[Kirk] Bones, Scotty, Spock and I need to be scanned into this computer game right away!
[Spock] That would be most prudent Captain, I will pWn the Klingons with mah UberRoxerz 1337 phaser.
bconway makes an astute observation, in that the timing of this announcement is rather coincidental.
I have dealt with upgrading equipment for a government agency, and decisions like this do not happen quickly. First, an IT manager needs to provide a reason why an upgrade needs to occur. Then if an upper manager agrees, it needs to be demonstrated that there is money available for the upgrade. Should these two criteria be met, then it needs to be researched as to what equipment/software best suits the needs of the situation.
Once the needs and solutions have been established, the solutions will be proposed and discussed further.
The federal government (in this case the FAA) deals with the fiscal year planning, and unless using 'windfall' money at the end of the fiscal year, needs to appropriate the money into the next years budget plan.
All this takes a long time.
If this were me, I would have had Microsoft come in and provide a test set-up, then we could have researched critical aspects of this operating system. However, my experience has been that the more critical the task, the more likely it would be that we would use Linux and build a custom kernel -- similar to the one that the NSA has.
Ultimately, the testing of Vista would require months of evaluation and possibly preliminary application development/porting. It is unlikely that this has occurred since the time from proposal, to approval to test, to establishing availability of funds, to actual testing takes over a year in most specialized government cases.
This would lead me to believe that this is a media ploy to bring Microsoft to the table so they CAN get the price to meet the agencies budgetary constraints, and begin the process of testing. If they were going to use Linux, nobody would have heard anything.
There's a difference between international law, and American law. Sending the FBI, an organization whose operating objectives are solely to combat INTERNAL national crime (ie. American crimes that cross state borders) NOT international criminal activities.
Additionally, there is no justification for the RIAA, an American organization representing American business interests to join hands with the FBI in an international endeavor to fight music downloads.
Perhaps something more important, like human trafficking, or arms smuggling -- but even that goes to international police agencies like Interpol.
Weird....
I suppose I would have to get a real life without the internet. Supposedly there's trees, people, and stuff out there, that don't exist on the internet.
All I can say is wow. I understand they are trying to leverage themselves within the school system by providing free computers, but the concept that they would patent a system of advertising and reposession is something that would most certainly come back to haunt them if they ever used it.
Just imagine the commercial:
MS Guy: "hi we are here to reposses the computers from your school"
Apple Guy: "hi there, we have a bunch of free computers for your school. We think you will like them;)"
I felt that this article was more geared towards highlighting which products were effective, as opposed to providing anything of substance about Microsoft's flagship antivirus product; thus the title is a bit misleading.
For those who don't feel like navigating to the site, and registering so they may view the list, here it is:
Alwil avast! Professional Edition 4.7- pass
CA Anti-Virus 8.2.013 - pass
CA eTrust Integrated Threat Management Suite r.8.1 - pass
CAT Quick Heal AntiVirus Plus 2007 version 9.00 - pass
ESET NOD32 antivirus system 2.7 - pass
Fortinet FortiClient 3.0.379 - pass
F-Secure Anti-Virus for Vista 2007 - pass
Grisoft AVG 7.5.433 - pass
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0.2.546 - pass
Sophos Anti-Virus 6.5.1 - pass
Symantec AntiVirus 10.2.0.276 - pass
Microsoft Windows Live OneCare 1.5 - FAIL
McAfee VirusScan Enterprise version 8.1i - FAIL
G DATA AntiVirusKit 2007 v. 17.0.6353 - FAIL
Norman Virus Control v.5.90 - FAIL
As you can see, there is much more to this article than meets the eye. Also interesting to note, is that Grisoft has one product that passes, and another that fails. Something that ties in closely with the fact that these tests are done monthly and are not intended to bash companies (which is respectable), but rather point out which are effective in detecting viruses.
On a personal note: I found AVG to be a very effective antivirus program on Vista systems I have had to deploy -- and for personal use it is free:)
These senators should be focusing in on providing health care for American citizens, at a time when many citizens can hardly afford basic health services and/or do not have health coverage.
Certainly, their time would be far better spent doing something good for 300 million Americans, as opposed to spending their time lobbying on behalf of the music industry for their own self-serving rea$on$....but I could be wrong...
I think the difference is that people actually care about, and support, nabbing child predators because it is a legitimate horrible crime they are trying to carry out.
Downloading mp3's is something that is so trivial and seemingly harmless that making an issue out of it is not worth the police *potentially* stepping on individual rights.
What is scary is that the MPAA has as much, or more power to hunt down people downloading mp3's due to their political clout, than the police do in catching child predators.
Where is the sense of proportionality of crime?
I have found that the best thing to do BEFORE signing up for any $$ online account, is to try to find out how to cancel by navigating the site.
Things to look for:
- a working phone number: test it before signing up
- an email addrress: send them an email under the guise of asking a member question
- other
I had a hard time canceling a few accounts before, one of which was for the game Final Fantasy online
Jimmy Carter ACTUALLY DID act in the best interest of our country, and currently attempt to help humanity in many ways. Something George Bush has never done in his 6 years as preseident.
