Do YOU even think before you type? Sure they make good devices but all the publicity is built on Steve and Steve alone. try this: pick 10 people at random and ask them who the head of Apple is. I bet not a single person will know who Cook is but ALL will know all about Steve. His image is iconic and that image is a LARGE reason why Apple is able to get away with stuff that would make Gates cringe. People just say "That is just Steve insuring his vision stays true" like he is an artist instead of a CEO.
You mark my words and mark them well: If Steve passes tomorrow the stock WILL be hit hard and while what is in the pipe will keep the momentum for another year, without Steve and his vision they will have lost the hipster factor and will be seen as no different than HP or any other large PC corp. That Apple mythos is what sells cool, and the cool is Steve, end of story.
Actually MSFT releasing the Win9X source would be WONDERFUL news, because if you haven't tried it Win9X can make a great embedded OS with better driver support and lower specs than pretty much any embedded OS out there.
And as for why anyone would care about TFA, that's simple: Often you don't "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and significant portions of the code will be reused. This means the black hats pretty much have a roadmap to use to trash Kaspersky AV. Even if they didn't use much of the previous code it most likely will allow them to see how the Kaspersky AV team treats PC resources like memory, giving them a good idea of where the weak spots are. Bad news for Kaspersky users I'd say.
Actually I'd be surprised if it didn't cost them every penny plus of that money. After all there is a pretty big difference between a certain math type being screwed up in edge corner cases and having to reboot daily like it is Win98 all over again just to keep your nice new SATA from running like a 66MHz IDE.
So if I was Intel I'd be figuring in on a one to one replacement of EVERY SB board out there, plus disposal costs.
But what did the man DO while he was in charge? Was there any new product releases? Any changes to the company vision? Nope IIRC all he did was stand there while the line ran.
There is a BIG difference between just keeping the seat warm because you know Steve is gonna be back and taking the reins of his baby after the man passes on (No ill will to Jobs and I personally hope he makes it, but he has already lasted longer than most with that type of cancer) and having to bear that weight on your shoulders.
Frankly I think if Jobs doesn't make it the stock will tank and tank hard. Like it or not Steve has built this mythos around him which the press and many of the consumers has taken to heart as gospel. The "Cult of Steve" is what separates them from just being looked at as another MSFT or HP, and without Steve I have a feeling it is gonna be another replay of the Sculley years.
Jobs has really let the company down by not aggressively pushing an understudy into the limelight to hand the reins over to, and I think this will ultimately hurt Apple long term. The only way I can see that not happening if Jobs was to pass away tomorrow would be to bring back Woz in some sort of figurehead position to keep the mythos going, while having Woz "groom" and "choose the next generation to carry on our vision" thus keeping the whole counter culture hipster mythos built around Jobs from biting them in the ass. Because honestly I just haven't seen anything from Cook showing he is ready for the gig.
And OT but when the hell is/. gonna fix these stupid boxes? It is ridiculous having a 16:9 widescreen and having to squint while typing at some little bitty text box more suitable for a mobile phone than a desktop. Fix the fricking code already! Sheesh.
It just shows yet again America was right, and y'all should have listened to the good old US of frickin A and stuck with feet, pounds, and gallons like the good Lord intended! I mean y'all are listening to cheese eating surrender monkeys, didn't that give ya a clue?
Now y'all say you're sorry, and we'll be happy to generously send y'all a proper ruler along with a pound of the finest depleted uranium rounds, made right here in the USA by the finest craftsmen, and if someone don't like your measuring you can just pop one of those bad boys in the chamber and you'd be surprised how quick them pesky arguments go your way! I mean using platinum/iridium mix, bah! DU all the way baby!
Uhhh...you DO know that you can have an infected file that isn't active yes? That most of the malware today use social engineering and are Trojan based, which means the user has to launch it first to cause an infection? As for AV the last tests I saw with Comodo were 98.4% and MSE something like 96.something%. So when combined with a more secure browser like Firefox or Comodo Dragon with Adblock Plus the odds are EXTREMELY low of getting a bug that the user doesn't explicitly install.
And whether it was "recent or not" is anything BUT moot as trying to base assertions on things you saw 7 or 8 years ago is FUD, no different than saying "Windows uses DOS!","Macs can't multitask!" or "Linux is a hobbyist OS built in Linus' basement!" because while those statements were true over a decade ago time has marched on and they simply aren't true now.
And can you please show me ANYWHERE where I said to use system restore for virus removal? Because now you are building strawmen as I NEVER said anything of the sort. I said "having a "quick undo" button comes in damned handy! " and "you can't expect them to run a differential every time they want to try something new." Now nowhere in that can you find a single word about using system restore for virus removal, in fact if you have gotten to the point you are infected the battle is already lost.
But for removal of buggy software or drivers, especially in XP where apps have a nasty habit of shotgunning system32 with DLL crap? System restore is a wonderful thing to have. And the fact that you refuse to say whether your experience is recent or not (hell you could be talking WinME) leads me to place your statements without citations into the FUD bin.
Hi Commodore6502! Sadly it IS constitutional, hell just about anything the feds want to do is allowed now thanks to the way they've perverted the Commerce Clause. Thanks to the Commerce Clause they can bust pot growers in California even after the people of that state legalized medicinal pot, or even stop a farmer from growing wheat to feed his chickens
So saying anything passed by the feds is unconstitutional is nearly impossible, since they can fit anything into their realm of control under the commerce clause.. And since the ISPs cross state lines it will be an easy sell to the courts.
Or maybe you should just choose to use a nice local bank instead of one of the mega banks? I use my debit online with no worries because I use a nice local bank. When I had an E-tailer double dip on my card I simply walked in and told the nearest teller "Hi, I had a website charge me twice?" and got "Ohhhh, don't you hate that? I had that happen with my sister three weeks ago! Here let me just input your data...there! Your money will be back in about an hour when the system updates! Is there anything else I can do for you?". Local banks are just nicer.
As for TFA they have had this in Japanese phones for years. Not that I'd care for one, I don't see what the big deal is about pulling out my plastic, but if that is what makes you happy, go for it. Personally I wish someone would either make decent batteries an option instead of "iSliver" batteries or hopefully come up with better battery tech. The more features they add and the more everyone rips off iDevices the more the batteries on these things suck. I mean what is the point of having all these features if you have to drag a charger around just to make a call?
Citation please? Because both Comodo (which I prefer for the click happy) and MSE (which I prefer for the "just check their email" types) routinely scan system restore points and will delete them if a bug is detected. And as for system restore breaking anything? I honestly haven't seen any behavior of the sort, both in customers or family, since XP SP2 came out. As a SOP before having them restore from a backup I have them attempt a system restore rollback and frankly as long as there is a point before the error I haven't seen it fail yet, hell with Win 7 you can even run system restore using the DVD if for one reason or another the machine won't boot.
So unless you've got current citations of some widespread problem I haven't heard about I'm gonna have to say you're going on old info, right up there with "Windows suffers from lots of BSODs" (not unless you have seriously flaky drivers or hardware, and in Win 7 not even then) "ATI drivers suck in Windows" (IME not since AMD bought them, everything after that runs as well as Nvidia) or the classic "All AMDs run too hot" (not since the old Athlon XPs, most of their chips are 95w or below now).
