Thursday, April 18, 2013
How Gullible Can You Get?
Monday, April 08, 2013
Don't Steal My Freeware!
I write software for a living. Yet in my spare time I publish useful freeware utilities that I think the Windows community or developers at large may find useful. This is my way of thanking others for sharing their expertise with me. But just because the software is made available for free, doesn't mean it isn't copyrighted.
Dear Donn,Needless to say I did let them know, and they have done nothing, other than continue to knowingly violate my copyright.
Please, try considering first what we are:
We (software.informer.com) do not sell anything at all. Our software database serves solely as a source of information; for that purpose, under each software entry, we only provide links to sites run by the actual developers (or copyright owners) of that software - including the download links (if there are any). None of the listed programs (with the only exception of 'Software Informer Сlient', developed by us) is hosted on our site physically or offered as an illegitimate download in any other way.
Each program gets into our database automatically after it is installed by at least one user of siClient (http://software-informer.software.informer.com/). That is, a user clicks 'Refresh' in the client, and our site gets the info about the existence of the new program.
The description (until the program is reviewed) is obtained from the program's PAD file. Alternatively, you can use a link "Suggest a correction" available at the program individual page to change all the information you see fit.
Please, read more about our service at http://software.informer.com/help.html
and about using our siClient: http://software.informer.com/help/
If you still insist on removing any reference to your software, please let me know.
Best wishes,
Kasey Bloome
partners@informer.com
http://software.informer.com/go/go.php?n=877768&go=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.openaccess.co.za%2FBlackAndWhiteInc%2FPlaySound.htm
instead of like this:
http://www.openaccess.co.za/BlackAndWhiteInc/PlaySound.htm
This is the form that search engines use to provide page ranking. So not only are they making money out of my site, but they are burying the original site in the search listings. It sucks.
And in spite of their public assurance that they only provide links for the download, they also provide a mirror download:
http://download.informer.com/stor/276791/playsoundsetup.exe
i.e. they lied. Kasey Bloome is a liar and a thief.
They also mention the use of a PAD file: not one of my programs uses such a file. So as far as I can see they are happy to deliberately violate my copyright, lie to me, and ignore my complaints. What's more, their SI Client program spies on the user's list of installed programs and reports these back to the web site. In most circles this is known as Spyware, and is actively discouraged and removed by honest users.
Update 1pm: It seems that the people at Software Informer have had their own software copied. Serves them right.
Update 3pm: Casey Bloome wrote:
All the products of your company have been successfully removed from our site. We apologize for the delay and any inconvenience this may have caused.But the illegal mirror download files are still there, and my company name is still listed. More ducking and diving, but then I expect nothing less from this kind of scumbag.
Update 5pm: It's not only Software Informer that has been doing this kind of thing, although they are by far the worst. I have also sent email removal requests to:
- editor@easyfreeware.com for http://www.easyfreeware.com/files/playsound.zip/192751
- editor@all-freeware.com for http://www.all-freeware.com/details/161494/playsound.html
- contact6784@softwaregeek.com for http://www.softwaregeek.com/download/playsound.html
- admins@2000shareware.com for http://www.2000shareware.com/info/playsound/172704/
- pci@pcwin.com for http://pcwin.com/Audio/Utilities___Plug_Ins/PlaySound/index.htm
- contact@sharewarecentral.com for http://download.sharewarecentral.com/57/349958/playsound.html
- downfocus.com@gmail.com for http://downfocus.com/download_637/playsound/
- contactsw@downloadcollection.com for http://www.downloadcollection.com/publisher/black-and-white-inc.htm
- support@podnova.com for http://windows.podnova.com/software/722217.htm
- http://ptf.com/download/playsound/855538/ (ESET smart security warns that this site is unsafe);
- http://www.filebuzz.com/fileinfo/106041/PlaySound.html;
- http://www.pcpitstop.com/software/Details~Reviews~Download/PlaySound/0.html; and
- http://udm4.com/Windows/PlaySound-158458 doesn't seem to have any means of being contacted at all.

