It's not even a myth! It's just a common saying stemming from the fact that cockroaches are so prolific and notoriously hard to kill.
What's next? they test the theory that there's more than one way to skin a cat?
They're more rare in europe because it's harder to procure guns illegally. In the US, there are so many guns around that it's impossible to keep track of them all. There are more guns than people. Even if you take away people's right to bear arms, you haven't taken away their ability to acquire them illegally. In some parts of the country, the police confiscate weapons from gang members who can't legally posess them... and then confiscate more weapons from them the next week. The kind of people who are going to use guns to kill innocent victims cannot be prevented from obtaining them by the law. By creating gun-free zones such as VTech, you're only creating areas where nobody can posess a gun legally, but as the shooting today has proven, that doesn't stop people from bringing them illegally, and killing many garunteed defenseless victims.
Guns were already banned from the campus. That's part of the problem. As a gun-free zone, it creates a situation in which nobody has a means of defense from an attack, but anyone who doesn't care about obeying the law (such as serial killers) is still free to pack heat and kill people. Gun-free zones such as VTech make up the majority of all major shootings, because like anyone else, the killers know that nobody is permitted to carry weapons there, and will be unarmed.
And let's face it. There are more guns than people in the U.S. Even if you banned guns completely, you've only created a situation where the law abiding citizens turn in their guns, but anyone else can always acquire them illegally. If guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns, and that creates a bigger problem than it solves.
It is getting ripped off, because when you could have an item for less, the seller can jack up the price until they surpass your max bid, then offer it to you at your max bid as a "second-chance offer". It's happened to me before, and I doubt it's all that uncommon a practice. I could have gotten that item for $70, but instead I was given a second-chance offer at $120 (still under retail value, but a lot more than I should have paid in a fair auction). That's a ripoff.
All opinions that Microsoft is not really an evil, greed-driven corporate monstrosity. Therefore anyone who wishes to express such an opinion must first pay me royalties.
That's not suprising. As one who's worked at several computer repair shops, I can safely say that pirated software in those businesses is not uncommon. In fact, if you consider what people are willing to pay to have their computers fixed, and what it would cost to fix them using legit software, I can't blame them.
The average computer user is cheap, and small businesses can't afford to pay a few hundred dollars for every copy of windows, or diagnostics software, or antivirus... If you try and charge a customer $400 (practically at-cost) to reinstall Windows XP, Microsoft Office and ACME Antivirus/utilities on their computers (they NEVER have their original installation CD) they'd take their business elsewhere. The only way that these companies make any REAL money in the business is if they don't pay for their software.
I, personally, use anti-virus applications as a back-up measure in the event that something does go wrong, and a new hole in my computer's security is discovered and exploited. Needless to say, my first priority has always been to eliminate the holes to begin with - much better to save the trouble of cleaning up the mess later. Unfortunately, microsoft Windows is so full of holes to begtin with, that even with the most rigorous of patching, you can never be sure that something won't go wrong - that's where a good virus scanner comes in.
McAfee is not a 'good' virus scanner.
Where your security is concerned, using anything with a less then flawless track record is asking for trouble. People who put their faith in McAfee deserved what they got.
Of course, this doesn't change the fact that people need to be more aware of how even the most reliable programs can go sour - there is no substitute for backing up your data, and those who do not back up their data typically learn that the hard way. Some of them don't learn at all.
I, personally, keep redundant back ups of all of my most important data, and also store the primary copy of all my documents and installers on a seperate drive that my Anti-Viris scanner (Avast!) is instructed to not scan. This way, if the system goes down, I don't lose any data, and more than likely will be able to restore access to the majority of it mere minutes after the system is again operational. In the event that Avast! somehow suffered the same error as McAfee did, my data would not have been compromised.
I've seen some pretty wide definitions of the word 'novice', and I've had 6+ computer since I first discovered DOS in the fourth grade... I wouldn't rule it out.