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[Kirk] Bones, Scotty, Spock and I need to be scanned into this computer game right away! [Spock] That would be most prudent Captain, I will pWn the Klingons with mah UberRoxerz 1337 phaser.
bconway makes an astute observation, in that the timing of this announcement is rather coincidental.
I have dealt with upgrading equipment for a government agency, and decisions like this do not happen quickly. First, an IT manager needs to provide a reason why an upgrade needs to occur. Then if an upper manager agrees, it needs to be demonstrated that there is money available for the upgrade. Should these two criteria be met, then it needs to be researched as to what equipment/software best suits the needs of the situation.
Once the needs and solutions have been established, the solutions will be proposed and discussed further.
The federal government (in this case the FAA) deals with the fiscal year planning, and unless using 'windfall' money at the end of the fiscal year, needs to appropriate the money into the next years budget plan.
All this takes a long time.
If this were me, I would have had Microsoft come in and provide a test set-up, then we could have researched critical aspects of this operating system. However, my experience has been that the more critical the task, the more likely it would be that we would use Linux and build a custom kernel -- similar to the one that the NSA has.
Ultimately, the testing of Vista would require months of evaluation and possibly preliminary application development/porting. It is unlikely that this has occurred since the time from proposal, to approval to test, to establishing availability of funds, to actual testing takes over a year in most specialized government cases.
This would lead me to believe that this is a media ploy to bring Microsoft to the table so they CAN get the price to meet the agencies budgetary constraints, and begin the process of testing. If they were going to use Linux, nobody would have heard anything.
There's a difference between international law, and American law. Sending the FBI, an organization whose operating objectives are solely to combat INTERNAL national crime (ie. American crimes that cross state borders) NOT international criminal activities. Additionally, there is no justification for the RIAA, an American organization representing American business interests to join hands with the FBI in an international endeavor to fight music downloads. Perhaps something more important, like human trafficking, or arms smuggling -- but even that goes to international police agencies like Interpol. Weird....
I suppose I would have to get a real life without the internet. Supposedly there's trees, people, and stuff out there, that don't exist on the internet.
All I can say is wow. I understand they are trying to leverage themselves within the school system by providing free computers, but the concept that they would patent a system of advertising and reposession is something that would most certainly come back to haunt them if they ever used it. Just imagine the commercial: MS Guy: "hi we are here to reposses the computers from your school" Apple Guy: "hi there, we have a bunch of free computers for your school. We think you will like them ;)"
I felt that this article was more geared towards highlighting which products were effective, as opposed to providing anything of substance about Microsoft's flagship antivirus product; thus the title is a bit misleading. For those who don't feel like navigating to the site, and registering so they may view the list, here it is: Alwil avast! Professional Edition 4.7- pass CA Anti-Virus 8.2.013 - pass CA eTrust Integrated Threat Management Suite r.8.1 - pass CAT Quick Heal AntiVirus Plus 2007 version 9.00 - pass ESET NOD32 antivirus system 2.7 - pass Fortinet FortiClient 3.0.379 - pass F-Secure Anti-Virus for Vista 2007 - pass Grisoft AVG 7.5.433 - pass Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0.2.546 - pass Sophos Anti-Virus 6.5.1 - pass Symantec AntiVirus 10.2.0.276 - pass Microsoft Windows Live OneCare 1.5 - FAIL McAfee VirusScan Enterprise version 8.1i - FAIL G DATA AntiVirusKit 2007 v. 17.0.6353 - FAIL Norman Virus Control v.5.90 - FAIL As you can see, there is much more to this article than meets the eye. Also interesting to note, is that Grisoft has one product that passes, and another that fails. Something that ties in closely with the fact that these tests are done monthly and are not intended to bash companies (which is respectable), but rather point out which are effective in detecting viruses. On a personal note: I found AVG to be a very effective antivirus program on Vista systems I have had to deploy -- and for personal use it is free :)
Is it in Nigeria??
These senators should be focusing in on providing health care for American citizens, at a time when many citizens can hardly afford basic health services and/or do not have health coverage. Certainly, their time would be far better spent doing something good for 300 million Americans, as opposed to spending their time lobbying on behalf of the music industry for their own self-serving rea$on$. ...but I could be wrong...
I think the difference is that people actually care about, and support, nabbing child predators because it is a legitimate horrible crime they are trying to carry out. Downloading mp3's is something that is so trivial and seemingly harmless that making an issue out of it is not worth the police *potentially* stepping on individual rights. What is scary is that the MPAA has as much, or more power to hunt down people downloading mp3's due to their political clout, than the police do in catching child predators. Where is the sense of proportionality of crime?
I have found that the best thing to do BEFORE signing up for any $$ online account, is to try to find out how to cancel by navigating the site. Things to look for: - a working phone number: test it before signing up - an email addrress: send them an email under the guise of asking a member question - other I had a hard time canceling a few accounts before, one of which was for the game Final Fantasy online
I agree with you completely -- nix based systems by default prove more secure. It's too bad you got modded down -- I probably will as well.
Jimmy Carter ACTUALLY DID act in the best interest of our country, and currently attempt to help humanity in many ways. Something George Bush has never done in his 6 years as preseident.