Why Gmail is better

Like many of the Technorati, I have more than one e-mail address. Several, in fact. On the personal side, I have an address with my home ISP (insightbb), a work address with my employer, another address with the client with whom I am currently working on a long-term project.

Out in the virtual world, I have two more addresses for my alter ego; one oh Hotmail, and one on Google Mail, or Gmail. The last one is the most recent addition, coming into being just over a year ago, when I received an invitation to the then-Beta Gmail a couple of years ago. Since then I have been using it sparingly.

However, recently, I have had reason to take a long, hard look at the various e-mail accounts and compare them.

My personal ISP address is bloody useless. Their ability to keep spam out of my inbox is highly suspect. I don’t know how many they keep out, but the other day I had to remove at least a dozen identical spam messages. I don’t know what they are doing to keep spam out; I suspect nothing.

The client and employer addresses are too ephemeral, too subject to change. And the employers are another one who seem unable to stop spam.

Hotmail does a decent job of keeping out undesirable stuff, but some stuff does get through. Ironically the worst spammer on Hotmail is… Microsoft. Not a week goes by when I don’t get some “helpful” e-mail from Gates & Co exhorting me to use X-and-Y new feature, or trying to interest me in their latest flavour-of-the-month offering. The nice thing about Hotmail is that you can access it from anywhere, but they no longer allow POP (the technology that allows you to download your messages to program like Outlook Express), unless you are a paying Customer.

Like Hotmail, Gmail is web-based, but there the similarities end. Gmail has a revolutionary way of listing your messages; they show them as “conversations”, so an exchange of e-mails are displayed as a conversation thread. Those who have used Usenet Newsgroups or discussion Forums (Fora?) - will be familiar with this.

Gmail was the first e-mail provider to break the 1GB barrier - the others have been playing catch-up ever since - which means that Gmail has become an unofficial backup mechanism. What a file backed up? E-mail it as an attachment to your Gmail account!. They also support POP - downloading your Gmail to a PDA over wireless internet is way cool - and you can decide whether you want to “copy” messages (leave them in Gmail) or “move” them (and remove them from your Gmail account).

Where Gmail truly hits a home run is with Spam handling. Simply speaking, there isn’t any. I don’t know how they do it, but after over a year of use I have yet to see a spam message in my Gmail inbox.

The only thing that keeps me from adopting Gmail for everything is inertia. However, over the next few months and years I can see myself using it more and more.

Now Reading: Thud, by Terry Pratchett

I told you so

Microsoft May Have Mistakenly Pegged Half A Million As Pirates (InformationWeek)

I have made no secret of the fact that there is no place for Windows XP on any of my machines. I do not like the idea of software “activation”, and will not do it if I have an alternative.

Once activated I have a big problem with the manufacturer checking if my copy was “legit”. If activation worked properly, surely this would not be necessary. I don’t want anyone sniffing around in there - it’s MY computer, dammit!

My biggest beef, however, is with DRM - Digital Rights Management - the idea that content publishers have any right to tell their customers me what to do with the content after purchase. As long as I do not infringe on your rights to profit from your content, leave me alone.

In this story, over half a million users have been mistakenly labelled as pirates by Microsoft’s overly-zealous “Genuine Advantage” program. That’s over half a million cases too many. Over half a million cases of slander or libel. And we, the People, just sit there and take it. Looks like Microsoft is taking “Genuine Advantage” of its users. And Windows Vista looks like it will be even worse.

I have commented again and again and again on why I don’t do XP at home. Besides, Windows 2000 is virtually identical under the hood - in spite of all of the claimed innovations, the version number went from 5.0 (2000) to 5.1 (XP). Turn off all of XP’s “dancing baloney” and it is hard to tell them apart.

Would you buy a car that breathalyzed you before it would start? Or one that sensed the speed limit and prevented you from exceeding it? Then why do we put up with this?

The first duty of an operating system is to enable and empower users - not to command and control them.

Windows’ Disingenuous Disadvantage II

When Windows XP came out, I refused to buy it. There were several reasons for this; one of them was that I was philosophically opposed to Windows Product Activation (WPA). When you first run Windows, it wants to talk to Microsoft to “activate” your copy of Windows.

Apparently is no longer enough. Some years later, Microsoft introduced Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) - a mechanism that ensures that your copy of Windows is, in fact genuine.

Funny, I thought that WPA already did that…

I took a stroll around Microsoft’s official pages, and all I could find was lots of blather about how Microsoft wants to protect us from piracy and counterfeiting. There was very little explanation of how or why, just lots of pictures of smiling people and PR-blather about how much you need to be sure that your copy of windows is “genuine”.

