Everyone is always just a few clicks away from being caught in a phishing scam. In fact, wouldn't it be closer to say that everyone is just one click away (the link from their email)?

Some of us still use console based email clients (yay pine) so we're actually a a long, painful process involving config files and remembering how to start firefox on the local machine instead of the remote one along with a few clicks away from these scams. Usually by that point I don't even care what the link is anymore so no threat of clicking it.

I think we should call this 'security through frustration.'.

I'm not sure I understand the overwhelmingly negative reaction to javascript in pdf files. I realize that there is a danger in allowing executable content in files (and it is arguable whether or not the danger is worth it) but I do not understand why so many people don't seem to understand that there are at least possible benefits to it.

I used to make slides for talks using LaTeX. There are great ways to include animations directly in the pdf that use javascript. I always had far less trouble getting my animations to play than other people at conferences I went to because acrobat reader was all I needed and it is nearly always there. And for the record, the animations were things I really needed since they showed output from simulations.

I've also seen lots of forms that do some math or validation. How do people think that happens?

Again, I think we need to be very careful about executable code but that doesn't mean there are no possible good uses for it.