Error: I'm afraid this is the first I've heard of a "writeback" flavoured Blosxom. Try dropping the "/+writeback" bit from the end of the URL.
The Internet
Should all people be allowed internet access?
I just got done speaking with a gentleman for 30 minutes about his new computer, internet access, and e-mail. He's one of those types that feels compelled to interrupt constantly to mention, again, that he knows nothing about computers. They're so mystified by computers, in fact, that they can't follow simple instructions. I had to spend five minutes helping him find the delete key on the keyboard, amid his constant protests of "There ain't no delete key on mah keyboard." Calmly as I can: "Sir, the delete key is most likely just to the right of the backspace key, underneath the insert key."
I don't care that you don't know anything about computers. That's why I'm here, that's why they pay me. However I can't do my job if you can't function as a medium and relay the evidence of your OWN FUCKING EYES.
So I wonder, what do we, as a cyber-society, gain from this new member? Someone who can't read the keys on his keyboard. Someone who has no intention of learning anything about his box, for whom the PC is an ebay terminal. Hard to imagine that in a few hours, his PC will serve as a zombie for some worm, serving it to the rest of the internet at large.
Maybe there should be some sort of certification required for internet access. I know this seems ridiculously elitist, which it is, but bear with me. In order to be able to operate a car, you're required to be certified by the government. One reason for this is that when you're behind the wheel, you're steering a monstrous weapon down through heavy traffic. You have the potential to do a lot of damage. I know as I type this that I'm reaching, but connecting a WinXP pc to a cable modem also carries the potential to do damage. Unless it is thoroughly secured by OS updates, a firewall of somesort, it only takes a few minutes for the pc to get infected by some kind of trojan that will in turn launch attacks against similarly unsecured boxes, forming a vast, DDoS army. There's only so much that the ISP can do. We can inform you about PC security, provide documentation, even provide AV software, but unless the customer actually installs, upgrades, and runs this software, unless they keep the OS up-to-date, and keep abreast of security issues, education is in vain.
I know that this is a problem largely caused by security exploits in Microsoft OSs, but Windows is not the only vulnerable OS. We've had some calls from people running Mac OSX who are infected with similar worms, which will most likely burn like wildfire through the security un-conscious Apple community.
I feel that it's important to note that I know that no one is born with PC savvy. I don't expect everyone that I speak with to be an expert, I don't scoff at minor mistakes in terminology and laugh in their face. The people in question here are those that refuse to learn, refuse to accept that there is any kind of discernable pattern or logic with their computer...people that feel that it is powered by some kind of magic, and who only learn to ape the incantations necessary to access email and ebay.
So, I guess the question is this: Is the money that fools will pay for a piece of equipment they refuse to understand, and the money they will routinely pay to repair this equipment when it fails through their negligence, worth the network congestion their zombie boxes cause?
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