There are about a dozen top-shelf internet security suites for Windows. The general consensus is that running an unprotected computer is like draining the oil from your engine and then going for a cross-country drive.
You know how people break their Windows machines? Downloading pirated content and opening up suspicious emails.
You wouldn't drive a car for 2 years without getting an oil change, would you? It's called responsible computing and is about as easy as basic car ownership.
@OMG! Ponies!: So first you say to fix a mac problem install windows, and then you clearly state that windows is plauged by the same problems? "You know how people break their Windows machines? Downloading pirated content...".
@Bryan Valentine: Saying Windows is "plagued" by virus problems because people can't be bothered to run antivirus software is like saying that cars are "plagued" by breakdown problems because people can't be bothered to get an oil change.
@OMG! Ponies!: Yea, I usually agree with what you say but not this time. Clearly there are security flaws with both OSes and both have anti-virus software made for them. I run Norton on my laptop.
Unless your original comment was a joke... lol. If someone on a Windows related post said GET A MAC, you'd have 34 consecutive posts with the word "fanboi" in it.
@William Gu: Hence the humor. But the point still stands - viruses are about as big a problem for computers as for humans. Wear a rubber.
And stop running Norton. Seriously, Norton is crap. As is McAfee. Just because your computer came with a 6 month trial doesn't mean you shouldn't buy your own.
I stopped running anti-virus on my PC completely actually by the way. Its been a year and it hasn't found a single infected file. My Mac has been problemless as well.
The REAL responsible choice would be to purchase the software/music/movies instead of downloading them in a torrent.
@Daniel Mowchan: As stated, those are two of the worst suites out there for the PC. Norton has the distinction of crashing Windows for over 15 years. Whether it's Norton Desktop for Windows 3.11 for Workgroups or Norton Disk Doctor for Windows 95 or any other yellow box of FAIL, if it's Norton it will BSOD your Windows box.
Further, when the government demanded decryption keys from all the major internet security companies, Norton/Symantec happily handed them over.
McAfee, like Norton, is poorly coded and bulkier than necessary. You have to consider how these companies get their money - by paying to be preinstalled on machines. Both are the lead trialware offenders that people bitch about. Many users don't know any better and just renew subscriptions when they would be better served finding better coded and more secure suites.
It's easy to find good stuff out there. In fact, using the Google Box, I typed "Lifehacker Internet Security" and found Comodo, reviewed about 3 months ago. It's freeware, highly regarded, and got good reviews from a knowledgeable audience. I'll try it out tonight as right now, I just rely on the built-in Windows Firewall and the hardware firewall in my router.
Logan: I don't know what happened with your machine. I never had a problem with a Windows install since XP. I keep the automatic updater on, use the built-in firewall, always run internet security, avoid downloading pirated software, back up my user files regularly, and do a fresh install once or twice a year. I stay away from ActiveX and use Firefox almost exclusively. I also don't tinker with the registry.
The metaphor stands - treat your computer like you'd treat your car. If you can get your oil changed and tires rotated, you can do an annual reinstall. If you can check your fluids, you can run Windows Update. Good computer maintenance isn't hard.
@OMG! Ponies!: Ha! I set off a storm of trojans when i installed acrobat 9 in windows 7 the other day. AVG free caught some, but who knows if it got all of them.
Terminal newbies: Be very careful when entering those commands. If you add an extra space in the wrong place, you can easily erase your entire hard drive. No lie.
@Samuel B Sandoval: TIME MACHINE! I did that last year with my old MBP (but that was because it was really fucked up) and somehow I ended up deleting EVERYTHING. Time Machine saved my ass.
Yeah, but Time Machine does a great job of restoring those trojans to perfect status too. (I know, I know... If you knew Windows you'd know that removing a virus/trojan can be difficult because you have to delete your "system restore" data.)
SJ may have bailed on Macworld when it became obvious that there was no real ZOMG to announce. In this case, the health thing might have been a fig leaf for no big announcement. Hauling out SJ to announce a new keyboard shortcut for "Save As" in iPhoto, or whatever it is that they announced, would have drawn more attention to the non-event.