"Come to think of it, I don't have any problems when I'm not running ZoneAlarm (though I'm using an older version of ZoneAlarm Pro)"
I was running ZA Pro 4 at the time it started becoming a real issue. The pro version has an active traffic monitoring process which can't handle more than a constant slow trickle of traffic without slowing down. Some users of the free version whom I know have also reported problems with it, though I never extensively used the free version. I moved to ZA Pro for the higher security; ZA Pro is the only firewall I have used which has passed ALL of the available firewall leak tests. However, the added security wasn't worth having all of my computer's network connections shut down on me until I rebooted - I moved to Kerio shortly after.
ZoneAlarm works well, though the security of the free version is lacking when compared to the Pro version. I started using Kerio because ZA would slow and sometimes crash the network when large volumes of data were being handled for extended periods. Kerio is comparatively low-resource, and still offers excellent security at the expense of being slightly more difficult to manage and build advanced rules for than ZA. As far as security, it stands somewhere between ZA Free and ZA Pro. Kerio will alert you to alterations in programs prior to clearing them to access the network again, much the same way ZA Pro does, but can become a hassle if left enabled during a major update.
I like Avast! for its low profile. In spite of its less-obtrusive resource use, it is not only as good, but arguably better than Symantec/Norton at stopping virii and preventing damages. Free is good too.
I worked at a computer repair shop at one point, and my SOP is very similar, although I typically run HijackThis earlier in the process (Before removing programs), and I include - if necessary - some passes with other programs.
Worst-case Scenario: 1) Kill all unecessary processes manually (if able) 2) Run MSCONFIG and disable unecessary startup processes (if able) 3) Run Spybot S&D (if able) 4) Run HijackThis 5) Install Avast! AV and updates, and schedule a boot-time scan (if able) 6) Uninstall/manually remove unecessary applications 7) Reboot 8) Repeat all setps 1-6 which did not work the first time 9) Run Spybot S&D (again) 10) Install and configure Firefox with Adblock extension. 11) Install and configure SpywareBlaster 12) Lock Down IE 13) Reboot 14) Manually clean up any remnants with the help of HijackThis 15) Install and configure Kerio PF
It takes longer than is typically necessary of a simple cleanup, but so far I haven't run into anything that couldn't be fixed in such a manner. Most importantly however, it doesn't cost a dime. I keep both a USB flash drive and a CD on hand with all of the programs and updates I need as well as some other fallback programs (some pre-installed directly on the CD/flash drive), so if the infected machine is unable to connect for downloads/updates it won't slow me down. It also helps that IE is not needed when loading everything from the CD or flash drive.
Of all the machines I have used this on, only those of the incedibly stupid have had problems resurface, while most have run clean for a year or more. I use the same preventative measures on my own PC and have never picked up any spyware/malware.
""Windows" with respect to computer software, most of the market (ie. John Q Citizen) is going to assume that it is a Microsoft product. This is the purpose of a trademark."
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would have to disagree here; When something is labeled 'Windows (product)', it is fool to assume it is in fact made by Microsoft, and not simply as a third-party accompaniment to Microsoft's operating system. If you're not using the Microsoft name (which is trademarked), then you're definately not Microsoft.
Unavoidable obstruction to high security on the end user level.
if they're too lazy to write down or memorize their passwords, too cheap for higher-technology solutions (biometrics, etc..), and not employed by a company that offers neat little LED gizmos to feed them a new password every minute, how can they expect their data to remain secure from everyone else?
I personally very much like this site's services... people don't often guess 20-character randomly-gneerated passwords.
Well, considering that Microsoft's CEO is in fact, the most spammed person on the internet, it would be pertinent to say that eliminating spammers would be in the company's best interest.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not even a myth! It's just a common saying stemming from the fact that cockroaches are so prolific and notoriously hard to kill. What's next? they test the theory that there's more than one way to skin a cat?
At least it's a serious upgrade from the 6-character passwords AOL used to limit their users to.
