ItsGeekToMe.co

Q: I don’t get this “malware” you keep talking about.  Isn’t it just the same as a bug?  Why don’t these companies just fix their software? 

– R. N.
Santa Rosa Beach, Fla

A: An interesting question, and no offense intended, but it shows a fundamental lack of understanding of what I’ve been trying to talk about in my columns this year.  Let me see if I can clear things up for you.  A “bug” is something that a software application does that the software’s author did not intend.  It is an error in the programming, and as you implied, these can, and do get fixed by the software vendors.  Now, consider a piece of software that’s infected by a virus.  It will almost certainly do something the software’s author did not intend, but this is not considered a “bug” per se, because the software has been compromised by an outside agent acting upon it.  The original program is not causing the undesired behavior — the virus is.  The fix in this case is to remove the virus, and restore the software to its previous state.  “Malware” is a general term for any software that is purposely written to perform some nefarious action, usually without the permission or approval of the owner/operator of a computer.  Malware comes in many forms, from the virus mentioned above, to Trojan horse programs (which trick you into infecting your own system), to worms – which replicate themselves, and spread through a computer system or network and many, many more.  These are not “bugs” either, because even though they are wreaking havoc and causing problems, they are doing what their original author intended to them to do.

Q: I keep seeing 3D mentioned in advertisements for new TVs.  I just went through the changeover to digital.  Do I need to buy another new TV to be compatible with 3D? 

– J. L.
Crestview, Fla

A: How nice to get a non-computer question!  This is a rather timely one too, as 3-D is hitting the entertainment scene in a big way this year.  The answer to your question is, unfortunately, “It depends, but probably.”  First let me say that when you see 3D imaging represented in a sci-fi movie, it usually bears no comparison to reality.  So, don’t expect to see TVs projecting holographic characters into your living room any time soon.  The type of 3-D that we’re talking about involves fooling your brain into interpreting the flat image displayed on a TV screen as having depth.  Fooling your brain is not a problem; they’ve been doing it with Stereoscopes for over 160 years.  One example you’re probably familiar with is the ViewMaster toy.  The 3-D effect is achieved by showing each of your eyes a picture, but taken from slightly different angles.  The trick to doing this with TV is that TV is a constantly moving series of images, so it needs to show a different picture to each eye as many as 60 times per second.  The new 3-D TV technology relies on special glasses with shuttered lenses which rapidly alternate to mask-out one of your eyes as the TV switches between views.  In other words, the left eye sees only the left picture, and the right eye sees only the right picture.  The masking has to be synchronized with the images, which means the TV has to be involved, to send a signal to the special glasses.  The glasses use liquid crystal technology (the same thing as in a typical digital watch) to block one eye’s view while the other eye’s image is displayed.  Mitsubishi and Samsung were already selling “3-D Ready” TVs last year — all you need to do is add the glasses.  Many other manufacturers are starting to manufacture 3D-capable TVs, which are hitting the market this year.  Unfortunately, there is not yet a standard governing these sets, and I fear a format war, a-la Beta vs. VHS, and DVD-HD vs. Blu-Ray is brewing.