Anyway, sort of looking forward to CES as I'm interested in a couple of gadget purchases this year as my personal way of resisting the financiapocolypse.
Crap, CES coverage? WHY?!?! I come to this site for gadget and electronic coverage, not your rabid CES-fanboyism! Give me what this site is about; Gadgets and electronics!!! Is there anyway to avoid CES coverage? I tried using your "special" RSS feed, but it's no good b/c two stories were mis-tagged and I had to look at their abstract before NOT clicking on it. WTF?
I think SJ purposely pulled from the presentation because there was nothing that big to present. It would have been more of a let down from the big SJ.
From the point of view of reading a liveblog, it doesn't really matter. What matters is the text generated by the person liveblogging, not the guy on stage they're paraphrasing and commenting on.
After all the reader is reading the liveblogger, not the eggplant on stage.
@novacthall: What that doesn't mention are a few key omissions.
1. You'll never get banned if you have over 30 friends or 100 followers. I have seen starred commenters say some outlandish comments, and nothing. However, I've also seen some minor infractions from run of the mill commenters, and the banhammer was dropped.
2. If you're a woman, you could pretty much recite the verses of Mein Kampf, and expect nothing.
3. In the same breathe as number two...if you disagree with a woman commenter, and you pwn her, you will be banned. I won't call out names, but I pointed out that a female commenter didn't know what she was talking about. She cried to Brian Lam, and bam, I got banned. This is what I like to call the White Knight effect. It is also why I will never respond to female posters, and sadly, never respect what they say. I don't pull the race card, I would expect the same from you.
4. Disagreeing or critiquing of the story posted, yeah, that'll get you banned. This one I'm not picky about. If a story doesn't interest me, I move on, simple as that. Complaining about someone's work is just bad blogging etiquette.
5. High school rules. I've been banned around 5 times, and all of them from Gizmodo. Never from Lifehacker, Gawker, Consumerist, Deadspin, Valleywag, or Jezebel. The blogs where most adults frequent. Sometimes, you'll run into situations where it's a high school politico, and you'll be banned because you offended a certain clique.
I'm sure there's a few more, and I'm sure this will be my sixth banning. So, oh well.
@DeadhousepIants: For someone who is so set on arguing across the comments, it would help if you had your facts straight.
1) Yes they do. Seen it happen on more than one occasion. Seen it happen on Gawker, Deadspin, and at least three times on Gizmodo. In fact, one of the first commenters "enshrined" in the Commenter Hall of Fame (or whatever you want to call it) was banned.
2) Aware of at least two female commenters that have been banned and a third that was nearly run out of dodge by the editorial staff.
3) If you go around trying to "pwn" anyone, that attitude is likely what gets you banned. Banter is kosher. Douchebag "pwn"ing eventually gets you banned.
4) While I agree it's bad blogging etiquette, it usually takes more than just disagreement. It usually takes infantile, out of place, idiotic, pointless, vomitous disagreement. Like "Adam you suck because you wrote this, and you only wrote it because you would clean Art's shoes if he let you" but with more capital letters and typos.
5) Maybe you just behave yourself better on those other sites because you perceive there to be more adults there. Because this "adult" (who also frequents those other blogs) has noticed you, Jon B., and I'm the King go back and forth all day. Never seen any of you before, and wouldn't shed a tear if I never did again.
I think we need to change the "Steve LET Phil do the keynote" statements of a couple weeks ago to "Steve MADE Phil do the keynote." Obviously Steve's health isn't so hot, but I doubt he would have been thrilled with this keynote even in the best of health. Phil gets his coming out party, and has to announce some neat though mild software upgrades and a new-but-hardly-revolutionary Macbook update. D'oh.
I was hoping for a price cut on the iPod Touch. I figured this might be in the works, since my wife went to CostCo to look at them yesterday, and they had no inventory at all--I was thinking they might either cut $50 off the price of each, or introduce a new 64GB, drop the 8GB, and restructure the price points. Ah well.
