Internet commentary

Citation

Ellis, B. (2006), "Internet commentary", Circuit World, Vol. 32 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.2006.21732dag.001

Internet commentary

That thousands counted every groan,And Europe made his woe her own?[1]

Regular readers will know that I have promoted Norton anti-virus as being a good protection against many kinds of malicious software which can come our way either by browsing the internet or through e-mail. The version I used was incorporated in Norton System Works 2002, which I bought about two and a half years ago. This particular version has a number of other very useful utilities and I was very satisfied with the results.

Unfortunately, for reasons totally unconnected with the subject matter of this column, I had to re-install Windows XP Pro. When it came to re-install NSW, the installation application informed me that the version was no longer supported, after less than three years, even though I had paid for a year's updates, only three-and-a-half months previously. This annoyed me, but I bit the bullet. I hunted around on the Symantec web site and found NSW 2006, which was available as an upgrade. After a very long download, I installed the version and started to set it up. I was appalled to find that it had practically taken over my computer but, above all, it refused to allow the anti- virus updates to be downloaded. I spent nearly two days going through the Symantec web site for help and tried several different methods of resolving the problem, to no avail. As the manufacturer offered no e-mail support, I sent a fax to the nearest offices, in Ireland. I received neither acknowledgement nor answer. At a cost, I tried to phone them, again in Ireland. A voice-mail message informed me that no technical support was offered by telephone but that I could consult their knowledge base on the internet, as if I had not been doing that for the previous two days! In the meantime, I found that NSW was more than tripling the boot- up time of the computer, which is an indication of how much it had taken over the system. Apart from that, their installation software could not even configure the Norton-protected Recycle Bin correctly, causing an error message on each boot-up.

As an aside, a neighbour, who also had NSW 2002 installed, suffered a similar fate (including 10 months of unexpired updates) except that she followed Norton's recommendations by upgrading to a package of their Anti-virus 2006 and Internet Security 2006. She asked me whether I could sort out her computer after installing them, as it had become sluggish. On investigation, I found she had three firewalls and three anti-malware utilities operating. I uninstalled the Internet Security and switched off the Windows XP Firewall, leaving her ZoneAlarm firewall operational. The Anti-virus was still sluggish, but the computer behaved more normally.

Fed up with this state of affairs, I decided to cut my losses and abandon Norton products altogether; my policy became “Naught-on” my computer! To give Symantec their due, they refunded what I paid for NSW 2006, very promptly (I even made about three cents profit, because of differences in exchange rates!).

This left me with two problems: I urgently needed a new anti-virus and a new defragmentation tool, the other functions of NSW being less important. My first task was to find a suitable anti- virus and, after some research, I opted for the Grisoft AVG Pro package. In comparison, this installed and automatically updated like a dream. It operated transparently with almost no overheads and the updating is very regular. The only change I did to the default installation was a weekly, instead of daily, complete system scan. For the “defragger”, I chose Diskeeper. It, too, had a default configuration of daily defragmentation of all the partitions, which I changed to manual, because several of my partitions rarely change and this would cause unnecessary drive wear. It is remarkably more effective than the utility supplied with Windows, which I think is actually a very old Intel software.

What about the bottom line? Well, this is very positive, because the AVG and Diskeeper utilities, together, cost about half of what I did not pay for NSW 2006. Of course, there are features in NSW that I no longer have, but there are substitutes either within Windows XP Pro or available on-line for nothing.

While on the subject of invasive software for internet protection, Zone Labs have been telling me for some months that, initially, version 6.0 of their ZoneAlarm Pro firewall, and then 6.1, was available. I succumbed to the temptation of 6.1 recently, to my instant regret. With it installed and set up by default, it seemed that I could hardly breathe before it shouted a warning that I was laying myself open to all sorts of dire consequences. Every software I installed or even uninstalled constituted a hazard. This was mostly because it has over-zealously assumed that it was prone to malware. The crux is that I have a very good, non-intrusive, anti- malware program, Pest Patrol, and I do not need a second one, least of all one that cries wolf without being able to stop it. Ergo, I have reverted to version 5.5, which does not have this intrusion. In a few months, Zone Labs will be asking for me to renew my update subscription and, guess what, I wonot pay! I'll continue to use their freeware firewall, which is all I need.

