Journal: I'm not pro-Microsoft, I'm anti-Idiot.

Wow, I have a journal space? cool.

I'm glad you poked in here, whoever you are. Let me make your visit here worth while.

I tend to post somewhat pro-Microsoft comments, not so much because I'm pro-Microsoft, but because I'm anti-idiot. I run a small consulting business and all of its clients run some form of Windows, and I've done this for ten years now. So I'd like to think I know what I'm doing.

I've seen most everything that happens to hapless Windows users but once in a while something surprises me, like the Messenger pop-ups, and I shift my approach. For example, it wasn't until those started happening that I began recommending hardware firewalls, because disabling NetBIOS over TCP/IP was enough. With Win2K and XP no longer depending on NetBIOS, that wasn't an option anymore. That shift proved invaluable when Blaster & Welchia hit, because folks who were blocking Messenger pop-ups were already safe from them.

I don't patch every time Microsoft releases an update, because my approaches tend to catch problems like that before the fact. I can then relax until the next Service Pack comes out before harassing clients to do their patching. I also rely on as much built-in stuff as I can, like running programs as a restricted user instead of as Administrator - after all no one runs their apps as root, right? - and my clients do the same thing.

Every computer system has vulnerabilities, and they all get fixed as they're discovered. The best I can do is try to catch problems before the fact.

You can learn about my consulting business at my web site. And hey, if you have to deal with idiots running Windows and want to save them from themselves, give me a call.