As a side note, I gotta give them props for the Mac Box set pictured here. Good price for all three and much easier to describe to the non-smart people who come by here....
I can't find any mention of the subscription info at Apple's product page. I could just be blind, but any help? Why would they sell a product now and then announce, "Hey by the way, there is a subscription fee of $99 a year to continue using this product....."
Unless of course it's optional and not in addition to the package in which case why not include it with current subscribers of MobileMe (I still have 10 months free left on my account!).
ARGGGHHHH! I still love old Apple, I still love old Apple. Everything's gonna be OOOK.... everything's just gonna be hunky dory...
There goes that, I was planning on ordering a new 24" iMac with boosted graphics performance...In all, not too shabby Apple. I'm thinking we might see an Apple only event that is planning on attracting the MacWorld fan base. Something Apple can call their own, so that they have full control. I think this is what they have been aiming for all along. Think about it, how many probable products did not come out that very possibly will be introduced? (Revised iMac and Mac Mini, as well as the Snow Leopard news) I'm thinking they have some big things planned for a show of their own. Possibly an iPhone Nano, or NetMac? Something that would generate a lot of press, much like: "Steven Jobs introduced the new iPhone Nano today in a new type of Apple event he says will be around for awhile, he calls it AppleWorld (some sort of equivalent)."
@Auzburner: Yeah, if they have something super cool to release, they may try to wait until Steve returns to fighting form, and then have him pop out and talk about it. It would be double the normal press since the product would be linked to Steve looking super healthy again, etc.
01/23/09
01/23/09
01/23/09
01/23/09
Sorry, but it had to be said.
01/23/09
01/23/09
01/23/09
The real fix is to stop pirating and installing pirated software, whether it be Windows or Mac versions.
01/23/09
There are about a dozen top-shelf internet security suites for Windows. The general consensus is that running an unprotected computer is like draining the oil from your engine and then going for a cross-country drive.
You know how people break their Windows machines? Downloading pirated content and opening up suspicious emails.
You wouldn't drive a car for 2 years without getting an oil change, would you? It's called responsible computing and is about as easy as basic car ownership.
01/23/09
01/23/09
01/23/09
Unless your original comment was a joke... lol. If someone on a Windows related post said GET A MAC, you'd have 34 consecutive posts with the word "fanboi" in it.
01/23/09
And stop running Norton. Seriously, Norton is crap. As is McAfee. Just because your computer came with a 6 month trial doesn't mean you shouldn't buy your own.
01/23/09
01/23/09
[www.symantec.com]
[www.mcafee.com]
I stopped running anti-virus on my PC completely actually by the way. Its been a year and it hasn't found a single infected file. My Mac has been problemless as well.
The REAL responsible choice would be to purchase the software/music/movies instead of downloading them in a torrent.
01/23/09
Further, when the government demanded decryption keys from all the major internet security companies, Norton/Symantec happily handed them over.
McAfee, like Norton, is poorly coded and bulkier than necessary. You have to consider how these companies get their money - by paying to be preinstalled on machines. Both are the lead trialware offenders that people bitch about. Many users don't know any better and just renew subscriptions when they would be better served finding better coded and more secure suites.
It's easy to find good stuff out there. In fact, using the Google Box, I typed "Lifehacker Internet Security" and found Comodo, reviewed about 3 months ago. It's freeware, highly regarded, and got good reviews from a knowledgeable audience. I'll try it out tonight as right now, I just rely on the built-in Windows Firewall and the hardware firewall in my router.
Logan: I don't know what happened with your machine. I never had a problem with a Windows install since XP. I keep the automatic updater on, use the built-in firewall, always run internet security, avoid downloading pirated software, back up my user files regularly, and do a fresh install once or twice a year. I stay away from ActiveX and use Firefox almost exclusively. I also don't tinker with the registry.
The metaphor stands - treat your computer like you'd treat your car. If you can get your oil changed and tires rotated, you can do an annual reinstall. If you can check your fluids, you can run Windows Update. Good computer maintenance isn't hard.
