Which program would you rather run on your network? One with code that got corrupted at random, or one that had a change made by software developers?

I think we worry too much about the folly of man. We interact with nature all the time. We've created new organisms by breeding, moved them out of their natural habitat into other areas without any thought of consequences, and things are mostly fine. There are a lot of rabbits in Australia, and a lot of pythons in Florida, sure, but we have done an awful lot of good by tinkering with nature and our food supply. Now that we have a better understanding of genetics, why panic when applying it?

Seems to me they could have cleared up any communication issue with the very device the customer was buying.

The PS/2 connector predates NeXT computers by a year, according to Wikipedia.

You missed the part where I said 'automated'.

Imagine a whitelist that checks with a central repository that reputable software manufacturers send their updates to. Even with updates, checking the software you regularly run is now a simpler problem then comparing everything you run to a list of all the malware in existence.

Malware continues to be successful despite our current efforts. Why do we continue to use the same failed security model? Automated white listing seems like a better answer to modern security problems.

The Cybertool series from Victorinox has been a great addition to my kit for years. Sometimes it does better than dedicated tools. Model 29 is small an light enough to have in your pocket for daily use. Much lighter than the Leatherman, it is more tuned for tech use than outdoors.

http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Cybertool-Pocket-Knife/dp/B00005ML8H/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354234788&sr=8-1&keywords=cybertool+29

Secure in our papers and effects. When written, this included all private communications. Simply because we use electrons instead of ink and paper doesn't mean we lose the protection of the 4th amendment.

Less than one third his age.

No scientist claims to always be right. This core tenet is what makes science superior to religion.

Cuckoo's Egg is good computer fiction you might enjoy.

For non-preachy hard sci-fi Charles Stress has some post singularity books that are pretty great.

Don't use IE, and whichever browser to do use, install Flashblock.

Also, get an installer from ninite.com for Flash, Reader, and Java. Set it to run every day.

The separation of church and state is the best way to protect people of all beliefs, and none, yet it is often misunderstood or even vilified.

How can we best work to promote the separation of church and state without being misinterpreted as an attack on faith?

Not entirely fair. It's certainly a terrible attempt at a Starship Troopers movie, however when I mentally rename it to "Bugs From Space" and ignore the sound of Heinlein spinning in his grave, it becomes a lot more enjoyable. The effects are decent, it has a good sense of humor, a lovely redhead, and Neil Patrick Harris

None of this should be needed.

Microsoft should just allow third party critical updates through Windows Update. Flash, Reader, and Java flaws account for most of the malware installs, and most users are bad at keeping these things up to date. Running a stack of update utilities is irritating to advanced users and confusing to novice users. All this does is make the malware industry happy.

The methods the malware industry commonly use. If you can't run the patched version of Flash, you can visit a legitimate website and get attacked by an infected advertising server. Easily.