The IT Skeptic - Comments for "Plaxo as malware"

Absolutely

Alexander Kist — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:39:26 +0000

I positively HATE Plaxo. It has done the same stuff to me that your describe here and more. I've had to completely reimage systems before to get rid of it. I am convinced they are doing stuff with their customers' systems AND data without permission. I block them from networks that I manage. There used to be quite a rumble about them on the net. I remember a funny urban legend about them being the biggest botnet on the planet. I don't use Plaxo and I never will!!

they're out of it

skeptic — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:54:00 +0000

If it was only me, OK. I screw up all the time. but the only thing my aunt did was respond to an invite from me by registering on Plaxo. She does not have the toolbar installed and there is no software on her machine identified as "plaxo", yet it emailed her contacts.

They lost my trust when they crawled all over my machine in the past and now they're out of it forever.

Plaxo does not suck

Michael Wilde — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:33:53 +0000

Not sure why Plaxo (or your use) went crazy and invited a pile of people, but Plaxo is about the best central contact service -- as of yet, i haven't seen a LinkedIn contact sync application. I want you to keep your info up to date, and I want to check in with that service to ensure my version of your contact info is the same as yours is--No other company is doing it with the size/scale/uptake as Plaxo (even without having been acquired by Comcast).

I'll stand up and say.. Plaxo doesn't suck! I actually would like to have everyone on Plaxo.. please join.. deal with the invites, it really isn't that bad. If i change my title at Splunk (which i will be doing soon), the update will instantly flow to Plaxo and it just freakin works. Sure, Google has contacts, but that only works with Google mail users. Honestly, i wish LinkedIn would have bought Plaxo because my professional network is on LinkedIn.

Sync tools are great, but again, I DON"T WANT TO UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFO.. you, please do it for me.. post it to Plaxo (or whatever the alternative that has critical mass is). Sure Plaxo sucks.. sure, Twitter sucks too.. but they both have enough users and critical mas that they're worth it -- i think.

http://twitter.com/michaelwilde

Absolutely

Louis DiMeglio — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:51:04 +0000

Having been on the receiving end of one too many Plaxo invites that the sender swears they didn't send on purpose, I have to agree. I have a mail filter that sends any and all Plaxo mail I get straight in to the trash. I've had a couple of friends recommend www.unyk.com as a good, non-spammy alternative, but thus far, given the general reliability of friends on technical matters, have been unwilling to try it.