With those third-party applications, my 'touch will become more of a PDA and the iPhone will become more of a smartphone.

Still, I was able to access the App Store using iTunes 7.7 (which I downloaded directly from Apple's iTunes website since it wasn't showing up in Apple Software Update). Adding the "Applications" item in the left-hand sidebar (available through the "General" tab in iTunes Preferences), I can see a list of applications already downloaded in iTunes (i.e., nothing at first launch). At the bottom of that page, there's a link to get more applications which leads to the App Store.  There, I can browse applications, get free apps, or buy some of the paid ones (using the payment information stored in my iTunes account). Prices are the same in USD and CAD (since they are pretty much on par, it all makes sense). Searching and browsing for apps follows all the same conventions as with music, movies, podcasts, or iPod games. Application pages appear in searches for application names (say, "Trism").

I went through a number of apps and eventually downloaded 28 free ones. I also noted a number of apps I would like to try, including Trism, Units, Things, Outliner, OmniFocus, Steps (one of the rare apps available in French), iCalorie, and one of the multiple Sudoku apps. However, I can't put apps on a wishlist and demos aren't available directly through iTunes (I'm assuming they're available from the iPhone or iPod touch).

I'm actually looking forward to trying out all of these apps. I don't tend to be an early adopter but this is one case for quick adoption, especially with free apps. I guess a small part of this is that, since Apple has sorted through these apps, I'm assuming none of them contains any malware. Not that I ever fully trust an organization or individual, but my level of trust is higher with the App Store than with, say, the usual software download site (VersionTracker.com, Tucows.com, Download.com, Handango.com). And I trust these download sites much more than the developer sites I find through Web searches.

One thing I notice very quickly is how small many of those apps were. After downloading 28 apps, my "Mobile Applications" folder is 31MB. Of course, many PDA apps were typically under 100KB, but given the size of OSX iPhone devices, I'm glad to notice that I can probably fit that I can probably fit a lot of applications in less than 1GB, leaving more room for podcasts, music, and pictures. On the other hand, filesizes are apparently not listed in the "Applications" section on iTunes (they're specified on the individual apps' pages).

Overall, there's a number of obvious apps, many of which are PDA classic: to do lists, phrasebooks, clocks and timers, calculators (including tips calculators), converters, trackers, weather forecasts, and solitaire or other casual games (like sudoku). No surprise with any of these and I'll probably use many of them. Typically, these can be difficult to select because developers have had very similar ideas but the apps have slightly different features. Typically, with those apps, free wins over extensive feature lists, even for very cheap software.

Speaking of price, I notice that AppEngines is selling 43 different Public Domain books as separate apps for 1$ each. Now, there's nothing wrong with making money off Public Domain material (after all, there wouldn't be a Disney Company without Public Domain works). But it seems strange to me that someone would nickel-and-dime readers by charging for access to individual Public Domain titles. Sure, a standalone app is convenient. But a good electronic book reader should probably be more general than book-specific. Not really because of size constraints and such. But because books are easily conceived as part of a library (or bookshelf), instead of being scattered on a handheld device. The BookZ Text Reader seems more relevant, in this case, and it's compatible with the Project Gutenberg files. Charging 2$ for that text reader seems perfectly legitimate. For its part, Fictionwise has released a free eReader app for use with its proprietary format. Though it won't transform OSX iPhone devices into a Kindle killer, this eReader app does seem to at least transfer books through WiFi. Since these books are copyrighted ones, the app can be a nice example of a convenient content marketplace.

I'm a bit surprised that the educational software section of the App Store isn't more elaborate. It does contain 45 separate apps but several of those are language-specific versions of language tools or apps listed in other categories which happen to have some connection to learning. If it were me, I'd classify language tools in a separate category or subcategory and I might more obvious how different educational apps are classified. On the other hand, I'm quite surprised that Molecules isn't listed in this educational section.

The reason I care so much is that I see touch devices generally as an important part of the future of education. With iPod touches being bundled with Mac sales in the current "Back-to-School" special and with the obvious interest of different people in putting touch devices in the hands of learners and teachers, I would have expected a slew of educational apps. Not to mention that educational apps have long populated lists of software offerings since the fondly remembered Hypercard days to PDAs and smartphones.

Among the interesting educational apps is Faber Acoustical's SignalScope. At 25$, it's somewhat expensive for an OSX iPhone app, but it's much less expensive than some equivalent apps on other platforms used to be. It's also one of the more creative apps I've seen in the Store. Unfortunately, for apparently obvious reasons (the iPod touch has no embedded audio in), it's only available on the iPhone.

Speaking of iPhone-only software... There's already a way to get audio on the iPod touch using a third-party adapter. I understand that Apple isn't supporting it officially but I wonder if the iPhone-only tag will prevent people from using it. Small point for most people, I guess. But it'd be really nice if I could use my 'touch as a voice recorder. Would make for a great fieldwork tool.

One thing I wish were available on the App Store is an alternative mode for text entry. Though I'm already getting decent performance from the default virtual keyboard on my 'touch, I still wish I had Dasher, MessagEase or even Graffiti.

