And Canucks shall rule the world

It's funny because it's true...



Full strip can be seen here (I only found out about this site because I read Wil Wheaton's blog... you should too).

Ramble on...

Setting the record straight

Kevin Smith is a blogger and his blog - My Boring Ass Life - while occasionally slow to update almost always delivers.

He's a great writer with a great sense of humor. When look at the latter, his current 'essay' on his relationship with Jason Mewes really brings that to light. He recently became very angry/pissed at mainstream media that took some of what he said at a recent Q&A out of context and as a result has been using MBAL to set the record straight.

He's at the 6th of who knows how many parts of this story about how he met Mewes and the hardships their relationship has endured because of Mewes' drug and alcohol addictions. This essay details the whole thing, every sobering detail of addiciton, how it affects the person and those around them. Condsidering all that Mewes went through, and that he's been clean for three years now is amazing.

It's a great read, here are the links:

Me and my shadow pt. 1
Me and my shadow pt. 2
Me and my shadow pt. 3
Me and my shadow pt. 4
Me and my shadow pt. 5
Me and my shadow pt. 6
Me and my shadow pt. 7

Ramble on...

Getting old, but not mature

Okay, after finally getting a chance to check out MySpace, I've come to the conclusion I'm old. I don't get it - it's like a cross between GeoCities and LavaLife.

I'm obviously not hip enough to get this place. That being said, there are tonnes of teens/twentysomethings that are a marketer's wet dream in there... now they really need to figure out how to capitalize and take advantage of the audience there.

That being said, one thing I do get and have really enjoyed lately is YouTube. There are some very creative people out there with a lot of time on their hands - I for one thank them for work like this and this.

Ramble on...

61 Million users can't be wrong

Steve Rubel has a great post about MySpace... I've definitely missed this bandwagon but find myself compelled to understand it.

Read his post here. The numbers he talks about are staggering.

Wow.

Ramble on...

There's nothing phishy about PIRT

Computer Guru made good comment on my previous post and I think it bears addressing. He/she points me to this link that makes a very good analysis of what PIRT is doing and how they're doing it. Its a well researched, thought-out piece. However, I do think PIRT has the right approach - they're not just informing the ISP, they're going above and beyond that.

One of the key arguments in the post by Computer Guru is that many phishers leverage ISP hosts in developing countries and they quote NetCraft:

Fraudsters will often host their sites in developing countries with limited law enforcement resources and incentivize the hosting company to keep the site running as long as it possibly can.

But I think there's a key point they're missing - regardless of whether or not its an unscrupulous ISP - PIRT doesn't simply inform them and local law enforcement. According to PIRT they go above and beyond, informing all channels of the scheme including the victim company being misrepresented as they state on their Wiki site:

Once phish are confirmed, emails will be sent to various anti-phishing toolbar companies with copies of the full reports, including various other researchers and enforcement communities. This way PIRT not only works on shutting down the phish by contacting the appropriate ISPs, but we also help consumers who use antiphishing toolbars with our reports. All our reports are also copied to the company that is being phished as well as the APWG and other antiphishing groups.

This is the key thing that PIRT does - informing the company being phished, in my opinion is the key to all of this. Ideally that company is savvy enough and has a communications team in place that develop a cohesive plan of attack to deal with the issue whereby they:

1. Identify the issue and immediately address it both internally and publicly
2. Draw attention to the issue, alert current and potential customers of it either via e-mail or through the media
3. Work with the appropriate law enforcement, ISPs etc. to put a stop to it to minimize or wholly eliminate the risk to current and potential customers

Most phishing schemes leverage big name companies, and if they're responsible corporate citizens, they'll deal with this the best way they can, by effectively communicating the issue to their customers.

Ramble on...