In an earlier post, I remarked how modern technology let me inexpensively enjoy stuff. It made me think about getting a new PC to replace my existing one at home (let's just say for home I have to keep track of EPA coal emissions rules and I use coffee cans for the sounder).
So today I asked my co-workers for recommendations to buy a new PC; that is, what specs and features should it have. Ads for desktops seem to range from $300 to $1,000.
I also discussed speed. With a new machine I'll sign up for DSL or even FIOS.
But then I found out the downside. My speed won't increase that much because of the need for a firewall and virus protection. Everything coming across the line, including today's constant java applets, must be carefully checked for virus and spyware infestation. That slows stuff down greatly.
I must admit I'm very frustrated. And very offended.
How much effort do the "powers that be" spend on tracking down and imprisoning saboteurs of the Internet? Considering the flood of viruses and spyware out there, I don't think very much time at all.
How much effort does the technical people who define the Internet's data exchange protocols put into developing indelible "return addresses" and "postmarks" so as to track the source of sabotage and harassment?
(As an aside, some of this effort may reduce spam as well.)
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How much 'time and effort' do the powers that be and the technical people spend developing 'fool proof' addresses and 'postmarks'? Oh, about as much time as Southwestern Bell spends making sure caller-id is foolproof; namely little or no time at all. When a spokesperson for the chairman's office at SBC told me once that "if we deliver caller-id to you on a call which shows the calling number as 111-111-1111 and the name of the caller as 'anonymous' we have done our job" I knew right then I had to get away from SBC's "services" as quickly as I could. What I find so absolutely amazing is that the computer network equivilent to the SBC chairman's office (ICANN) _could_ -- if they chose to do so, clamp down heavily and hard on all the nonsense we see in a day's time here. But the joke is, they do not wish to do it. ICANN mainly ignores the average, everyday users of the net. PAT]