Among the apps I've browsed, I see a number of things which could be described as "standalone versions of Web apps." There's already a good number of Web apps compatible or even customized for OSX iPhone devices. The standalone versions can be useful, in part because they can be used offline (great for WiFi-less situations, on the iPod touch). But these "standaloned Web apps" also don't seem to really take full advantage of Apple's Cocoa Touch. In the perception of value, I'd say that "standaloned Web apps" rate fairly low, especially since most Web apps are free to use (unless tied with an account on a Web service).

I was also surprised to see that a number of apps which are basically simple jokes are put for sale on the App Store. I was amused to see an OSX iPhone version of Freeverse's classic "Jared, The Butcher of Songs." But I'm puzzled by the fact that Hottrix is selling its iBeer app for 3$. Sure, it's just 3$. But I don't see the app providing with as much pleasure as a single taster of a craft beer. Not to mention that the beer itself looks (by colour, foam, and carbonation) like a bland pilsner and not like a flavourful beer.

Overall, I'd say the Store is well-made. Again, the same principles are used as for the iTunes Store generally. All application pages have screenshots and some of these screenshots give an excellent idea of what the application does, while other screenshots are surprisingly difficult to understand. Browsing the Store, I noticed how important icons seemed to be in terms of catching my attention. Some application developers did a great job at the textual description of their applications, also catching my attention. But others use "marketingspeak" to brag about their product, which has the effect of making the app more difficult to grasp. Given the number of apps already listed and the simplicity of the classification, such details become quite important. Almost (but not nearly as much) as price, in terms of making an app appealing.

It seems pretty clear to me (and to others, including some free market advocates), that price is an important issue. This was obvious to many of us for a while. But the opening of the App Store makes this issue very obvious.

For instance, regardless of his previous work, CNET journalist Don Reisinger is probably on to something when he argues, in essence, that the free apps may outweigh the benefits of the paid apps, on Apple's App Store. Even though Apple allegedly coaxed developers into charging for their apps, the fact of the matter is that the App Store clearly shows that no-cost software can be a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The same advantage is obvious in many contexts, including in music. But, as a closed environment, the App Store could serve as an efficient case study in "competing with free." One thing to keep in mind, as I keep saying, is that there are multiple types of no-cost offerings. In the software world (including on the App Store), there's a large number of examples of successful applications which incurred no purchase on the users' part. Yes, sometimes you need a bit of imagination to build a business model on top of no-cost software. But I think the commercial ventures enabled by these "alternative" business models are more diverse than people seem to assume.

One thing I noticed in terms of application pricing on the App Store is that there either seems to be a number of sweet spots or pricing schemes come from a force of habit. Sure, Apple only has a finite list of "tiers" for amounts which can be charged for a given app (with preset currency conversions). But I think that some tiers have been used more than others. For instance, 10$ seems fairly common as a threshold between truly inexpensive apps and a category similar to "shareware." Some apps are actually as expensive as the desktop versions, though it seems that the most expensive app so far is under 100$.

One thing to note is that several developers of those early App Store products have been involved in Mac development for a while (the Omni Group being an obvious example) but there are also several organizations which seem to be entering Cocoa development for the first time. This could be a bigger halo effect in terms of Mac sales than the original iPod or the iPhone. Profit made through OSX iPhone apps (either through software cost, through services, or even through other monetization schemes) could lead them to develop software for OSX Leopard. At least, they already made an investment in the development platform.

It'll be interesting to observe what happens with software pricing in relation to the "apparent hand" of a constrained market.

But I'm less interested in this market than in the actual apps. When can I install the "iPhone 2.0" firmware on my iPod touch? Is it now?

• We released the Passpack Host-Proof Hosting Library
• We launched Passpack Desktop for Adobe AIR...
• ...AND Passpack Offline Version for Google Gears
• We poked a few holes in Zero Knowledge Web Apps

The discussion is languishing on that last one (anyone disagree? agree? not understand?), but we did bring it to the attention of AjaxPatterns author Michael Mahemoff, he picked up the news on Ajaxian together with the release of the Host-Proof Hosting Library.

More News:

Webware
Password helper PassPack goes offline (in a good way)... on Download.com blog too!

Dion Almaer
Passpack: Gears? AIR? Why choose!

Lifehacker
PassPack Enables Offline Password Management with Gears

Download Squad
Passpack password manager goes offline with Passpack Desktop

Ryan Stewart
PassPack Desktop Client Built on AIR

Profy
PassPack for the Desktop!

Adobe AIR Marketplace
Staff Picks!

Thanks everyone! We've got more coming...

In 2004 I met DJ Raw B while on tour with Head-Roc, Jarobi and Grizz. He hooked me up with the peoples at Download.com and setup 5 tracks from my debut electronica album Self Realization for free download. The tracks are still up, and have gotten over 36,000 downloads.

