WebAnnoyances.com is back, better than ever, with lots of extra useful info. I’ve now redesigned the look of the site too, and fixed outdated stuff and broken links.  Hope you like the new-look site - drop me an e-mail using the Contact link in the menu above if you have any comments.

I have a dream…

If everyone stopped using Microsoft software, then the number of security problems, spam,  viruses and other malware;  wasted business downtime and loss of productivity we have to put up with - which many people accept as a way of life - would plummet overnight.  In this current “economic crisis”, I wonder what the true cost of using Windows really is.  What could the world do with all the time and money saved?   Many schools and governments, especially in developing countries, are realizing this and converting to Linux or Macs.  

I don’t hate Windows, but…

I used to have a Windows 2000 laptop, and quite liked it - but then I know how to look after a PC.  But Windows has become slower and more clunky with each new revision.  Like a beached whale, it’s an easy target.  I’m sure any fair-minded technical person will tell you that Windows “home” versions are a bit rubbish, lacking many of the much-hyped new features.

Take Windows XP  (no really, take Windows XP, please).  It’s slow and annoying;  early versions were about as secure as a leaky sieve;  and it has a garish cartoony blue interface, which I turn off whenever I have to use XP for any great length of time.  Then there’s the irritating “you’ve just plugged in something” messages and alert sounds.

To be fair, Microsoft did try to make Windows Vista better.  And its interface does look nicer, and it is more secure if you don’t click “Allow” every time it shows a security prompt like most people do. But Vista is even slower and more bloated, and is infested with anti-consumer DRM technology, hindering you from playing “protected” music and videos on “unsecured” displays.  Businesses and home users haven’t exactly rushed out to upgrade to Vista - about the only people who use it are people who just walk into a computer shop and buy the first computer they see.

Don’t let that be you. Remember you have a choice when it comes to buying a computer, and I don’t just mean a Sony laptop running Vista vs a Dell laptop running Vista. That is no choice at all. Visit an Apple store and see the difference.

As of yesterday (Monday 6th April), ISPs in the UK - e.g. Virgin Media and BT - are mandated to keep logs of every e-mail sent or received, every web page visited, and Internet telephone call made.  The upshot is the government will know who you contact, who contacts you, and what information you access online.  However they’re not storing the actual content of the web pages you visit. Not yet anyway.  But why, and what can you do about it?

The government’s plan is to create a central communications database, on which they can run automatic searches for “terrorists” or anyone they don’t like.  More info in this BBC news article. 

Apart from privacy implications and the fact most UK government IT projects don’t work too well (remember the millions of people’s personal data they lost last year),  there’s the sheer waste of YOUR money if you’re a UK taxpayer.  Money which the government doesn’t really have to spare right now.

What can you do about it?  Well, you could choose now as a time to leave the UK - and there are many other reasons to do that at the moment.  Here’s a few other, more practical, ideas:
1) The political route:  Write to your local MP and/or start a petition protesting it.  Good luck with that.
2) The technological route:  Don’t use the e-mail account your ISP gave you - use a web-based e-mail account like Yahoo Mail.  Second, use a free anonymous browsing service like Tor - check it out.  If enough ordinary people do that, it’ll make the government database plans pointless. Even more pointless than they already are, I mean.

This week marked the 10th anniversary (26th March) of the first major Internet-aware PC virus (worm), called Melissa.  This in the same week that a leaked memo from the UK government shows they’re suffering from Conficker, the latest and greatest worm to hit Windows computers.  For more information on worms, see Viruses and Malware - how to stop them.

Conficker has a few extra-special tricks up its sleeve:  it spreads to other PCs over internal company networks — so if one person in your office gets it the rest of you catch it too, a bit like the common cold. Conficker copies itself onto any attached USB memory sticks, hard drives, MP3 players, etc;  which then automatically infect the next Windows PC you plug them into, thanks to an old Microsoft feature called autorun.  As at time of writing, it’s estimated nine million PCs are infected with a variant of Conficker.

Times change, but virus outbreaks still happen.  Why?  Security systems still have flaws, or people disregard them.  But what can you do?  If you’re using Windows, here’s a quick list.  If not, you don't need to worry this time - just shrug and get on with your work, as normal.