I'll be the first to admit the first gen system restore sucked and suffered from what you describe, but then again it was on WinME which was a mistake all around. Once XP became the mainstream with SP2 all the AV companies simply added scanning to sysvol which took care of the "restoring a bug" bit, and if you are running a good AV (like those mentioned above) frankly you shouldn't be able to get a bug in the first place without PEBKAC intervention. And also since SP2 the tech around system restore has matured to the point it "just works" and as I said I have clients and family as well as myself on both XP and Windows 7 use it and I've yet to see a problem caused by using system restores.
Hard drives are big and cheap, it doesn't use CPU unless it is making a restore point which with triples and quads so cheap most of the people I deal with have plenty of cycles to spare and even the kids hand me downs are Pentium duals, and it is certainly quicker and easier to use a system restore than have to restore from a full or differential backup, so what's the problem?
What EXACTLY is wrong with system restore? I've found especially with my click happy love to install software customers and relatives having a "quick undo" button comes in damned handy! Now of course system restore is in no way shape or form a substitute for backups, which is why I have them set up with weekly differentials and full backups monthly on USB HDDs, but you can't expect them to run a differential every time they want to try something new.
And who cares about "gigabytes" of anything anymore? Hell the lowest machines I sell have 500GB HDDs and even the kids P4 hand me downs have 400Gb drives, so why would anybody care? It isn't like huge drives are expensive.
So I really don't see what the problem is with system restore. For a quick undo button it works just fine, with huge drives worrying about 20-50Gb being reserved for system restore is frankly pointless when everyone has more space than they know what to do with, and when used with a combination of good AV, weekly backups, and a lower risk browser like Firefox or Chrome with ABP it does just what it should do, which is provide a quick way to roll back changes if something goes wrong. So what EXACTLY is so bad about it, because frankly I haven't seen a problem with system restore since XP SP2 came out.
Hi MR AC! If you would have read TFA or even TFS (I know I know, but I got bored) you would see they provide a link to The MSFT "fix it for me" page for this problem. Just click on "fix it for me" run the fix it, and that's it. Don't even need a reboot.
I'm sending the link to my customers and family now, and since it makes a restore point before applying it is easy to undo if you need to, although with previous "fix it for me" tweaks that I've run the MSFT patch released later took care of the fix it tweak before applying the patch.
So I don't really see why you or anyone would complain about this one. They have a quick fix that is so simple your grandma can run it, and released the fix quickly to tide people over until they have worked up a patch. I don't see how they could have done any better on this, as a full patch will take time to test and rightfully so as you wouldn't want MSFT releasing patches that break apps and/or drivers and cause more pain than the bug would you? This is easy, simple to apply, and painless to deploy. I don't see how you can get better and the guy that came up with the "fix it for me" program really deserves a raise and company car, as it really has made these fast released workarounds painless for home users..
Nice thought except for the fact it doesn't actually work and is therefor pointless, and your "solution" is just taking away the rights of the customer who will happily FIRE you and thus put you out of business! Why Linux users seem to think "the answer is always Linux" when frankly unless you are in a corporate environment the opposite is usually true is frankly beyond me, but your "solution fails on multiple points:
1.-The consumer level devices, such as AIO printers, PMPs like the iPod,etc don't actually work in Linux so to find a working device your clueless customers are gonna have to A)research like it is the SATs (correct answer:they won't, and when they get burnt it will be YOUR FAULT)) and B)jump through flaming hoops to keep most consumer level devices running because what works in kernel Foo usually won't in kernel Bar thanks to Linus constantly futzing with things (correct answer:they won't and again see YOUR FAULT) but don't believe me, go to bestbuy.com, walmart.com, and look for yourself. Last I checked you were looking at about 30% supported and with NO way to tell if a device is easy or CLI hell to get working.
Second your answer is to take away all rights from the user yet you seem to think because it is Linux that "makes it alright" somehow. Would you be happy if someone "did you a favor" and replaced your Linux with Vista? No? What about taking away root and refusing to give you control of your own PC "for your own good"? No? Then what makes you think others would find that solution acceptable in ANY way shape or form?
As much as it galls FOSS advocates Linux doesn't work for home and SMB users a good 90% of the time. That "user that just uses email and surfs" frankly doesn't exist anymore than the "Linux hacker" that doesn't even have a window manager and just does everything by CLI. There is ALWAYS one or more "must have" apps that have no equivalent on Linux be it games, functional drivers for their AIO printer, or in my area QuickBooks (which has a "free for home use" version and is crazy popular here) and taking the OS away from the user will just make them hate you and turn them (and anyone they talk to) away from FOSS in general.
I have found a MUCH better solution that foisting an unwanted FOSS OS which frankly in non corporate settings without a competent IT guy to support it is a royal PITA is to make the PC as close as I can to a "toaster with a screen" so that I do the thinking so they don't have to and in turn keeps my shop popular even by just using referrals. Things such as giving them Comodo AV which by default sandboxes all non whitelisted apps such as the browser to minimize the risk of infection, and using Chromium based Comodo Dragon in Vista/7 so that the browser runs in low rights mode. Using Filehippo update checker to alert them to out of date third party software, having Windows set for autoupdates, and showing them how to have separate user accounts for family members with low rights so that kids and relatives can't go installing "that great app they heard about".
By using my "do the thinking for them" strategy I've found I have cut down reinfection by a good 90% and have several PCs in the hands of "clueless home users" that are happily running virus free 5 years+ down the line. While I find Linux perfectly acceptable for some uses such as web servers, corporate workstations, and for emergency "use this if you break it on a weekend" LiveCDs the whole "Give them Linux and they'll thank you for it" is total bullshit. What actually happens is they hate you and FOSS because their apps no longer work, their devices no longer work, and unless you are intending to give them free tech support for the life of the machine the odds that the machine will be running with full driver functionality a year from now is virtually zip, with "CLI fixes" being needed to be
I'm sorry but that is bullshit. I have to deal with those user 6 days a week and frankly as long as they have control over their box they WILL do whatever they please, security be damned. It is the classic dancing bunnies problem and I don't care which OS you use they WILL blow right through your security measures if they want to see the bunny.
I have had a customer open a password protected zip file with me standing there telling them its a virus "because this was sent to me by my BFF Kim and she wouldn't do that" and if you think Linux or any other OS would do better allow me to submit for your consideration How to write a Linux virus in 5 easy steps using the same social engineering which causes the vast majority of infections on Windows.
Bottom line if the user wants to run it they WILL run it, and the only way to prevent that would be to take away ALL rights to the machine and make it into trusted computing. Now since trusted computing (or treacherous computing as RMS calls it) would take away all rights from the user and kill OSes that allowed the four freedoms dead we simply have to accept the fact that stupid is as stupid does.
Not to say adding security isn't a good idea, I'm personally switching my customers and family to Windows 7 and the file and registry virtualization along with low rights mode in Chromium does safeguard against things that don't require user action like JavaScript exploits and drivebys, but frankly nothing will stop the user actively installing malware if they are so inclined. And I can tell you that at my shop I'd say probably 85%+ of the malware on PCs is installed by the user themselves, either by using social engineering or by offering the user something they desire, such as free porn or software. All the security in the world isn't gonna help if the source of the infection is PEBKAC.
