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Reader Comments of the Week

What's got silicon.com readers reaching for their keyboards this week? Reader Comments of the Week showcases how our users are responding to the latest tech news and views on the site...

Something catching…
Viruses - is the threat over?

There is now sufficient free or cheap anti-intrusion software (anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls), and safer browsers than IE, that it can only be a lack of education that allows malware to propagate.
-- Jeremy Wickins, Sheffield

The last case of natural polio infection in the UK was in 1982. Does that mean the threat is over and you don't need to get your kids vaccinated? If we stop worrying about (and therefore protecting ourselves from) viruses, then that's what the malware writers will turn their attention back to.
-- Patrick Archibald, London

Editor's choice

silicon.com editor Tony Hallett flags up his picks on the site this week...

♦  How to stop "runaway" ERP projects
There is more to ERP than Oracle and SAP as this interview makes clear
♦  Skills Survey 2007: Industry falling out of love with IT grads
More findings from our primary research
♦  MiFID - Will the banks be ready in time?
This step-change in financial markets is less than a month away, which is worrying, for some
♦  Photos: Inside the malware hunters' den
From F-Secure in Finland
♦  Tech companies back data breach law
Support for silicon.com's campaign

Generalizing about the world malware threat by asking silicon.com readers when they last had a virus is like trying to get a handle on Labour's electoral chances with a straw poll at an Eton parents' evening.
-- John H Woods, UK

Ask any network administrator and they will tell you virus, malware, malicious cookies etc are alive - its just we have got bettew at stopping them. Most come in attached to spam. The suprise is the week the log shows no nasties stopped by the security. Last week 58 - the avearge is around 10 - and i just have a small network.
-- Anonymous, Woking

You asked a dumb question, so of course your results are flaky. You used the highly technical term "got a virus". If I say I've got a cold, everybody knows I've been infected by it. My PC has never been infected by a virus/worm/trojan, which you say is "lucky". Rubbish! I use proper antivirus (etc), updated hourly, so viruses arriving on my PC are detected and cannot cause infection. Have I been "unlucky" to be "hit by a virus"? No. Is the threat over? No.
-- John Robinson, Cheshire

Background checks and ID cards
ID cards-based criminal record checks 'are A-OK'

It's possible to live in a "police-state", without it being a highly visible and in-your-face system. You want it running in the background, like Anti-virus software, not slowing you down, and ensuring you can live and work safely.
-- Jon Catt, Scotland

0.00027% sample - not only a waste of my taxes but a totally meaningless trial - restricted to CRB checks which are so simple they defy reason.

160 volunteers - since when has an 'impartial' field trial consisted of volunteers and when does a sample of 160 people justify any claim for a system designed for 60,000,000 pepole?
-- Roger Huffadine, Worcester

As we saw with yesterday's announcments on phone records, this government wants to track and record every aspect of our lives, and hand it out to almost anyone who asks, all in the name of anti-terrorism and anti-crime.
-- Anonymous, Letchworth

Unspectacular Vista
Vista failing to bring in business

Obviously they're too busy designing stupid electronic bar room tables that you can't get your knees under, to find time to develop an operating system that people actually want to use.
-- David Fletcher, UK

The price of software
$8m illegal software haul from online auctions

Whilst I have no problem with clampdowns on Pirated software, I do question the 'parrallel import' issue.

I do not understand why someone in one country is asked to pay substantially more for a product than in a similar country. Software will usually retal at the same porice in US$ as Sterling - meaning those in the UK are paying twice the price.

There would be no market for parrallel imports if the pricing structure was fairer and more realistic. In reality these software giants should be looking to why so many are starting to look at Linux which can often provide similar functionality and is free.
-- Ned Ludd, England

From Bluetooth ads to bricks...
HSBC drops mobile Bluetooth ad plans

thank the lord they've dropped this plan

"The promotional messages also encourage recipients to go inside the branch for more information."

personally after I'd received a few of these unsolicited spam messages I'd be more tempted to throw a brick through the window and tell them where to go
-- Karen Challinor, UK

Please note, comments may be edited for clarity - but are not corrected for grammar, spelling, punctuation or style. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of silicon.com. You can write to silicon.com by posting a Reader Comment below, or emailing editorial@silicon.com.