Well, it seems that Apple’s advertising campaign concerning its ‘superior’ security –aka the impervious Operating System, is slowly being exposed for the real red herring it is.

The facts are, if you build it they will come, including the ones you wish would stay at home...
Apple, not unlike the ancient Romans, is discovering that there are always chinks in armour, and those that study us, learn quickly how to exploit them. Apple has Microsoft to thank for its success, as if it were under the same scrutiny, It would surely be under the radar of considerably many more hackers.

“I learned that if I plugged the system into the wrong outlet in the house, the system would crash every time the refrigerator came on. It also proved unusable when I tried to demonstrate it in my office at a manufacturing plant. Sometimes the "good 'ol days" weren't all that good!”
These are the words of the 13th lucky Altair 8800 personal computer owner. He describes the reliability of the basic system and goes on to explain that although it is a personal computer, it did nothing that you could actually see without an external monitor of some kind (to which he proudly announces that he built on his own using electronic addon components).

Tech head conference Blurb:

look here:

Footy?
Ever wondered how we staysafe kickin the footy to our kids? well listen in here to find out how? Or not...

Access denied

Growing up as a child for me, also meant growing up with dogs. Dogs were fantastic companions for us kids. Whenever boredom struck, we would invent new and exciting ways to annoy the dogs. An example of one such way was to pit both dogs against each other in a tug of war. Any object would do. My sisters barbie dolls were an excellent starter for the war to begin: Rope is more practical but let’s face it, executing barbie is the ultimate form of sibling revenge. (I do love you dearly Heather!)
One thing about dogs, is their uncanny ability to learn new and interesting ways to destroy inanimate objects (such as antique furniture, clothes pegs, towels and exotic hardwood Decking), by way of the super duper canine tooth. In fact, I recall to my horror, one of the trusty family pets handily removing the heels of both my new adidas basketball boots as a teenager. I tried to rescue them, wiping away the slobber to reveal that not only had he removed the heels, but the logos and the tongues as well. Arrrrgh!!!
This brings me back to Alan, who unlike our dogs, has no giant canine teeth or the desire to chew on smelly sneakers; yet seems to learn in a similar way to old Sam the friendly pooch. You see, when Sam was hurt, he always displayed courage. He showed determination and a shot of ingenuity as well. But above all things, Sam was cunning.
Alan is cunning too. What Alan apparently needs, is to be protected from the evil that lurks around every corner, the evil that threatens to consume his every thought and action…Yes people, Alan needs to be protected from Alan. That’s right, Alan’s worst enemy is himself. And just like old Sam the Labrador, we’ve had to put the proverbial ice-cream bucket around his head to stop him from licking his own wounds.
So Phil dives for the phone. In his head he’s thinking “is this guy for real?” “He’s just experimenting” I quickly interjected… No, no, no, no cried Phil into the handpiece. “But what should I do?” whimpered the desperate and sleep deprived voice on the other end. “I’m afraid this time, you must bring it in!” *enter dramatic music*
This implies many things; some of which imply other things too (of which are beyond the scope of this story right now) :But of those things, one thing in particular was for certain (and other things that are implied by this certainty are also certain to be implied)… Security was being called in.

