The JPEG image security flaw in Windows that Microsoft recently announced is starting to appear in the wild. TheInq has a story about a new variant that is spreading or attempting to spread via AOL Instant Chat software.

The next bit, also from TheInq, is that apparently there are loads of people out there using Windows that have no idea that they are infected by virus’s, worms or Trojans. It really goes to show that computing on Windows has been marketed as being so easy that most people don’t even know that they need to protect themselves. That’s a real shame, because nowadays it need not even cost you money to protect yourself. ClamWin is a totally free Open Source anti-virus application for Windows, and in my tests, it has been remarkably stable, fast and effective.

Lastly, we have this article, in which Tim Berners-Lee, one of the guys largely credited with what we now call the Internet says something most smart people who don’t work for big software corporations have been saying for some time. That software patents hurt innovation and lock the little guys out of the game. Look at it this way. Where would Microsoft be, if they had to pay big license fee’s for technology based on TCP/IP? (TCP/IP is the protocol that is responsible for the web, and also for a good deal of internal networks as well.)

The pioneers like Mr Berners-Lee created something that has been of benefit to the whole of humankind, and yet none of them that I am aware of, have a 45 billion dollar personal fortune. Unlike a certain someone who has benefited directly and greatly from the work of these pioneers. And this same certain someone’s company recently couldn’t let go of the almighty dollar for long enough to help rid the world of SPAM. Let us all hope and pray that the next generation of pioneers do not work for this certain company.

Regards

Franki

This article was posted on Thursday, September 30th, 2004 at 12:36 pm