That album never really blew up for me. The wax did OK, but it was too different and out of genre to really blow up on the indy vinyl circuit. It was also weird, because there was no way I could really perform the record, so touring wasn't an option. People have come to see me at times expecting me to be playing tracks from Self Realization and I'm dropping hip hop records and they would just give me this weird look.

Anyway. You should feel free to download some of the tracks and the CD is available for purchase at CDBaby.

Check this review:

This guy flip styles like he flips channels on a TV.

His music is kept original and different. I can easily just sit and chill out to the beats he's given us here. I can just imagine some of the tracks being in films and some computer games. I think he'd be great if he pursued a carreer in making music for games and films. But he'd be even better if he teamed up with a good MC and did the DJ'ing for the MC. Lots of possibilities for this guy. Good luck Eurok.

İçerisinde News, download.com, CNET TV ve Blogs gibi zengin içerikli bir çok sayfası bulunan CNET eski çalışanlarıyla yola devam edeceklerini açıkladı.

CBS'nin CEO'su Les Moonves satın alma hakkında şöyle konuşmuş;
"Satın almak için CNet Networks gibi kaliteli, büyüyen ve iyi yönetilen çok az internet şirketi bulunuyor. CNet, bizim izliyenlerimizin sıklıkla takip ettiği eğlence, haber, spor, müzik gibi bir çok platformumuzda gerçek bir katma değer sağlayacaktır."
Kaynak:bildirgeç

Many Internet Service Providers (ISP) provide some security software free and you should certainly take advantage of this. I like to check the online version of PC Magazine for their recommendations. Here are a couple of interesting articles to check out from them.

Eleven Ways to BodyGuard Your PC

Nine Ways to Wipe Out Spyware

I also get a couple of RSS feeds from PC Magazine which often have interesting info.  CNet is another good source for information about technology stuff in general. Download.com also is a great source for software.

Do you have a favorite "trusted" source for software? Why don't you share with us?

Until next time!

Janice

Iminta helps bring together all your content that you contribute to the internet in one place, so if you have a blog - upload your photographs on photobucket - your video's to YouTube - your updates to twitter, then this service can bring it all together in one place.

Here's their description of themselves 'Based in San Francisco, Iminta was founded in 2007 by Aaron Newton and friends. The service currently synchronizes with content sharing and discovery sites YouTube, Flickr, Digg, del.icio.us, reddit, Yelp, Webshots, Google Reader, last.fm, Twitter, and more. Previously, Aaron created Epitonic.com, one of the Web's first editorial mp3 download sites. Epitonic was funded by CNET Networks and later sold to Palm Pictures. Aaron then helped CNET Networks launch their highly successful Download.com Music property.'

Iminta is not the first to do this, and will definitely not be the last. I have also created a FriendFeed and Squidoo - but as a politician or business why would you do this?

Setting up these services take a relative small amount of time. If you already have a YouTube, Blog and Twitter then you simply enter the web addresses or URLs of these. Without ever returning to this page again your activities on these websites will automatically be updated. This means that anyone who wants to find out more about you can come to one place - making you more accessible with extremely little effort.

If you are not on services such as YouTube, this does not matter. From the first one you set up sites such as Iminta will help signpost to where you are on-line as you add content to new sites.

Et voilà! Dopo qualche settimana rieccoci nella top-ten!

Hantal programlar. Adından da anlaşılabileceği gibi bu programlar yepyeni bilgisayarınızın size yavaş, çok yavaş, aşırı yavaş çalışıyor gibi görünmesine neden oluyorlar ve o kadar para verip en son model işlemcili bir bilgisayar aldığınızda "hiçbir değişiklik görmüyorum, yandı, gitti paralar" gibi düşüncelere kapılmanıza yol açıyorlar.

Zaman zaman çalışırken "ekranın donmasına" neden oluyorlar. Sistem kaynaklarını inanılmaz bir savurganlıkla harcıyorlar.

İki de bir ekrana daha yeni, daha güncel ve daha hantal yeni bir versiyonun çıktığına dair uyarı kutuları görüntülüyorlar.

Peki bu uygulamalarla hayatımızı karartmaya devam etmek zorunda mıyız?
Download.com'un anket sonuçlarına göre suçlu 5 program belirlendi;

Acrobat Reader

Hayatımızın önemli bir parçası haline gelen PDF formatının geliştiricisi olan bu program tek bir işe yarıyor: PDF görüntülemek. Ve bunu da sistemi son

derece  zorlayarak yapıyor. Neredeyse iki ayda bir yeni bir versiyon çıkarıp sisteme kurmanız gerektiği konusunda uyarılar görüntülüyor. Zaman zaman sorunlu olarak yüklenen veya hiç yüklenmeyen eklentileri yüzünden sistemi kilitleyebiliyor. Tüm bunlar, alt tarafı bir sayfalık bir belge görüntülemek için!

iTunes

Apple'a sormak gerekli. Alt tarafı tüm görevi medya yönetimi ve çalması olan bir uygulamayı bu kadar hantal yapan şey nedir? Gün geçtikçe daha da karmaşıklaşıyor, yüklemesi uzun sürüyor, görüntüsü çirkinleşiyor ve bellekte aşırı yer işgal ediyor. Güzel, dört dörtlük bir alternatifi de yok işin kötüsü.

