Rupert Murdoch Pwned By Techdirt

Pwn (pronounced “p-own”)

- verb
to be owned, to have your rear kicked,  to be destroyed in a spectacularly manner.

Origin
The is word common among gamers, geeks, and nerds.

Related Forms
Pwned, Pwn3d, and Pwnage

Usage
“Did you see that? I just pwned your ass!”

After crazy Uncle Rupert (Murdoch) claimed that he was contemplating hiding all of his news sites from Google and other news aggregation services (Rupert Murdoch Threatens Seppuku), the Internet was all a-buzz. While everyone was writing about how epicly stupid the idea was, Mike Masnick of Techdirt did some research.

Masnick realized that many of Murdoch’s own sites “parasited” content in exactly the same manner that he endlessly complains about with Google and Microsoft. Prestige sites like The Wall Street Journal and Fox News “steal” stories from blogs, other sources, and even Techdirt itself. Many of Murdoch’s most successful web properties “steal” stories, or have searches powered by Google that allow users to search the broader Internet within a News Corp branded user experience (Techdirt – the original post is worth reading).

Boom head-shot!

Mr. Murdoch, you’ve just been pwned.

Rupert Murdoch Threatens Seppuku

Seppuku – a ritualized disemboweling that originated among the Japanese Samauri.

Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul chairman and majority shareholder of News Corp (The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and pile of other news outlets) wants to force his business model back into relevance. According to this recent interview, he wants to put pay-walls up around most of his content, sue fair-use into oblivion, and make his sites invisible to search engines like Google (mUmBRELLA).

I was going to write a full response to Mr. Murdoch’s ideas, but Perry de Havilland of Samizdata really hit the nail on the head:

“Not only will people not be motivated to pay Rupert Murdoch for content if they cannot find it via google, they will not even be aware of the content Murdoch is hiding from them. In short, Murdoch will become completely irreverent irrelevant on-line almost overnight and I am not sure why he thinks all too many people will care one way or the other. This is a bit like threatening someone that if they do not give him their money, Murdoch will cut his own throat. Er, sure Rupert, whatever. I suspect folks at the Guardian (who may not be my favourites ideologically but they certainly ‘get’ the internet better than most) and elsewhere can hardly believe their good luck (From Samizdata Murdoch’s suicide threat).”

Rupert, Rupert, Rupert, Rupert… your plan will fall to pieces if a single online news outlet keeps their content free. No one with half a brain will pay for it. Your best years are behind you. Long behind you.

Ruperts words made me think of a line from last night’s Mad Men Season Finale when Don snapped at his fellow partner Bert Cooper saying, ”And you old men love building golden tombs and sealing the rest of us in with you.” Mr. Murdoch is an old, rich, proud man, the people who will suffer from his decisions are his employees, and their families.

This is the Droid You Are Looking For

Let’s add to the hype, shall we?

I’m so excited about the Motorola Droid that I stopped by a local Verizon Store to check and make sure that nothing with my account would prevent me from getting one. No joke. In case you worried for me, I will have no problems attaining one… except for the fact that my friend just has to get married on Droid’s release date (seriously Eric, WTF?).

So on that note, we do have a release date for the Droid, and it’s November 6th. It will cost $199.00 with a contract after a $100.00 mail-in rebate. That’s more good news because I budgeted a bunch more money than I will need.

Engadget got their hands on the Droid, and this is what they had to say:

“* That big screen is killer. Bright, crisp, and tons of room for your icons and widgets.

* Speed is noticeably improved — particularly when moving from app to app. We did notice that some of the home screen scrolling looked laggy.

* Android 2.0 is definitely cleaned up — but it’s most definitely still Android

* The browser seems significantly improved — pages now load up in a fully zoomed-out mode, and the load times and scrolling are way snappier.

* The keyboard takes some getting used to, and it suffers from a similar hand-position issue as the G1, but it’s fairly usable. We think it’ll be second nature once we spend some time with it.

* Facebook is integrated into accounts, which means some of that BLUR functionality is here (though now it’s part of Android 2.0 natively). The good news is that when you add a Facebook account you can choose to pull all Facebook info and contacts, or just info related to your existing contacts — a real clutter buster.”

They also have some video of the phone, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Finally, Droid is going to have free Google Maps GPS Navigation. Score. Again.

Droid Cometh (UPDATED)

The first real challenger to the iPhone looks like it will be Droid. I haven’t read anything but great stuff coming from the people who have seen the über smart.

It has an iPhone look complete with touch screen, but it also has a slide out QWERTY keyboard (WIN)

The device is made by Motorola; powered by Google’s mobile operating system, Android; and it will be sold through Verizon, thus it will be on Verizon’s awesome network.

Droid will run the latest version of Android, which looks incredible (see The Boy Genius’s write-up).

