Here's an unofficial comment I got from an Abode rep, fwiw:
This is exceptionally OLD "news"!
Note that the ONLY way any attachment of this type requires you
to respond OK to a dialog put up by Acrobat that warns you first
that you are accessing an attachment. It cannot execute stealthly!
Unlike self-executing VBScripts or other attachments in Outlook
(as opposed to Eudora and similar email clients), PDF attachments
don't self-execute! And to execute them, you must respond OK to
the warning screen.
Furthermore, MacAffee is adding code to their virus checkers to
look inside PDF files to ferret out such bombs as they would come
into your system. Thus, the risk in reality is quite low.
Sorry, this is not quite true. All marsupials are mammals. The three subdivisions of the order Mammalia are marsupials, monotremes (egg-laying animals like platypuses), and placental mammals (the vast majority of surviving mammals, who give birth to live young).
I think the claim that programming aptitude indicates or leads to linguistic aptitude is belied by the appalling grammar, syntax, and spelling that plagues slashdot and much of the technical material on the web.
That said, it does seem plausible (as others in this discussion have pointed out) that linguistic competence and programming competence draw on the same--or at least closely-related--analytical capabilities.
You'll find increasing numbers of erstwhile humanities majors in technical professions these days, and I think that the convergence of linguistic and technical interests and skills is a truly beneficial development.
Slashdot Mirror
This is exceptionally OLD "news"!
Note that the ONLY way any attachment of this type requires you to respond OK to a dialog put up by Acrobat that warns you first that you are accessing an attachment. It cannot execute stealthly! Unlike self-executing VBScripts or other attachments in Outlook (as opposed to Eudora and similar email clients), PDF attachments don't self-execute! And to execute them, you must respond OK to the warning screen.
Furthermore, MacAffee is adding code to their virus checkers to look inside PDF files to ferret out such bombs as they would come into your system. Thus, the risk in reality is quite low.
Sorry, this is not quite true. All marsupials are mammals. The three subdivisions of the order Mammalia are marsupials, monotremes (egg-laying animals like platypuses), and placental mammals (the vast majority of surviving mammals, who give birth to live young).
I think the claim that programming aptitude indicates or leads to linguistic aptitude is belied by the appalling grammar, syntax, and spelling that plagues slashdot and much of the technical material on the web.
That said, it does seem plausible (as others in this discussion have pointed out) that linguistic competence and programming competence draw on the same--or at least closely-related--analytical capabilities.
You'll find increasing numbers of erstwhile humanities majors in technical professions these days, and I think that the convergence of linguistic and technical interests and skills is a truly beneficial development.