Clark's Weblog

Giving the Gift of Software

Sat, 25 Dec 2004 00:03:32 GMT

Lots of great software for your Mac does not come in a box but would still make a great gift. As I've commented recently, there's no easy way to give software like that and none has been brought to my attention. I know one software maker that agrees with me, even. And so it is fitting, perhaps, that I use his software, NewNewsWire for my software giftcard to my brother-in-law. Here's what it looked like:

Merry Christmas!

FireFox 1.0, The New York Times, and I

Sat, 18 Dec 2004 23:12:31 GMT

The Mozilla Foundation wanted a way to call attention to the 1.0 release of their web browser, Firefox to let people know there is an alternative to Internet Explorer. They solicited contributions and put a two page ad in the December 16 New York Times (page A25). Down to the right of the big 'X' on the left page, you'll find my name as one of the contributors (along with thousands of others).

I Wish There Were An Easier Way To Give Software

Sun, 05 Dec 2004 13:46:30 GMT

I use lots of software I download from the internet and pay for online. It's not truly 'shareware' because it's crippled in some way, or has a limited trial period. Recent examples are NetNewsWire for RSS-reading, , MarsEdit for blogging, Sticky Brain for remembering, Missing Sync for syncing with my Treo. Just this morning I found Mail Factory, which looks like it might be a fun app. to use with a Dymo Label Writer.

What if I wanted to give one of these as a gift? Some would say software is very personal and that just because I like something doesn't mean someone else will, and that that's what trial periods are for. Perhaps. But if I did want to give a license code to a game or application, there's no easy way to make that a gift. What I'm envisioning is a service, by Kagi for example (as they're the ones that seem to accept payment for most such software), that will print the name of the software, its web site, and the registration code on a gift card that can then be tucked in a holiday card and given as a gift or stocking stuffer, or even mailed as an e-gift (like an iCard). Call it the 'Software Gift Card'. Any takers? Apple? Some Shareware alliance somewhere?

ClamAV--free virus scanner for OS X (and other OS's)

Tue, 23 Nov 2004 02:40:47 GMT

Thanks to Greg Pierce, I have found my new virus scanner. It's an open-source project called ClamAV that runs on many platforms, but has been given an OS X front-end by Mark Allan in clamXav. It's well suited to checking e-mail attachments and web downloads which, although posing no threat to OS X users, can infect non-OS X users we pass the files on to (assuming you've turned Microsoft's Office macro support off). Though Mark's port if free, he does encourage contributions.

Virex 7.5 = useless

Sun, 21 Nov 2004 13:14:04 GMT

From the readme file for Virex 7.5.1:

Features Excluded From This Release

Scan Contents of Mailboxes -- This Preferences feature of Virex 7.5.0 has been removed from Virex 7.5.1. This product is not meant to be utilized for scanning mails and mailboxes.

So, in other words, if you want antivirus protection to help keep you from passing e-mail viruses on to your pc-using friends, Virex 7.5.1 is completely useless. I guess I'm in the market for a new anti-virus program...