Not your dady's antivirus.

Let's face it. Anti virus is done for, or at least the days of buying an anti virus program. Time for big guys like Symantec to close up their antivirus divisions, and do something different. There are many reasons for the big, brand name's demise in the computing computer world..

One big reason is the lack of new features. Go to Staples and pick up the latest versions of Norton Anti virus, for example. Chances are you won't see much of a difference. Therein lies the problem. Anti virus hasn't changed much. Every anti virus program, free and otherwise, does the same thing. It scans your hard drive, comparing each and every file against a list of known viruses. They may vary in speed and dependability. A simple google search reveals a cornucopia of free anti virus, avast, AVG, etc. Why pay, when you can get comparable service for free?

Another big reason that anti virus is on the decline is the lack of viruses being created and released. A quick check of the Symantec anti virus website shows that most threats are at a low risk. These days, chances are slim that you'll catch a virus through IM, email, or file sharing. The only threat to your computer isn't even a risk of being infected with viruses! The "medium risk" these days is a vulnerability in Internet Explorer.

And not just big, brand name anti virus is on the decline. Anti virus in general is heading down the tube. Take my friend "Paul" for example. Always the risk taker, Paul disabled all anti virus software on his computer, and lived on a steady diet of firewall for a few weeks. A simple virus scan a few weeks later revealed a whopping 0 viruses.

People, thankfully, aren't stupid. Most of us have the sense not to go to random web sights with Japanese and English in the url. Everyone and their grandma knows not to click on those crazy links forwarded by Nigerian Royalty.

And it's not like anti virus is hard to find these days. Take a look under the hood of some of your most used programs. I guarantee that many of them have their own, usually crude, yet somewhat effective, implementation of virus scanner. So, the end user is bound to have their incoming data scanned multiple times before it reaches home.

Most nare-do-gooders these days don't even bother with viruses. It takes too much time and a little bit of luck to ensure a good infection. Spy ware is the new kid on the malware block, potentially sending your personal info (and passwords!) to some 16 year old kid in Sweden. Spy ware comes in all shapes and sizes these days, but viruses spend their days in the corner, obsessing about how noone likes them while listening to their new Taking Back Sunday album.

So yes, it's not a bad thing to keep the ol' antivirus program around, feeding it a few updates now and then, but it may soon become obsolete. Like Paul, it may not be long before we need not worry about those silly viruses, and those antivirus programs growing lonelier and lonelier...

PETA and you

Wanna know one group of people that pisses me off? Probably not, but that ain't stopping me. I hate vegetarians. Sure, I bet they are nice people, but they have some of the dumbest ideas.

It's meat for cripes sake! Humans have been eating it for thousands of years now. But apparently, it's wrong to kill a lesser being on the planet to provide sustanace for you and your family. No, but if they had their way, we'd all be eating soy burgers and wheatgerm shakes,

And it's not all vegetarians either. My uncle doesn't eat meat because of his health (diabetes and the like). One of my teachers doesn't eat meat because of religious (not to hate, but what good religion doesn't allow the eating of any meat?). It's the ones out there that don't eat meat because of the animals themselves.

Yeah, animals are people too, we've head the rhetoric before. Personally, I don't see the comparison. I don't see chickens driving to work everyday, or pigs that go shopping for bargain prices at Wal-mart. Most of them don't even walk on two legs! How can any sane person make such a stupid statement?

And it's these types that run PETA. People Eat Tasty Animals they aint. These are a bunch of morons grouped together to allow the "ethical" treatment of animals. Unless I live on Mars or something, last time I checked "ethical" didn't mean "same rights as people". See, it's not cool to kill an animal. No, we must free them, allow them to move in, rent out rooms. You know, all those "ethical" ideas.

How immature and juvenile do they have to be. Instead of boycotting companies who make fur coats, they throw paint on the fur coats of others. They walk around in the nude to protest the killing of animals. I may not be on the board or something, but I fail to see how running around naked=rights for animals...

And they're allowed to do this! They have rallies every year, run their mornonic campaignes, throw paint on fur coats and not pay restitution. It's the crazies like these we should be booting out of the country, not the Mexicans.

And the cult is tax-exempt! No taxes for the paint throwing, animal killing, crazies. Tell me, do you equate killing chickens to killing jewish humans? Is eating at KFC the same as eating the cooked remains of Holocaust victims? Please say no, or I'd have to add you to the list of people to kick out when I become president. And training elephants in the circus is slavery? Please tell me they aren't serious...

Not that I'm advocating the cruel treatment of animals either. No puppy kicking or performing open-heart surgery on your still awake goldfish. Try to strike a good balance between "making fido eat dirt" and "feeding fido filet-mingion every night".

So kids, if a PETA crazy comes up to you on the street corner, what should you do? A) Spit in their eyes and kick dust on their fake fur jackets? B) Shove three cheeseburges down their throat. Or C) Wack them in the face with a stuffed beaver? That's right class, you get a cookie if you picked all of the above.

So, In closing, if they want to save the chickens,

PETA, GTFO!