If the hardware reports are true, then Droid will have the same processor core as the iPhone, making it far more powerful than previous Android phones (Engadget).

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is decrying Android’s imminent explosion in the marketplace, while analysts’ are talking about Android’s potential for market domination by 2012.

Verizon is also going all out with their marketing. In the lead up to the announcement of Droid, they have been bashing AT&T’s flimsy network with their cleaver, “There’s a map for that” ads.

Then their Droid announcement ad launched a flurry of attacks on the iPhone’s limitations.

“The Droid poses a different and more significant challenge to the iPhone than any other phone to date. The Palm Pre could have been that challenger, but it lacked the Verizon network, and users were unimpressed with the hardware. According to people who’ve handled the device, the Droid is the most sophisticated mobile device to hit the market to date from a hardware standpoint. When you combine that with the Verizon network, you’ve got something that is most definitely a challenger to the Jesus phone” (TechCrunch).

If Droid is everything that Motorola, Google, Verizon, and the tech writers are claiming it should be incredibly exciting (The claims are pretty much confirmed). Better still, Droid should be available within a few weeks.

Pay close attention to the oddly placed umlaut under the "r"

It’s clear to me that Droid means business because it has an unnecessary umlaut in its name.

~ syndicated by TheGeekWhisperer.com

Gmail Phishing

Mark from JerseyStyle Photography contacted me this morning about an odd email he received from “Gmail.”

From: Google Email Team
To: Date: Sep 25
Subj: Warning: VX2G99AAJ

Dear Account User,

This Email is from Gmail customer care and we are sending it to every Gmail accounts owner for safety. We are having congestion due to the anonymous registration of Gmail accounts so we are shutting down some Gmail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted. We are sending this email to you so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account. If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name, password, date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your account. Due to the congestion in all Gmail users and removal of all unused Gmail Accounts. Gmail would be shutting down all unused Accounts, you will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons.*

User name: ………………………..*

Password: …………………………..*

Date of Birth: ……………………….*

Country Or Territory: ………………..

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

Thank you for using Gmail !

The Gmail TeamG MAI L BETA

This is absolutely fake. It’s a phishing attack designed to steal your password.

Here are the signs that it’s not real:

1. Google won’t ask you for your password in an email. No legitimate company will. Ever. Don’t give your password to anyone via email.
2. Even if it contained a link to a Google-looking site that asked for your password, I would be skeptical. There are some phishing sites that look very convincing.
3. It’s poorly edited. Take the last line alone, “The Gmail TeamG MAI L BETA.” The spacing is all wrong. Google wouldn’t release that.
4. It doesn’t make sense. Google has a ton of data storage capacity, they won’t be running out of space.

If you ever get an email like this and are unsure if it’s the real deal, send it my way and I will take a look for you.

Practice safe computing with a health skepticism while reading email.

All of Your Google are Belong to Us

Google had an unusual logo on their homepage yesterday.

Typically, their logo changes are associated with a self-explanatory day or event, but today was a bit of a mystery.

Clicking on today’s logo brought you to a search for “Unexplained phenomenon.”

Google also twittered the following code:

1.12.12 25.15.21.18 15 1.18.5 2.5.12.15.14.7 20.15 21.19

Subbing in letters A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc. the code translates to:

“All you O belong to us,” a clear reference to the Internet meme, “All of your base are belong to us.”

Is that it? Is that the whole reason for the logo change?

Who knows, but one other theory is that yesterday was the anniversary of the debut episode of Star Trek. Makes sense to me.

Photoshop – Born Again

Here’s a reader question from Simona:

Hi, I just found your Geek Whisperer blog regarding updates, and how to keep your PC happy. I am always a bit fearful of updates, which explains why I’m constanly having issues with this damn machine. I wish I’d stumbled upon you earlier, but I promise I’ve learned the lesson!

I use Photoshop CS2 (PC, Windows XP Prof) and am having problems starting the program back up… invalid serial number or organisation … such and such… It is a few months since I last used the program, but it had been working fine.

In general, I could probably do with updating everything it’s been offering, and probably the whole of my CS2.

Basically, is there a way of retrieving the necessary updates to install? Recently, on closing down the PC, ‘Install updates and shut down’ was an option, but its gone now.

I have looked on the web for updates, but to be honest, I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing… I wouldn’t know if I was loading the relevant one or not, so I’d prefer to do the updates that pop up for my computer.

Sorry I’m so uniformed and clumsy in my geekspeak, but any help you could give me is appreciated!

Well Simona, I’m happy to hear that you are going to start keeping your software up-to-date. That will help you avoid many problems in the future… but let’s take a look at the problem that you have now.

With errors such as yours, the best thing to do is “Google the error.” Basically type the error message word for word into Google, in quotes (If that doesn’t work try without quotes).

