I was lucky enough to come across this article just a moment ago. It seems that Microsoft, having decided that they in fact did not copy enough from Apple when they ripped the best features of its OS to attempt make Vista suck less, is going to try to lose even more of my respect by also ripping off the concept of the Apple Store. Sadly for them, their attempt will fail as there isn’t a remaining ounce of respect for them to lose. Oh well.

Oh, and speaking of Microsoft…if you’re using Internet Explorer, I highly recommend you choose an alternative quick. The viruses are hitting really hard lately, and ActiveX integration (in addition to being just a real great joke) could mean the end of you. You’ll notice the little bar at the top of the site if you’re in IE. Please use it. That’s what it’s there for.

This is a follow-up to my Previous Post.

Unlike my numerous past experiences with 1&1, Winferno actually contacted me promptly and effectively handled the situation. I was pleasantly surprised to get the following response the same day, which was really, well, the only thing I wanted to hear from them:

We have canceled your order before it was processed. All related charges that are currently on hold/pending will be released.

That’s what I’m talking about. Still don’t do business with them. Seriously.

Oh hey, while I’m thinking about 1&1, I just tried to cancel some more domains the other week, and still haven’t received any confirmation that the process took place. I also was just emailed an invoice today and have no idea what it’s for, so it looks like I’ll be having tons of 1&1 fun in the near future. Stay posted.

If you’re thinking about purchasing software from Winferno anytime soon, think again. This company is dishonest, misleading, and does not let you confirm your order before it just goes ahead and places it for you.

Earlier today, I tried to order a copy of Norton Internet Security, advertised at $34.99. It turns out, however, that that price is only effective after a $35 mail-in rebate. The only problem with that is that Winferno did not give me a final page allowing me to confirm my order with the final price to be charged, and therefore didn’t tell me that until after my order was completed.

I immediately jumped to their “Contact Us” page only to find that they did not have a phone number listed. I tried their live chat option several times and never received a response from an operator. I did manage to find a phone number for them on Google and tried to call their sad excuse for phone support, which was automated and only rang twice when I finally navigated my way to the right department. Though it was about 1:30pm, I was informed that either their office was closed or they were busy.

Since at that point I had no other option, I used their contact form to send them this pleasant note:

I am writing regarding Order Number XXXXXXX. I never received a page in which I was given the choice to complete this order or not. I did not know the actual price of this purchase until I received the order completed confirmation, indicating that the product had a mail-in rebate and that I was actually billed $35.00 more than I expected to be. Conducting purchases in this fashion is misleading and dishonest. I find it highly inexcusable and it will not be tolerated.

Had I received a page asking me to confirm my order with that amount, I would not have agreed. Therefore, I am demanding an immediate refund for my entire purchase price. I have not downloaded the software or accessed any product codes. Furthermore, my confirmation email was blank and I do not even know what my password would have been to log in and download the product anyways.

Thank you in advance for your prompt attention in this matter. I am expecting that this will be handled in an efficient and professional fashion. In the case that it is not, since I do not have time to deal with such nonsense, you will be promptly contacted by my law firm, and I will have no choice to pursue due legal recourse.

Please feel free to contact me via telephone and/or email with any questions or to inform me how you have proceeded in resolving this issue. Thank you and have a good day.

Sincerely,

Chris DeMarco

and you don’t need my contact information. Stalker…

Anyways, I’m still taking bets on if these guys are worse than 1&1. I’ll let you know what I find out.

A vulnerability has been recently exploited which allows a hacker to compromise and infiltrate your GMail session’s authentication. This vulnerability affects users on public wireless networks in particular. Though the GMail team did make a solution for this, not many people are aware of it.

It is extremely important to change this setting within your GMail account, especially if you access your mail from public networks.

Go into your GMail settings. On the very bottom of the first page, you will see the setting “Browser connection” with the options

• Always use https
• Don’t always use https

Choose the “Always use https” option. This forces GMail to always use its secure http server while you are accessing your mail. Otherwise, a hacker could gain your session ID and then be able to get into your account.

I’m not sure why GMail is not making a bigger deal about this, but regardless, you need to update this setting immediately to protect your account.

A side note: If your GMail password is a number combination or dictionary word, or some other non-secure password, a hacker bot is going through and compromising these accounts to send spam as a vacation responder. See my previous post. Be sure and change it to something with both capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and preferably a symbol or two as well.