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember that first growing in popularity after the release of the miniseries of the same name. Since it depicted an America ruled by a cold Soviet style control and now we are seeing more and more that same control only in the hands of the megacorps that now pretty much rules this country (just look at how many laws are written by the corporations and just rubber stamped by elected officials, such as DMCA and endless copyrights) I assume some would see it as appropriate.
Me personally the way the corps run the country reminds me of the late great philosopher/ comedian Bill Hicks and his take on things which is sadly probably even more true now than when he did it 20 years ago. The fact that the courts can take away his right to speak because it would impact a corps bottom line is frankly disgusting to me.
Well to be fair the F-Series has been going for over 60 years, so it would be kinda hard to keep the 40s styling. But if you look starting with the 10th generation they all have that swept back look that most folks consider "modern" styling so I doubt the average Joe will notice. Frankly I thought the chrome grillwork looked better than the current matte black on the newer generation, and I've had people tell me they like the "shiny front" of my Ranger better than the new grillwork.
As for the Ford Ranger I honestly don't know WTF they are thinking with THAT one. Here in the south the Ranger in "company white" is pretty much THE work truck employed by everyone from AutoZone to the cableco, as it is the only small truck made anymore and it gets decent gas mileage and has damned good hauling and towing capacity. They are well built, last a loooong time, damned solid trucks and talking with fellow Ranger owners they all love them as much as I love mine. They are also good sellers with the average Joe, as they are more economical than the F-Series while still having good hauling capacity.
Instead of killing the line in 2011 as scheduled they need to just do a body restyle along with advertising. We all know gas will never be below $2 again and having an economical truck can be a damned good selling point especially when the next gas crunch happens, after all that is what got the Ranger started in the first place. Even without any updates it has been a decent seller in the south with every parking lot at every store having Rangers all over the place. Makes it really fun when you're loaded down with groceries and forget which isle you're parked in.
To me it just shows the short sighted thinking that nearly destroyed GM and Chrysler. We all know that there will be some nasty gas spikes ahead, and if we don't do something about speculation traders and groups like GS having enough money flow to actually blow bubbles it will probably be sooner rather than later. Even though small cars will be big sellers now that SUVs seem to be dying (hell they won't even give squat for an Explorer on trade in anymore after getting glutted with them during the last gas spike) folks still got work to do and having a good quality truck that won't bleed your wallet at the pumps could be a BIG seller, they simply need to market it. When was the last time you saw TV ads centered around Ranger? They should take a page from Apple, do a refresh, and market the hell out of it.
If all you want is a good commuter car just get a good used Caviler or Sunbird/Sunfire. They are great on gas, parts are cheap and plentiful, and they are actually quite fun to drive.I had a Sunbird for long commutes and it was just a great little car, reminded me of the way those little MGs would wrap everything around you. And as for Ford they always been more of a truck company than anything else. The Ranger (which I have and love) The F150/F350, just good solid trucks. As you say lousy on gas but you can load one down and it never lugs, great work trucks.
As for TFA I haven't seen any real studies on how long those lithium batteries are gonna last and last I heard those suckers are pretty damned expensive, so unless you are the type that just trades in your ride every year the batteries may end up costing you more than you save in gas. I know society is becoming more of a throw away culture but personally I still believe a vehicle should "last ten years like it should".
That is one of the reasons I have stuck with Ford, as I can easily get 10-15 years out of a good Ford truck and frankly the body styles don't change enough to worry about so you don't end up looking dated. I can park my 99 Ranger XLT next to a 2007 and other than the grill you can't really tell the difference. And when you figure in the low cost of maintenance and lower insurance costs I'd say it comes out about even. Of course I'm not having to drive 50 miles a day so the 20 MPG doesn't hurt my wallet.
And if you want new you can't go wrong with the Ford Fiesta or Kia Rio. I have a customer who just can't stop raving about how fun her Fiesta is to drive and how great it is on gas, and I have a buddy with a 80 mile round trip daily commute that swears by his Rio. I've ridden in both and they are nice comfortable cars and you don't have to worry about expensive batteries or crazy priced replacement parts. Call me an old fuddy duddy but I just don't trust the batteries on the hybrids to last, especially not with the scorching summers and quick freezes that come out of nowhere we have in the south.
Thanks. And as for newspapers I would figure that has to do with the ink and readability more than anything, because you can only make text of a certain size with newspaper and after that it tends to look mushy.
But in both this old WinXP box and my Win 7 quad, at native 1600x900 the text is quite clear and having the browser maximized allows me to read MUCH more text without having to scroll. Maybe those average folks being tested by the papers were just slow readers?
Finally might it be because PCs have ClearType and newspapers don't? I remember reading an article (sorry I can't find it ATM) with one of the MSFT researchers in charge of ClearType and custom fonts and the studies they had run found ClearType produced less fatigue and allowed more words to be read or data processed in a given amount of time.
All I know is with the way most sites have their layout, with a large strip for navigation on one side or the other (like the new/. design) having the browser maximized seems to give me just the right amount of text. Now if we can just get the "designers" at/. to either give up this "Web 3.0" nonsense and go back to the original design, or at least get rid of this refugee from idle stupid comment box that makes it look like anything more than a tweet is a fricking book then I'd be happy. Is it REALLY too much to ask to let us, the users that bring them $$$ through subscriptions and ads, to have a vote?
Actually there is no way in hell they'll do that because last time they tried tracing child porn it led them to the Pentagon! That's right boys and girls, your tax dollars at work, as they had the giant brass balls to actually buy and download CP while sitting there at work in the Pentagon.
And why wouldn't they? Because unlike those poor peasants where they are guilty until proven innocent the prosecutor declined to file charges in nearly all the cases!
So if they want to pass this I think we should start with a five year "zero tolerance" policy for government officials of ALL branches. How much you want to bet they'd be all for privacy then? Sadly this will never be, instead it'll be another case where the law doesn't apply to them, just to everyone else.
Uhhh...what is wrong with having things maximized? With English being written left to right having my 1600x900 monitor set with the browser maximized lets me read more without needing to scroll, and I'm sure the other guy feels the same.
WTF is with the comments box? Why is it so little bitty? Are we in idle?/checks header/ nope, not in idle. What dumbass kept the absolute worst comment box ever from idle and stuck it here? What were they high? And what is with the drowning in white here? Are they TRYING to blind us? And what is with the resource piggishness? It is using between 14-60% of one of my quad cores, and all I have open is this stupid box!
What I want to know is what the hell was wrong with the original Slashdot, anyway. It wasn't fancy but it didn't suck up resources and all in all it "just worked" pretty well. V2.0 was a mess, but they had started to clean it up (even if it was still bloated) but this? This is awful! You telling me with all the coders that hang here THIS is the best they can do? Really? Because I've seen Geocities sites that were less blinding and funky than this. Bring back V1.0 dammit!
Actually I'd say the scammers ARE the RIAA/MPAA. When this story first came out (about a year ago IIRC) for the hell of it I fired up several different P2P apps and Peerblock to see what was up. Being in PC sales and repair it pays to know what is headed you way so you know what to expect. Well sure enough I'd click on the obvious fakes (movies still in theaters, RARed movies, unreleased games, etc) and damned near EVERY single one started flooding Peerblock with connections to Mediaguard, Media Defender, etc. And just about every one where they had mislabeled some gross porn to be the movie had been coming straight from Media Defender.
