Re[2]: JavaScript -Reply

["Walker, Arlen P" <Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- COM>]

      Also, don't confuse the security risks involved in actual Java
      executables vs. the interpreted JavaScript...

I'm not, Bill. It's quite trivial to write a javascript which sends an
email message containing words of my choice to an address of my choice from
your browser, using your email server, without your knowledge. True, that
won't erase your hard drive. But it's still quite easy to cause you trouble
that way, and the total cost, in terms of time and personal bother, might
even be higher than if I simply wiped your drive. And doing it's a lot
easier than any of the Java security hacks I've run into.

Don't confuse security/privacy concerns with rewriting hard drives; there's
much more to it than that.

      don't make it sound like if
      you use JS, no one will see the results of your work,

Never meant to imply everyone would be excluded. I believe the phrase I
used was "a lot." I'll stand by that vague measure.

       or that it should be associated with the security concerns of the
      ActiveX or Java executables... that simply is not the case.

The only association I made between them was using Java and JS in the same
sentence. They're quite distinct animals. (ActiveX is more like a fungus,
such as a toadstool. ;{>})

Glad you like the .sig quote.  I swiped it off a sign in one of the
engineer's cubes here. He, in turn, claims he stole it from Toyota. :{>}

Here's another one I particularly like:

"Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity.  It
eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us get straight to the
business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation." -- Johnny Hart

And one other:

OK, so you're a Ph.D.  Just don't touch anything.


Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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