Then read what other people did in a similar situation, or at least get an understanding about why it happened so that a techie (or a geek) can fix your issue.

Upon Googling your issue, I found http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/331/331741.html very informative, as it addresses exactly what your issue is, and comes straight from Adobe.

However, there is also the start from scratch method that works very well; you can resolve your issue without doing anything fancy. To start from scratch, basically means to completely remove Adobe Photoshop from your computer, and then to reinstall it (and make sure you restart in-between each and every step when you are promoted).

Reinstalling usually resolves problems like this for any program. To do this properly, I would suggest following the guide at http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/331/331405.html. That guide can also be located by typing “Photoshop CS2 complete uninstall” into Google.

Google really is a wonderful resource for troubleshooting these ultra detailed problems, application specific problems… “wisdom of the crowd” and all that.

Now, if these two solutions do not fix your issues, then please let us know here at The Geek Whisperer. Send us a screenshot of the error message and we would be happy to help you further investigate your issue.

Practice safe computing.

The Onion: Google Opt Out

Perfect… just perfect.

“Let me Google that for you” – The Internet’s Answer to the Dumb Question

Some questions are stupid. It happens.

Some questions are stupid and the person asking is lazy. He or she could easily find the answer with a simple Google search, but no, that’s too much work…

So here you are, stuck answering a stupid Googleable question. Enter, “Let Me Google That For You” www.lmgtfy.com.

The concept is pretty simple.

You go to the site, and type the search phrase that your lazy friend should have typed into Google. Then you select, “Google Search.”

Just like the real Google!

Except this one won’t provide you with a search mashup. What it does provide is a tinyurl link to a page that simulates the process of typing the search phrase, and then it brings up the actual Google Search mashup. Take a look for yourself.

Now when you are faced with a stupid lazy question, you can just give them a lmgtfy link that will do the work they should have done on their own.

It’s slightly more friendly than telling your friend that he/she is a lazy pile of poo.

A special thanks goes out to Eric Williamson for showing me this brilliant spec of Internet.

Comic Con Kicks Off

This is the big one folks. Geek Mecca. The San Diego Comic Convention.

I have no doubt that big news from the comic, movie, television, and video game industries will flow over the next few days.

One thing you will hear about is how “this is the biggest Comic Con yet.” It’s impressive in that there are so many geeks who flock to the event. However, it’s not a huge accomplishment that this is the “biggest ever,” because every year in recent years is bigger than the previous one.

I will do my best on a busy weekend, to react to the news coming from the event that makes me geek out or hulk-out.

Google marks the start of Comic Con with a special banner from Artist Jim Lee

This copy of the banner is from the typically useless DC Comics blog.

Google Calendar Gets a Green Erlenmeyer Flask

I always thought Erlenmeyer Flasks were cool.

Especially when they are on the top right corner of a Google web app.

That little green flask links to Google Labs. Labs are add-ons for Google applications. Some Labs are fun, while others are practical.

Until yesterday Labs were only a part of Gmail, now they are also part of Google Calendar.

They allow you to customize the program to better meet your individual needs. There aren’t many Labs for Calendar yet, and most of them are more for enterprise users, but there will be more in the future.

If you use Google Calendar, go try the new Labs out. If you haven’t used Google Calendar, go check it out… mine keeps my busy life in order. It always knows where I need to be, even when I can’t remember.

Bureaucracies and Web Browsers

Large bureaucracies seem to have difficulty with the web browser. Bureaucracies frequently pick poor web browsers (I’m looking at you Internet Explorer), keep the bad browser well past its expiration date, and then don’t allow their employees to download better, modern browser such as Firefox, Chrome, and Opera.

I’ve put some thought into why this is the case, and here is what I’ve come up with (please add to the list if you can think of any I left out):

• The people at the top don’t recognize a difference between browsers – “It’s all Interweb to me.” This isn’t malicious, it’s more a byproduct of ignorance.
• Fear of downloads – “Letting employees download and install programs on their own will trigger the end of the world.”
• Custom systems – Large bureaucratic organizations love proprietary, custom systems. “Screw that open source thing, I want something that is unique. Who cares if it has never been tested, is only compatible with the current web browser (planning for the future is for suckers), and will be buggy as hell… I won’t be the one using it.”
• “It’s free? It must be a virus or really crappy.”
• The CIO drank the Microsoft Kool Aid, then forced everyone else to do the same… Just as that evil dude from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom forced Indy to drink the blood of Kali Ma.

• Too few people (especially significant people in the hierarchy) speak up and make web browser selection an issue.

While I’m not a fan of Internet Explorer 7 or 8, I can kind of accept their use. What is inexcusable is the roughly 15% of web browsing being done with Internet Explorer 6; an eight year-old browser. IE6 usage is propelled largely by corporations that cling to it for a whole lot of poor reasons.