As for what was in the files? Porn and Trojans mostly. Lots of variations on the security tool nasty, a few backdoor punchers, but mostly run of the mill crap. You know, that is why I almost miss Limewire, as it was a boon for anybody that needed to get samples of the latest bug and finding it installed on a PC pretty much meant $$$ as the machine would have more viruses than a Bangkok Whore.
Oh and to your list I would add be wary of keygens in general and especially if a keygen is from a different group than the one labeled on the.rar. For example if something is supposedly packaged by Razor1911 but the keygen is labeled some different group? Its a bug. Also be wary of anything with.wma files. I have found a whole crapload of those on customer's PCs that have malicious code embedded, such as launching a page to try a driveby or having code designed to overload the WMP buffers and launch a downloader bug. Really nasty stuff and you'd be surprised how many fall for it.
I noticed how you just ignored Via, Realtek, every single AIO printer in Walmart, etc etc etc? Care to comment? Oh that's right, you can't because you know the support sucks as well as I do. Want proof? Take the "hairyfeet challenge. Step right up!
Open up three tabs in your browser. go to Walmart.com, Bestbuy.com, and Staples.com. These are the big three when it comes to retail PC peripherals sales. Now in each store you place these four things, which are the big sellers here, and NO RESEARCH!. Remember, you are an average consumer. No cheating! Ready? An all in one printer, a USB Wifi stick, the latest iPod and a USB TV Tuner. Now if you want this simulation to be accurate, buy the cheapest on half the purchases, as most consumers buy on price. Now go to...lets say Ubuntu, go to their forums and see if the twelve items you just "purchased" as three average shoppers works. Go on, I'll wait.
They don't work, do they? I'll wager you won't get a whole cart out of the store without doing research. I'm sure you also avoided lexmark to try to tip the odds in your favor even though a consumer wouldn't know about lexmark support and wouldn't do that. You see, Linux is GREAT for servers and the enterprise markets. It is great because major corporations spend major bucks on making damned sure that server hardware "just works". But they don't give a flying fart about home users. So just like how you saw how Asus is phasing out Linux and even Canonical admits that Linux netbooks suffer higher return rates you will see more companies try Linux and then abandon it.
Why? Is it a conspiracy? Are they all "stupid" as you trollishly called me? Because the stuff that is sold in the above stores don't work in Linux, that's why. And when it don't work they say the PC is "broken" and come wanting their money back. It is just that simple.
So while I truly support Linux as a server OS, and even as a desktop OS for those that are willing to spend the time and effort to research every product and go CLI whenever something goes wrong, the simple fact is that isn't going to fly in the mainstream markets. If you have to do ANY CLI it is a dealbreaker, just as if you can't support the new gadget they just got at Best Buy they will return the PC. I'm sorry, but the average users is not going to be willing to learn CLI or do research on every single purchase. They're just not going to do it because they don't give a flying fart about "free as in freedom" or "the M$FT monopoly" all they care about is does their stuff work, and you are deluding yourself if you think you can get them to change for Linux. And if their consumer level stuff doesn't work your OS is "free as in worthless" and they'll be taking it back for a Windows machine. Sorry Mr FOSSie, but your RDF doesn't work in the face of reality.
And someone needs to add to the firehose (I apparently am a horrible writer, as mine never get picked) just to balance this out and show BOTH sides suck the big wet titty that the GOP is pushing for ISP spying again by having every single thing you do retained by the ISP for later perusal by law enforcement "for the children".
If anyone needed proof that both parties are a bad joke and we have NO representation in congress this article plus TFL should end all doubts. Because I really can't see the average American for 150+ year copyright laws and busting kids and grannys for music anymore than I can see them being for having every single thing they do tracked and handed over to police, can you?
Without a third party that actually has a chance your vote is worth about as much as the hot air the Ds and Rs spew. And for anyone that says "but but but...that was his FORMER job!" oh please. This is a "gift" from Obama to those writing the big fat checks, his way of saying "Hey pal, see what I did? I put one of your guys right at the top!". This is no different than the way the corporate lobbyist has cushy jobs set up for those that "play ball" waiting for them when their constituents finally get tired of being ignored.
We need to push our family and friends to vote straight Green party across the board in 2012. It doesn't matter if they have never heard of them (which they never will, as the MSM is all for the status quo) and frankly it doesn't matter if you support their current policies or not, because as long as we only have two parties we have nothing but two sides of the same rotten coin. BOTH are for bigger government and more control over your life, BOTH are for "socialism for the rich" in the form of bailouts, too big to fail, and looking the other way at tax dodges like the double dutch, and BOTH happily sell out America and the American people if those that write the big fat checks tell them to. Voting for either the Ds or the Rs anymore is nothing but that popularly quoted definition of insanity in action.
Total bull. That was true a decade ago but thanks to the Internet ANYBODY can buy ANY kind of machine, desktop, laptop, netbook, server, and do so without Windows. Not only does Dell offer Ubuntu machines now but there are plenty of specialty retailers like System 76 that are more than happy to have your business.
To me this "Windows tax" crap smells like trying to eat your cake and have it too. These people want the lower prices that comes with bundling trialware but then want to just go "my bad" and get money back ON TOP of the lower prices they don't qualify for well sorry friend, it shouldn't work that way. Just as you can't buy basic cable and then demand they remove the ads or give you money back for the channels you don't want, so too should you not get the lower price that comes with trialware if you refuse to take the OS the trialware requires.
I bet these that scream "Windows tax!" would STFU if the OEMs said "Well we only pay $15 for Windows in bulk, but that trialware we install nets us $75. So you actually owe us $60 for the difference. Shall we just use your CC that we have on file?"
If that is all that it is, I see no problem in it. When I DO see a problem with it is when industry insiders use jobs as rewards for getting what they want out of government. Too many in government get cushy private sector jobs for themselves and even members of their families as a payoff for playing ball and THAT I do have a problem with.
And where will this guy's loyalty lie? Will it lie with Google and their customers? Or when one of his old spook buddies waltzes in and says "hey old buddy, we are needing some info on the quiet side. Can you help us out?" will he just walk outside for a long lunch break while his "friend" has access to his computer?
And the whole "taxing insecurity" is about the dumbest idea I've ever heard of! Talk about an easy way to take out your competitors, just pay a team of hackers to find bugs and voila! They are buried under so many taxes they go out of business! I mean who do you think could afford 20 million in fines more, a company like MSFT or Oracle, or your average Linux distro? Seems like a great way to take out the smaller weaker corps to me, just keep getting them hit with fines and then buy them out for cheap when they can't fight back anymore. If people want more security then they can buy it, it is JUST that simple.
I take it you missed the memo on the little practice known as Bacha Bazi? Sadly you may have the number go UP depending on where you advertised.
As for TFA Guerrilla warfare has existed long before anybody gave a crap about Islam. As long as one side has better weapons than the other the weaker side will ALWAYS use whatever tactics will allow them to hit their enemy. Look at what happened to the US in Viet Nam, the Soviets in Afghanistan, etc. Not to say that Islam isn't seriously fucked up, especially with regards to their treatment of women and children, but as long as one side has better tech the other side will go to IEDs and any other "dirty trick" they can, simply because they don't have the resources to go toe to toe. Reminds me of how my grandfather in WWII would talk about "Jerry rigging" because by the time they made it to the Rhine the Germans were using IEDs and hobbled together weapons because the bombing had cut down their ability to make weapons so badly that was all they could muster.