Real Player

Real Player doğru adımları atmış olsaydı YouTube kadar popüler bir sistem olabilirdi. Onun yerine elimize herkesin nefret ettiği, sistemine yüklemek bile istemediği bir medya formatını destekleyen oynatıcı kaldı. Sürekli olarak ekranda uyarı kutuları görüntülemesi, size Rhapsody ve SuperPass satmaya çalışması da Real Player'ı kullanıcıların uzak durması gereken bir program haline getiriyor.

Internet Explorer

Tüm zamanların en büyük kavgasına hoş geldiniz. Hangi tarayıcı? Internet Explorer mı? Yoksa alternatifleri mi? IE 7.0 kesinlikle IE 6.0 sürümüne göre daha iyi, ancak bu bile programın itici yönlerini gizlemeye yetmiyor. Kavga devam edecek gibi görünüyor ama en azından eğer IE'den bıktıysanız Firefox kullanmayı deneyebilirsiniz.

Microsoft Outlook

Acaba Microsoft'un 2008'li yıllara geldiğimizden haberi var mı? Hem GMail hem de Yahoo Mail Microsoft'un en gözde e-posta uygulamasından daha hızlı çalışıyorlar hem de daha faza özellik içeriyorlar. Özellikle günümüzün en önemli derdi olan spam filtreleme konusunda da zayıf bir grafik çizen Outlook işyerinde kullanım aşamasında da gerek organizasyon gerekse zaman yönetimi konusunda kullanıcıların başına derde sokup duruyor. Oysa amacı onlara yardımcı olmak, hayatlarını kolaylaştırmak.

Yine Microsoft ürünü olan Outlook Express ya da Vista ile beraber gelen Windows Mail kullanarak problemlerinizin çoğunu çözebilirsiniz.

अंग्रेजी संस्करण में हिंदी के साथ साथ अन्य भारतीय भाषाओं के चिट्ठों तथा जाल पृष्ठों के लिंक तथा फीड भी दिये गये हैं।

हिंदी टूलबार पिटारा को इस साईट पर इसी साल मार्च में लिस्ट किया गया था। लिस्टिंग के बाद से लगातार पिटारा टूलबार वहां पॉपुलर श्रेणी में बना हुआ है।अब पिटारा का नया रूप भी वहां स्वीकृत हो गया है तथा नये रूप की स्क्रीन शॉट भी वहां दिख रही है।  पिटारा के बारे में download.com ने यह लिखा:

This is a Toolbar made for Users in India who use Hindi on Internet by Hindi lover and Hindi User. As devloper of this Toolbar is interested in promotion of Hindi on the Internet. Hindi is being promoted by the devloper of this Toolbar in many ways.

मेरा हमेशा प्रयास रहा है कि पिटारा टूलबार को चिट्ठाकारों के अलावा अन्य लोगों तक भी पहुंचाया जाये इसीलिये इसे अधिक से अधिक उपयोगी बनाने की कोशिश जारी रहती है।

इन टूलबारों को यहां तक पहुंचाने के लिये मैं इनके प्रयोगकर्ताओं को धन्यवाद देना चाहता हूं। साथ ही अपने उन सभी मित्रों का धन्यवाद देना चाहता हूं जिन्हों ने इन टूलबारों को बेहतर बनाने के लिये अपना सहयोग तथा सुझाव दिये।

Website:thefray.net

More and more businesses and people are conducting a large portion of their company’s dealings on the internet despite security being an issue.  Below we have listed a few of the ways today’s new breed of internet con-artist is fleecing sheep of their fur all the way to the loom.

Phishing: A growth industry for aspiring thieves

  You receive an e-mail that looks like it comes from the Better Business Bureau, with all the normal letterhead and all the bells and whistles one would associate with a message from the organization.  The message states that a complaint has been filed against the firm you work for and directs you to a site, which downloads a keystroke logger that picks up your personal information and relays it overseas where you can’t retrieve it.  Millions of people have been conned by scans like this, appearing to come from financial services, Internet providers, or retailers conducting daily business.  One of the most recent scans even hijacked the name of the Federal Trade Commission, which is responsible for prosecuting e-mail fraud.

  According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group there were about 37,000 websites overseas conducting such scams in May and about 23,000 phishing attacks were reported in May.

  Internet thieves’ tactics and scams have gone from random spam to e-mails that look like those from a bank or Major Corporation, with professional writing, well crafted stories and better websites.

  Popular con-artist techniques that ensnare consumers include associating the e-mail with a holiday or event, such as the Super Bowl or World Cup; spear-phishing, where the sender appears to be someone inside the firm you work for; or telling you that your bank account has been compromised, and then urging you to enter personal information into a fake site that looks like the bank’s.

  The profile of Internet phishers is changing according to law specialists as organized crime has figured out phishing is a more lucrative way and less risky business than selling drugs and is making the switch.  Terrorists groups according to specialists are exhorting young jihadists to use the computer to knock the United States to its knees.

