Blind Dating By Bluetooth Goes Live

Further to my column on bluesnarfing, a Marseilles company called Kangourouge has launched a service which, as far as I can work out, uses the same sort of Bluetooth vulnerability catalogued by AL Digital and others, namely Bluejacking. It’s called ProxiDating (interestingly, Google doesn’t like the word and suggests ‘peroxidation’ instead, which is presumably the … Read more

A New Search Engine, All The Old Issues

In case you haven’t heard, Amazon has launched its own search engine, A9 and a toolbar (for now compatible only with IE) which dovetails with your Amazon account. Supposed advantages over other search engines (here’s A9’s own list): Simultaneously searches Amazon’s book store while searching the web. Amazon book search results, and a history of your … Read more

Utah, WhenU And Pop-Up Poaching

The spyware war continues. Ben Edelman, an expert on spyware, reports that “WhenU, a major provider of programs that show pop-up ads according to users’ web browsing activities, yesterday filed suit seeking that Utah’s Spyware Control Act be declared void and invalid.” WhenU effectively poaches browser real-estate by plopping its ads above those of others … Read more

PR Pitches And The Foibles Of Memory

PR folk and journalists have an uncertain relationship. Journalists know they’re being spun, but PR people can be helpful, providing fast access to new sources, evaluation units and story ideas. But if you’re in PR, and you claim victory, make sure you get your facts right. I recently read on PRNewswire about how I had … Read more

The Ugly Instant Messenger

I’m a big fan of Trillian, the IM aggregator, but I had to download and install AIM, AOL’s Instant Messenger last night for an abortive video conference. Sheesh, what a monster it is (AIM, not the conference). Do AOL and the other biggies still not get it? For sure, Trillian is something of a parasite. … Read more