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Do YOU even think before you type? Sure they make good devices but all the publicity is built on Steve and Steve alone. try this: pick 10 people at random and ask them who the head of Apple is. I bet not a single person will know who Cook is but ALL will know all about Steve. His image is iconic and that image is a LARGE reason why Apple is able to get away with stuff that would make Gates cringe. People just say "That is just Steve insuring his vision stays true" like he is an artist instead of a CEO.
You mark my words and mark them well: If Steve passes tomorrow the stock WILL be hit hard and while what is in the pipe will keep the momentum for another year, without Steve and his vision they will have lost the hipster factor and will be seen as no different than HP or any other large PC corp. That Apple mythos is what sells cool, and the cool is Steve, end of story.
Actually MSFT releasing the Win9X source would be WONDERFUL news, because if you haven't tried it Win9X can make a great embedded OS with better driver support and lower specs than pretty much any embedded OS out there.
And as for why anyone would care about TFA, that's simple: Often you don't "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and significant portions of the code will be reused. This means the black hats pretty much have a roadmap to use to trash Kaspersky AV. Even if they didn't use much of the previous code it most likely will allow them to see how the Kaspersky AV team treats PC resources like memory, giving them a good idea of where the weak spots are. Bad news for Kaspersky users I'd say.
Actually I'd be surprised if it didn't cost them every penny plus of that money. After all there is a pretty big difference between a certain math type being screwed up in edge corner cases and having to reboot daily like it is Win98 all over again just to keep your nice new SATA from running like a 66MHz IDE.
So if I was Intel I'd be figuring in on a one to one replacement of EVERY SB board out there, plus disposal costs.
But what did the man DO while he was in charge? Was there any new product releases? Any changes to the company vision? Nope IIRC all he did was stand there while the line ran.
There is a BIG difference between just keeping the seat warm because you know Steve is gonna be back and taking the reins of his baby after the man passes on (No ill will to Jobs and I personally hope he makes it, but he has already lasted longer than most with that type of cancer) and having to bear that weight on your shoulders.
Frankly I think if Jobs doesn't make it the stock will tank and tank hard. Like it or not Steve has built this mythos around him which the press and many of the consumers has taken to heart as gospel. The "Cult of Steve" is what separates them from just being looked at as another MSFT or HP, and without Steve I have a feeling it is gonna be another replay of the Sculley years.
Jobs has really let the company down by not aggressively pushing an understudy into the limelight to hand the reins over to, and I think this will ultimately hurt Apple long term. The only way I can see that not happening if Jobs was to pass away tomorrow would be to bring back Woz in some sort of figurehead position to keep the mythos going, while having Woz "groom" and "choose the next generation to carry on our vision" thus keeping the whole counter culture hipster mythos built around Jobs from biting them in the ass. Because honestly I just haven't seen anything from Cook showing he is ready for the gig.
And OT but when the hell is /. gonna fix these stupid boxes? It is ridiculous having a 16:9 widescreen and having to squint while typing at some little bitty text box more suitable for a mobile phone than a desktop. Fix the fricking code already! Sheesh.
It just shows yet again America was right, and y'all should have listened to the good old US of frickin A and stuck with feet, pounds, and gallons like the good Lord intended! I mean y'all are listening to cheese eating surrender monkeys, didn't that give ya a clue?
Now y'all say you're sorry, and we'll be happy to generously send y'all a proper ruler along with a pound of the finest depleted uranium rounds, made right here in the USA by the finest craftsmen, and if someone don't like your measuring you can just pop one of those bad boys in the chamber and you'd be surprised how quick them pesky arguments go your way! I mean using platinum/iridium mix, bah! DU all the way baby!
Uhhh...you DO know that you can have an infected file that isn't active yes? That most of the malware today use social engineering and are Trojan based, which means the user has to launch it first to cause an infection? As for AV the last tests I saw with Comodo were 98.4% and MSE something like 96.something%. So when combined with a more secure browser like Firefox or Comodo Dragon with Adblock Plus the odds are EXTREMELY low of getting a bug that the user doesn't explicitly install.
And whether it was "recent or not" is anything BUT moot as trying to base assertions on things you saw 7 or 8 years ago is FUD, no different than saying "Windows uses DOS!","Macs can't multitask!" or "Linux is a hobbyist OS built in Linus' basement!" because while those statements were true over a decade ago time has marched on and they simply aren't true now.
And can you please show me ANYWHERE where I said to use system restore for virus removal? Because now you are building strawmen as I NEVER said anything of the sort. I said "having a "quick undo" button comes in damned handy! " and "you can't expect them to run a differential every time they want to try something new." Now nowhere in that can you find a single word about using system restore for virus removal, in fact if you have gotten to the point you are infected the battle is already lost.
But for removal of buggy software or drivers, especially in XP where apps have a nasty habit of shotgunning system32 with DLL crap? System restore is a wonderful thing to have. And the fact that you refuse to say whether your experience is recent or not (hell you could be talking WinME) leads me to place your statements without citations into the FUD bin.
Hi Commodore6502! Sadly it IS constitutional, hell just about anything the feds want to do is allowed now thanks to the way they've perverted the Commerce Clause. Thanks to the Commerce Clause they can bust pot growers in California even after the people of that state legalized medicinal pot, or even stop a farmer from growing wheat to feed his chickens
So saying anything passed by the feds is unconstitutional is nearly impossible, since they can fit anything into their realm of control under the commerce clause.. And since the ISPs cross state lines it will be an easy sell to the courts.
Or maybe you should just choose to use a nice local bank instead of one of the mega banks? I use my debit online with no worries because I use a nice local bank. When I had an E-tailer double dip on my card I simply walked in and told the nearest teller "Hi, I had a website charge me twice?" and got "Ohhhh, don't you hate that? I had that happen with my sister three weeks ago! Here let me just input your data...there! Your money will be back in about an hour when the system updates! Is there anything else I can do for you?". Local banks are just nicer.
As for TFA they have had this in Japanese phones for years. Not that I'd care for one, I don't see what the big deal is about pulling out my plastic, but if that is what makes you happy, go for it. Personally I wish someone would either make decent batteries an option instead of "iSliver" batteries or hopefully come up with better battery tech. The more features they add and the more everyone rips off iDevices the more the batteries on these things suck. I mean what is the point of having all these features if you have to drag a charger around just to make a call?
Citation please? Because both Comodo (which I prefer for the click happy) and MSE (which I prefer for the "just check their email" types) routinely scan system restore points and will delete them if a bug is detected. And as for system restore breaking anything? I honestly haven't seen any behavior of the sort, both in customers or family, since XP SP2 came out. As a SOP before having them restore from a backup I have them attempt a system restore rollback and frankly as long as there is a point before the error I haven't seen it fail yet, hell with Win 7 you can even run system restore using the DVD if for one reason or another the machine won't boot.
So unless you've got current citations of some widespread problem I haven't heard about I'm gonna have to say you're going on old info, right up there with "Windows suffers from lots of BSODs" (not unless you have seriously flaky drivers or hardware, and in Win 7 not even then) "ATI drivers suck in Windows" (IME not since AMD bought them, everything after that runs as well as Nvidia) or the classic "All AMDs run too hot" (not since the old Athlon XPs, most of their chips are 95w or below now).
