The Daily Pulse, 12.29.04

Archive

In Memoriam: Susan Sontag. She could be a bitch sometimes, but she worked hard as hell for basic human rights.

Nacho wins it for Rangers – Google News

I didn’t think that Mexican food was that popular in Glasgow. And how do tortilla chips and jalapenos contribute to a victory? Intense farts by Rangers distracting the Motherwell side or something? Well, the Scottish can be that crude…

…and here we go with another Wednesday in Paradise, the last Wednesday column of 2004, in fact. Yeah, big whoop, I know, but considering my track record with Wednesday columns when I’m on evening shift (and still with a cold), it’s special. What isn’t special is that the rumors going around right now are that we’ll be working on Friday. As much as I love double-time, I detest being in a f*cking plant on New Years’ Eve. So let’s just get on with it…

THE PIMP SECTION

Toner has his NFL awards on view.

Stevens has the latest in the goings-on with the DC Universe.

Wind has his Best Albums of 2004 available for you.

Hatton covers Raw with his friends again.

THE ANTI-SPYWARE SECTION

Remember, this all started because the slugs at Enigma Software dared to advertise their piece of shit SpyHunter at 411 (one of the reasons why I decided to leave, honestly). So I’m responding every single column with proper anti-spyware information. And guess what? People are actually taking this to heart. They’re asking me for help if they’re infested, or they’re writing me telling me that their browsing experience is less annoying thanks to the stuff I’ve been putting up here three times a week for a few months now.

(And as I understand it, there are some unscrupulous browser toolbar people trying to advertise here at the Pulse. Well, don’t click on that ad, whatever you do. We’ll still get the money from the impressions, and your system will stay safe.)

Big, big Kudos to the guys at the Spyware Warrior Forum for pointing out to everyone the extent of criminal activity participated in by Enigma Software, makers of the bane of advertising on that site, SpyHunter. Slimeballs extraordinare, aren’t they? And in case you need more info about what flaming bags of shit they are, try here. Suzi’s Blog has a great list of other flaming bags of shit that promote anti-spyware programs that are spyware themselves. Consult it if you have questions.

(On a side note, those SpyHunter ads started over at Reality News Online, and BFM, a contributor there, spotted them. He told the webmaster, gave him those links that I cited above, the webmaster read them, the blood drained out of his face, and he contacted his ad provider. No more ads for Enigma products on RNO, thank you. So guess what? If you provide the info, there are sites who will listen.)

Here’s a list of the programs you really need to help you get rid of menaces, and, more importantly, prevent them from occurring in the first place:

Spybot and AdAware. The ONLY two spyware removal tools to trust. Do NOT buy any spyware removal tools, because none of them work better than these two, and all of them except these two are suspect.

SpywareBlaster. Will nuke thousands of different potentially malicious ActiveX controls, and now has the ability to prevent a number of non-ActiveX methods of installing spyware for people who use Mozilla/Firefox.

SpywareGuard. From Javacool, like SpywareBlaster. It’s a real-time scanner for spyware. A decent first line of defense.

IE-SpyAd. Throws numerous ad-related URLs into IE’s Restricted Zone, where they won’t display or affect your system. Bookmark this one, since it’s the only one that doesn’t have an in-program update.

A few people have recommended also installing the Sun Java Virtual Machine, since it’s Windows’ buggy, half-assed implementation of the JVM that allows a lot of spyware to install (less so within the past month and a half than before). I STRONGLY recommend that you visit here and update your version of Java.

So many people have asked about a free anti-virus program that I’m also going to recommend AVG. Totally free, and works really, really well, as well as commercial anti-virus programs. Frequent database updates, good heuristic detection, everything you want in an anti-virus package.

Another program that I’d like to add here is a little tough to work with for noobs if it goes buggy (you need to know a little something about your Networking settings in order to debug if something should go wrong). Protowall is a supplement to your firewall or NAT system. It hooks directly into XP’s networking system to block any and all traffic that comes from URLs on a list maintained by the program (all protocols, not just TCP/UDP). It’s mainly designed for anti-P2P purposes (which will appeal to a great many of my readers), but it contains lists to block spyware and ads. Its blocklist can easily be updated using its supplementary program, Blocklist Manager. I have Protowall running and a Blocklist Manager icon on my desktop, and I use Blocklist Manager to update the blocklist every couple of days. You will have problems getting to some sites unless you shut down Protowall temporarily, like ESPN or Sports Illustrated, but it does have a tray icon you can right-click and shut down in a few seconds. It’s the third layer of anti-ad material for me, with IE-SpyAd and AdSubtract running alongside it. Warning, though: it only works with XP. I’d recommend its predecessor, Peer Guardian, for other MS OSes, but it isn’t being developed anymore, and there were still bugs in it when development stopped. You can get Protowall and the Blocklist Manager (which will also work with Peer Guardian) at Bluetack’s site.

Of course, only download them from the links provided above. And only download those programs; don’t fall for the ads that are shown at various websites.

With AdAware and Spybot, check for updates using their internal update function at least once a week. Run them at least once a week or whenever you think you might have problems. Remember, the new version of Spybot has browser protection capabilities, so have that run at startup and leave it running. Check for updates to SpywareBlaster once a week. It only needs to be run once initially in order to establish protection. Then, after it downloads updates, just click on the line that says “Enable Protection For All Unprotected Items” and kill it. It doesn’t need to be active. For IE-SpyAd, bookmark the site and check for updates twice a week, since it has no kind of internal updater. Since all it does is add Registry entries, it doesn’t eat up anything. Run the Blocklist Manager every couple of days to make sure that you keep up on the latest banned URLs.

