mike hawkins - thinking out loud

I subscribe to a newsletter from SecurityProNews and occasionally it throws in a little gem.  Today was one of those days.

It contained a link to a piece of software that had I had not spotted before which goes by the name of Predator.

Free, for personal use, predator is a USB key solution that locks your PC when the drive is removed.  After installation, which is quick and simple, you are prompted for a password - from this a digital key is generated and saved to the USB drive.

When Predator is running (you can choose to run at start-up, or not) the stick is necessary for the computer to be usable. If removed mid-session the screen is blanked (it now supports multiple monitors), Ctrl-Alt-Del and other keyboard and mouse activity is disabled.

Put the drive back, and the PC is ready to go immediately.  No tiresome password needed.  So why did we enter a password at install?  In the case of the key going missing - through theft or carelessness - the password enables you to regain access to the machine.  Cleverly, whilst the key is in place, the software frequently re-writes new keys to the USB drive and locally - meaning that if the stick is stolen - the key will not be valid by the time it is re-inserted by the thief.

Predator works as stated - and is, as mentioned free for personal use.

Written by Montpellier Informatique it is downloadable here - and is worth a try if you have a need for a solution of this kind.  Vista users note that it needs to be installed using Administrator privileges.

It seems as though some eminent medical folk are beginning to cotton on to something I've being banging on about, ad nauseum, for years - the way alcohol is marketed.

I'm not a zealot about booze (I was once, but calmed down), and consumed sensibly it is not a bad thing.  Moderation in all things tend to be a sensible course.  But does a supermarket advertising strong lager at ludicrously low prices think that it is encouraging people to drink sensibly?

I think not, it is ensuring that people buy more beer - and quite obviously - drink more.  The UK is the only country in, what can be traditionally described as, Europe where teenage alcohol consumption is going up.  Additionally average intake across all age groups is also on the increase, which again flies in the face of the other European nations where there is a marked decrease.  Hospitals are seeing ever increasing numbers of drink-related injuries in their A & E departments, GP's are referring ever more to liver specialists and dependency programs.

Doctors demand ban on all alcohol advertising - the times

Sooner or later the UK government is going to have to come clean and admit, they like the revenue and are scared of the supermarket lobbying power (and a few probably wouldn't like to see the back-handers dry up).  These can be the only reasons why a government, who purport to be, looking to the future of our children are not acting to curb alcohol consumption.

I'm not certain that banning all alcohol advertising is the way to go.  Stop selling on price would be my suggestion - coupled with solid education and, if absolutely necessary, legislation.  

Footnote:
The piece this links to has some pathetic comments from readers added to it - these people have obviously never had any experience of the realities of alcoholism and the misery it can bring.

So the Hawkins clan have had a good week.  Emma arrived on Tuesday, and it has been great having her around.  As usual she timed it perfectly and was too late for the first round of wood moving and too early for the second - unerring on her part.  Bit of a 'busman's holiday' though - everybody needed a haircut so she hardly got off the plane before there was a queue.  She is a very good hairdresser though - it's great to see her doing something she truly enjoys.

The other highlight is Molly landing a job in Angouleme working for Zara.  What a fantastic achievement.  To be interviewed in her second language in an area where it is not usual to have foreign staff, and be successful is just incredible.  We're very proud of her, first the French driving licence, and now this - a year of accomplishment.

Simultaneously Sophie was holding her exhibition in London, which was mentioned here a couple of weeks ago.

A good week. 

I thought it was time to give the site a bit of a makeover and so here we are. 

Behind the scenes there have been a couple of tweaks, which will hopefully improve usability - in terms of speed and ease of posting.

The new theme was built using Artisteer 2.2, which whilst not the choice of the purist is sufficiently configurable to enable a high level of control over look and feel.

You couldn't make this up! 

If by any chance you're reading this on a future April 1st. and think you know that this is a wind-up - check the Times publication date.

Double murderer wins legal battle over cosmetic surgery on birthmark

Public opinion:

• You're not very nice - you killed two people
• You're not very bright - you got caught
• You have an embarrassing birthmark - tough luck mate

Governmental response:

• You killed two people - naughty but there are societal reasons
• You got caught - don't worry we'll look after you
• You have an embarrassing birthmark - no problem we run the NHS

It would seem that one of the few ways of jumping up the waiting lists for treatment would be homicide...is it me...or is this idiocy?