"system.what? system.ini is gone for more than a decade now."

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\ -> shell (REG_SZ, create if needed).

Default is explorer.exe but you can replace it with any executable you want. (Have not tested this personally since the XP days, but the key is still there in Win7).

"I have not seen any viable shell replacement for Windows in the last couple of years, only half-baked unfinished solutions so far."

True enough.

http://www.cs.unm.edu/~dlchao/flake/doom/chi/chi.html

I agree completely with your conclusion, but this statement is misleading:

"background radiation (e.g. previous nuclear tests)"

Only about 3% of the background radiation originates from man made sources like medical radiation, nuclear testings and power stations.

Almost all of it is from naturally occurring sources like radioactive minerals in the earth crusts, the sun or cosmic rays.

The security is not any better for you, it is better for your corporate masters.

You see, they get to have complete 100% control on what you can or cannot do with the device. Event to the point of remote wipe if you loose the phone or decide to quit withouts giving it back.

That is the big difference and what they mean by "better security".

+1 Insightful

Do you happen to have the IP address for that server? I cannot even get blender.org to dns resolve anymore. I tried with several dns servers in different networks so I do not think it is a problem on my end :(

But by Vulcan standard he is barely middle-aged ;)

Were the phone and the service sold as separate deals? I think that might be an important point.

Many places in the world iPhones are only sold as a bundled device with a service plan from a specific provider and the phone and service can be seen as 'one product'.

I do not know if that is the case here, but in such a case it does not seem fair that the customer is charged for traffic he did not initiate. The provider who sold him the phone + service plan should be responsible for the behavior of the product as a whole.

Of course, if you buy the phone and service separately I guess you'll be on your own.

Disclaimer: IANAL and this post just reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the matter.

Has anyone tried compiling the silence using whitespace [dur.ac.uk]?

Argh, thanks for telling, now how do I get this Russian super-virus out of my computer again? :(

:)

+1 Funny