See also: "There is only one AccessOpener" written 5 years ago.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Dianetics Pays For Its Own Bad Publicity

Update: Andy Quinan said he got the list from "Brownstone", but they have sent me spam before. This is getting more incestuous by the minute.
Labels:
Consumer Complaints,
ECT Act,
Privacy,
SPAM
Saturday, March 16, 2013
A Call to Cryptographic Arms
"This book is not a manifesto. There is not time for that. This book is a warning.
"The world is not sliding, but galloping into a new transnational dystopia. This development has not been properly recognized outside of national security circles. It has been hidden by secrecy, complexity and scale. The internet, our greatest tool of emancipation, has been transformed into the most dangerous facilitator of totalitarianism we have ever seen. The internet is a threat to human civilization.
"These transformations have come about silently, because those who know what is going on work in the global surveillance industry and have no incentives to speak out. Left to its own trajectory, within a few years, global civilization will be a postmodern surveillance dystopia, from which escape for all but the most skilled individuals will be impossible. In fact, we may already be there.
"While many writers have considered what the internet means for global civilization, they are wrong. They are wrong because they do not have the sense of perspective that direct experience brings. They are wrong because they have never met the enemy.
"No description of the world survives first contact with the enemy.
"We have met the enemy.
"Over the last six years WikiLeaks has had conflicts with nearly every powerful state. We know the new surveillance state from an insider’s perspective, because we have plumbed its secrets. We know it from a combatant’s perspective, because we have had to protect our people, our finances and our sources from it. We know it from a global perspective, because we have people, assets and information in nearly every country. We know it from the perspective of time, because we have been fighting this phenomenon for years and have seen it double and spread, again and again. It is an invasive parasite, growing fat off societies that merge with the internet. It is rolling over the planet, infecting all states and peoples before it."
Extract from the introduction to Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet, published 2012 by OR Books. You need to read it and act if you want to stay free on the internet.
Extract from the introduction to Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet, published 2012 by OR Books. You need to read it and act if you want to stay free on the internet.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Enough Pope-Sniping Already!
“Pope Francis I on Argentina’s push for gay marriage: 'Let's not be naive, we're not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.' New pope, same old attitudes.” - Daily Maverick newsletter
- Senators and politicians talking about morality, but only when it applies to others;
- Journalists who drool over the doings and screwings of business, music and movie stars, but who express outrage over the same behavior by political or religious leaders;
- Gun advocates who glorify war (and shooting their neighbours) yet claim to be responsible citizens;
- Parents who complain about our declining society, yet allow their children to watch sex and violence on TV and in movies, and enjoy it themselves as "entertainment";
- Banks who pay massive bonuses to employees when they make outrageous profits, yet won't lend money to small businesses when they need to grow;
- Laws that punish prostitutes, but not their clients;
- A legal system that requires witnesses to take an oath, but allows lawyers to lie and twist the truth with impunity;
Labels:
Life in South Africa,
Politics,
Rants
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Post Office Strike: Consumers Strike Back

Update Sunday 24th March: Today's Sunday Times newspaper claims that the CEO of the Post Office was chosen by the boyfriend of the Minister of Communications: one of those "jobs for pals" posts that works so well in the real world. In the meantime we have not had a letter or magazine delivered for around 8 weeks already.
Update Thursday 4th April: Hooray! First letters delivered in 9 weeks. Only 3 letters mind you, but it's a start. I reckon that The Post Office should be asking Sanral for volunteers from all those empty eToll shops around Gauteng. Without the Postal Service they are never going to be able to get their eToll invoices out.
Update Friday 17th May: Just received 3 National Geographics and 2 Noseweeks (but not the current ones) and a letter from Discovery dated 27th February. So our postal delivery appears to be weekly, with a delivery time of around 2-3 months. Mmm ...
Saturday, February 23, 2013
The Insanity of the Gun "Debate"
Prior to 1989, there were only a handful of incidents in which two or more victims were killed by firearms at a school, including the 1966 University of Texas massacre, the 1974 Olean High School shooting, the 1976 California State University, Fullerton massacre, and the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting.In the article "Gun violence in the United States" it states
In 2010 there were 358 murders involving rifles. Murders involving the use of handguns in the US that same year totaled 6,009, with another 1,939 murders with the firearm type unreported. There were 19,392 firearm-related suicide deaths, and 11,078 firearm-related homicide deaths in the United States.It seems that Americans are more intent on killing themselves than their enemies are. Weird.
See also: "Darwin Award goes to all NRA "life" members"
Monday, February 18, 2013
The Politics of the Movie Industry
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