Forgot your password?

typodupeerror

Comment: Re:You canadians need a regulator with some teeth (Score 1) 238

by Hobb3s (#27602115) Attached to: Bell Proposing Usage-Based Billing
Oh how I wish I could get another internet provider. I live in the middle (literally) of a major Canadian city (Ottawa) and my options for high speed internet access (anything above 'Lite') requires the purchasing of cable internet. Which is supplied by only one cable company, Rogers. Who then traffic shapes and caps the hell out of the connection. Sure I can download at 8Mbps but my cap space runs out in under 48hrs if I do that. Try seeding a linux distro back to the community, nope sorry that is traffic shaped, no seeding. Not to mention like clock work every year or less I get a notice in the mail that prices are going up on my tv and internet because of all the great service they're providing me... which really, hasn't changed at all. So I'm now paying more for the same level of service that I've had for the last 5 yrs... and next year.. I'll pay more. They say, it's not a monopoly, you have options.. yeah, if I pay to get fiber strung to my house from an independent ISP at $200 a foot, or use my phone line with a 56k modem. End rant.
Spam

The environmental OS

Submitted by Bltann
Bltann writes "I read around the net about the environment and computers.
Greenpeace comes to mind...

What about the environment and power consumtion due to software?

Behind this tought is my experience and observation of the problem of spam.
Today, spam represent about 80-90% of all mail traffic on the net(Yes, that much!)
Most of the spam is polluting our mailbox from botnets, compromized computers that is remote controlled by hackers and spammers.

- This means that most of us have to run additional power consuming software on our computers to avoid this menace, wasting more cpu cycles and thus demanding a faster computer (anti- spyware, virus and spam).
- For compromized pcs they waste cpu and power on sending out spam and other malacious tasks.
- Server farms run huge arrays of computers dedicated to this problem due to customer demand for filtering of spam and viruses.
- Botnets consists of millions of computers worldwide

This represent a huge worldwide power consumption.

There are several reasons for these problems but the unbeatable combination of weak security in software (os and apps) and the ocational stupid end user (making a market for spam by answering) leaves a lot to be desired.

Now there is not much to do about the ocational stupid end user, but the first line of security, the os could be considered.

Point is that the operation systems should be considered on worldwide average wasted power consumption.
Most infected systems in the botnets run Microsoft Windows of some sort representing the main reason for this problem.
(These pcs are actualy wasting everyones powerbill)

Rating desktop operating systems based on potential wasted power consumption worldwide would possibly place Windows on top (top waster) followed by Mac os X and Linux on third.
The gap between the first an the two latter should be huge.

Just a tought -what is yours?"

What ever happened to happily ever after?

Working...