Akismet recently announced they now have a new competitor in the war against SPAM. Defensio have a similar approach, with a centralized API that gives a thumbs up or down for a comment, and some added information indicating “spamminess.”

In short (and in their own words) Defensio gives you:

• Stellar Accuracy

  You’ll deal with less spam on your blog, period.

• Easier Spam Management

  Managing your spambox will become dead simple.

• Personalized Filtering

  Your own habits will help make the filter better over time.

• Transparency Through Statistics

  Meaningful stats so that you’ll really know what’s going on.

I will be trying their service on my DEV blog, in the meanwhile - Best of luck, guys!

VirusTotal is a service that analyses suspicious files and facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, Trojans, and all kinds of malware detected by antivirus engines.

VirusTotal has been awarded by American edition of PC World Magazine, one of the 100 best products of year 2007 in the Security Web Site category.

VirusTotal is a service developed by Hispasec Sistemas, an independent IT Security laboratory, that uses several command line versions of antivirus engines, updated regulary with official signature files published by their respective developers.

This is a list of the companies that participate in VirusTotal with their antivirus engines.

• AhnLab (V3)
• Aladdin (eSafe)
• ALWIL (Avast! Antivirus)
• Authentium (Command Antivirus)
• Avira (AntiVir)
• Bit9 (FileAdvisor)
• Cat Computer Services (Quick Heal)
• ClamAV (ClamAV)
• CA Inc. (Vet)
• Doctor Web, Ltd. (DrWeb)
• Eset Software (ESET NOD32)
• ewido networks (ewido anti-malware)
• Fortinet (Fortinet)
• FRISK Software (F-Prot)
• F-Secure (F-Secure)
• Grisoft (AVG)
• Hacksoft (The Hacker)
• Ikarus Software (Ikarus)
• Kaspersky Lab (AVP)
• McAfee (VirusScan)
• Microsoft (Malware Protection)
• Norman (Norman Antivirus)
• Panda Software (Panda Platinum)
• Prevx (Prevx1)
• Rising Antivirus (Rising)
• Secure Computing (Webwasher)
• Softwin (BitDefender)
• Sophos (SAV)
• Sunbelt Software (Antivirus)
• Symantec (Norton Antivirus)
• VirusBlokAda (VBA32)
• VirusBuster (VirusBuster)

So whenever you receive an email or download a file you’re not 100% sure is safe (even after your local AV software says it is), then this on-line antivirus service from VirusTotal might be just what you are looking for.

In April 2007, A List Apart and An Event Apart conducted a survey of people who make websites. Close to 33,000 web professionals answered the survey’s 37 questions, providing the first data ever collected on the business of web design and development as practised in the U.S. and worldwide.

33,000 responses is a lot of data. To make sense of it, An Event Apart commissioned statisticians Alan Brickman and Larry Yu to translate raw data into meaningful findings. The findings are now nicely presented in a 80+ pages PDF presentation.

The findings we present here have never been seen before, because until now, no one has ever conducted public research to learn the facts of our profession. This report is not the last word on web work; it is only the beginning of a long conversation. Read, reflect, and let us hear from you.

Read the full story or skip directly to the download.

It’s been a few years since I made the move from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to Firefox, and today I found myself wondering if the time had come for yet another move. I’ve just been testing out Flock, a browser, built with Mozilla Firefox at its core, with a social bent.

It looks and feels almost like FF but it integrates much better with the “new” social websites like Facebook, YouTube, Flickr etc. It also supports bookmarks and RSS feeds much better and provides a nice “My World” welcome page should you so desire (in a similar fashion as Netvibes).

Version 1.0 is around the corner and the latest version 1 RC3 looks very promising.  Download and test Flock for yourself and let me know what you think!

More details and reviews at PC World.

If you’re a Mac user and you want to access your computers remotely, then this Preview of LogMeIn Free provides a glimpse of what’s in store. Free and easy remote control that “just works” - combined with the standard LogMeIn bullet-proof security (pdf).

LogMeIn enables you to connect to your Mac computers from anywhere in the world; from any other Internet-enabled Mac, Windows PC or hand-held device. The remote control feature in LogMeIn Free means you can view and control your Mac desktop and applications just as if you were sitting at the computer. Just like LogMeIn Free for the PC, Mac users can add an unlimited number of their computers for free.

For more information and to download the Preview visit LogMeIn.com.