Comment Re:calm yer asses down (Score 1) 784
Exactly why they should have been allowed to fail
1 In 3 Windows PCs Still Vulnerable To Worm Attack 242
CWmike writes "The worm that has infected several million Windows PCs, Downadup or 'Conficker,' is having a field day because nearly a third of all systems remain unpatched 80 days after Microsoft rolled out an emergency fix, security firm Qualys said. Downadup surged dramatically this week and has infected an estimated 3.5 million PCs so far, according to Finnish security company F-Secure Corp. The worm exploits a bug in the Windows Server service used in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Server 2003, and Server 2008. Qualys' CTO said, 'These slow [corporate] patch cycles are simply not acceptable. They lead directly to these high infection rates.'" This is indicative of why some are calling for Microsoft to rethink Patch Tuesday, as reader buzzardsbay pointed out.
The Quietest Sun 227
Orbity sends in a Boston Globe report on the unusual calm on the surface of the sun. The photos, many taken in more active solar times, are excellent — see the sequence from last year of a coronal mass ejection carrying away the tail of a comet. "The Sun is now in the quietest phase of its 11-year activity cycle, the solar minimum — in fact, it has been unusually quiet this year — with over 200 days so far with no observed sunspots. The solar wind has also dropped to its lowest levels in 50 years. Scientists are unsure of the significance of this unusual calm..." As if to be contrary, New Scientist mentions that the number of sunspots seem to be increasing.
Comment Re:"Overprotectionism" (Score 1) 489
Just out of curiosity, do you have kids? What you are saying is exactly what I hear from people who do not have kids of their own. When I became a parent, my philosophies on just about everything changed and I became very protective of them - this includes when they got online. They are 16 and 18 now and are very well adjusted even if I did monitor their usage and filtered their online experience.
