Listen, the Microsoft platform itself is defective; no amount of patches will protect you. You apply a patch today, an even deadlier worm will be written and unleashed. There are tens thousands "protective" codes in the Microsoft platform; these codes which was written to protect Windows from being "opened" are what is making it unstable, prone to easy attacks and manipulations. Do yourselves a favor and migrate to Linux; it's way easier and much stabler than Windows. You can get it for free or a fraction of what Windows costs. Don't listen to the crap that Linux isn't reasy; it's more than ready, I will prove it to you in a new thread soon (with screenshots). Linux the last 2 years has transformed formidably; if you haven't been following its news, then you were lost in the Microsoft bushes.

Listen, the Microsoft platform itself is defective; no amount of patches will protect you. You apply a patch today, an even deadlier worm will be written and unleashed. There are tens thousands "protective" codes in the Microsoft platform; these codes which was written to protect Windows from being "opened" are what is making it unstable, prone to easy attacks and manipulations. Do yourselves a favor and migrate to Linux; it's way easier and much stabler than Windows. You can get it for free or a fraction of what Windows costs. Don't listen to the crap that Linux isn't reasy; it's more than ready, I will prove it to you in a new thread soon (with screenshots). Linux the last 2 years has transformed formidably; if you haven't been following its news, then you were lost in the Microsoft bushes.

DAD, You appear the type that will go to great lengths to prove something, even if it's somewhat murky. First, your link doesn't support what you claimed about "the terrible defeat the Chinese have suffered on the hands of the Vietnamese"; there's a vague reference by a Gerald Segal. The same reference says China was successful in winning the conflict. Your source cannot be confirmed to be unbiased; it's not neither first-rated. If you want to emphasize your point, you have to produce a non-US source or an unbiased source (let's say an encyclopedia source like Brittanica.com). Furthermore, the China you're referencing (of the 1970s) isn't the China we know today. Your claims that Taiwan is a match for China are totally gross underestimation and misevaluation. I will suggest that you do some googling or visit reputed sites where you can get some basic analyses about what will happen in the event of military conflict between China and Taiwan.

Because you and me are expecting from "someone" to fix Somalia's problems, while this "someone" is expecting from us to fix Somalia's problems. There's also a third kind of Somalis who are expecting the problems to fix "itself." The truth is very few Somalis "truly" care about Somalia and its problems. "Truly" in the sense it translates to factual changes, not cheap emotions and talks. You and me are busy acclimatizing to life in the diaspora, our parents are developing mental problems (loneliness, solitude) and getting aged and powerless, while the warlords are getting ahead of us in managing and administering life in Somalia. You, me, our parents, relatives, friends and many Somalis aren't in the playing field of Somalia. The warlords are in the playing field and getting very professional. We don't even have stomach to get near the playing field, let alone participate in tournaments with the warlords. How can you expect us to defeat the warlords in a soccer tournament, when you're not even thinking about getting near the playing field? Even if we participate in the tournament, the warlords are way ahead of us in experience that we won't even be able to touch the ball. The situation is hopeless. Until you, me and other Somalis realize "we" are the only ones who can fix Somalia's problems, until we are willing to sacrifice that which is dear to us, the situation in Somalia will remain about the same, save the demise of some warlords and emergence of new faces.

hacker#1, Demos don't run for an entire year; most run 30/60/90 days. But, I agree with you, you can install a demo, keep it let's say for 90 days, then uninstall and reinstall it. It's too much hassle for Windows users; but we Linux/BSD users aren't bothered with virii.

hacker#1, Demos don't run for an entire year; most run 30/60/90 days. But, I agree with you, you can install a demo, keep it let's say for 90 days, then uninstall and reinstall it. It's too much hassle for Windows users; but we Linux/BSD users aren't bothered with virii.

DAD, Obviously, you don't live in America, else you would have heard about FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). Under this Act, classified informations are declassified after few decades. It's no brainer; anyone can access or request informations under the FOIA. About "the terrible defeat the Chinese have suffered on the hands of the Vietnamese", never heard about it. Care leave a link or two substantiating your claim? What I know is the Chinese helped the Vietnamese defeat America.

DAD, You seem to have fed yourself too much Hollywood cheap propaganda. Nothing is what it seems. If you explore history, read declassified facts and events of the past 50 years, you'll realize nothing is what it seemed to be for the average person. Some decades down the road, the truth will emerge and will sure surprise you. Most of what you read and know about the West isn't true, just as everthing that shines isn't gold.