If you’re having trouble with spyware or a browser hijacker, or think that you do, head over to the SpywareInfo Forums, where the pros there can help you diagnose and get rid of stuff. I was promoted to Full Helper status there and ended up joining ASAP, the Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals. Look for their symbol.

The Ravin’ Cajun asks me to recommend a good client-side spam filter for MS mail programs running under Windows. Now, this is something I don’t have experience with because my ISPs have always had good spam filtering, plus, I use Thunderbird, which handles the remainder quite nicely, thank you. Some readers wrote in and recommended SpamBayes, which is totally free and supposedly works very well, so I’ll add it on to the anti-annoyance list that we’re building up here.

Now that 1.0 has been released, I feel good in recommending Firefox as an alternative to IE. Go grab a copy and see what you’re missing.

AND YOU THOUGHT NOVEMBER WAS BAD

Three elections. Three bitch-fests. One outright fraudulent election. One poisoning. The elections in Ukraine got vicious and nasty, to say the least. But now it’s over (or so we think), and opposition leader Victor Yushchenko has emerged victorious, prompting new leadership in the most important “swing country” in Europe.

This is truly a victory for democracy in what was one of the main bastions of Communism. The only problem right now is that the ousted prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, refuses to admit defeat. At least when John Kerry was down by a similar number to Yushchenko’s margin of victory, he was a MAN and gave in. So why isn’t he giving up? Because he’s bringing up more charges of fraud. He doesn’t want to give up power so easily. But this one isn’t going to go to an armed coup. Why? Because Ukraine is closer to Europe than most former Soviet satellites. There’s a tradition of peaceful transition to follow, especially if Ukraine wants to get into the EU. Yushchenko is the man to make that happen, not Yanukovych.

So let’s hope that things don’t disintegrate more than they have. Ukraine deserves a peaceful transfer of power to show how strong democracy really has become in Eastern Europe.

THE NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY GETS WEIRD

The latest selection of twenty-five films to be put into the National Film Registry was released, and this year’s selections are a little, well, strange. Here’s the full list with dates of release, ripped from cnn.com:

“Ben Hur” (1959)
“The Blue Bird” (1918)
“A Bronx Morning” (1931)
“Clash of the Wolves” (1925)
“The Court Jester” (1956)
“D.O.A” (1950)
“Daughters of the Dead” (1991)
“Duck and Cover” (1951)
“Empire” (1964)
“Enter the Dragon” (1973)
“Eraserhead” (1978)
“Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers” (1980)
“Going My Way” (1944)
“Jailhouse Rock” (1957)
“Kannapolis, NC” (1941)
“Lady Helen’s Escapade” (1909)
“The Nutty Professor” (1963)
“OffOn” (1968)
“Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor” (1936)
“Pups is Pups (Our Gang)” (1930)
“Schindler’s List” (1993)
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954)
“Swing Time” (1936)
“There It Is” (1928)
“Unforgiven” (1992)

Jerry Lewis? David Lynch? Danny Kaye? Bruce Lee? Elvis? Andy Freakin’ Warhol? Jesus, I’m on some powerful medications, but these guys…well, let’s just say that whatever they’re on, I want some immediately.

That being said, there are some great choices on here. The Popeye selection broke a lot of ground in animation, not only in being the first sound short to go beyond the ten-minute mark (it’s about twenty minutes), but also in its revolutionary use of multiple backgrounds shot at different heights to create the illusion of a three-dimensional picture in a two-dimensional environment. It also has a kick-ass Bluto performance to boot.

The Blue Bird has been filmed around six times, and the 1918 version is still the best (even beating out Shirley Temple’s version). So no arguments there.

I shouldn’t bitch about The Nutty Professor either. I love that film, and I think it’s Lewis’ best. Ditto with Enter the Dragon vis-a-vis Bruce Lee.

Duck and Cover is the perfect reflection of the naivete of Fifties America. You’ll survive a nuclear blast by ducking under your school desk. Sure. I think it actually did more to cause terror among Americans of that generation than the Soviets could ever do.

Schindler’s List and Unforgiven are two of the best movies of the Nineties, and actually deserving of the boatload of Oscars they won. They also have a great deal of social and artistic significance, which makes them perfect for the National Film Registry list.

I do have a complaint against one film, that being Ben-Hur. I still think the 1926 version is better (both Ramon Navarro and Francis X. Bushman kick ass), and you can kinda figure out what I think about Charlton Heston. But it is a landmark in spectacle, so they can get away with it. Free pass time.

I think I’ll leave the rest of the commentary for the Movies division here. I’m sure they’ll have some words to say about it.

A SHORT BIT OF COST-CUTTING

From Reuters:

Snow White had to make do with just four dwarves rather than the usual seven due to cost-cutting at a theatre in the eastern German town of Stendal, the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper has reported.
The Altmark Stendal theatre said it could afford only six actors for its Christmas rendition of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”, which led to protests from theatre-goers from the nearby western city of Hanover who wanted to see seven dwarves.

The theatre said it had attached two puppets in dwarf outfits to a background wall to give the production six dwarves. The actor pla
ying the prince was supposed to double as the seventh dwarf but only made one brief appearance on stage.

“The seventh dwarf wasn’t on stage the whole time because he was in stuck down in the mine working overtime,” theatre spokeswoman Susanne Kreuzer told the newspaper.

Now that’s f*cked up. When Snow White has to cut three dwarves, you know that the world economy still sucks. I blame Dubbaya for this, of course.

And I blame the news for having nothing else good to put in this column. See you over the weekend with the Smackdown Short Form, and if you don’t bother to come, remember that it’s going to be Amateur Night out there on Friday, so be goddamn careful, okay?