Not the Rottweilers or the dopey, buff dudes in the white SECURITY T-shirts, but… *enter yet more dramatic music* Windows security…
Yep I can hardly believe it, but we have actually had to restrict a customer to a limited user account on his own computer. Of course he understands what this means, and agrees that it is for his own good. In fact it was Alan’s idea to start with, sort of. It all started when he asked “is there any way that you can stop me from stuffing everything up?” Well, numerous things came to mind (yeah they are also out of scope) including the idea of restricting him to a limited user status- which I quickly dismissed as outrageous, thinking that the crime did not fit the punishment, as it were: But Phil was quick to impose the new restrictions. And I must admit, with little thought on the matter, I agreed.
So here was Alan, shiny new PC in hand walking into the store for what was to become an historical moment. Imagine getting a new car… Now imagine that you can only drive it to or from a prearranged location, no spontaneous trips to stave off boredom, no fun-day Sunday drives . Imagine that you can only travel alone (with the sun visor down and all the doors securely locked) and could never break any speed limit, run any red light or fail to give way at any intersection. Sure it would be a very safe trip… But how boring!
I’m sure that some of you know what I mean… Most medium and large businesses now impose such restrictions on their staff. Whether it’s for ‘security’ or in the interest of increased productivity, most of us have restricted access to programs and network related applications such as email and the WWW. Alan now joins you from his home in restricted-user-land.
Like a prisoner inside his own head, he cannot browse to the ends of the ‘Internet Earth.’ Nor can he ever try his hands at becoming a hacker, or even become a victim of a hacker himself (theoretically speaking). This is because Alan’s virtual hands are tied behind his virtual back. Alan can’t delete anything that he did not already put there himself, and worst of all, he is restricted to what he can actually put there in the first place.
It’s like becoming an infant again. He must ask us for permission to install things: He gazes at his screen longingly, like a dog lost in the desert when it sees a tree. He wonders what would happen if he clicked ‘yes’ to install that active x control on ‘www.letmehackyourpc.com’ With a hint of romanticism, he remembers the days when he could empty entire folders with just one key-press. Ah the days! Countless reboots and system crashes have been replaced by the soothing sound of ‘doonk’ followed by that reassuring pop-up message… ‘ACCESS DENIED.’

The final installment in my story about Alan is in regard to a phishing trip on an unchartered website. "You see Alan; pirates do still exist" I explained. "You will encounter pirates whist surfing, and when you do, they will normally be phishing."

With a furrowed brow, Alan struggled to get my meaning: This one really confused him.
"So there are fishermen on the internet who are really pirates?" Uhuh? Right... "Yes!... um... No... Not really, but sort of, yeah." OK, you ever get the feeling that you've just dug a hole that you can't get out of? Well at about this moment, I decided to stop digging and change the subject...

"Yahoo's Seven website is a great place to go." (thinking that he couldn't get into any trouble there.) Well guess what??? He clicks on the movie link and somehow finds the link to watch pay per view TV on his computer right? Then can't make it work of course... "You have to pay for that Alan!" "That's why it won't work, man"

With my patients severely tested, and my head full of things I'd like to say, but would never... I ended the conversation with words of encouragement and praise for his brave exploration of that massive online world called cyber-space.

Happy phishing!

Ok, so here’s a change of tone... There are many of us that should own a computer... And then there are people like Alan.

Now Alan is a simple man, and I mean that in the most respectful way. Of course Alan is not his real name, his real name is Willy Wonka, but I will refer to him as Alan because I wish to protect his identity, as one should. So, Alan bought a nice neat little computer from us about a week ago. Everything was fine up until he left the store with his new PC... It was from that moment that it became apparent that we would regret ever having met the man.