DAD & Paltalk, We're only speculators; at the end of the day our speculations amount to little or nothing. We don't factually know the true strength of America or China; what we know about America or China, we know it through the West's media outlets and intelligence apparatuses which both have recently been discredited. One thing is clear; America as an empire will collapse if its economy collapses. We all know America's economy today is in shamples; the result of a few factors which doesn't include a full-scale war against a formidable enemy. The Missile Shield program you're talking about haven't been proven to work. Even if it works, the Chinese could devise a technology that aborts the program's mission. North Korea's strength today can be compared to 1/10th of China's strength, yet America can't toy with North Korea. Though America will certainly win a war against North Korea (with China's blessing), it will certainly lead to the collapse of America's economy. You don't know what the North Koreans are capable of. Imagine couple nuclear warheads striking New York and the Pentagon. Even if the warheads are intercepted (Patriot missiles or others), it will leave nuclear clouds that will affect generations to come and change life in America forever. America's strength is much over-hyped and over-sexed. China's strength is underestimated, but the truth is no one accurately knows its true strength.

Paltalk, In the event of war between China and America, there will be no survivor; it will be mutual self-destruction for both. America might have more conventional and unconventional weaponry than China, but China has enough unconventional weaponry which ensures that itself and America (and maybe the world) dig their own graves. In fact, China has more chances to survive from an unconventional war; it has more than 3 times of America's population.

I am not a Windows user (I am a Linux/BSD user), but can think of many reasons why Microsoft's platform is frequently targeted and attacked. Microsoft is an evil monopolist corporation. Microsoft is charging about $60 for Windows XP Pro + Office XP (both full, not upgrades) in Thailand, while they charge you several hundred dollars for same product. They are doing that so to kill Thailand's adoption of OSS (Open Source Software; Linux/BSD) on a wide scale, which could become contagious to neighboring countries and further worldwide. This is the kind of practice Microsoft engages in; it has killed hundreds software companies just to keep its dominance of the world's software market. Microsoft has been shipping crappy products since the days of DOS; it caused its customers the loss of $billions in fixing and upgrading products that crash and freeze frequently. So, if a corporation is squeezing you and driving you out of business, what do you do? You resort to Guerilla tacticts by making your enemy's product unstable and prone to easy attacks. I am not saying those companies driven out of business are attacking Microsoft. The fact that the bulk of hackers and programmers hate Microsoft's practices and license (EULA) is sufficient to warrant frequent attacks against Windows. It's not only easy to write code that easily eats Windows; Windows (as an OS) itself is unstable because it's closed source, and there are too many protective codes (protecting it from being "opened") that make it very unstable. The relative "stableness" you see in Windows 2000 and XP was reached by applying uncountable Linux/BSD codes (free codes) into it. I can go on explaining the many other reasons; but this is sufficient, I guess.

I am not a Windows user (I am a Linux/BSD user), but can think of many reasons why Microsoft's platform is frequently targeted and attacked. Microsoft is an evil monopolist corporation. Microsoft is charging about $60 for Windows XP Pro + Office XP (both full, not upgrades) in Thailand, while they charge you several hundred dollars for same product. They are doing that so to kill Thailand's adoption of OSS (Open Source Software; Linux/BSD) on a wide scale, which could become contagious to neighboring countries and further worldwide. This is the kind of practice Microsoft engages in; it has killed hundreds software companies just to keep its dominance of the world's software market. Microsoft has been shipping crappy products since the days of DOS; it caused its customers the loss of $billions in fixing and upgrading products that crash and freeze frequently. So, if a corporation is squeezing you and driving you out of business, what do you do? You resort to Guerilla tacticts by making your enemy's product unstable and prone to easy attacks. I am not saying those companies driven out of business are attacking Microsoft. The fact that the bulk of hackers and programmers hate Microsoft's practices and license (EULA) is sufficient to warrant frequent attacks against Windows. It's not only easy to write code that easily eats Windows; Windows (as an OS) itself is unstable because it's closed source, and there are too many protective codes (protecting it from being "opened") that make it very unstable. The relative "stableness" you see in Windows 2000 and XP was reached by applying uncountable Linux/BSD codes (free codes) into it. I can go on explaining the many other reasons; but this is sufficient, I guess.

China is the next superpower to reckon with; the Americans can't do anything about China's ascension to that elite status. China might even surpass America in every front; it's economy is uneffected by global happenings and is growing at a formidable and respectable rate. If things worldwide continue with the current state and pace, China will emerge as the next undisputable superpower in the next 5 decades.

"Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo; it's a great story that teaches unselfishness, sacrifice, love, patience, endurance, power, forgiveness, humaneness and many other commendable virtues. The last chapters will make you cry.