They're more rare in europe because it's harder to procure guns illegally. In the US, there are so many guns around that it's impossible to keep track of them all. There are more guns than people. Even if you take away people's right to bear arms, you haven't taken away their ability to acquire them illegally. In some parts of the country, the police confiscate weapons from gang members who can't legally posess them... and then confiscate more weapons from them the next week. The kind of people who are going to use guns to kill innocent victims cannot be prevented from obtaining them by the law. By creating gun-free zones such as VTech, you're only creating areas where nobody can posess a gun legally, but as the shooting today has proven, that doesn't stop people from bringing them illegally, and killing many garunteed defenseless victims.
Nothing.
Guns were already banned from the campus. That's part of the problem. As a gun-free zone, it creates a situation in which nobody has a means of defense from an attack, but anyone who doesn't care about obeying the law (such as serial killers) is still free to pack heat and kill people. Gun-free zones such as VTech make up the majority of all major shootings, because like anyone else, the killers know that nobody is permitted to carry weapons there, and will be unarmed.
And let's face it. There are more guns than people in the U.S. Even if you banned guns completely, you've only created a situation where the law abiding citizens turn in their guns, but anyone else can always acquire them illegally. If guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns, and that creates a bigger problem than it solves.
It is getting ripped off, because when you could have an item for less, the seller can jack up the price until they surpass your max bid, then offer it to you at your max bid as a "second-chance offer". It's happened to me before, and I doubt it's all that uncommon a practice. I could have gotten that item for $70, but instead I was given a second-chance offer at $120 (still under retail value, but a lot more than I should have paid in a fair auction). That's a ripoff.
All opinions that Microsoft is not really an evil, greed-driven corporate monstrosity. Therefore anyone who wishes to express such an opinion must first pay me royalties.
That's not suprising. As one who's worked at several computer repair shops, I can safely say that pirated software in those businesses is not uncommon. In fact, if you consider what people are willing to pay to have their computers fixed, and what it would cost to fix them using legit software, I can't blame them.
The average computer user is cheap, and small businesses can't afford to pay a few hundred dollars for every copy of windows, or diagnostics software, or antivirus... If you try and charge a customer $400 (practically at-cost) to reinstall Windows XP, Microsoft Office and ACME Antivirus/utilities on their computers (they NEVER have their original installation CD) they'd take their business elsewhere. The only way that these companies make any REAL money in the business is if they don't pay for their software.
"has as its principal or primary business the making available of material that is harmful to minors"
I can see the legislation now... budweiser.xxx
I, personally, use anti-virus applications as a back-up measure in the event that something does go wrong, and a new hole in my computer's security is discovered and exploited. Needless to say, my first priority has always been to eliminate the holes to begin with - much better to save the trouble of cleaning up the mess later. Unfortunately, microsoft Windows is so full of holes to begtin with, that even with the most rigorous of patching, you can never be sure that something won't go wrong - that's where a good virus scanner comes in.
McAfee is not a 'good' virus scanner.
Where your security is concerned, using anything with a less then flawless track record is asking for trouble. People who put their faith in McAfee deserved what they got.
Of course, this doesn't change the fact that people need to be more aware of how even the most reliable programs can go sour - there is no substitute for backing up your data, and those who do not back up their data typically learn that the hard way. Some of them don't learn at all.
I, personally, keep redundant back ups of all of my most important data, and also store the primary copy of all my documents and installers on a seperate drive that my Anti-Viris scanner (Avast!) is instructed to not scan. This way, if the system goes down, I don't lose any data, and more than likely will be able to restore access to the majority of it mere minutes after the system is again operational. In the event that Avast! somehow suffered the same error as McAfee did, my data would not have been compromised.
I've seen some pretty wide definitions of the word 'novice', and I've had 6+ computer since I first discovered DOS in the fourth grade... I wouldn't rule it out.