Well Alan took approximately three hours to transform his new look Windows XP toting office machine into a binary ship wreck. God only knows what he had done to the thing. It wouldn’t even boot up anymore. Sure It still looked like a PC, but it behaved more like a toaster, except not quite as reliable.
Now to learn how to use a PC, one should assume that apart from the obvious advantage of owning a computer, one may also deduce that the use of one’s brain (and a little confidence) may also be advantageous, am I right? Well, the world according to Alan is a very different place. Not unlike Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, things are not as they first may seem. You see, just like Willy’s chocolate factory, (except with all those chocolate sweets coated in methamphetamine; instead of the lovely brown sweet stuff) the world according to Alan is a very complicated place, filled with extraordinarily difficult to comprehend sights and new tactile experiences...Like Windows for example, and the foreign concept of a recycling bin that lives in your computer.
To Alan, it is strange that there is no Wednesday morning garbage truck that takes it away and the fact that he can recycle things ‘forever’ means that he can and should recycle something on a daily basis as part of his global responsibility to keep the internet clean and free of rubbish. Such a noble cause should be commended and Alan is to be thanked by the oompa-loompas for his role in such a mammoth task.
Alan’s choice of computer was largely based on its ROHS certification... The new global initiative to reduce the amount of heavy metals and other hazardous substances in computerised components such as the motherboard inside his new ‘green’PC. Choosing an optical mouse was important to Alan as he had to be sure that it did not contain a rubber ball that could wear out over time and end up as land fill. He made certain that all desktop icons were kept to a minimum to reduce the amount of space his PC took up on his environmentally friendly LCD monitor. Low radiation means fewer black balloons people... Congestion on the internet is of course a thing that Alan is deeply concerned about. That’s why he opted for dial up technology. Less time on the internet means fewer ballons people, see the pattern? So anyway, back to the story. Alan had his PC restored to it’s original factory condition. Four hours later, Alan called for technical support...
He had run out of things to put into the recycling bin, so resorted to system files that he could not make any sense of. They just seemed like ’jibberish’ to Alan. He decided in his wisdom, to load an old version of Kodak Easy Share software, in the presumptuous mood he was in, with the idea of actually connecting a digital camera (if he ever got one). Who knows where the software came from, but as soon as we got wind of this, we thought the worst. Holly crappers, not the ‘Kodak Easy Shaft’ software Alan!!! Cries of Noooooo, Noooo, No were heard in the vicinity of Phil’s desk. And the stories of system file relocation to the recycle bin attracted a similar response.
Phil dived frantically for the phone as if it were a life buoy that would somehow save Alan from his ultimate nightmare...

As it turns out, It would become ours.

To be Continued...

VICTIM

Wow, such a heavy heart. Sometimes life reaches crisis point...

You know, before you start reading, waiting for the funny part...
don't bother because it just isn't going to happen on this post.

Tune out now if you're depressed or want an uplifting blog read.

Sometimes we feel like there is no way out.
Like a mouse caught in a corner, with only a trap between us and the way home.

I don't know how desperate you have to be; to actually go through with it: you know suicide.

A very close friend tried to end her life today. It saddens me deeply.... I feel for her in her suffering; but I have everything to live for, my disappointment in her actions cannot be hidden. She was my best friend at one time, I would have fought for her tooth and nail. I love her...

I feel pain, but I cannot express it. I feel anger, yet I do not give in to it. I am angry with her, but I love her. She is my sister. She is a part of me... It hurts me.
Yet I love my wife and family with all of my heart and I cannot and would not abandon them. I cannot understand why her own family has abandoned her... Why Michael, why Aaron, why James, Why Phillip? Why do you deny your own mother, your own flesh, your blood, the very reason for your own existence? Have you all been twisted by his lies? Can you not see that She loves you?
In the darkness, she cries for you...
In the night, she recalls the gentle beating of your heart as you slept as a child.
I once held you in my own arms, proud to be your uncle, proud of your mother...
Proud to have known you.

But why do you abandon her? She loves you... She loves you. She is your mother. I know you love her too. Don’t let your emotions take hold of you, but don’t forget who you are! She hurts right now, but she loves you and she feels that you have abandoned her, she loves you...
You don’t want to be there at her funeral now. No parent should ever have to bury their own child. Don’t let this happen to your mother... Be there for her. She is always there for you. Please... We nearly lost a part of us. We nearly lost our sister. I am crying. I love my sister and she tried to kill herself!!!
I hate her for it. I wish that I didn’t know her so well... In fact sometimes I wish that she was not my sister... That she belonged to somebody else. I would deny that she was unhappy. She has always been unhappy. I have always known this, but I have never been able to help her.

It feels as if all I have ever been able to do is to hang around and offer comic relief for her. I am her little brother. I do love her. She is my sister, my blood, my own flesh and part of me.

A dear friend of mine has lost his sister in the same way that my sister has attempted to take her own life. It was shocking and cruel. It affected him profoundly. I don’t want this. How can I tell her that she is worth so much more? I am saddened by her actions and I love her to bits. I hope that she sees that she is worth loving and that she really is a wonderful sister that any brother would be proud of. Margery I love you. We all love you. I might not call you by your chosen name, but to me you are the sister who left me so many years ago. Your name however, has never left me and I will always know you as Margery my mentor, my idol, my big sister. Margery I love you!