The problem is the proliferation of file formats. MS tried to address this by including a simple mechanism for a user to download codecs that were unavailable when Media Player was released, but screwed up the implementation by allowing the data in the media file point to where the codec could be obtained.
MS probably should have forced MP to point to their own file server only, that way they could control what could be added into systems. Perhaps they didn't do this as a result of all the antitrust lawsuits that they endured.
How does anyone know what codecs to trust anyway? Mal ware authors are good at confusing people into installing their programs.
My RS232 serial connectors in 25 and 9 pin incarnations are just as functional and now obsolete as any parallel port.
AT Keyboard connectors are even more obsolete than the ps/2 connectors that replaced them
Are Game ports obsolete? I have not looked at joysticks lately, but look that they would be fine with USB Technology - except of course in terms of backwards computability.
Those silly audio in/out ports ought to be obsolete
IDE connectors are pretty much obsolete: I won't buy a pc without SATA any more.
VGA has been replaced with HDMI
The only connectors on the back of a PC that are not obsolete are Power, USB, Network, and HDMI. Well we still need the audio.
The "Communications Act 2003" and the "Computer Misuse Act" are responses to people breaking into computer systems. Although they appear to be modern legeslation, it apeears they don't really address the situations of public access to web servers and unsecured WAPs.
From a technical point of view, using unsecured WAP is certainly not unauthourised access: The WAP broadcasts it's existence using standard protocols, and accepts connections without question. This handshaking is even more inviting than your average webpage, where the end user has to know the url in advance before connecting to it.
It is a shame that configuring a secured WAP is too difficult a task for many people, though I imagine it would still be easier than prosecuting an unsuspecting user of the unsecured WAP in court.
I don't know how this guy Joe Lopez in Florida managed to get a keylogger installed on his machine, (Probably installed some warez or porn) but I would hardly classify him as a rube for having lost his banking information to some cracker in Latvia.
When my credit card company notices spending on my card in a city 1000 KM away, they call me. Is it too much to ask a bank to do the same if an unusual transaction is being attempted from my bank account? Joe apperently did transfer money to South America regularly (hmm a name like Lopez... go figure) but you would think a single transaction to latvia would raise a flag somewhere.
It has been said that the biggest competiors to Windows XP are ealier versions of windows. That said, I would safely assume that most PC's will continue to run versions of windows that predate Vista. These machines will need constantly updated antivirus and antispyware programs.
So why worry?
Well in Canada it isn't ileagal to download material protected by copywite - it is only ileagle to offer such warez for others to download.
Of course bittorrent muddies the water by resharing the parts of the file you have just downloaded, ensuring that by using bittorent you are invact breaking the law (if you are dealing with files which you have not recieved permission to share).
How protected is a file fragment under copyright?
Slashdot Mirror
The problem is the proliferation of file formats. MS tried to address this by including a simple mechanism for a user to download codecs that were unavailable when Media Player was released, but screwed up the implementation by allowing the data in the media file point to where the codec could be obtained. MS probably should have forced MP to point to their own file server only, that way they could control what could be added into systems. Perhaps they didn't do this as a result of all the antitrust lawsuits that they endured. How does anyone know what codecs to trust anyway? Mal ware authors are good at confusing people into installing their programs.
My RS232 serial connectors in 25 and 9 pin incarnations are just as functional and now obsolete as any parallel port. AT Keyboard connectors are even more obsolete than the ps/2 connectors that replaced them Are Game ports obsolete? I have not looked at joysticks lately, but look that they would be fine with USB Technology - except of course in terms of backwards computability. Those silly audio in/out ports ought to be obsolete IDE connectors are pretty much obsolete: I won't buy a pc without SATA any more. VGA has been replaced with HDMI The only connectors on the back of a PC that are not obsolete are Power, USB, Network, and HDMI. Well we still need the audio.
The "Communications Act 2003" and the "Computer Misuse Act" are responses to people breaking into computer systems. Although they appear to be modern legeslation, it apeears they don't really address the situations of public access to web servers and unsecured WAPs. From a technical point of view, using unsecured WAP is certainly not unauthourised access: The WAP broadcasts it's existence using standard protocols, and accepts connections without question. This handshaking is even more inviting than your average webpage, where the end user has to know the url in advance before connecting to it. It is a shame that configuring a secured WAP is too difficult a task for many people, though I imagine it would still be easier than prosecuting an unsuspecting user of the unsecured WAP in court.
I don't know how this guy Joe Lopez in Florida managed to get a keylogger installed on his machine, (Probably installed some warez or porn) but I would hardly classify him as a rube for having lost his banking information to some cracker in Latvia. When my credit card company notices spending on my card in a city 1000 KM away, they call me. Is it too much to ask a bank to do the same if an unusual transaction is being attempted from my bank account? Joe apperently did transfer money to South America regularly (hmm a name like Lopez... go figure) but you would think a single transaction to latvia would raise a flag somewhere.
It has been said that the biggest competiors to Windows XP are ealier versions of windows. That said, I would safely assume that most PC's will continue to run versions of windows that predate Vista. These machines will need constantly updated antivirus and antispyware programs. So why worry?
Well in Canada it isn't ileagal to download material protected by copywite - it is only ileagle to offer such warez for others to download. Of course bittorrent muddies the water by resharing the parts of the file you have just downloaded, ensuring that by using bittorent you are invact breaking the law (if you are dealing with files which you have not recieved permission to share). How protected is a file fragment under copyright?