Bill’s a half billion short

No doubt you’ve heard the news – Bill Gates is no longer the world’s richest man, according to data amassed by Forbes Magazine.

You have to ask yourself how Forbes determined that Carlos Slim Helu has $53.5 billion and Bill a paltry $53 billion, but the headline certainly drew a lot of attention.

Coming to Phuket?

Joi Hubertz just posted this message as a comment in an older thread:

Have just returned from a tremendous trip to Phuket, stayed at Palm Beach Inn in the northeast part which is less hetic than southeast areas, superior resort and wonderful bays. We hired a big motorbike for only 450 baht per day and would drive around the entire area. So many marvelous sites to eat, our favourite spot was Ahan thai Aroy which had the most tremendous view over the beach, the faculty was rather friendly and the food so delicious, we went for sunset drinks. My husband and I had a supreme time in Phuket Town and will be back for Songkran.

My response:

Joi, drop a line before you get here!

My wife and I renovated the townhouse next door to our house in Patong. As you know, Patong’s the ultimate party town, but we live in a quiet residential area up on the hill overlooking the north end. My 85-year-old Dad lives on the top floor.

We’re going to start renting out a flat that’s right next to my office – literally, right next door, connected with a deck overlooking the beach – big, two bedrooms, 1,000+ square feet, great views of Patong Beach, including several that are in my Dummies books! I call it “Khun Woody’s Retreat” because it’s an ideal setup for someone who wants to get away from it all – whether you need to get away from the phone calls and meetings to get a crunch project done, or if you simply want to chill in a fascinating place.

Of course, it has all the modern conveniences: fast wireless Internet, satellite TV, maid service, and I toss in a mobile phone and motorbike for good measure. Add and I can help you get to know Phuket like an insider (I’ve been here almost ten years now). Or we can set things up so you’re simply left alone, with everything you might possibly want brought to your door.

I haven’t advertised it yet, but should start shortly. My brother’s currently staying at “Khun Woody’s Retreat” with his wife and daughter, kind of beta testing the place.

Anyway, if you’re interested in staying in Patong, or know anybody who is, let me know and I’ll get you a post-beta-test deal…

Google buys DocVerse

This could be the start of something big.

Google is widening its net by buying a company with software that makes it easy to share Office documents online.

Note that I said Office – as in Microsoft Office – documents.

The acquisition of DocVerse fires yet another shot across the SharePoint bow. Remains to be seen if it’ll amount to much, but the Googlies continue to surprise me.

Microsoft Confidential for Law Enforcement Use Only

That’s what the disclaimer says. I believe it.

Brennon Slattery at ComputerWorld just posted an article that’s going to be very controversial. In it, he not only describes the

Microsoft Online Services Global Criminal Compliance Handbook , a “spy guide” for law enforcement detailing what data Microsoft has, keeps, and can relinquish. Since most of you are Microsoft users, there are a few tidbits of information you’ll need to know before purchasing Xbox Live points, logging onto Office Live, or sending an e-mail through Hotmail.

The handbook was posted online by muckraking site Cryptome, prompting Microsoft to issue a DMCA complaint, which in turn led to Cryptome being shut down by its ISP. Calmer heads prevailed and Cryptome is back online.

Amazingly, Microsoft’s Global Criminal Compliance Handbook is still online. Get it while you can. Use a one-time email address if such things bug you.

Thanks to yangs for the heads-up.

MagicJack SLAPPed with $50,000 penalty

I’ve been running a series of articles about Microsoft’s End User License Agreement – particularly the Win7 EULA – in Windows Secrets Newsletter. Microsoft’s EULA is hardly a paragon off clarity and fairness, but it pales in comparison to MagicJack’s.

Back in April 2008, Bob Beschizza at Boing Boing posted a short review of MagicJack’s EULA:

[The EULA] not only has one agree to ads with its paid-for system, but claims that the ads are necessary for it to work. It will also snoop on your calls to target ads more accurately, and has you sign away your legal right to take it to court if it defrauds or otherwise harms you. Delightful.

Neither the EULA itself, nor any other privacy or legal information, can be easily found at its homepage. It’s not even provided at the point of sale, where one enters credit card info, email and street addresses as such, so as to gain access to the service and have your MagicJack dongle delivered. I found the EULA’s URL through Google.

MagicJack took umbrage, and sued Boing Boing for defamation. Fast forward a year, and MagicJack not only lost the lawsuit, it was hit with a $50,000 penalty for what amounts to a frivolous lawsuit.

Fascinating wrap-up on the Boing Boing site.

Most Windows 7 machines max out their memory – the rest of the story

Sometimes my friends write and ask why I don’t comment on certain stories here on the AskWoody site. Case in point: the ComputerWorld article from last week that claims “Most Windows 7 PCs max out their memory, resulting in performance bottlenecks.”

I took one look at the story and figured, meh, what a crock. Win7 may fill up all of your PC’s memory, but that inevitably leads to improved performance, not degraded performance. I figured, why parrot something that was obviously wrong?

Ends up that there’s more to the story.

Peter Bright at Ars Technica wrote an accurate article that refuted the claim. I didn’t bother writing about that either, because the original article was so hairbraned.

The person who wrote the CW story was sucked in by a guy whom Paul Thurrott calls “insane.” Now comes word that the guy who originally duped CW was, in fact, an InfoWorld writer, who was pimping his own software in InfoWorld articles written under a different name. Full details on Ars Technica.

Amazing how things echo around in the Windows reporting vacuum…

Iceman gets 13 years for stealing credit card numbers

Robert McMillan at IDG News reports that Max Butler (a.k.a. “Iceman”) was just sentenced to 13 years in prison for breaking into financial institutions’ computers and stealing credit card information. 13 years plus $27.5 million in restitution.

After a promising start as a security consultant who did volunteer work for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, [Max] Butler was arrested for writing malicious software that installed a back-door program on computers — including some on federal government networks — that were susceptible to a security hole.

Butler served an 18-month prison term for the crime and fell on hard times after his 2002 release, he said in a sentencing memorandum filed Thursday. “I was homeless, staying on a friends couch. I couldn’t get work,” he wrote. In desperation, he turned again to cybercrime. By the time of his arrest in September 2007, he had built the largest marketplace for stolen credit and debit card information in the world.

Windows 7 for Mobile launches – nobody notices

What happens if you put a Zune on a mobile phone?

CNet has the story.

Forgive me if I don’t get too excited about this one.