want this POS in their computer.

I just had to vent and get the anger and frustration off my chest. I also wanted to put it out there, that if you agree with me, feel free to sign the InfoWorld petition to save Windows XP.

You can sign the petition here: Help Save XP Petition. 

Debbie

PS Bill Gates, You SUCK! I’m glad you retired and maybe someone with some common sense will put M$ back on track!

written by Admin \\ tags: infoworld, Microsoft, vista, windows, world of warcraft, xp

I’ve spoken with several people since my discovery that now TrendMicro’s software has gone down the drain.

I wanted someone - anyone - to tell me why! Why is it that when a company gets bigger their products get crappier? Why!???

At first it was Symantec. My gosh, how well I remember my love of Norton AV. They saved my hard drive when McAfee failed me early on in this business.  But Norton then was not the same as Symantec/Norton now.

First Norton changed to Symantec (they were bought out?). The downhill spiral started. But then, Symantec bought Veritas showing us where they were putting the money - enterprise! I can see them waving as they say, “Goodbye all you little end users who made us what we are! We are going after the real money!”

On we moved to Zonelabs Zone Alarm. Great software. Great control and not a heavy resource user. But then came the Checkpoint buyout and suddenly ZA has it’s own AV program too. And how odd that suddenly their updates started disabling Norton AV? Conspiracy? Maybe.

So, we all made the switch to TrendMicro’s PC-Cillin. My gosh, they’ve been around for ages too! And wow! Internet Security 2006 was a dream come true! I had to keep checking to see if it was working because it never bothered me!

But then, some evil happened in Trends Internet Security 2007. Was it the corporate bug-a-boo that bit them too? Suddenly we have a resource hog on our hands that grows worse with time and updates.

Why??? Why??? Why???

Is it a plague running rampant in Corporations?

A friend of mine gave me the answer I believe. And yes, it’s the plague of all Corporations. It’s an evil virus that spreads across the corporate landscape faster than a botnet. It’s called the “SHAREHOLDER”!

My friend believes that as the companies get bigger and either go public or get bought out by larger corporations, suddenly they have to worry about earnings and shareholders. So, they start to cut corners, cut expenses, make shoddier products. All to keep earnings up and keep the shareholders happy.

So there you have the explanation. The next time your favorite software merges, buys, gets bought out, or goes public, run! Run as fast you can away from them!

Please don’t ever tell me someone has bought up Spybot Search and Destroy. I think I’ll consider Hari kari!

written by Admin \\ tags: antivirus, firewall, norton, spybot, symantec, trend, zone alarm