  To protect yourself from phishing always delete e-mail that asks you to enter any kind of personal information at a linked website.  Second always access accounts directly through a browser, using your bookmark or by typing the institution’s Web address instead of clicking on a link provided.

  The Bank of America and Vanguard currently ask customers to select a personal image or phrase to appear whenever they access the site to let them know that the site their on is the real deal.

Viruses: Changing threats

  Virus infections have held steady for the past year and this is a mark of progress for consumers and software producers because the threat of infection has become more and more challenging in recent times.  Postini a security firm in San Carlos, California recently acquired by Google that processes a billion e-mail messages per day estimates 1 in 500 e-mail messages contain a virus that could affect a computer adversely.  And security software provider McAfee says more than a third of malware they have neutralized was introduced during the past two years that the threats are not slowing down.

·         Botnets: Something new

  Botnets are networks of hijacked home computers (known as zombies) that criminals use to hide behind while sending out their nefarious spam or infecting other computers, one of the most lucrative and fastest growing threats to Internet security Botnets hijack a computer by depositing malware on a user’s computer.  McAfee has reported that its customers have indicated more than 20 million such invasions of computers since 2003, while Symantec says that up to 14% of computers in the United States are currently infected with bots.  EarthLink, the Internet service provider, reports that it blocks around 7,000 to 30,000 zombies per day trying to gain access to someone’s computer.

  According to EarthLink up to eighty percent of the spam now traveling across the Internet comes from a zombie attack trying to gain access to someone’s computer.  Botnets have also been used by criminals to conduct phishing and denial of service attacks that bring down computer networks by overloading them with traffic.

·         Rootkits

  Rootkits is a type of malware used by hackers to hide another piece of malware on a system, changing a system so it lies to the user, hiding files, processes, registry keys, and communication sessions.  McAfee reports a 10% increase in Rootkits from early 2006 and into 2007, most of it being distributed by spammers.

·         New methods of delivery

  Google’s recent surveys of 4.5 million Web sites found around 10 percent of them were downloading malware without knowing it.  And the malware rather than attacking the computer’s operating system has been designed to take advantage of weaknesses in applications like iTunes, QuickTime, Flash, and WinZip, according to McAfee.

·         Social-networking websites

  Cybercriminals have started using social networks to launch their malware, spreading concerns that malicious code may spread so quickly as to be uncontrollable.  The links that connect one person’s social-networking site to another’s make it possible to download malware onto visitors’ systems, especially since many people using social networks have multiple links to many other sites.

  The solution for the average user who might not spot a virus until it has infected their PC and possibly disabled it is to always run and update antivirus software, operating system, and applications whenever in doubt about a computers possible infection.

  Internet providers will continue to fight malware whenever they find it; EarthLink has recently added a premium service that claims to track almost 300 tendencies of malware and Google recently acquired a product that protects a browser from malicious downloads.

  Well that’s it for this hub, join us next time for more information on security threats your computer faces every second it is connected to the web.  Next time we will talk specifically about different types of computer viruses and how to prevent them as well as information on the legal situation today.

In our survey of cell-phone users, Verizon emerged from the pack in nearly every category in the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed, and this is as it has been for past surveys conducted. New kid on the block Alltel, a relatively small carrier that primarily serves the midsection of the country, is shortening the distance between them and Verizon every day and is emerging to be a serious contender for the title of best cell phone service provider. T-Mobile is also battling Verizon fiercely for the title and your shekels, having improved performance of their network in many areas.

Your phone network choices

Information on the sites you visit, what you buy, where you buy it, how you pay for it are like a golden-road to riches for users of spyware and adware.

  Spyware infections are down compared to past history according to surveys done by industry professionals including Consumer Reports; currently the chances that you currently have one on your system are about 1 in 3 and of suffering significant damage about 1 in 12.  Spyware and adware, programs downloaded to your computer by sites to track all your online activities for use by marketers planning how to get more of your shekels, still are rampant according to industry experts.  Experts say this is because the big advertisers still use distributors who install software that displays pop-ups on users’ computers.  Currently a class action suit against Yahoo alleges that Yahoo used spyware to show ads, but part of the case against this huge advertiser is in mediation and the final results aren’t in yet.

  In January of 2007, the New York State attorney General’s office finalized a deal with Priceline.com, Travelocity.com, and Cingular Wireless in which the three companies agreed to cease using ad distributors that install adware without adequate notice or consent.  The three companies had been using DirectRevenue, a service that the state attorney General’s office sued last year for such practices (the suit is still pending before the courts).

  According to legal officials spyware has been showing up at some sponsored links in search-engine results that you have most likely used.  McAfee, using its Site Advisor service, which identifies dangerous sites and notifies the user, recently, completed a study of such sites using the top five search engines and found that they led to more than twice a many dangerous sites than nonpaid results did.  The risks included spyware and scam sites with deceptive claims or bait-and-switch billing, used to obtain personal information on habits.