01/24/09
01/24/09
01/23/09
01/23/09
01/23/09
01/23/09
Yeah, but Time Machine does a great job of restoring those trojans to perfect status too. (I know, I know... If you knew Windows you'd know that removing a virus/trojan can be difficult because you have to delete your "system restore" data.)
01/07/09
Anyway, sort of looking forward to CES as I'm interested in a couple of gadget purchases this year as my personal way of resisting the financiapocolypse.
01/07/09
/sarcasm
01/06/09
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way to Cupertino
To the sweetest Mac I know!
Goodbye removable battery,
Farewell Steven Jobs!
It's a long, long way to Cupertino,
But my heart's right (I need a rhyme for Jobs).
01/07/09
01/07/09
01/06/09
From the point of view of reading a liveblog, it doesn't really matter. What matters is the text generated by the person liveblogging, not the guy on stage they're paraphrasing and commenting on.
After all the reader is reading the liveblogger, not the eggplant on stage.
01/06/09
Shame on you, Windows boy! :-) :-) :-)
01/06/09
01/06/09
01/06/09
01/06/09
Whr th fck s th 9" MC TBLT BTCH?
01/06/09
01/06/09
Oh and I'll have two grilled chicken pita with diet coke.
01/06/09
01/06/09
1. You'll never get banned if you have over 30 friends or 100 followers. I have seen starred commenters say some outlandish comments, and nothing. However, I've also seen some minor infractions from run of the mill commenters, and the banhammer was dropped.
2. If you're a woman, you could pretty much recite the verses of Mein Kampf, and expect nothing.
3. In the same breathe as number two...if you disagree with a woman commenter, and you pwn her, you will be banned. I won't call out names, but I pointed out that a female commenter didn't know what she was talking about. She cried to Brian Lam, and bam, I got banned. This is what I like to call the White Knight effect. It is also why I will never respond to female posters, and sadly, never respect what they say. I don't pull the race card, I would expect the same from you.
4. Disagreeing or critiquing of the story posted, yeah, that'll get you banned. This one I'm not picky about. If a story doesn't interest me, I move on, simple as that. Complaining about someone's work is just bad blogging etiquette.
5. High school rules. I've been banned around 5 times, and all of them from Gizmodo. Never from Lifehacker, Gawker, Consumerist, Deadspin, Valleywag, or Jezebel. The blogs where most adults frequent. Sometimes, you'll run into situations where it's a high school politico, and you'll be banned because you offended a certain clique.
I'm sure there's a few more, and I'm sure this will be my sixth banning. So, oh well.
01/06/09
1) Yes they do. Seen it happen on more than one occasion. Seen it happen on Gawker, Deadspin, and at least three times on Gizmodo. In fact, one of the first commenters "enshrined" in the Commenter Hall of Fame (or whatever you want to call it) was banned.
2) Aware of at least two female commenters that have been banned and a third that was nearly run out of dodge by the editorial staff.
3) If you go around trying to "pwn" anyone, that attitude is likely what gets you banned. Banter is kosher. Douchebag "pwn"ing eventually gets you banned.
4) While I agree it's bad blogging etiquette, it usually takes more than just disagreement. It usually takes infantile, out of place, idiotic, pointless, vomitous disagreement. Like "Adam you suck because you wrote this, and you only wrote it because you would clean Art's shoes if he let you" but with more capital letters and typos.
5) Maybe you just behave yourself better on those other sites because you perceive there to be more adults there. Because this "adult" (who also frequents those other blogs) has noticed you, Jon B., and I'm the King go back and forth all day. Never seen any of you before, and wouldn't shed a tear if I never did again.
01/06/09
01/06/09
01/06/09
01/06/09
Unless of course it's optional and not in addition to the package in which case why not include it with current subscribers of MobileMe (I still have 10 months free left on my account!).
ARGGGHHHH! I still love old Apple, I still love old Apple. Everything's gonna be OOOK.... everything's just gonna be hunky dory...
01/06/09
01/06/09