Singing the praises of shareware

Hoovers Online has an interesting story today about using shareware to integrate the Sony PSP with a Mac. It's the first positive story I've seen in a while that mentions the "s" word, so it's newsworthy to me. :-) Read it here.

Another great review of SIC '05

Sharon Housely of Notepage and Software Marketing Resource has posted a great review of SIC '05 in her SMR - SIC Issue. A collection of links to various SIC photo galleries is also available in the newsletter.

This issue has a good review of SIC, and the newsletter is always a great read. You can view the special SIC edition of SMR in html format at:

http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/author-resource-newsletter57.html

Thanks Sharon!

Warning: Your company identity has been stolen. Seriously.

The owners of publish-me.com have taken it upon themselves to modify our (as in, the shareware industry, as a whole) PAD files. They have replaced all of the contact info and links to point to their site instead of yours.

The worst part is that they are reportedly submitting these PAD files to other shareware archives in an effort to draw traffic away from your site, to theirs. The ads on their site seem to be mostly porn-related, meaning that innocent visitors to their site may now associate your program with their less-than-innocent advertising.

Look up your program there. If you find it, you'll see a PAD link just below the listing. Check it out and you just might see who has stolen your company identity. Three of my programs are already listed on this site, and I'm sure their bot will get to the rest, soon.

Personally, I'm mad as hell, and I hope I'm not the only one. Not only is this underhanded and scummy, it's also quite possibly copyright infringement. If you find your programs listed on this site, this is the contact info listed on their page: Email the webmaster Stephen Huff at WebMaster@Publish-me.com.

Update - 8/15/05
Presumably due to the several phone calls Stephen Huff received throughout the night, and the several calls and emails to easycgi.com, Huff's web host, it seems that most of the offending content has been either removed from his site, or hidden. However, there is still the issue of the derivative PAD files that have been submitted to several shareware sites. Hopefully, we can spread the word to archives that have accepted these bogus PAD submissions and get them to take action.

FYI - publish-me.com and its sister site have a form you can submit to "disable" your PAD on their site. Several authors are reporting that the form does, in fact, disable the PAD on their site, but apparently automatically submits the modified PAD to several other (related?) sites at the same time. This hardly seems like a solution. I'll report more as I know more.

Apparently I spoke just a little too soon...

Yesterday, I asked, "How long will it be before someone tries to force culpability down game-makers' throats?"

Well, apparently, it has happened. I heard on the radio tonight that recently, a suspect in custody grabbed the gun of a policeman, shot three officers and escaped. The man was soon caught, and when interrogated claimed that life is a video game, and at some point in the game, everyone must die. He is now pleading "not guilty" by reason of "mental defect."

The worst part is, the families of the three slain officers are suing RockStar Games, the makers of Grand Theft Auto, whom the alleged killer blames for his actions. Do they realize that if they successfully sue the game-maker, they are possibly relieving the actual murderer of culpability, and likely setting him free? Where is the responsibility? Do these families want justice, or just money?

I have yet to find a written article on this story. As soon as I do, I'll post the link for you to read in detail.

If people can sue McDonalds for making them fat...

How long will it be before someone tries to force culpability down game-makers' throats?

A 28 year old man died Tuesday in South Korea after playing video games for 50 hours, nearly non-stop. While presumably training to set a game-playing record, Lee tirelessly played battle simulation games, taking only brief breaks to use the restroom and take short naps on a makeshift cot.

After completing his 50 hour run, Lee got up from his chair, began to walk away, and abruptly died. The cause of death is yet unknown, but is expected to be heart failure, due to exhaustion.

Quick! Someone call a lawyer!

Apple gives customers the middle finger

Or perhaps I should say, Apple gives customers the ability to use the middle finger.