  Developers of anti-spy software are hitting back against the tide, but they also risk being sued by companies their product labels as spyware.  Recently Zango, an online ad distributor sued PC Tools for labelling their product as spyware, although the courts did deny Zango’s motion for a temporary restraining order.

  How can you protect your system against these invasions?  Make sure you always run a good anti-spyware program on your computer (check our the hubs to come on our picks for the best anti-spyware programs on the market), or even two or three programs since they shouldn’t interfere and will provide extra coverage in case one program doesn’t recognize the spyware.  In addition anytime you visit a site your not sure of, make sure to check with the FTC for violations by the site in question after visiting the site and if there is a problem immediately fix the problem and notify the FTC.

  The Federal Trade Commission has brought 11 spyware legal actions to the courts in the past two years against companies running spyware operations and big state-based legal actions have continued during the past year as well and the future will probably hold more of the same, at least until some of the more subjective legal issues are figured out.  The I-Spy Act, passed last spring by the U.S. House of Representatives, enhances the criminal penalties for spyware activities of culprits, such as downloading damaging programs not approved by the user, but we are still waiting for the vote on the bill to see if it passes.  

  The Spy act, approved by the House of Representative in June, requires opt-in practices and notice to the user to be given before implementation of spyware; it deals mainly with the civil penalties given to those not following the rules of conduct trying to be set up by concerned government officials.  The effectiveness of the bills is up for debate according to industry and legal officials and they don’t appear to be going in the right direction, but many industry officials think this maybe for the best in the end as they point to the fact that these bills could do more harm in the long run by validating business practices that are no good to consumers.

  Industry professionals aren’t sitting still as several initiatives are currently under way to help provide better security for the Internet and its users.  These include e-mail authentication programs used to verify the author of an e-mail and this spring, the Internet Engineering Task Force, which sets all the Internet standards and protocols, approved its first proposed authentication standard for the World Wide Web.

  Congress recently passed the U.S. Safe Web Act, giving the FTC more authority to work internationally to protect consumers using the net.  In anticipation of its up coming battle, the FTC even requested an increase in its consumer protection budget for the next year.

  While these additional initiatives will help make the Internet safer for all in the coming battle against advertisers in the years to come, most of the responsibility should fall on individual consumers to protect themselves.  If we take every step we can to make it harder for cybercriminals targeting us then they will look for easier marks, because they are always looking for the easy way to accomplish their goals.

  Well that’s it for this hub on spyware on the Internet, what we can do to combat it personally and how legal officials are attempting to prevent such attacks.  Join us next time as we will talk about social networks operating on the net and the risk they could pose to your progeny.  Until next time hubber, happy hubbing!

The world wide net is an ocean in which to throw a wide net of coverage for cybercriminals looking to make a quick shekel or two. 

  Welcome hubber to our continuing discussion of the threats to computers using the World Wide Web to do business, socialize, or just obtain information.  In the hub “The Internet is a profitable business if you’re a thief” we discussed the threats of phishing and viruses, today we will discuss the threat of e-mail spam, some solutions to the problem and recent legal ramifications.

  You may have seen an increase in the instances of spam appearing in your In-box during the past year and apparently a lot of people did.  According to Postini, a San Carlos, California based Internet security firm, recently purchased by Google that processes over 1 billion e-mail messages a day.  Spam increased by over 161 percent during the period from September through June of 2006 and currently represents about 94% of all e-mails.  But opinions and results of surveys have varied as Consumer Reports reported their survey indicated respondents received a decrease in spam reaching their In-box.  Many believe the differences could be due to differences in security features as spam blocking ability has increased in both quality and quantity in recent months.  Surveys indicate that 60-70 percent of respondents used their own spam filters, up about six percent from last year.  And all of the larger Internet service providers have tightened the parameters on their spam filters to combat the invasions in recent times.

  30 percent of respondents to surveys have indicated instances of pornographic or some form of objectionable material in the spam, down ten percent from last years results.  Five percent of parents with online access in the home reported a child seeing pornography due to instances of spam in their In-box about the same as last year.

  28 percent of respondents indicated they fell for the bait by trying to remove themselves from the mailing list by clicking on the link provided for this in the e-mail, while just 17 percent tried to opt out by replying to the message with a negative answer or actually purchasing something.  Fortunately, this percent is decreasing as three years ago this rate was as high as 40 percent in some surveys.

  Thieves evolve, so the fight against spam and all the threats present on the Internet is far from over and will likely continue...  Nearly half the respondents regularly receiving spam indicated they are receiving a lot more despite increased efforts.  Around fifty percent of those receiving regular spam reported receiving fraudulent solicitations, and 40 percent were outraged at invasion of personal privacy.  Based on the numbers we feel that at least 660,000 consumers purchased a product of service advertised in spam during most of the months of 2006.

  Cybercriminals running these scams are evolving to trackers attempts to follow their nefarious schemes back to the source, moving offshore in many cases in an attempt to stay beyond the grasp of law enforcement officials given the task of shutting these scams down and bringing the culprits to justice.  And certainly these changes make both sides of the law and criminal equation more difficult to achieve for both law officials and cybercriminals manoeuvring for position against each other on the World Wide Web.

