Malware has EULA too!

Ars Technica has this post about how malware have EULAs too!

But unlike the normal software company’s EULA, that rely on the rule of law to enforce, the malware EULA rely on threats of strong arm tactics to enforce.

Filed in Software, Humor.

Cheap GPS (Comic)

Oh, I love this comic strip about a cheap GPS set for your car.

Filed in Humor.

Google’s Search April Fool’s Day Joke 2008: Search the Future

Google has updated their PageRank algorithm with one called SageRank. Now Google allows you to search future web pages for up to one day into the future. Find out something useful, like tommorrow’s football scores or share prices. To search tomorrow’s results, select Search “one day in advance” instead of Search “the web”. To use this wonderful engine, click here.

Filed in Humor.

Why I Love and Hate April Fool’s Day

I hate April Fool’s Day.

• It’s the day where I can’t just read the latest tech news headlines to get the gist of the newest updates. I have to read the articles one by one in detail to find out which is real and which is just a prank.
• The day is usually a bust when it comes to staying up to date. Just about every other site is chock full of April Fool’s Day jokes. It’s hard to get reliable, real news.

I love April Fool’s Day.

• Some of the jokes are really hilarious. It’s a good day for relaxation and a laugh.
• Google’s April Fool’s Day jokes are particularly good. There’s no chance that you’ll fall for it, but it’s all very humorous. It’s tastefully done. Unlike some of the crap that passes for a joke.

Filed in Humor.

Sony Sued for Software Piracy: Hypocrisy Again

Remember when there was some scandal involving one of Warner’s top management where it was found that the guy’s daughter pirates music at home? Well, now we have another hypocrite, and this time it’s Sony, the one that tried to plant a root kit onto your computer, making it open to all manner of viruses and spyware, just to protect their own music. The latest news is that Sony BMG is now being sued for software piracy, and its assets have been seized.

Maybe BSA should make a raid on all of the recording studios and movie production offices. You know, to find out if this is just the tip of the iceberg. RIAA and MPAA should also raid BSA offices too - who knows what sort of music and movies that may be pirated there? After all, these people are talking and thinking about piracy all the time. That’s pretty suspicious isn’t it? The rest of us ordinary folk don’t even think about such things until either the RIAA, MPAA or BSA bring it up.

Filed in Outraged, Opinion, Humor.

Nobody Reads EULAs, Not Even the Company that Writes Them, Like Adobe, Google & Apple

I have come to the conclusion that no one reads End User Licensing Agreements, or EULA, not even the company that writes them. Here’s proof.

• Adobe’s beta Photoshop Express service EULA allows them to sell and distribute any pictures that you edit with their software. The EULA has been taken down temporarily for fixing, so I can’t link to it.
• Google’s EULA forbids kids from using their services even the search engine and Gmail.
• Until they fixed it a day or two ago, Apple’s Safari EULA forbade Windows users from installing Safari for Windows.

I find the entire thing hilarious.

Filed in Humor.

Google Forbids Kids from Using Its Services

Google’s Terms of Service forbids people under the legal age (usually 18 in US) from using its services:

You may not use the Services and may not accept the Terms if (a) you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with Google…

So it looks like all kids are not allowed to use Google, Gmail or any of its services.

And this comes hot on the heels of the news that Apple forbidding Windows users from installing Safari for Windows. Don’t these companies read their own licenses?

Filed in Humor.

Geek Romance: Angular Momentum

This last of a series of three comic strips that I’m posting from XKCD has to do with romance. Or at least I found it humorously romantic. But then, what do I know, seeing as how I found some Unix commands strung together to be funny.

Filed in Humor.

Organic Fuel

Hah. This comic is just so funny I had to post it. Here’s something for the green movement: organic fuel.

Filed in Humor.

Programmer’s Humor: Donald Knuth

I just discovered this hilarious comic about programming algorithms guru Donald Knuth, from the web comic XKCD site:

Filed in Humor.

Music Made Solely from Windows XP/98 Sounds

Here’s an amusing video featuring music made from sounds found in every Windows XP and 98, you know, the start up sounds and so on.

Due to my perverse sense of humor, or maybe because I spend so many hours in front of a Windows computer, I found it rather funny.

Filed in Entertainment, Video, Humor.

Real Programmers Use Butterflies

This is just a short post to point to a funny web comic about real programmers. You know, the usual arguments that “Real programmers use …” where you insert your favorite programming language or editor or tool. Well, I won’t spoil your fun read it yourself.

Filed in Humor.

Sorry Sir, You Are Already Dead. The Dead Can’t Pay Taxes or Have Bank Accounts

Due to a data input error by Social Security, many people have been declared dead who are not yet dead. It sounds hilarious, but the people Social Security “killed” don’t find it funny. Being dead has many side effects, including being unable to have bank accounts, receive refunds on taxes, receive social security checks and so on.

Filed in Humor, News.

On this Valentine’s Day…

On this Valentine’s Day, let me reprise this blog’s brief flirtation with romance:

1. The Unfolding Microsoft-Yahoo Love Story - a love triangle that threatens to be a heartbreak for at least one party.
2. Dating from the Command Line Lens of a Unix Geek - boy-girl relationships concisely and tersely reduced to a shell command line syntax.

Filed in Humor.

The Unfolding Yahoo-Microsoft Love Story

Once upon a time there were two companies, Microsoft and Yahoo. One day, Microsoft proposed to Yahoo that they unite in corporate matrimony. Yahoo spurned its not-quite-lover’s advances, saying that its dowry was not quite sufficient. Unrequited though its love was, Microsoft was not deterred, and retreated to consider other options. “If I cannot woo Yahoo,” the scorned lover proclaimed, “by golly I will assault it”.

Somewhat sidelined in this quarrel is the other party in the lover’s triange, Google, who, full of sour grapes, declared that if Microsoft and Yahoo unite, the world is doomed.

Don’t miss the next exciting episode in this continuing soap opera. Coming to a blog post near you.

Filed in Humor, Windows.