"Come to think of it, I don't have any problems when I'm not running ZoneAlarm (though I'm using an older version of ZoneAlarm Pro)"
I was running ZA Pro 4 at the time it started becoming a real issue. The pro version has an active traffic monitoring process which can't handle more than a constant slow trickle of traffic without slowing down. Some users of the free version whom I know have also reported problems with it, though I never extensively used the free version. I moved to ZA Pro for the higher security; ZA Pro is the only firewall I have used which has passed ALL of the available firewall leak tests. However, the added security wasn't worth having all of my computer's network connections shut down on me until I rebooted - I moved to Kerio shortly after.
ZoneAlarm works well, though the security of the free version is lacking when compared to the Pro version. I started using Kerio because ZA would slow and sometimes crash the network when large volumes of data were being handled for extended periods. Kerio is comparatively low-resource, and still offers excellent security at the expense of being slightly more difficult to manage and build advanced rules for than ZA. As far as security, it stands somewhere between ZA Free and ZA Pro. Kerio will alert you to alterations in programs prior to clearing them to access the network again, much the same way ZA Pro does, but can become a hassle if left enabled during a major update.
I like Avast! for its low profile. In spite of its less-obtrusive resource use, it is not only as good, but arguably better than Symantec/Norton at stopping virii and preventing damages. Free is good too.
I worked at a computer repair shop at one point, and my SOP is very similar, although I typically run HijackThis earlier in the process (Before removing programs), and I include - if necessary - some passes with other programs.
Worst-case Scenario:
1) Kill all unecessary processes manually (if able)
2) Run MSCONFIG and disable unecessary startup processes (if able)
3) Run Spybot S&D (if able)
4) Run HijackThis
5) Install Avast! AV and updates, and schedule a boot-time scan (if able)
6) Uninstall/manually remove unecessary applications
7) Reboot
8) Repeat all setps 1-6 which did not work the first time
9) Run Spybot S&D (again)
10) Install and configure Firefox with Adblock extension.
11) Install and configure SpywareBlaster
12) Lock Down IE
13) Reboot
14) Manually clean up any remnants with the help of HijackThis
15) Install and configure Kerio PF
It takes longer than is typically necessary of a simple cleanup, but so far I haven't run into anything that couldn't be fixed in such a manner. Most importantly however, it doesn't cost a dime. I keep both a USB flash drive and a CD on hand with all of the programs and updates I need as well as some other fallback programs (some pre-installed directly on the CD/flash drive), so if the infected machine is unable to connect for downloads/updates it won't slow me down. It also helps that IE is not needed when loading everything from the CD or flash drive.
Of all the machines I have used this on, only those of the incedibly stupid have had problems resurface, while most have run clean for a year or more. I use the same preventative measures on my own PC and have never picked up any spyware/malware.
then, would it take to hold the Quasi-ultimate Star Trek Collection?
I don't think you should place a price upon the value of saving civilization.
You think that its possible to sufficiently deflect an asteroid of civilization-endangering proportions with ONLY the gravity of a 20-ton satellite?
I'd hate to be living here when they try it....
""Windows" with respect to computer software, most of the market (ie. John Q Citizen) is going to assume that it is a Microsoft product. This is the purpose of a trademark."
I'm sure I'm not the only one who would have to disagree here; When something is labeled 'Windows (product)', it is fool to assume it is in fact made by Microsoft, and not simply as a third-party accompaniment to Microsoft's operating system. If you're not using the Microsoft name (which is trademarked), then you're definately not Microsoft.
I tried them all as well with 1.0.7 running from a flash drive on Windows XP. none of them so much as slowed the browser.
They got Slashdotted - what did you expect?
/.
Not every domain has the extraordinary bandwidth needed to accomodate the massive influx of nerds from
Unavoidable obstruction to high security on the end user level. if they're too lazy to write down or memorize their passwords, too cheap for higher-technology solutions (biometrics, etc..), and not employed by a company that offers neat little LED gizmos to feed them a new password every minute, how can they expect their data to remain secure from everyone else? I personally very much like this site's services... people don't often guess 20-character randomly-gneerated passwords.
Well, considering that Microsoft's CEO is in fact, the most spammed person on the internet , it would be pertinent to say that eliminating spammers would be in the company's best interest.