  In order to protect yourself from spam always use an effective filter, we will have the ten best anti-spam programs in additional hubs in coming days for those who want to find suitable protection, and never reply or purchase anything from a spam message. 

  Despite the passage of the federal Can-Spam Act almost four years ago, this act gave law enforcement officials new weapons to combat spammers, the effectiveness of this act is still hanging in the air like a question mark above the problem of spam.  While it has brought some accountability to commercial e-mail and given law enforcers legal grounds upon which to proceed against offenders, it has also legitimized some spam and forestalled the implementation of stronger state laws to combat spam. 

  Law enforcement officials have been busy, since 2004 the Federal Trade Commission has brought 26 cases against spammers using the Can-Spam Act, according to officials at the FTC’s division of marketing practices.  The moderate success of these cases brought before the courts, close to $13 million in penalties were awarded in these 26 cases, has brought a glimmer of red on the horizon below the growing light of hope, hopefully this isn’t the headlight of an on coming train on the Internet-tracks though.  Two high profile spam cases have been in the spotlight so far in 2007.  This spring, Robert Soloway, a Seattle-based Internet marketer, was indicted for allegedly sending millions of e-mail messages, most of it promoting bulk e-mail services, over a four year period, so far he has pleaded not guilty.  Earlier in 2007, Jeffrey Goodin, a phisher from Azusa, California became the first spammer to be criminally convicted under the Can-Spam Act.  His six year sentence has certainly sounded the warning bell for many individuals currently conducting nefarious e-mail affairs and you can expect to see more in the coming months.

  Well that’s it for this hub, we hope we were able to give you information you can use to protect yourself from cybercriminals currently targeting you.  Join us in coming hubs as we will discuss spyware, the threat online social networks can pose for your children and of course present solutions to the problems.  Until next time, happy hubbing!

                                These suggestions will help you stay safer when you’re online 

  Welcome traveler to our continuing hubs on Internet security, if you’ve been hopping back and forth across the ocean of information referred to as the World Wide Web by most of us, then the safety of the vehicle you use to transport the information to you is probably of utmost importance to you.  The following rules of the Internet-road will help keep your vehicle safe while you’re using it to transport the information to you for viewing.

1.       Firstly always make sure to activate any protection your system might have, most operating systems or security software have firewalls, a spam blocker, or other included security features, but you need to make sure their on for them to work.  We have found the firewall included with Windows Vista to be adequate for most security problems existing on the Internet, but then Microsoft has sold the majority of operating systems on the market today and therefore Internet security is more of a pressing issue for Microsoft.  Reviews point to Mac PC’s lacking in security power, but then Apples are certainly less targeted by cybercriminals and hackers.  You can download a free firewall for Windows XP, ZoneAlarm 7.0, if you go to www.download.com and search for it you should find it.  Also make sure to activate spam filtering and any online protection provided by your ISP or e-mail service provider, such as Yahoo, Google, or MSN, most of these programs are good enough to catch spam if set properly.

2.       The annoying pop-up reminders you have been ignoring or telling to remind you about your need to update your security protection later, will be a little more welcome if you get one of the newer viruses your old security software was never programmed to recognize, so make sure to update and renew as soon as you realise you need to.  Set your computer to automatically update security software as it becomes available.  All spam, spyware, and virus-protection software incorporate “rules” or “definition” files that must be updated periodically for them to catch the newest threats.  If your computer is disconnected from the Internet for extended periods of time, make sure that automatic updates are occurring, or update them manually yourself.

3.       Each generation of Windows is certainly more secure then the last, so if you’re running Windows XP or earlier Windows versions; consider upgrading to the more secure Windows Vista operating system.  Windows Vista allows users to surf in a protected cocoon-like environment, which prevents online threats from injuring your operating system and contains a two-way firewall that blocks both incoming and outgoing threats (the outgoing firewall could use a few improvements to make it work better according to reviews).  We suggest you at least upgrade to the Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 web browser both will inform you about known forged, or “phished” Web sites.

4.       Any well protected fortification could use a good secondary line of defence and we suggest you install a free toolbar with security features, there are many on the Internet.  The EarthLink Toolbar (www.earthlink.net/software/free/toolbar), for example, incorporates a spam and popup blocker, spyware scan, and home page protection for its users.  The Netcraft antiphishing toolbar (toolbar.netcraft.com) warns about known phished sites and can tell you a site’s hosting company and even its registered owner, we sure well be seeing more of such innovations in the future.  When you go to a site after installing McAfee Site Advisor (www.siteadvisor.com), the program tells you whether the site has been tested by McAfee, what it found in the way of viruses, spyware, spam, pop-ups, phishing, and consumer marketing scams.  This program even overlays site reports on Web search results it obtains and automatically blocks access to sites that exploit any browser weaknesses.

