Microsoft greed strikes again

In response to http://news.softpedia.com/news/Buyers-Get-Choice-Microsoft-Acts-Threatened-21001.shtml

Dear Microsoft,
There is a reason that more and more comsumers are buying PCs without an operating system. The reason is that consumers are starting to get tired of paying you for bloated, slow software. Also, more and more consumers are getting into the concept of having a "server" on their home network, and to be honest, Linux and BSD are beating the pants off of you in the high speed, high uptime, easy to manipulate server department.

Windows 3.1 took 9 floppies (3 for Dos and 6 for Windows, resulting in aprox 17Mb used) to install, which wasn't so bad. A little large for the time, but reasonable.
Windows 2000 takes at least 1.2Gb and really prefers about 2Gb. When 8Gb hard drives were regular fare, 10% still seemed a bit high a price to pay, and 25% was that much more an insult. Adding to that the space consumed by MS Office, which for some strange reason took 2 cds to install, and a 8Gb hard drive was mostly gone.
Windows XP probably roughly resembles Windows 2000 in space required, and may or may not add stability while adding bells and whistles. I really don't know and honestly could care less. I see nothing in XP that Win2000 does not provide that I NEED.

Hint: If you want more people to willingly pay you for quality software, then MAKE SOME.

Unfit parents need help

In response to http://news.softpedia.com/news/Anti-Piracy-Software-from-MPAA-could-it-be-a-privacy-issue-039.shtml

The MPAA announced the availability of a new software tool called Parent File Scan, which allows parents to see if their kids use peer-to-peer software, potentially infringing copies of motion pictures and other
copyrighted material.

According to the licensing agreement for the software, which is made by DtecNet Software, of Copenhagen, Denmark, the application searches a computer for well-known file-sharing programs and files in the most popular music and film formats.

The thing is that even if there are music files on a computer, no software tool can tell whether they're legal or illegal, because there is no way to tell whether the files came from ripping the consumer's own CDs (which is legal) or from infringing P2P downloading (which is illegal). So having parents deleting perfectly legitimate MP3's could start a band new war between the benevolent parents trying not to get sued by the MPAA and their kids. But what if the software finds Windows files and sounds, are those illegal too, should you fear a law suit because you store any type of music file on your computer?

At the end of the scan, if you have any P2P apps, Parent File Scan offers to remove them. Based on the documentation, it appears that the removal is done by invoking the P2P app's own removal program; the documentation warns that there might not be a removal program, and it might not remove everything that came with the P2P application

The solution is simple.
If you do not trust your children to responsibly use a computer, DISALLOW THEM ACCESS TO ONE.
Further, if you are irresponsible as a parent in regard to teaching your children what is right and wrong, then both you as a parent and your children shouldn't have a computer in the first place because you (and probably your children as well) are not qualified to run a computer or even a vegetable cart, much less a garbage disposal.

I say all that to say this:
Anyone that requires outside assistance in discovering if their children are doing "bad things" online is unfit to have children.

If the internet is where your children are likely to misbehave, then either you learn enough about the internet to properly control what they can get to and what they can't, or you learn enough about the internet to prohibit your children from visiting it without your supervision.