Slashdot Mirror
Fed-Up Hospitals Defy Windows Patching Rules
bingbong writes "According to Network World: 'Amid growing worries that Windows-based medical systems will
endanger patients if Microsoft-issued
security patches are not applied, hospitals
are rebelling against restrictions from device manufacturers that have
delayed or prevented such updates. Device makers such as GE Medical Systems,
Philips Medical Systems and Agfa say it typically takes months to test Microsoft patches because they could break the medical systems to which they're applied. In some instances, vendors won't authorize patch updates at all.' This is the typical patch vs. crash problem. Unfortunately, the stakes here could be human lives."
pshaw! what's a few human lives when network security is at stake?
Viruses from medical equipment? Haven't they heard of autoclaving? Sounds like a negligence lawsuit waiting to happen...
Cogito, ergo sig.
> Unfortunately, the stakes here could be human lives.
Soon to be made into a movie starring Uma Thurman.
It's called "Bill Kills".
assert(birth_date<time-86400)
Have you ever used a phone modem ? Not one of those new ADSL things or Cable modems, but the kind that works just like any phone ?
No ? Well, listen now, newbie. When I was young we used those phone modems - we called them just modems, because there was no other kind available - to connect to the Internet and BBS's. We used Web browsers and e-mail programs and Usenet News readers (what's Usenet ? I'll tell you when you've started growing beard, for that's not a story for gentle newbie ears), and all the data went over the modem. And - here comes the important part - guess where we plugged those modems in our computers ? To serial ports.
So, newbie, now you know - Web browsers work perfectly well over serial ports, as long as you have the IP protocol configured properly for that - oh, did I confuse you with big words ? I'm sorry, newbie, I didn't realize that you're still this wet behind the ears. Off you go now, to play with other little wannabe trolls.
What was that ? You asked what a BBS is ? Well... It's a little like Slashdot, but it has smarter trolls. Sigh... The glory days... I remember fighting all those trolls, and they weren't these pitifull GNAA degenerates, but big, strong and fast with sharp wits. Yes, I remember what it was like to fight just one step from defeat... The troll and me, circling each other, searching for weakness, and then that terrible wit would slash at me and my own would turn the attack aside, and then the battle was in full swing... These days all I do is drink Pepsi and splat ACs like you, who don't even show me their name... In the old days trolls didn't hide behind namelessness, but came forward, proud of being what they were... Not these Anonymous Cowards, but opponents you could actually respect, who made you feel more alive than ever before, who made your blood boil in your veins as you rose to the challenge, and who fought to the bitter end and not just hit and run like the pathetic trollings of these days... Ah, the feeling as forum after forum was set aflame by the troll horde, and how we would fight a desperate war to subdue them...
Where did the glory days go ? When did I start needing 85 Hz refresh rate to be comfortable ? I used to stare at 60 Hz for 12 hours straight ! And when did my fingers start slowing ? When did my feet start to complain after 6 hours of sitting down ? When did my ears start demanding an mp3 player and Soundblaster Live ? I used to be fine with Cubic Player and ripped Star Control 2 tunes - where was even a time when I was fine with the gentle sound of the PC inbuilt speaker ! Why... How... When did I get old ?
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.