Err… that’s not really true, is it?

Think about it. Every version of Windows until now has gotten along fine without Microsoft continually poking its nose in to ensure that your copy is “legit”. Over that time Microsoft’s growth has been exponential. Who is really inconvenienced by Piracy and counterfeiting? Microsoft, that’s who.

So when they say “Protect Your Business with Genuine Microsoft Software“, what they really mean is “Protect OUR business with Genuine Microsoft Software”

Nothing wrong with that; I just wish that they would be a little more honest about it and call it what it is.If that were all there was to it, this would hardly be a blogworthy subject; but it doesn’t end there.

There are two specific problems with WGA.

First of is the way that MS has introduced it to the world. Although it has been around a while, they have recently shoehorned it into Windows Critical Updates. For the past few years, Microsoft’s have advised us to set our systems to automatically update, downloading and installing new patches as they become available, whispering “Trust us to keep your computer safe”. For years they cultivated this trust… and now anyone who trusted them has had this totally unnecessary piece of software automagically installed on their system.

The second is the fact WGA has been known to get it wrong and issue false-positives; situations where WGA has instructed some users told that their totally-legit license was “not genuine”… and then offered to sell them a “Genuine” version. This is completely unacceptable, and yet another reason to say the hell away from Windows XP.

I have no reason to doubt that Vista will be any better.

Terrorism or entrepreneurialism? You decide…

Link 1

Link 2

Here’s the plot: A bunch of guys buy large numbers of cellphones, which they “unlock” and sell at a profit. On 8/11 a Wal-Mart employee is concerned at the number of phones that they bought, and calls the cops, who pull them over and find “999 cell phones, 1,800 dollars in cash, a GPS, notebook computer, laser sight, digital transfer connectors, a black notebook with hand written notes, Microsoft Street & Trip, Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2, a Sony PlayStation, a digital camera, telephone adaptors and cables, patch cables, memory sticks, a Blackberry, jump drive, an iPod, Palm Pilot, and a box knife.” in their van.

The trio is arrested. Unfortunately they are of Middle-Eastern appearance with names to match, so naturally they are charged with Terrorism. The FBI investigates and finds no grounds for the terrorism charge, so the Terrorism charge is dropped… and then they are charged with Fraud. The Fraud charge is thrown out (with prejudice) for lack of evidence.

The PDF file tendered by the prosecution makes interesting reading…

“TracFone sells the phone for less than what it is charged by Nokia…” Isn’t that TracFone’s problem?

“…but makes up the loss by what it charges consumers for the TracFone prepaid airtime cards needed to activate the telephones.” Repeat Capitalism rule #1 after me: Nobody has the right to make a profit. NOBODY.

 ”The prepaid Nokia/TracFone telephones are susceptible to fraudulent use if the TracFone software is removed…” There are so many errors in that statement, I don’t know where to start. Does that mean if the software is there, that fraud is impossible? Of course not. Does that mean that the phone was fraudulent before the software was added? Words fail me, but let’s continue…

“… doing so enables the Nokia telephone to be programmed for use through any cellular telephone service that the user may choose.” That’s the point! Where’s the crime here? Apparently “freedom to choose” extends to killing unborn children, but does not include selecting your cellphone carrier.

“[they]… obtain Nokia/TracFones, remove the TracFone software - and often the TracFone trademark identification - and sell the altered telephones as genuine Nokia telephones to realize a profit.” More silliness. Removing the TracFone Software from a Nokia phone does NOT make it any less a Nokia phone, dummy! Nokia make the hardware! If I buy a Mustang, re-chip the engine management system and then sell the car, is it still a Ford? Of course it is…

Think about it: TracFone buys Nokia phones and then adds software. These guys then remove the software. What do you have left? If it was a Nokia Phone before the software is added, surely it is still a Nokia phone after the software has been removed… taking this line of thought a little further, if the removed software is what made it a “TracFone”, removing the TracFone identification may actually have been the legally correct thing to do!

I applaud the judge. It is good to see judges out there with enough common sense to see through the flummery that was presented in this case.The real question is whether there was any misrepresentation when the goods were sold. If they are described as “Unlocked Nokia Phones” - which is exactly what they are, then as far as I can see, no law has been broken, and the only sin these gentlemen are guilty of is entrepreneurialism.

Personally I would like to see an apology from the FBI agent and the prosecutor for wasting the court’s time. I would not blame the three men for countersuing them.

In conclusion, it is obvious to me that some in Law Enforcement are using a different dictionary to the rest of us. Words like “genuine”, “counterfeit” and “fraudulent” are brandished like weapons in ways that are… well… dishonest.

WGA Gets Worse … and the Geeks figure out how to disable it.