5.       Leaving a computer connected via the Internet for extended periods of time when it’s not being used is not recommended by experts.  So turn off your computer when you don’t plan on using it for awhile (or at least disconnect it from the Internet) this will reduce the chance of malicious remote-computers accessing your data and you’ll save money on energy costs, not to mention the environmental benefits.

6.       Always use public computers like their more of a threat to your data, because they are, make sure to avoid computers at libraries, hotels, or airports for conducting financial or other personal business if absolutely possible; otherwise some cybercriminal could be making hay with your information.  The same can be said for using your computer on a public wireless network, especially if you’re not on a secured Web page or haven’t disabled your PC’s computer-to-computer connections.

7.       Consider buying a Mac computer if your main fear is viruses or spyware because Mac computers have far less to fear from these threats, unfortunately, you’ll still have to deal with spam and phishing as Macs are just as susceptible to these threats as Microsoft PC’s.  On line cybercriminals don’t target Mac computers like they do Windows-based PC’s because the return on their investment is potentially far less.

8.       Always watch what you’re downloading from the Internet, the collection of free utilities, games and other software on the Internet can be useful, but many are loaded with viruses and spyware for free also.  Only download from well-known manufacturers or trusted sites like the ones at www.download.com, www.snapfiles.com, and www.tucows.com.

9.       The simplest way to get complete protection is to select one of the security suites we will be recommending in up coming hubs.  Just remember if you go this route that you maybe paying extra for duplicate components already on your computer or available free on the Internet.  We recommend having a minimum of 1GB of RAM memory to prevent the suite you choose from slowing down your computer though.

10.   Purchase a good antivirus software program and run it every day, it will actually work and your going to need it if you spend any serious amount of time surfing the Internet ocean.  This is true no matter what operating system you use or brand of computer, as all computers are currently susceptible to computer viruses and spyware.  Also they will prevent computer virus laden files from being spread from Macs to PCs.

11.   Designers of spyware are particularly diligent in their work, spyware is so subtle and possibly dangerous, that we feel it deserves double protection and we use the two best antispyware software programs on our systems.  Set the better program to block spyware in real time and use the second one to scan anything you suspect might be infected with something the first program might have missed.

12.   Here is a trick I use to use when I was a freelance writer to thwart spammers.  If spammers are driving you crazy, set up disposable e-mail addresses that can be used for varying purposes.  For instance, use “warrenshopping2008” for making online purchases of goods or services, then when the In box at this e-mail address gets constantly filled with unwanted spam, just abandon it or change it.  Many ISP’s provide extra “associate” e-mail addresses that can be changed whenever you want, just make sure you ask or check.  We do suggest that you configure your e-mail program to check all your addresses simultaneously, unless it’s the highlight of your day and you to slow down and savour your mail.  You can even set up disposable accounts at a free e-mail service like Google or Yahoo, I have, just make sure you guard the primary e-mail address you got from them, because your primary can’t be changed without abandoning your entire account.

13.   If you often purchase services or goods online, it’s a good idea to use a credit card.  They actually offer better protection then other choices when making online purchases.  Today some issuers will let you generate virtual account numbers that are only valid for a single purchase with a fixed dollar limit, so the risk is reduced even further.  If you use these virtual numbers you won’t have to give online retailers your permanent credit card number to make a purchase.

14.   Never assume any certified (remote) site you visit is secure and safe to use for business.  Yes it’s vital to have a secure connection when sending or receiving personal information online (indicated by “https” before the Web address and a padlock or other icon on your browser), but this is no guarantee the Web site conducts business reputably.  Similarly, certification symbols from the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission (as people recently found out in one well publicized scam), and similar organizations provide some reassurance (never assume their being used with the knowledge and certification of others).  But these things are no substitute for protecting yourself by reading any small print, researching a site by talking to friends and checking online reviews, and independently typing the Web site address yourself and not relying on a hyperlink to take you to where it says it is going to before turning over credit card numbers or personal information.

15.   Never respond to any e-mail message for personal information of any kind no matter how official it looks, legitimate organizations tasked with caring for sensitive information of this kind would never do so with an e-mail, and if they ask you to call a telephone number, verify the number belongs to the organization independently.

16.   In order for the problem of phishing, or any Internet scam, to be corrected we must all report instances of such behaviour to the proper authorities.  If you receive a phishing e-mail, immediately forward it to the Anti-phishing Working Group (reportphishing@antiphishing.org), the Federal Trade Commission (spam@uce.gov), and the company or organization that is being impersonated and you will be doing your part.  You should also file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov and if your antiphishing toolbar didn’t recognize the fraudulent Web site, make sure to report the site to the toolbar provider and they will make sure it does.

17.   The last suggestion we would like to make is to constantly, regularly, review all your credit card and bank statements as soon as you get them and report anything suspicious without hesitation.

  Well that’s it for this hub on how to keep your Internet vehicle and your personal information safer while you’re operating your vehicle on the Internet highway.  Join us next time as we will bring you our picks for the best software suites, antivirus programs, antispyware programs, and antispam software on the market.  Until then traveler, happy hubbing!