A Strange Law
This comes from Wikipedia.
According to The Strange Laws of Old England
by historian and author Nigel Cawthorne, it was against the law in Newmarket to blow one’s nose in the street and a person or persons going about the street with a head cold or distemper was liable to a fine. This law was introduced to protect the horses rather than the citizens of the town.
I don’t think it applies today.
Is the Stuxnet Virus Good News?
There is a new computer virus on the block called Stuxnet. It supposedly targets industrial systems, with the aim of taking control or shutting them down. But it appears to be aimed at Iran and possibly its controversial nuclear power station at Bushehr. According to this article in the Guardian, it would appear that it has been created after a lot of work. Judging by the possible target, fingers are being pointed at Israel.
So why do I think this could be good news?
Most viruses target computers without any security, with the aim of controlling them to send more spam or to get logins and passwords for such things as bank accounts.
Stuxnet appears to be aiming to control industrial computers or factories, where the cost of being infected will be much greater. So Stuxnet will actually mean the virus protection companies will step up their efforts to prevent cyber attacks, which will be good for us all.
Also, something as high-profile as Stuxnet with all the associated publicity, should mean that more and more people will get the protection against viruses they should.
My one worry is that the sophisticated techniques that Stuxnet uses may make viruses that attack computers like e-mail servers more difficult to fight.
Winning a Queen’s Award
Metier Management Systems, the company behind Artemis, won two Queen’s Awards for Export Achievement. I think they were in 1981 and 1982. There is surprisingly little on the Internet and all I can find at present is this page from the London Gazette. There isn’t even a list in Wikipedia, which shows how much we celebrate success in the UK.
I don’t even have any photos of either the presentations or the parties at Buckingham Palace, where I met the Queen.
A Sad Tale from India
I received a message this morning, which looked like spam, but it was informing me about a little girl, called Pooja, who has been rescued by the Police in Kerala from kidnappers.
It would appear to be genuine as it is mentioned on the Kerala Police web site and in other blogs.
Even if they don’t find Pooja’s parents, it just shows how the Internet might be able to help.
Justice – Virginia Style
We have all protested about the proposed stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Iran, but why is it the European governments are absolutely silent and not protesting about the execution of Teresa Lewis in Virginia, especially as she is just a point on the IQ scale above the legal minimum for execution in the United States.
The least we should do is to suspend fast track extradition to the United States. By not protesting we are actually condoning the horrific sentence.
But then the United States doesn’t believe in justice but vengeance!
The Anonymous Widower 