While it looks very much like a standard Mac mouse, the MightyMouse is actually Apple's first attempt at a two button mouse. PC users have long speculated about whether Mac users are smart enough to use a second button, but I think they'll catch on just fine. Personally, I yearn for the day when graphic arts authors can quit repeatedly writing "Right click (Ctrl+Click on the Mac)..."

Not only is the MightyMouse an elegant looking piece of equipment, but Apple has even one-upped other mouse manufacturers by building a tiny trackball into the top of the mouse, instead of the standard, restrictive mouse wheel. It also includes pressure-sensitive side buttons allowing the user to squeeze the mouse to access the Tiger Dashboard, Expose, or other user-defined programs. MightyMouse retails at $49 USD and can be ordered at http://www.apple.com/mightymouse

Open-source goes awry, Part II

In a previous blog post, I told you about a company called Manay Software, who claims they will send you four free CDs if you just send them $4.95 to help cover the shipping costs. As far as I can tell, the CDs contain only open source software/collections, but it would be nice to have a copy of The GIMP on CD. So, never being one to miss an adventure, I generated a new virtual credit card number and placed my order on Friday using my soon-to-be defunct home address and a throw-away email address.

Monday afternoon, I was pleased to see that I had already received their small cardboard mailer in my mailbox. I was short on time, as I was soon off to see the reknown stage hypnotist, Mark Yuzuik, performing in his one per year, post-fair, 18+ hypnosis show. Even so, I decided to open the cover to see what I got for just $4.99.

Inside were four plainly labeled CDs with names such as Graphics Software, Font Collection, etc. Labeled prominently on the right hand side was a message thanking me for signing up for their CD subscription service. Any two of the CDs were mine to keep, but if I liked all four, I simply had to keep them and I would automatically be charged $39.98 (or $19.99 per CD).

There's only one location on their site where they say that the CDs are $19.99 each. Can you guess? Yes, that's right, in the Terms of Service, in paragraph 7 (you did read that, didn't you?) they explain that you must return two of the four CDs within 10 days, or you'll automatically be charged. Further, they will send you two more CDs every four to five weeks with no trial period, for which you will automatically be billed $19.99 each until you cancel.

Can you say "bait and switch"? Since receiving the package, I have found many complaints on the web (which I probably should have searched for before purchasing, but what fun would that be?) by searching for "Manay scam" on Google. It seems that many have been reporting them to the Better Business Bureau, but I'm thinking the Federal Trade Commission will enjoy hearing about this. If Google can't do something as innocent as selling ad space without prominently displaying "SPONSORED LINKS," how can what Manay is doing be legal? It certainly doesn't seem ethical.

Late as I was for the show, I took a minute to put the entire package in a CD mailer and print out a Priority Mail shipping label with delivery confirmation. Some of the complaints have indicated that Manay doesn't honor the returns. We'll see. Perhaps there will soon be an Open-Source Goes Awry, Part III.

Still Loving You...

It's too early for business. For a little bit of fun...

Last night, I saw my favorite band from my teenage years, the Scorpions, who played at the county fair with UFO as an opening act (No, Michael Schenker never came out, even though he played for both bands and lives here in The OC).

While I'm not a huge fan of UFO, and didn't really know any of their songs, they put on a great performance. But I've got to say, the Scorps have still got it in a big way. Now in their late 50s, these guys haven't gone the way of most washed up rock bands. Their performance last night was better than when I last saw them in 1990. They've still got a big sound, a lively show and they performed flawlessly.

They played surprisingly few new songs. There was only one song from their relatively-new Eye II Eye album, but for the rest of the show, they stuck with the classics like Rock You Like a Hurricane, No One Like You, Blackout, Bad Boys Running Wild, and Still Loving You and even threw in a few surprise "pre-classics" songs, like In Trance (1975) and He's a Woman - She's a Man (1977). For some reason, they closed out the show with the down-beat ballad, When the Smoke is Going Down. A bit of an anti-climactic ending, but overall it was an amazing concert. If you are (or were) a Scorps fan, this is a fun, must-see show.