The reasons to upgrade from IE6 are that it is insecure, slow, and it doesn’t conform to current web browser standards. That last issue makes life a living hell on web developers for no good reason who have to specifically code and test for IE6 compatibility.

The good news is that IE6 usage is down roughly 10% from last year, and significant web sites are finally saying “no” to IE6 compatibility. Today, YouTube seems to have stopped supporting the decrepit browser. Music to my ears.

In other browser news, a US State Department employee named Jim Finkle became my hero when his question prompted this exchange with Secretary of State Clinton during a town hall meeting:

MS. GREENBERG: Okay. Our next question comes from Jim Finkle:

Can you please let the staff use an alternative web browser called Firefox? I just – (applause) – I just moved to the State Department from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and was surprised that State doesn’t use this browser. It was approved for the entire intelligence community, so I don’t understand why State can’t use it. It’s a much safer program. Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, apparently, there’s a lot of support for this suggestion. (Laughter.) I don’t know the answer. Pat, do you know the answer? (Laughter.)

UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: The answer is at the moment, it’s an expense question. We can -

QUESTION: It’s free. (Laughter.) (BoingBoing)

It’s the little things in life… and that one put a big smile on this geek’s face.

The Internet is critical for so much of our daily work. As a consequence, the window through which we view the online world is important. Don’t settle for a second or third rate browser.

Practice safe computing with a modern browser.

Same Blog, Different Place

You could be reading this in one of many places.

Some are viewing it on the site (The Geek Whisperer), others on my Facebook profile, some on Jason’s (TheLisnakFactor) Facebook profile, or perhaps you are reading on an RSS reader. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the people reading this on Facebook have never actually visited the main site.

Facebook is trying to build their own Internet kingdom where an increasing volume of information passes through their servers; servers that are beyond Google’s all seeing eye (Wired). Information is exceptionally valuable, and as targeted marketing becomes more prominent, information will become an exceptionally precious commodity.

The growing Facebook – Google conflict aside, this presents an interesting challenge for me because comments from readers come in from different places, and never touch one another.

Some people comment on the blog. Facebook readers never see them.

Some of my friends comment on my profile. Regular blog readers never see those, and neither do Jason’s friends.

Some of Jason’s friends comment on his profile. I didn’t even realize he was feeding the blog to his profile until he emailed me and let me know that one of his friends took issue with my take on the X-Man, Storm. Chances are that none of you ever saw the exchange that ensued; unless you are friends with Jason on Facebook.

It’s difficult to provoke dialog when those who are speaking can’t hear one another.

I wanted to use my Facebook Screw image again.

Personally, I prefer the comments when they are left on the blog where everyone can read and respond. However, at the end of the day, I choose to feed the blog through Facebook (Jason too) and I love receiving comments on any forum. I do this to inform and provoke dialog, it’s just awkward to reply to different conversations on the same post.

This is one of instance of Facebook’s lock & key control interfering with usability. I strongly suspect this will grow into a more significant issue as Facebook continues to expand.

Where’s the Beta?

My world was off kilter this afternoon.

Google lifted their ever-present “Beta” tag from the Gmail logo. Basically all of Google’s cloud application had been labeled as beta for years, even though it didn’t really make sense; until today.

Where's the beta?

My browser felt off balance without the beta tag, however, I found a remedy.

In Gmail Labs (click the green beaker in the top right corner), they have a little option called “Back to Beta.” Scroll down to it, and select “Enable.”

Then click “Save,” and return to using Gmail as usual.

Ah… Back to the status quo! Usually I’m all about destroying the status quo, but this innocuous tag is strangely comforting to me.

Microsoft Ads Hit Rock Bottom

At this point, there is no reason to continue railing on Microsoft for it’s ads or buggy software. Quite frankly, I do not believe that they can do anything correctly, with the exception making good mice and keyboards.

• The Xbox 360 (my console of choice) is so freaking buggy that the company has blown millions and millions of dollars on replacing broken systems (mine included).
• Their public image sucks.
• Their software is bloated, buggy, and all too often ignores the user experience.
• Their advertisements are a disaster.

This is the latest and then quickly killed Microsoft ad for Internet Explorer 8.

(It is repulsive… you might not want to watch it)

Look… everyone knows what “private mode” is for. Additionally, it isn’t a unique selling feature because every other current browser offers the exact same thing (Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, & Google Chrome), so why bother making an issue of it?

Microsoft has so much money that if it had a good product that was worth selling, someone would be able to make an ok advertisement for it… but they don’t… except for their mice and keyboards (which they don’t advertise).

And then there is this browser comparison chart that Microsoft pushed out of its rear:

If it isn’t obvious, this is a big lie.

Practice safe computing by using Firefox, Safari, or Chrome.