Over years, I have witnessed a great number of strange things occur on computers. Some incidences are simply PEBCAK problems (Problem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard - user error), hardware failure or, for want of a better term, "system brainfarts" - no identifiable cause.

But other occurrences are more sinister.

I remember one client reporting that her teenage daughter had been in an online chat room that night when suddenly computer's CD-ROM tray began opening and closing of its own volition.

In address bar of Internet Explorer a message was slowly typed out. It read, "You are dead!"

You can imagine effect that this experience had on 14 year old girl in question. This incident was more than likely a Script Kiddie attack, utilising a Trojan that was installed on computer.

So how did this Trojan end up on system? It was brought home from school on a disk, hidden in a program. This may have been deliberate as school in question had a number of Script Kiddies in attendance. I became used to hearing their names mentioned.

Schools, along with Internet, government departments and workplace, are incredible sources of Trojan infestations. The kids constantly swap programs, and in their rush to install them will fail to scan properly. If your virus scanner is configured to be running all time, this isn't such a problem. But for people with low-powered systems, 24/7 virus scanning really slows their computer down.

When out on Internet, kids also have a tendency to reveal a great deal of information about themselves. The Internet is not a play-ground or a baby-sitter. It is a tool, akin to a chainsaw. Like a chainsaw, it can benefit or destroy.

And that brings me to next point. Script Kiddies tend to be teenagers, still living at home. Unfortunately, there are also a number of "adults" who engage in practice (that's all more reason to label them "Script Kiddies"...immature and unthinking).

I would appreciate notification of where it was used, and if possible, a copy of ezine or newsletter that it was used in. Please send notification mailto:webmaster@online-wealth.com

----------------- "Hey, Sherry, just what hey is goin' on in SE world, anyways??"

I read that Go.com had gone bust, GoTo.com has increased its fees, search engines are dropping affiliate programs, reducing payouts and shedding staff, pay-per-click engines are increasing in number, portals are increasing admission fees, more and more web pages are being ruthlessly dumped by majors - and yet, thousands - hundreds of thousands - of web pages are added to SEs daily... What's happening?

"Well, dear, it's obvious, isn't it?", when I voiced my thoughts. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed turns her chair around, and settles back, and once again, she had that Cheshire cat smile I know so well...

Sherry looks at me, "We know that searching has a lot to do with using appropriate search terms...but, with all junk around, it's still difficult to get a quality result from a search."

"Sooo," I says, "start using portals and vortals more...hey, Yahoo is biggest portal, after all!"

"Agreed...and many of majors are developing relationships or partnerships with many of those specialized areas." She pauses, "But that's not enough...I saw one report just recently which asserted that 7 million pages are added to web everyday!" Whew, that's a lotta bandwidth, no matter which way you cut it.

"Sooo...as I just said, where's it all headin', huh?"

"Well, out've all this Dot Bomb stuff, two things we know fer sure: advertisers/investors are closing their pocketbooks and, to paraphrase Jacob Nielsen (read more about about Jacob Nielsen at http://www.useit.com), an economy without money is unsustainable...and that's obvious when you think about it." Sherry was chewing at her lip again, and staring off into space. I wait patiently...again

At last, she said softly, "Well, dear, we know that SEs are downsizing - all part of reducing costs of course - and they're continuing to prune their databases of junk." I nod my head, a trifle impatiently, but she pays no heed.

"Look," she continues,"s'pose you're a BIG SE" - pointing at me now - "you've gotta make money, you've gotten rid of lots of useless pages and websites, but there's still zillions waiting to come on, investors are leery and weary...what do you do?"

Hmmm...too many pages, dump them...more submissions...growing volumes...falling revenues...gotta make money...gotta make BIG money...

"Hmmm, well, maybe I guess I could be more selective about websites (Sherry nods,"Yes, yes, they're doing that!") that I allow into database...make procedure more difficult...keep out trash...that'd help to keep m'costs down..."

Sherry's smiling now, so I go on. "S'pose I could join pay-per-click band-wagon, also, start making more money that way - GoTo.com has raised its rates y'know, with no real loss, I hear ("Now you're talking," Sherry nods again, vigorously, "any search engine that matters could well go that way.").