I previously reported that all of the iPhone games written by Storm8, which includes Vampires Live, were stealing your iPhone cell number without your prior and explicit permission. This was Spyware. Period. I’m happy to report that they have fixed the issue and it’s time to take a look at Pinchmedia which provides the developer tools to obtain metrics for Storm8 and numerous other developers.
A couple of visitors have sent me emails about earning money taking Surveys on the Web. Even one affiliate was smart enough to email me. These pitches are everywhere: Twitter streams, Facebook, emails, and even on Television. Since the economy is really bad, this entire industry seems to be promoting like hell. My first reaction is that they ALL SUCK!
Domain and Server abuse has many incarnations. Hot linking your images, Denial of Service attacks, slimy posts on your site, breaking into your hosting/server account, hacking your site, and the list goes on. In this post I’m going to cover Bandwidth consumption abuse. Where your site/server is targeted and this causes you to consume large amounts of bandwidth which can cost you money, slow down your site, and perhaps your host will terminate your account. Continue reading »
As I suspected: Storm8 admits that their very popular free game titled Vampires Live is currently stealing your cell number. No specific consent. No notice. Play the game and they phone home with your iPhone cell number. This is Spyware. This is Idenity Theft. This violates my Privacy. This sucks! They say it’s a “Bug” which they plan to correct but that’s far from the end of this tragic story which has dramatic implications for every owner of an iPhone.
Aug 262009
A few weeks ago I purchased an iPhone 3GS 32 MB smart phone. Although I’ve been a Treo user since they were invented, it was time to change. Although the battery life is totally unacceptable and requires an external battery (I use the outstanding mophie juice pack air), imagine my surprise while reading the News that a number of sites have alleged that some applications for the iPhone which Apple distributes, contain Spyware.
Aug 262009
Facebook is a hugely popular social networking site. Unfortunately, it’s also a large target for Spammers, thieves, identity theft, criminals, abusers, and numerous other “bad guys”. It’s also a very enticing service since it permits you to find friends, relatives, and even your old enemies. Unfortunately, the default Privacy setting leave a lot to be desired. Think I’m joking? Read this:
Judge Kicks Notorious Spammer off Facebook. Sanford Wallace and his low life friends. Spam and phishing schemes.
University addresses Facebook abuse
Canadian official takes issue with Facebook privacy
Their are a number of third party services which permit stalkers, criminals, abusers, and bad players to Tweet Anonymously. While most of them state that they log IPs and tell the user not to do nasty things, I’m not impressed.
You go to these sites and Tweet to whoever you wish. When the other party reads the Tweet you sent anonymously, it says it’s anonymous and list the name of the services. Sorry…I’m not going to post the names or links since that will only make it easy for the bad guys to use them.
This is an open invitation for tons of abuse. What really upsets me is that Twitter does nothing about these services. Some of whom have been around for over a year. What can I conclude from this:
Twitter just wants traffic, even if it’s garbage and places their members at risk. Traffic equals money somewhere down the road. This is morally and ethically deplorable, short sited, ill conceived, and will eventually lead to legal actions against Twitter.
Iv’e listened to one of the founders of Twitter named Biz Stone, tell the world that he plans to monetize the service and actually make money. Bull pucky I say! What kind of Corporation would want to pay money to a service which encourages abuse. NOT!