The important feature that can make or break a software house is support. Before Norton was taken over by Symantec, the support was excellent, an e-mail question being answered within a working day. Today, I can qualify it only as execrable; in fact, it is probably the worst that I have come across recently. If you have a problem that is not dealt with in their internet knowledge base, then you will have to whistle for your answer. They donot even run a forum, that I could find. So, how do I find the new contenders? I did have a question, while still on the trial version, for Diskeeper and I sent them an e-mail. Helpful and complete answer received about 8 hours later. This is how it should be. I have not had occasion to contact Grisoft, but they do have a Tech Support message form on their web site, so I assume their service is probably reasonable.

The point I'm trying to make is that it would be far better if all these software authoring houses stuck to their speciality and developed it to the maximum, instead of trying to be all things to all men. Adding a few bells and whistles of unrelated products to their core business does not justify extra cost, especially when many other companies have offered better solutions for many years. And if they do not offer adequate support, then they may as well place their key under the doormat straight away. At the time of writing, Symantec share prices have dropped 21 per cent over the past year, bucking the trend of the Nasdaq index at up about 10 per cent in the same period. Could this be because they are losing market share to companies like Grisoft, which has been enjoying very good press reviews of late? This company, of Czech origin, does not appear to be quoted on the usual stock exchanges, so I cannot see how its value has progressed in comparison with any of the indices, but I have found that Intel bought a majority share in it, last year.

Before we look at some web sites, let me mention that, at long last, I have a broadband connection, albeit only 1 Mb/s maximum download and 256 kb/s upload rates. This makes a big difference to the comfort which I experience while reviewing web sites, but it won't make any difference to the views I expressed on download speeds in the last issue of this journal. If I find that a site is too heavily graphics- oriented, I won't hesitate to say so. Believe it or not, I first applied for ADSL five years and eight months ago and it was installed just two weeks ago, as I write this. When the Spaniards say mañana, the Cypriots say αύρ&#969 and that makes the Spanish look like amateurs!

By the time you read this, the EU RoHS Directive will have been in force for two months. Will everybody in the Union or supplying equipment to the Union be complying? I very much doubt it because some Member States have not yet been able to transpose it completely, quite apart from many suppliers being unable to provide compliant components – and so on! Regular readers of this column will know that I have been opposed to the Directive on environmental grounds, from well before the time it was approved by the European Parliament. I was in correspondence with the committee that formulated it and I pointed out that a holistic study would show that it would cause far more environmental harm than good. When I asked why the study had not been undertaken, I was informed that funds were unavailable, even though an environmental risk assessment was supposedly mandatory. It is not surprising that my voice, crying in the wilderness, went unheard. However, I was not alone and a few months later a team from Stuttgart University published a report along the same lines. The US EPA, more recently, published a very lengthy and detailed report showing that tin-lead solder was the most environmentally benign alloy. Notwithstanding, there are no signs that the European Union is likely to back down.

Over a couple of years ago, I published my views on the subject on a web site at www.cypenv.org/worldenv/files/sustainability.htm #RoHS. They have not changed and I still consider that the Directive is not environmentally sustainable. I am sufficiently pragmatic to know that the steam roller of the European Union is unstoppable. Since the Directive was promulgated, I have done my best to help industry to comply with the law, even though I maintained my position of opposition on environmental grounds. At the time of writing, just six weeks before the entry into force, I have felt a steadily increasing concern from both sides of the Atlantic. On the one hand, some of it is from companies that have left it too late to implement the changeover. On the other hand, some of it is from companies with technical concerns about the reliability or other aspects of introducing lead-free solder into their manufacturing processes.

Just two weeks ago, a new web site, called Pushback, was inaugurated by John Burke. This is a massive undertaking – if you print out the whole web site, you will need over 500 pages of paper. For my review section, I propose that we have a look at what Pushback has to offer:

www.rohsusa.com

On the home page, one should ignore the rather screaming aspect of the use of colour, graphics and fonts. I am aware that it is distracting. The heavy use of design features, especially the 70kb logo, as well as frames, makes downloading slow if you are not on a broadband connection. It contains a five-point resumé of the basic feelings of the author of the site:

• •

  Europe has initiated RoHS in isolation (unlike Kyoto or the Montreal protocol) and as such has impacted the global electronics market by an estimated 100 billion dollars. As a result of this legislation, electronics becomes very unreliable very quickly. I believe that a collective of manufacturers could take the Euro parliament to court and win.

• •

  Expert opinion says that reliability WILL be an issue and that the replacements for leaded solder are simply not as reliable as their leaded predecessors. As this site grows, I will be providing links and examples of failures if/as they occur. If you have any examples, please email me.

