centre{source}
INTERACTIVE AGENCY
Spyware: Why do they do it?
As an IT services firm, our clients frequently ask us to handle the removal of spyware from their machines. Inevitably, we get the question… “Why do people do this?”
Our natural answer was always, “To make money…” Not very informative if you think about it. When the extra-curious clients ask “Why”, we would give a best guess answer revolving around:
“They want to know what you like so they can feed you ads & promotions… hoping you’ll buy something or that your habits can be sold to other companies”
Cell phones - Great Spam Target
Ah, the proliferation of digital devices! Doesn’t it seem that everyone has shiny new TREO or BLACKBERRY that keeps them connected to their email 24/7? Could the world move any faster to a spammer’s paradise?
I recently attended a seminar, “Get Motivated”, which had all sorts of A-Type personalities seeking to glean knowledge from the likes of Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, and Rudy Giuliani.
During the sessions, I was struck by the sheer volume of people ‘typing’ on their phones during the sessions. They weren’t taking notes - they were still working!!! How’s that for a super espresso shot of work/motivation…
Brainstorming… where to store your ideas
I recently read an interesting post on Jackson Miller’s blog about where to store thoughts while researching. I echo his sentiments in that I’ve had very little luck finding anything that really assists with creativity and brainstorming. Originally, I used a program called ‘The Brain‘ by a company called Natrificial. It was awesome eye candy and I couldn’t wait to show everyone the awesome brains I created… but it wasn’t practical. It was slow, hard to hot-key an idea, and even confusing with the way it forgot (official terms) thoughts.
100% Accurate Spam Protection is a Lie!
Recently, a new batch of software providers are touting their email security packages as 100% accurate - no spam gets through. These services employ two major methods that either:
A) Whitelists all email addresses in your address book and proceeds to move all other messages to a junk folder for your review. You can ‘rescue’ a message from the folder and thus add it to a ‘whitelist’. We refer to this method as ‘Auto-Junk Email Security’.
B) Every piece of mail sent to you requires the sender to ‘confirm’ that they really meant to send you that message. Once they confirm who they are & that they sent the message, they are added to an ‘approved’ sender list. We refer to this method as ‘Handshake Email Security’.
Printing - A complicated art
I just finished a conversation with a print company offering their services to CentreSource. We have recently completed the design of our marketing materials and are now in the market for someone to print them. As I began researching this subject, I’ve quickly learned that the printing industry is as complicated as any other technical industry I’ve encountered!
Google Maps - It’s already starting!!!
When Google first released its Maps site, I knew that great things were in our future. The layout is simplistic, but that amazing map simply captivates so many people that view it.
A recent article in the NYT confirms that Google’s new service (and its open API) have great potential. Paul Rademacher, a 30 year old software developer for Dreamworks studio, created a fantastic site: HousingMaps.com
The site combines the data feed from Craigslist (a popular listing site) with the Google Maps interface to create a unique house hunting experience.
Service Industry - Billing Methods
CentreSource, being a service provider, continues to evaluate the ideal billing methods for the various projects we accept. Originally, we solely focused on project billing - but various problems sent us back to the safe world of billing by the hour. Recently, we encountered a firm that conducts value based billing - and it prompted me to consider varying merits of each billing method.
Money Prime - Nashville Spammer
In a previous article about local spammers, I mentioned that we typically figure out how we ended up on a list and then unsubscribe.
This company is a little different - a more unscrupulous bunch. We have no affiliation or contact with them, and their ‘informative’ website provides no contact information.
In a feigned attempt to comply with Anti-Spam laws, they included their address in the spam message they sent to me & gave me the luxury of unsubscribing.
Localized Spammers
As the developer of Swirbo, CentreSource is highly sensitive to receiving spam messages - even when they come from our own backyard. When we do receive the such messages, we do a bit of investigating and try to understand how any of our staff ended up on the ‘newsletter’.
Most of the time, we can determine that the spammer took the liberty to accept a business card from a staff member - and then added us to a mailing list. The steps would be:
Shortage of Qualified Talent?
College freshmen less interested in tech | CNET News.com
This is troubling news, and only reinforced by our recent efforts to locate quality talent in the Nashville marketplace. However, I think some deeper analysis may reveal a typical ebb & flow of many industries.
In the fall of 2000, the technology sector appeared to be a haven for anyone that had an idea and technology skills. As the bubble burst, graduates realized that their dreams of becoming dot-com millionaires wouldn’t be as easy - and even more realized that they didn’t have high paying jobs waiting on them.