I'll be the first to admit the first gen system restore sucked and suffered from what you describe, but then again it was on WinME which was a mistake all around. Once XP became the mainstream with SP2 all the AV companies simply added scanning to sysvol which took care of the "restoring a bug" bit, and if you are running a good AV (like those mentioned above) frankly you shouldn't be able to get a bug in the first place without PEBKAC intervention. And also since SP2 the tech around system restore has matured to the point it "just works" and as I said I have clients and family as well as myself on both XP and Windows 7 use it and I've yet to see a problem caused by using system restores.
Hard drives are big and cheap, it doesn't use CPU unless it is making a restore point which with triples and quads so cheap most of the people I deal with have plenty of cycles to spare and even the kids hand me downs are Pentium duals, and it is certainly quicker and easier to use a system restore than have to restore from a full or differential backup, so what's the problem?
What EXACTLY is wrong with system restore? I've found especially with my click happy love to install software customers and relatives having a "quick undo" button comes in damned handy! Now of course system restore is in no way shape or form a substitute for backups, which is why I have them set up with weekly differentials and full backups monthly on USB HDDs, but you can't expect them to run a differential every time they want to try something new.
And who cares about "gigabytes" of anything anymore? Hell the lowest machines I sell have 500GB HDDs and even the kids P4 hand me downs have 400Gb drives, so why would anybody care? It isn't like huge drives are expensive.
So I really don't see what the problem is with system restore. For a quick undo button it works just fine, with huge drives worrying about 20-50Gb being reserved for system restore is frankly pointless when everyone has more space than they know what to do with, and when used with a combination of good AV, weekly backups, and a lower risk browser like Firefox or Chrome with ABP it does just what it should do, which is provide a quick way to roll back changes if something goes wrong. So what EXACTLY is so bad about it, because frankly I haven't seen a problem with system restore since XP SP2 came out.
Hi MR AC! If you would have read TFA or even TFS (I know I know, but I got bored) you would see they provide a link to The MSFT "fix it for me" page for this problem. Just click on "fix it for me" run the fix it, and that's it. Don't even need a reboot.
I'm sending the link to my customers and family now, and since it makes a restore point before applying it is easy to undo if you need to, although with previous "fix it for me" tweaks that I've run the MSFT patch released later took care of the fix it tweak before applying the patch.
So I don't really see why you or anyone would complain about this one. They have a quick fix that is so simple your grandma can run it, and released the fix quickly to tide people over until they have worked up a patch. I don't see how they could have done any better on this, as a full patch will take time to test and rightfully so as you wouldn't want MSFT releasing patches that break apps and/or drivers and cause more pain than the bug would you? This is easy, simple to apply, and painless to deploy. I don't see how you can get better and the guy that came up with the "fix it for me" program really deserves a raise and company car, as it really has made these fast released workarounds painless for home users..
Nice thought except for the fact it doesn't actually work and is therefor pointless, and your "solution" is just taking away the rights of the customer who will happily FIRE you and thus put you out of business! Why Linux users seem to think "the answer is always Linux" when frankly unless you are in a corporate environment the opposite is usually true is frankly beyond me, but your "solution fails on multiple points:
1.-The consumer level devices, such as AIO printers, PMPs like the iPod,etc don't actually work in Linux so to find a working device your clueless customers are gonna have to A)research like it is the SATs (correct answer:they won't, and when they get burnt it will be YOUR FAULT)) and B)jump through flaming hoops to keep most consumer level devices running because what works in kernel Foo usually won't in kernel Bar thanks to Linus constantly futzing with things (correct answer:they won't and again see YOUR FAULT) but don't believe me, go to bestbuy.com, walmart.com, and look for yourself. Last I checked you were looking at about 30% supported and with NO way to tell if a device is easy or CLI hell to get working.
Second your answer is to take away all rights from the user yet you seem to think because it is Linux that "makes it alright" somehow. Would you be happy if someone "did you a favor" and replaced your Linux with Vista? No? What about taking away root and refusing to give you control of your own PC "for your own good"? No? Then what makes you think others would find that solution acceptable in ANY way shape or form?
As much as it galls FOSS advocates Linux doesn't work for home and SMB users a good 90% of the time. That "user that just uses email and surfs" frankly doesn't exist anymore than the "Linux hacker" that doesn't even have a window manager and just does everything by CLI. There is ALWAYS one or more "must have" apps that have no equivalent on Linux be it games, functional drivers for their AIO printer, or in my area QuickBooks (which has a "free for home use" version and is crazy popular here) and taking the OS away from the user will just make them hate you and turn them (and anyone they talk to) away from FOSS in general.
I have found a MUCH better solution that foisting an unwanted FOSS OS which frankly in non corporate settings without a competent IT guy to support it is a royal PITA is to make the PC as close as I can to a "toaster with a screen" so that I do the thinking so they don't have to and in turn keeps my shop popular even by just using referrals. Things such as giving them Comodo AV which by default sandboxes all non whitelisted apps such as the browser to minimize the risk of infection, and using Chromium based Comodo Dragon in Vista/7 so that the browser runs in low rights mode. Using Filehippo update checker to alert them to out of date third party software, having Windows set for autoupdates, and showing them how to have separate user accounts for family members with low rights so that kids and relatives can't go installing "that great app they heard about".
By using my "do the thinking for them" strategy I've found I have cut down reinfection by a good 90% and have several PCs in the hands of "clueless home users" that are happily running virus free 5 years+ down the line. While I find Linux perfectly acceptable for some uses such as web servers, corporate workstations, and for emergency "use this if you break it on a weekend" LiveCDs the whole "Give them Linux and they'll thank you for it" is total bullshit. What actually happens is they hate you and FOSS because their apps no longer work, their devices no longer work, and unless you are intending to give them free tech support for the life of the machine the odds that the machine will be running with full driver functionality a year from now is virtually zip, with "CLI fixes" being needed to be
I'm sorry but that is bullshit. I have to deal with those user 6 days a week and frankly as long as they have control over their box they WILL do whatever they please, security be damned. It is the classic dancing bunnies problem and I don't care which OS you use they WILL blow right through your security measures if they want to see the bunny.
I have had a customer open a password protected zip file with me standing there telling them its a virus "because this was sent to me by my BFF Kim and she wouldn't do that" and if you think Linux or any other OS would do better allow me to submit for your consideration How to write a Linux virus in 5 easy steps using the same social engineering which causes the vast majority of infections on Windows.
Bottom line if the user wants to run it they WILL run it, and the only way to prevent that would be to take away ALL rights to the machine and make it into trusted computing. Now since trusted computing (or treacherous computing as RMS calls it) would take away all rights from the user and kill OSes that allowed the four freedoms dead we simply have to accept the fact that stupid is as stupid does.
Not to say adding security isn't a good idea, I'm personally switching my customers and family to Windows 7 and the file and registry virtualization along with low rights mode in Chromium does safeguard against things that don't require user action like JavaScript exploits and drivebys, but frankly nothing will stop the user actively installing malware if they are so inclined. And I can tell you that at my shop I'd say probably 85%+ of the malware on PCs is installed by the user themselves, either by using social engineering or by offering the user something they desire, such as free porn or software. All the security in the world isn't gonna help if the source of the infection is PEBKAC.
