Watching IT
Allan D. Francisco
This corner used to idolize a formerly no-nonsense administrator of a metropolis-wide agency under the president’s office.
He never cared about public opinion as long as he was doing his job, or so we thought. The past few months, however, revealed his true colors. He is just another publicity-hungry, will-do-anything-to-get-elected politician.
I guess, we will have to keep looking for real heroes.
Space Virus
This sounds like the stuff that has launched a host of Hollywood B movies. Space-bound viruses that become monsters once they set foot on Earth. On a reverse mode, however, another type of virus, a computer virus, was able to insert itself aboard the International Space Station.
A worm virus, according to an AFP story, was found on laptop computers used by astronauts to send and receive email from the space station. The virus is reportedly a piece of malware that logs keystrokes to record passwords or other important data and sends them to hackers via the Internet.
Internet Explorer 8 Beta
Microsoft last week released a Beta version of its Internet Explorer 8 browser. The latest version of the world’s most dominant Internet browser comes with a host of features designed to make Internet surfing a safe and enjoyable experience for most users.
The browser’s InPrivateBrowsing feature lets users surf the Internet without the usual lists of Web sites they visit stored in their PCs. This feature also allows users to block third-party content from appearing on Web sites.
But one feature of the IE8 made our eyebrows as crooked as an ECG printout. It seems that the InPrivateBrowsing technology is also designed to block Internet advertising. Should majority of IE8 users opt to activate InPrivateBrowsing, some major headache is coming for Internet advertising executives.
Pet Peeves, Part I
Don’t you hate it when it takes forever to open or unscrew a bottle of soda you bought to relieve your thirst? I really do not know whose fault it is when removing those resealable caps used in one-liter bottles of Coke would require the strength of Hercules, the wisdom of Aristotle, and the engineering prowess of Archimedes (and in most cases, the patience of Job and the self-healing power of Wolverine).
I also have experienced this with Pop Cola bottles and, would you believe, a certain brand of acete manzanilla, that greenish stuff our mothers used to rub on our tummy area to relieve our stomach ache.
That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.
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