Software: Another Spam Tool

By | November 24, 2011
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 An independent reviewer of anti-spam tools I hadn’t heard of called Spamotomy has awarded its highest rating ever for a desktop anti-spam product to InBoxer from Audiotrieve, which I also haven’t heard of. And I thought I was on top of the whole spam thing.
 
 
The Spamotomy review, apparently, is the result of an extensive week-long evaluation involving the processing of thousands of email messages, including more than a thousand junk mail messages. InBoxer was effective right from the start, according to the Spamotomy review. At the end of a week, InBoxer removed 96.5% of all spam with a 0.07% false positive rating. That’s not bad, though it’s not as good as POPFile has achieved over a longer period.
 
A possible downside: InBoxer only works with Microsoft Outlook. The product has a list price of $24.95.

News: Bad News For Bandwith Hogs

By | November 24, 2011
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 I guess it’s not a particularly liberal view of the Internet, this wondrous playground where everyone can find what they want and access it, but it’s probably inevitable: some high-volume users are going to find their usage curtailed. CNET reports that some cable Internet service subscribers are quietly capping the volume of downloading they allow their subscribers to do. So far, it’s only affecting the heaviest users.
 
These are a small minority: CNET quote ISPs as saying a tiny percentage of people are using an enormous percentage of their total bandwidth. This will inevitably slow down the connections of other folk in the same area. Personally, I’m all for capping: I don’t think the Internet should be for folk downloading and uploading gigabytes of data unless they’ve got a separate corporate connection. Give the rest of us a chance.
 

News: Baghdad Blogger…. The Book

By | November 24, 2011
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 Salam Pax, the Baghdad Blogger, is bringing out a book.
From the blurb: “Not a supporter of Saddam, Salam Pax recorded in his online journal the anticipation, resentment, amusement, and sheer terror he felt as he witnessed the demise of a long dictatorship and the chaos that followed its destruction. In doing so, the pseudonymous 29-year-old Iraqi engineer educated in Austria has become the voice of an Internet generation. This book collects the remarkably well-written entries of this Internet antihero who has come to be known as the “Baghdad Blogger.”

Mail: Some Mac Tips

By | November 24, 2011
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 This from Graham Holliday, a Mac user, on some Mac alternatives to what I’ve been discussing in previous weeks:
Owning a Mac really is the first step for any serious antivirus activist it would seem…. “Mac users face just 50 recognized viruses today, while PC users have 85,000 threats to their security. London-based firm mi2g says: “Mac customers running Mac OS X, an implementation of BSD, benefit from BSD’s proven reputation as being one of the most secure operating systems available.” [MacWorld]
 
When you mention one of your favourite topics (firewalls), you often mention Zone Alarm. You might also like to mention the free (sharware) for Mac Brickhouse. Macs have an inbuilt firewall, but this makes it easy to set up for normal tech-averse folk.
BTW found Mac RSI software here.
Thanks, Graham. Very helpful.

News: Canadians Get Flirty With SMS

By | November 24, 2011
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 Canada seems to be getting into SMS/texting, call it what you will. Next week Toronto’s Café Havana will host the country’s first text-messaging party (‘Text And The City’) as part of a (somewhat belated, I can’t help feeling) awakening of the potential for SMS. According to the Toronto Star, SMS volumes still don’t compare to Europe (or Asia, I’m assuming) but they’re picking up.
 
 
If you’re in Toronto, register online at http://www.jambo.ca and pay $8 at the door. Once registered, you’ll be assigned a number that lets people send you an anonymous text message. And since you’ll be anonymous as well, whether you hook up with somebody depends on your skills as a wireless flirter.