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember that first growing in popularity after the release of the miniseries of the same name. Since it depicted an America ruled by a cold Soviet style control and now we are seeing more and more that same control only in the hands of the megacorps that now pretty much rules this country (just look at how many laws are written by the corporations and just rubber stamped by elected officials, such as DMCA and endless copyrights) I assume some would see it as appropriate.
Me personally the way the corps run the country reminds me of the late great philosopher/ comedian Bill Hicks and his take on things which is sadly probably even more true now than when he did it 20 years ago. The fact that the courts can take away his right to speak because it would impact a corps bottom line is frankly disgusting to me.
Well to be fair the F-Series has been going for over 60 years, so it would be kinda hard to keep the 40s styling. But if you look starting with the 10th generation they all have that swept back look that most folks consider "modern" styling so I doubt the average Joe will notice. Frankly I thought the chrome grillwork looked better than the current matte black on the newer generation, and I've had people tell me they like the "shiny front" of my Ranger better than the new grillwork.
As for the Ford Ranger I honestly don't know WTF they are thinking with THAT one. Here in the south the Ranger in "company white" is pretty much THE work truck employed by everyone from AutoZone to the cableco, as it is the only small truck made anymore and it gets decent gas mileage and has damned good hauling and towing capacity. They are well built, last a loooong time, damned solid trucks and talking with fellow Ranger owners they all love them as much as I love mine. They are also good sellers with the average Joe, as they are more economical than the F-Series while still having good hauling capacity.
Instead of killing the line in 2011 as scheduled they need to just do a body restyle along with advertising. We all know gas will never be below $2 again and having an economical truck can be a damned good selling point especially when the next gas crunch happens, after all that is what got the Ranger started in the first place. Even without any updates it has been a decent seller in the south with every parking lot at every store having Rangers all over the place. Makes it really fun when you're loaded down with groceries and forget which isle you're parked in.
To me it just shows the short sighted thinking that nearly destroyed GM and Chrysler. We all know that there will be some nasty gas spikes ahead, and if we don't do something about speculation traders and groups like GS having enough money flow to actually blow bubbles it will probably be sooner rather than later. Even though small cars will be big sellers now that SUVs seem to be dying (hell they won't even give squat for an Explorer on trade in anymore after getting glutted with them during the last gas spike) folks still got work to do and having a good quality truck that won't bleed your wallet at the pumps could be a BIG seller, they simply need to market it. When was the last time you saw TV ads centered around Ranger? They should take a page from Apple, do a refresh, and market the hell out of it.
If all you want is a good commuter car just get a good used Caviler or Sunbird/Sunfire. They are great on gas, parts are cheap and plentiful, and they are actually quite fun to drive.I had a Sunbird for long commutes and it was just a great little car, reminded me of the way those little MGs would wrap everything around you. And as for Ford they always been more of a truck company than anything else. The Ranger (which I have and love) The F150/F350, just good solid trucks. As you say lousy on gas but you can load one down and it never lugs, great work trucks.
As for TFA I haven't seen any real studies on how long those lithium batteries are gonna last and last I heard those suckers are pretty damned expensive, so unless you are the type that just trades in your ride every year the batteries may end up costing you more than you save in gas. I know society is becoming more of a throw away culture but personally I still believe a vehicle should "last ten years like it should".
That is one of the reasons I have stuck with Ford, as I can easily get 10-15 years out of a good Ford truck and frankly the body styles don't change enough to worry about so you don't end up looking dated. I can park my 99 Ranger XLT next to a 2007 and other than the grill you can't really tell the difference. And when you figure in the low cost of maintenance and lower insurance costs I'd say it comes out about even. Of course I'm not having to drive 50 miles a day so the 20 MPG doesn't hurt my wallet.
And if you want new you can't go wrong with the Ford Fiesta or Kia Rio. I have a customer who just can't stop raving about how fun her Fiesta is to drive and how great it is on gas, and I have a buddy with a 80 mile round trip daily commute that swears by his Rio. I've ridden in both and they are nice comfortable cars and you don't have to worry about expensive batteries or crazy priced replacement parts. Call me an old fuddy duddy but I just don't trust the batteries on the hybrids to last, especially not with the scorching summers and quick freezes that come out of nowhere we have in the south.
Thanks. And as for newspapers I would figure that has to do with the ink and readability more than anything, because you can only make text of a certain size with newspaper and after that it tends to look mushy.
But in both this old WinXP box and my Win 7 quad, at native 1600x900 the text is quite clear and having the browser maximized allows me to read MUCH more text without having to scroll. Maybe those average folks being tested by the papers were just slow readers?
Finally might it be because PCs have ClearType and newspapers don't? I remember reading an article (sorry I can't find it ATM) with one of the MSFT researchers in charge of ClearType and custom fonts and the studies they had run found ClearType produced less fatigue and allowed more words to be read or data processed in a given amount of time.
All I know is with the way most sites have their layout, with a large strip for navigation on one side or the other (like the new /. design) having the browser maximized seems to give me just the right amount of text. Now if we can just get the "designers" at /. to either give up this "Web 3.0" nonsense and go back to the original design, or at least get rid of this refugee from idle stupid comment box that makes it look like anything more than a tweet is a fricking book then I'd be happy. Is it REALLY too much to ask to let us, the users that bring them $$$ through subscriptions and ads, to have a vote?
Actually there is no way in hell they'll do that because last time they tried tracing child porn it led them to the Pentagon! That's right boys and girls, your tax dollars at work, as they had the giant brass balls to actually buy and download CP while sitting there at work in the Pentagon.
And why wouldn't they? Because unlike those poor peasants where they are guilty until proven innocent the prosecutor declined to file charges in nearly all the cases!
So if they want to pass this I think we should start with a five year "zero tolerance" policy for government officials of ALL branches. How much you want to bet they'd be all for privacy then? Sadly this will never be, instead it'll be another case where the law doesn't apply to them, just to everyone else.
Uhhh...what is wrong with having things maximized? With English being written left to right having my 1600x900 monitor set with the browser maximized lets me read more without needing to scroll, and I'm sure the other guy feels the same.
WTF is with the comments box? Why is it so little bitty? Are we in idle? /checks header/ nope, not in idle. What dumbass kept the absolute worst comment box ever from idle and stuck it here? What were they high? And what is with the drowning in white here? Are they TRYING to blind us? And what is with the resource piggishness? It is using between 14-60% of one of my quad cores, and all I have open is this stupid box!
What I want to know is what the hell was wrong with the original Slashdot, anyway. It wasn't fancy but it didn't suck up resources and all in all it "just worked" pretty well. V2.0 was a mess, but they had started to clean it up (even if it was still bloated) but this? This is awful! You telling me with all the coders that hang here THIS is the best they can do? Really? Because I've seen Geocities sites that were less blinding and funky than this. Bring back V1.0 dammit!
Actually I'd say the scammers ARE the RIAA/MPAA. When this story first came out (about a year ago IIRC) for the hell of it I fired up several different P2P apps and Peerblock to see what was up. Being in PC sales and repair it pays to know what is headed you way so you know what to expect. Well sure enough I'd click on the obvious fakes (movies still in theaters, RARed movies, unreleased games, etc) and damned near EVERY single one started flooding Peerblock with connections to Mediaguard, Media Defender, etc. And just about every one where they had mislabeled some gross porn to be the movie had been coming straight from Media Defender.
