Sponsor's Message

Another flaw in IE and XP SP2 allows malevolent sods to dupe unsuspecting web-surfers into downloading malicious code, a real live virus that escapes form Java's sandbox, and a new cellphone virus that threatens to totally stuff at least one model of Nokia cellphone -- are just some of the worries.

On days like this it would seem that even getting out of bed is a dangerous proposition!

Nobody will be surprised at yet another security problem with Windows, it's a massive target and lots of evil little sods (ELS) have nothing better to do with their lives than to try and pee in Bill Gates' pocket by making life hard for Windows users.

The Java virus is something unusual however.

So far Sun has done a remarkably good job of making sure that Java's sandbox works as advertised. Although there have been a few vulnerabilities reported in the past, this is the first significant hole for quite some time.

However, even though this is a pretty sizeable exploit, I can't see it causing too much grief because (alas), Java is no longer flavour of the day with websurfers. In fact, despite the fact I'm a real Java fan, I don't even have the JVM installed on my web-surfing PC.

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination.

Yes, Microsoft did a wonderful job of burying Java in the browser by foisting its own (not too bad) JVM on customers but then failing to update it as the standard progressed. A later move to drop the distribution of the JVM with Windows for a while meant that many developers simply gave up using the language on the wider web.

Instead, idiot websurfers have been duped into believing that there is also a measure of security surrounding Active-X components and that it's okay to let almost any site run a completely unrestricted applet on their PC.

These days, much of the things that Java was doing 5-6 years ago are being done by Macromedia's Flash.

It's cross-platform, it's pretty damned safe, and it can (now) do some quite cool audio-visual things that are well suited to the Net as a multi-media medium.

Still, as an ex-programmer, I still pine for the power, flexibility and freedoms that Java provides. Imagine what the Web might be like now if Java had really taken off as a part of the browsing experience.

Worrying Times!
Not in the least-bit related to hi-tech but an issue I want to voice my concern about...

<RANT>
I'm talking of course, about the proposed replacement for the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Under this proposed legislation, we will yet again see the cornerstone of our justice system (the presumption of innocence) eroded to a very worrying degree.

I'm all in favour of making sure that criminals and their leaders do not profit from the proceeds of their crimes -- but I'm even more concerned that we don't compromise the most basic tenet of our justice system to do so.

In jumping on "The War Against Terror" bandwagon, empowering themselves to revoke any citizen's passport on the tenuous grounds of "national security", passing some draconian elements of the Crimes Amendment Act, ignoring an overwhelming referendum demand to reduce its numbers, and introducing new legislation such as the one now proposed, it's clear that the government is out of its tree and drifting dangerously close to fascism.

If we don't stand up and voice our objection to this then, when we find we have few rights left, we will only have ourselves to blame.
</RANT>

Have your say on today's column

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

Contacting Aardvark
I'm always happy to hear from readers, whether they're delivering brickbats, bouquets or news tip-offs. If you'd like to contact me directly, please this form. If you're happy for me to republish your comments then please be sure and select For Publication.

Other media organisations seeking more information or republication rights are also invited to contact me.

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!