• •

  The environment is going to be negatively impacted by the changeover to lead free. The numbers are available in the August 2005 EPA report.

• •

  There is going to be wholesale destruction of non-replaceable forests and other resources as the tin industry continues to struggle to control unauthorized mining of the raw materials.

• •

  There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that the change was necessary or even desirable from an environmental, health, or engineering standpoint.

Please note that I do not necessarily subscribe to everything that has been written here. What is very useful is a link to the US EPA report, which I mentioned above.

On the left-hand side, you will find the menu leading into the meat of the web site. If we click on Library Links, we are taken to a page which allows us to select the type of data we are looking for amongst papers, reports, articles, legislative matter and, of course, the internet. Choosing any one of these will lead you to a massive page that will give you any relevant information that you are looking for! A photograph of the library shelves shows the sheer weight and volume of information on the subject. It has been estimated that a single typewritten page of technical prose costs an average of about $280 to write. Multiply this by the number of pages on the subject and you will see how much the RoHS Directive is costing the electronics community! The bibliography contains references to well over 10,000 documents of all types.

The next menu item offers links to various organisations that may be directly or indirectly concerned with the subject matter. My first feeling on scanning the list of nearly 20 organisations is that there must be many more which have not been included, up to now! I can think offhand of at least half a dozen, in the UK alone, which are worthy of mention, such as the DTI, the IET (formerly the IEE), the NPL, the BEAMA and so on. Possibly, by the time you read this, this list will have been augmented to include these and many others. Please remember that this site is brand new and that it takes time to make exhaustive lists.

I'll gloss over the Contact Us menu as being self-explanatory. The next item is termed Blogs. I am almost ashamed to say that I have not been closely following the evolution of weblogs. Nevertheless, I do not think that this is an outstanding example of the way a blog should work. Navigation seems to be unnecessarily complicated. It would probably have been better to have used a conventional bulletin board, such as the excellent one offered free of charge by SMF. This would have made the source of the messages much more transparent and threading would be evident. However, that is personal opinion and it is the content that counts; one does not shoot the postman for bringing an invoice! At the time of writing, there are about 50 messages from a variety of sources; most of them justly praise the initiative of this web site. Some appear to be more propaganda than offering any technical discussion.

I find it astonishing that a web site such as this should offer knickknacks, like T-shirts, mugs etc for sale. Even more astonishing is that the profits do not go to support the web site itself but to an unspecified charity. This brings me to another point: an enormous amount of work has been put into the site and it would appear that it has been done purely out of the goodness of John Burke's heart. On top of that, of course, hosting the domain and web site is not free of charge, although neither is very onerous. I presume that all this is a spare time occupation and John should be congratulated for his selflessness.

Without doubt, what should be one of the most interesting pages is accessed through Exemptions Latest. This lists links to John Burke's comments regarding some of the applications to the European Union for exemption from RoHS. I feel that it would have been better had there been links to the applications themselves, especially as the comments are all identical. Just to take the first case in the list, I have read the application, which was made by the Swatch company in Switzerland. The applicant has shown in great technical detail why they have had problems in converting from tin-lead solder to a lead free alloy. The comment makes no reference to these problems but it adds the environmental reasons why the conversion is undesirable. Whereas this is justified, is it not rather a non sequitur?

At the moment, the Tin Industry Issues item contains just one report, linked in from a CNN web page. It describes the atrocious conditions under which illegal tin miners in Africa are being forced to work. By all accounts, this is little different from a few other places in the world. It is possible that more than 10 per cent of the tin used in our industry comes from illegal mining operations in at least three continents.

The last menu item provides links to industry. It is unclear whether these links provide sponsorship or are simply mutual “you scratch my back and I'll scratch your's” types. There are four such links, just now.

As I said before, this site is brand new and is changing almost daily. By the time you read these lines, it will be more complete, mature and interesting but, please, remember it is work in progress and not carved in stone. It has received an astounding number of hits for such a young enterprise and this is probably an indication of how our industry is reacting to the stupid legislation. I would be very curious to know what proportion of the hits come from Europe. As you have probably gathered from the tenure of my wording, I feel as if I'm between two stools here. On the one hand, I morally support anything which attacks common sense; on the other hand, I feel that the noble effort that has been put into this web site is rather a quixotic tilting at windmills, especially as the lobbying is done from California and not from Brussels. I hope I am proved wrong, very wrong!

Brian EllisCyprus, bne@bnellis.com

Note

1 (Matthew Arnold, Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse (1855) l. 137).