As for what was in the files? Porn and Trojans mostly. Lots of variations on the security tool nasty, a few backdoor punchers, but mostly run of the mill crap. You know, that is why I almost miss Limewire, as it was a boon for anybody that needed to get samples of the latest bug and finding it installed on a PC pretty much meant $$$ as the machine would have more viruses than a Bangkok Whore.
Oh and to your list I would add be wary of keygens in general and especially if a keygen is from a different group than the one labeled on the .rar. For example if something is supposedly packaged by Razor1911 but the keygen is labeled some different group? Its a bug. Also be wary of anything with .wma files. I have found a whole crapload of those on customer's PCs that have malicious code embedded, such as launching a page to try a driveby or having code designed to overload the WMP buffers and launch a downloader bug. Really nasty stuff and you'd be surprised how many fall for it.
I noticed how you just ignored Via, Realtek, every single AIO printer in Walmart, etc etc etc? Care to comment? Oh that's right, you can't because you know the support sucks as well as I do. Want proof? Take the "hairyfeet challenge. Step right up!
Open up three tabs in your browser. go to Walmart.com, Bestbuy.com, and Staples.com. These are the big three when it comes to retail PC peripherals sales. Now in each store you place these four things, which are the big sellers here, and NO RESEARCH!. Remember, you are an average consumer. No cheating! Ready? An all in one printer, a USB Wifi stick, the latest iPod and a USB TV Tuner. Now if you want this simulation to be accurate, buy the cheapest on half the purchases, as most consumers buy on price. Now go to...lets say Ubuntu, go to their forums and see if the twelve items you just "purchased" as three average shoppers works. Go on, I'll wait.
They don't work, do they? I'll wager you won't get a whole cart out of the store without doing research. I'm sure you also avoided lexmark to try to tip the odds in your favor even though a consumer wouldn't know about lexmark support and wouldn't do that. You see, Linux is GREAT for servers and the enterprise markets. It is great because major corporations spend major bucks on making damned sure that server hardware "just works". But they don't give a flying fart about home users. So just like how you saw how Asus is phasing out Linux and even Canonical admits that Linux netbooks suffer higher return rates you will see more companies try Linux and then abandon it.
Why? Is it a conspiracy? Are they all "stupid" as you trollishly called me? Because the stuff that is sold in the above stores don't work in Linux, that's why. And when it don't work they say the PC is "broken" and come wanting their money back. It is just that simple.
So while I truly support Linux as a server OS, and even as a desktop OS for those that are willing to spend the time and effort to research every product and go CLI whenever something goes wrong, the simple fact is that isn't going to fly in the mainstream markets. If you have to do ANY CLI it is a dealbreaker, just as if you can't support the new gadget they just got at Best Buy they will return the PC. I'm sorry, but the average users is not going to be willing to learn CLI or do research on every single purchase. They're just not going to do it because they don't give a flying fart about "free as in freedom" or "the M$FT monopoly" all they care about is does their stuff work, and you are deluding yourself if you think you can get them to change for Linux. And if their consumer level stuff doesn't work your OS is "free as in worthless" and they'll be taking it back for a Windows machine. Sorry Mr FOSSie, but your RDF doesn't work in the face of reality.
And someone needs to add to the firehose (I apparently am a horrible writer, as mine never get picked) just to balance this out and show BOTH sides suck the big wet titty that the GOP is pushing for ISP spying again by having every single thing you do retained by the ISP for later perusal by law enforcement "for the children".
If anyone needed proof that both parties are a bad joke and we have NO representation in congress this article plus TFL should end all doubts. Because I really can't see the average American for 150+ year copyright laws and busting kids and grannys for music anymore than I can see them being for having every single thing they do tracked and handed over to police, can you?
Without a third party that actually has a chance your vote is worth about as much as the hot air the Ds and Rs spew. And for anyone that says "but but but...that was his FORMER job!" oh please. This is a "gift" from Obama to those writing the big fat checks, his way of saying "Hey pal, see what I did? I put one of your guys right at the top!". This is no different than the way the corporate lobbyist has cushy jobs set up for those that "play ball" waiting for them when their constituents finally get tired of being ignored.
We need to push our family and friends to vote straight Green party across the board in 2012. It doesn't matter if they have never heard of them (which they never will, as the MSM is all for the status quo) and frankly it doesn't matter if you support their current policies or not, because as long as we only have two parties we have nothing but two sides of the same rotten coin. BOTH are for bigger government and more control over your life, BOTH are for "socialism for the rich" in the form of bailouts, too big to fail, and looking the other way at tax dodges like the double dutch, and BOTH happily sell out America and the American people if those that write the big fat checks tell them to. Voting for either the Ds or the Rs anymore is nothing but that popularly quoted definition of insanity in action.
Total bull. That was true a decade ago but thanks to the Internet ANYBODY can buy ANY kind of machine, desktop, laptop, netbook, server, and do so without Windows. Not only does Dell offer Ubuntu machines now but there are plenty of specialty retailers like System 76 that are more than happy to have your business.
To me this "Windows tax" crap smells like trying to eat your cake and have it too. These people want the lower prices that comes with bundling trialware but then want to just go "my bad" and get money back ON TOP of the lower prices they don't qualify for well sorry friend, it shouldn't work that way. Just as you can't buy basic cable and then demand they remove the ads or give you money back for the channels you don't want, so too should you not get the lower price that comes with trialware if you refuse to take the OS the trialware requires.
I bet these that scream "Windows tax!" would STFU if the OEMs said "Well we only pay $15 for Windows in bulk, but that trialware we install nets us $75. So you actually owe us $60 for the difference. Shall we just use your CC that we have on file?"
If that is all that it is, I see no problem in it. When I DO see a problem with it is when industry insiders use jobs as rewards for getting what they want out of government. Too many in government get cushy private sector jobs for themselves and even members of their families as a payoff for playing ball and THAT I do have a problem with.
And where will this guy's loyalty lie? Will it lie with Google and their customers? Or when one of his old spook buddies waltzes in and says "hey old buddy, we are needing some info on the quiet side. Can you help us out?" will he just walk outside for a long lunch break while his "friend" has access to his computer?
And the whole "taxing insecurity" is about the dumbest idea I've ever heard of! Talk about an easy way to take out your competitors, just pay a team of hackers to find bugs and voila! They are buried under so many taxes they go out of business! I mean who do you think could afford 20 million in fines more, a company like MSFT or Oracle, or your average Linux distro? Seems like a great way to take out the smaller weaker corps to me, just keep getting them hit with fines and then buy them out for cheap when they can't fight back anymore. If people want more security then they can buy it, it is JUST that simple.
I take it you missed the memo on the little practice known as Bacha Bazi? Sadly you may have the number go UP depending on where you advertised.
As for TFA Guerrilla warfare has existed long before anybody gave a crap about Islam. As long as one side has better weapons than the other the weaker side will ALWAYS use whatever tactics will allow them to hit their enemy. Look at what happened to the US in Viet Nam, the Soviets in Afghanistan, etc. Not to say that Islam isn't seriously fucked up, especially with regards to their treatment of women and children, but as long as one side has better tech the other side will go to IEDs and any other "dirty trick" they can, simply because they don't have the resources to go toe to toe. Reminds me of how my grandfather in WWII would talk about "Jerry rigging" because by the time they made it to the Rhine the Germans were using IEDs and hobbled together weapons because the bombing had cut down their ability to make weapons so badly that was all they could muster.