Life on The Net in 2004

NewtonsLaw writes "In recent years the Net has changed very quickly from a great place for geeks and nerds into a highly commercialized marketplace in which everyone is making a grab for your wallet. If it's not wave after wave of spam in your mailbox, it's excessively intrusive ad banners and popups, or demands by websites that you pay a subscription for access. The DMCA and other pending legislation could soon mean that companies such as Microsoft and the recording labels will cement their total ownership of your online rights -- leaving you with nothing but a hefty bill to pay whenever you want to use their software or services. Today's Aardvark Daily carries an interesting editorial that speculates on just what life could be like in the very near future. Sobering -- but perhaps not too far from reality?"

Comments

Sir, thank you

[Mao Zedong]

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Re:Blocking pop ups is easy.......READ THIS NOW

[mkoenecke]

Regarding: "BY THE WAY, TRY RUNNING WINDOWS WITH NO THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE..ITS SOLID AS A ROCK..."

Interesting to see somebody reading Slashdot who buys into the Microsoft Vision of the Future so wholeheartedly, especially in a comment responding to the topic in question. The one neat thing about the Microsoft Future will be seeing just how royally gouged idiots like this will be on a regular basis, while everyone else uses better, faster software more freely for a lot less money.

Yes, I use Windows 2000, but every other piece of software I use is superior to the Microsoft alternative. And my system is "stable as a rock," too.

Viruses

[Wee]

Anyone who cannot figure out how to prevent pop-ups, banners, spam, and e-mail virii from disrupting their life hardly deserves the moniker of "geek".

Please, Dr. Cowan: it's viruses.

I don't mean to get overly semantic about it, but the pseudo-word "virii" needs to go away.

-B