I just removed MacMerc from NetNewsWire, the program I use to read RSS (newsfeeds) from several dozen web sites a few times a day. MacMerc sometime recently started putting an advertising image at the bottom of each article. This has the same effect as a web bug (aka web beacon). Regardless, it’s quite annoying, so I simply won’t read that newsfeed anymore.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. This allows you to read my newer articles without having to visit the site again. Thanks for visiting! Mike

This tidbit came from the OpenOffice.org newsletter:
Partners Weigh In On Firefox, IE Faceoff

“”It’s much more than a browser share war. It’s a war for
open standards, and the forces opposing Microsoft are much
heavier than a company,” said Sam Hiser, a consultant and
developer for OpenOffice, an open-source competitor to
Microsoft Office. “For Microsoft it is about preserving
their nefarious capability of dictating Web page design
habits, which are dependent on Microsoft’s browser.
Firefox represents a challenge to such a racket.” “

http://www.crn-india.com/breakingnews/stories/55174.html

Great article: Anti-Virus Companies: Tenacious Spammers.

Yerah, finally! Firefox has been released. So far, it’s ok, but I had some problems with the NetFlix.com web site.

Update: Firefox has a feature that lets you only see images that are coming from the web site you are visiting. I allowed images from “cdn.nflximg.com” and NetFlix.com is fine.

A fascinating article by Wired News, Stop Trying to Persuade Us gives a quick glance at a PBS Frontline show, The Persuaders, airing tonight. It is also interesting to note that there are eight ads (4 images, 4 text) on the page of this article.

An idiot spammmer is using his network of zombie spamming servers to send out tons of spew selling some over-the-counter stock. And they are faking random email addresses from the PlanetMike.com domain. I’m up to over 500 bounces that I’ve received so far. Jerk.

And the jerks that are running Windows without a firewll and without any virus protection are jerks as well.