Symantec Security Response has an excellent video about Backdoor.Ghostnet on their youtube channel.

I think the message here is that if you don't practice safe computing, the tools exist that empower just about anyone to pwn you

Except for the fact that it forces consumers to spend more... how can you get more consumer than spending more :P ...

I agree with the parent. My TV is only a few years old and it doesn't have a digital in (or out), there is no legitimate reason to deem a few hundred dollar purchase worthless. I didn't expect to purchase another TV for another 10 years.

This is a fine example of why a consumer society doesn't work.

and blimps don't have to move around to stay a'float

I'm an Insulin dependent Type 2 Diabetic... While I have the ability to match insulin with sugar intake, I agree with the parent comment,"I would never volunteer for this study". Asking a Diabetic to eat chocolate is just wrong! If I were able to maintain my glucose levels without insulin, I surely couldn't do it while eating candy.

SEP is the best protection you can buy and comes with excellent support. The higher price pays off in the time that you don't have to spend to administer your security (or remove threats). Regardless of the security solution you chose: keep all software patched and up to date, secure your shares, kill auto-run, firewall the perimeter of your network, and please don't give your users admin access ... ---- Q: how much damage could any threat do? A: none if you're patched ;)

the message I got from Finding Nemo was that sometimes overprotective parenting pays off...

This MS thing is a marketing ploy...This is nothing new. Windows has been on the EEE PC for a long time. I own an EEE 1000h, that I bought 2nd hand only because it was a good deal. When I was looking at netbooks, I didn't much consider the EEE because I wanted to support someone selling a PC with a native Ubuntu install. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my EEE. It came with Windows, which, of course, didn't last more than a few days. Fact is, if I would have bought it new, it would have came with Windows for the resale value. I'm not a fan of Xandros, I much prefer Ubuntu. Asus really should consider a deal with Conical if they really want to help the Linux community.

I disagree... Make sure to pay your windows tax and ensure that you have a reinstall CD so you get a better resale value

I agree. Laptop w/ broken screen == portable desktop (just add screen)

your hypothetical child better be very far in the future or a mistake, 'cause you obviously have some growing up to do

I agree, I don't think that anything that leads to the loosening of rules that govern the information that Experian holds on all of us is a good idea.

word of mouth = marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_mouth

Britannica is known as a hard copy encyclopedia. The type of resource that you go to the library for. Wikipedia has marketed itself as the online leader for encyclopedia type lookup... Wikipedia is what people want (thus higher page rankings on Google). Britannica has a long way to go in changing the way people look at them before they will be competitors on the web. they should have started this long ago if they wanted to establish a presence.

I AM a parent and grandparent ... I compleatly promote children starting out on a computer at around the age of 2 ... my children started playing on the computer at 2, my grandchild is fastly approaching 2 and she is starting to get on the computer... age appropriate activitys start with teaching point/click and interaction ...

Don't get me wrong, I don't set them down and say, "go at it, find whatever you can." .. as I said age appropriate material (Putt-Putt, Freddie Fish, Pajama Sam, etc.), on top of that, toddler computer time must include an adult for at least the first year or 2 ...

my 11 year old knows at least as much about computers than the average adult, and is starting to wright code...