Finally Come to Pass

It's finally happened; something I predicted over fifteen years ago, when Windows was just starting to over take MS- DOS.

Last night (early morning) Windows 7 restarted my computer without my permission. It happened while I was playing WoW.

I knew this day was going to happen. I mean there were plenty of times Windows tried to shutdown or restart before, but it had always waited for my permission. But this time, probably because I didn't notice the information box, Windows just closed my game and browser and reset.

Of course I could have changed the settings to make all this update stuff happen manually. But really - do I want to delay an update? Worse, when you go down this "manual" path you often miss critical updates.

So, this post is not about the evils of Microsoft but about how the world has changed and my prediction of the next step away from control will happen.

There are three programs I trust to secure my computer:

Microsoft Windows 7 - I always make sure that I have the latest update and security patches. Nothing can be more important than this. I've given over control so that this happens automatically. It's like sharing my computer with Bill Gates.

McAfee Security - Choosing a virus protection package is tough, because all of them have problems. I definitely will never go with Norton again. With Norton the cure is worse than the disease - it slows down your system, blocks useful programs and doesn't really stop anything. McAfee has been fairly effective in quarantining viruses and trojans without slowing down my computer.

Network Magic - I've been the most pleased with this software package. NM protects, secures and monitors my wireless network and all components connected to the network. Very easy to use and will rat out any low life parasite that tries to use your wireless connection.

That's it - I know there are some really good "rootkit" detection software packages, but they just don't have the support nor are they big enough to keep up with the changes in Windows. Just my opinion.

These three packages are my guardian angels and sadly I share control of my own computer with them. They have permission to make decisions on their own - more to the point - software engineers of the the software can remotely make decisions that directly control my computer. I'm forced to trust three corporations with all of my work.

This is only going to get worse - Cloud Computing is next - not even next, it's here and it's here to stay. It won't be long until all critical information is stored virtually and I will have trust all my artwork and writing to a corporation.

I guess I should be concerned about giving over my liberty to corporations - I mean TigerDirect must have all this behavioral information on me - but frankly I just don't care. In some sad and pathetic way I kind of like that Amazon, Tiger and New Egg can make predictions on stuff I might want to buy.

I think I've finally become a tool of da Man.

Read Microsoft - 3 Easy Steps
Top Ten Ways to Protect Your PC