Microsoft is beefing up Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) in an attempt to cut down on piracy. Nothing wrong with that… except that like all forms of DRM, it forces legitimate users to jump through hoops to run software that they have paid for.

This is one of the reasons that I refused to upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. The latter forced users to go through Product Activation - a process that involves sending information about your system away to Microsoft. This is all quick and easy… until you upgrade your system - which I do quite often - in which case you could very easily find yourself phoning up Microsoft and begging them for the right to to use your own software. If you bought a brand-name machine like a Dell, HP or e-machines it gets even worse. If the motherboard goes and you cannot get an identical one, your Windows license dies. Ask me how I know.

Interestingly, the Corporate editions of Windows XP are not subject to this restriction… I wonder why?

Never one to miss out on a potential cash cow, Microsoft subsequently retrofitted WGA into Windows 2000. I thought that this was exceptionally sneaky, but since it was optional (not needed for security updates) I wasn’t bothered. Now they are making WGA a little more proactive by making it nag refuseniks like myself into submission.

Naturally, the Geek community found a way to disable WGA within a matter of days.

Meanwhile, in China, street vendors are selling copies of Windows for $2. What is MS do about them?

How many times do I have to say it? DRM does not work.

Memo to Microsoft: If you have to implement DRM, make it seamless and painless - or users will refuse to upgrade.

Or worse, migrate to Linux.

How To Become A Hacker

How To Become A Hacker

Not the modern hysterical-media definition of the word (”Cyber-Burglar”), but the original, correct meaning - a “Guru” who has earned the respect of the programming community.

College Kid 1, Microsoft 0

A wonderful David vs. Goliath story… In the blue corner, Microsoft Incorporated! In the red corner… College Kid!

• College Kid buys software from campus bookstore.
• Finding that it requires a reformat, he decides not to install it on his machine.
• Bookstore will not allow him to return software, even if it is unopened.
• Kid contacts Microsoft, who also refuse return of unopened software.
• Faced with a catch-22, Kid sells software on eBay.
• Microsoft finds out about the eBay auction and sues Kid.
• Kid fights… and, to everyone's surprise, wins.

My comments:

• BRAVO!
• A Microsoft "investigator" stopped the Windows XP auction on the grounds of "piracy". When the kid called them on it, they did not reply.
• Microsoft had the nerve to claim that his $143.50 in profits was "unfair competition" and forced the company to sustain "substantial impact" on their multi-billion-dollar business.
• MS claimed that the Kid was "hassling them"… even though they were the ones who started the process of litigation. Apparently the act of fighting back is now considered "hassling". What you are supposed to do, presumably, is roll over and hand them your check book…
• MS was more than happy to bury the kid in litigation - until the kid told the Press what was going on. At that point, the company suddenly changed their tune and wanted to settle… and bury the story instead. This goes to show that Corporations are more concerned with their public image than doing the right thing. Naturally, the Kid, having better things to do with his life, obliged… and as a result can no longer discuss the case.

This case shows the holes in the laws regarding Software Licensing Agreements (SLAs), which are generally used by the publisher to

1. Deny all liability for faults and damages and
2. Limit what the customer can and cannot do with the product.

I would like to see a plain-English "spirit-of-the-law" SLA statement… and for publishers to be held a little more accountable in the "real world".

Another one bites the dust

Scott Berkun has switched to Firefox!

"So what"? I hear you say

And you would be right… every day thousands of people switch to Firefox. Except that Scott is one of the people who designed and built Internet Explorer.

 That's gotta hurt.

Microsoft tries to recruit Eric Raymond

You're probably asking "Who is this Eric Raymond fellow?" - unless you are a geek, in which case you are laughing uproariously as you read this.

I'll let the man describe himself…

I am the guy who responded to Craig Mundie's "Who are you?" with "I'm your worst nightmare", and that I've in fact been something pretty close to your company's worst nightmare since about 1997. You've maybe heard about this "open source" thing? You get one guess who wrote most of the theory and propaganda for it and talked IBM and Wall Street and the Fortune 500 into buying in. But don't think I'm trying to destroy your company. Oh, no; I'd be just as determined to do in any other proprietary-software monopoly, and the community I helped found is well on its way to accomplishing that goal.

Someone at MS must have been smoking the wacky baccy whey they asked this dude to come aboard.

Dump Microsoft, save money

That's what British schools are being told. And they have a point. Most school computers are nowhere near cutting-edge, and Microsoft no longer sell the older operating systems that are best matched to these systems.

In addition,  their silly license agreements often mean that when you donate a machine to a school you have to wipe the OS - even if it is OEM and is tied to that hardware and no other.