It also uses (i believe) 4 windows specific 0 day hacks. Usually a 'common' virus writer uses only one, because you can use the other 3 to make 3 more viruses. It really shows these people REALLY wanted this to work. and for it to infect as many systems as it could before caught and stopped. Siemens can sell to whomever they want. Iran can use those controllers for making plush teddy bears just as easily as for nuclear refinement. And the command/control servers for the virus were taken offline a while ago, so no-one holds the keys to deactivating virus anymore.

Everyone is pretty sure Stuxnet was targeting Iranian nuclear centrifuges, it was a well build virus that did its creators job well. The team who created it did their research, and figured this was the best stab at slowing the Iranian nuclear processing. Just goes to show good planning/funds and smart programmers can do significant damage to some secure facilities.

Allow me to be one of the 'younger folk'. I agree that it can get damn annoying sometimes, flash advertisements and popup-spam come to mind. But in the end making, hosting, and maintaining a website does cost money. And no service is free. Instead of paying with your money, you pay for websites with your attention. If the 'cost' of privacy violation is too high (facebook), I wont participate. However if the service provided is useful and the adds/privacy isn't too bad (Google, Slashdot, etc.) I'll participate. I think the Canonical COO has a point, we as end consumers don't usually think about the people who have to fund the hardware that makes the web possible. I certainly hope their is some money to be made in the computer industry, or all this money I paid for college will be moot.

"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record." ~ 1984 by George Orwell

Its great to see that Open Source applications are being reconized by Microsoft. I just hope people don't take these certifications too seriously. I don't have experience in an enterprise setting, but do companies not use a certain software because its not certified my Microsoft? I would assume that the software that best suits your needs would be chosen, not the one that has the title of "Microsoft Certified" because it happened to be tested by third-party tests.

And Naivete and paranoia and lots of money is a profitable business venture.

That would never work! By the time the senate decides if were getting Marco's or Little Caesars and how much pepperoni they want on their half, we will all be dead of old age.