The Swiss have nothing on the French.
Archives for Jan 8th, 2005
MS AntiSpyware
As much as you were probably hoping it would totally stink, it appears that Microsoft’s new AntiSpyware program is actually very good. The program searches for, and deletes spyware viruses, among other things.
My weapon of choice has always been Lavasoft’s AdAware. But if Microsoft can do the job better, then good for them! I downloaded and installed the software without a hitch.
There is one thing to consider, however, and that is the issue of cost. The release version of AntiSpyware will not be a free program, but will require a subscription fee. Is it worth it? It’s too early to say.
Missing Mark Pilgrim
I miss Mark Pilgrim. The witty web guru, who either quit, or took a long break from blogging in October has long sat as the number one Google search for “mark,” but I don’t envy him at all. He deserves it.
Mark Pilgrim simply doesn’t give a rat’s ass what anyone else thinks. He says what is on his mind, and doesn’t bother avoiding any toes. His public battles with scripting.com author Dave Winer ascended to a level that simply deserves admiration. Pilgrim, annoyed that Winer constantly edited his blog, without noting the changes, often retracting ad-hominem attacks, made a script to automatically grab a feed of scripting.com and highlight any changes. And then just to keep it honest, Mark made a system on his own blog that allowed anyone to track the revisions he made to any of his posts, no matter how trivial. I think in a way, Mark Pilgrim helped correct the direction of blogs, reminding them of the importance of honesty and openness. “Lighten up, it’s just a blog,” people said. Who knew how important blogs would be a year later in terms of affecting (and effecting) news, policy, and events?
And when he wasn’t making statements about editorial honesty, Pilgrim was keeping it fun with his great sense of humor. He is, to this day, the number one search for “blow me,” a wickedly funny post on Six Apart’s TypeKey authentication system.
Wait, did I hear you say that Dave invented a centralized comment authentication service? Why, yes! It’s called the
You Know Mebutton.
I have no idea how it works, but Dave has humbly offered to run it, so
it must be good. I mean, really. Also, it uses XML-RPC in some way.
What’s not to like? And I would trust Dave Winer with my email address
way more than I would trust Mena Trott. I mean, Jesus Christ, people,
have you seen pictures of that woman? She’s a Persian cat and a monocle away from a James Bond villain.Dive Into Mark: TypeKey? You Blow Me