Dear silicon.com... Data security... e-learning a bit of a bore?... ID cards debate... skip vista?

What's got silicon.com readers reaching for their keyboards this week? Reader Comments of the Week showcases how our users are responding to the latest tech news and views on the site...

Priorities, priorities…
Data security a top priority for Europe

Good idea - let's standardise the method for data security in the EC then the criminals won't have to work so hard.
-- Roger Huffadine, Worcester

Got to agree with Roger - standardisation is the enemy of good data protection. Why make the possibility of a class-attack more likely than it already is?
-- Jeremy Wickins, Sheffield

I have to disagree:

I have several online accounts and other protected services:

At present, they each have very different security mechanisms. Whilst this variety of different mechanisms may appear to give extra security - security through obscurity - and to provide room for useful innovation; the overall effect is to lower my overall security - and to ensure that I have to keep written "prompts" to help me remember.

So, if it were sufficient secure, convenient and reliable, a standardised access method would improve my overall security.
-- Richard, UK

Editor's choice

silicon.com editor Steve Ranger flags up his picks on the site this week...

♦ Peter Cochrane's Blog: Wireless jammers galore
♦ Filtering's ding-dong fight with malicious spam
♦ Photos: Satellite mapping through clouds

e-learning bore or bonus?
'Boring' e-learning fails to engage staff

This is not a surprise! Though platforms have shown lot of innovation, platforms are no where close yet [to face-to-face interaction]

Also, content is still not being worked upon to harness full potential for customised content requirements for each of the subject in elearning. Reasons are various - budgets, time, and sophistication of tools to generate customized, interactive content without lot of time and pain........
-- Kartik Patel, India

The idea of listening to experience is so that we minimise the costs and wastes of relearning. Take advantage of those who have done it before to reduce costs and time instead of continually reinventing the wheel. Undertake proper holistic studies and analysis taking account of all eventualities instead of favouring only those that support the grand idea.
-- Nick Cole, Scotland

Currently 70% of learning in our institution is accomplished as e-learning.

As for boring.... anyone who suffered through boring lectures in school and workplace knows e-learning has no lock on boring. Boring is eliminated with creative design and sensitivity to the needs of the learner. Good training is good design in any medium. Start over......
-- Anonymous, Sr. Learning Consultant, US

Classroom are also considered boring by many students. It all depends on how well lecturer teaches....and same applies to e-learning.
-- Abhishek, India

To debate or to ditch?
Debate ID cards 'or scrap them'

The most sensible article on this subject so far. Now let's get into the detail of what we should do.
-- Martin Anderson, Newbury

scrap the legislation before any more money is wasted and spend it on putting the internal IT infrastructure in order,
-- Karen Challinor, UK

No-one trusts the government to manage a huge database. there will be leaks and errors and it's a huge target for identity thieves. We could however have ID cards without a central database, giving each citizen custody of their own data.
-- Phil Thane, LLangollen

Don't debate, scrap them!

The government has had years to provide a convincing argument for these, and their ability to properly handle the data.

The govenment clearly can't be trusted with the information after the HMRC fiasco.

The time for debate is over. Stop wasting money pounding this deceased equine and just scrap them.
-- Graham Coles, UK

I can see utility in a central store for biometric data. We do not need a separate card to hold the biometrics - they can be duplicated onto cards issued by banks etc to support biometric authentication.
-- Andrew Robb, Work

Skip Vista?
Windows Vista - why you shouldn't skip it

You say in your story that it's likely software companies will drop support for XP in 2011/12 but this will only happen if the majority of people upgraded. If two thirds of businesses aren't going to upgrade at all (and why should they?) then the software companies are going to have to carry on supporting it.
-- Ollie Clark, Leeds

I agree with Ollie Clark.

Just because MSoft have done a brilliant marketting job so far isn't a guarantee of future performance.

Windows XP is pretty good. If nobody sees advantage in Vista, real or perceived, they won't buy it.
-- Andrew Witham, London

XP is a pretty good OS. It's only reasonable for software vendors to continue support for XP past 2010.

If anything, vendors should me moving more toward multi-platform software.
-- Peter Ochodo, Montreal

I have been using Vista since the Beta version and it needs so much memory and displays other faults such as shutting down that I have had to use older computers which still have XP on them.

I read that there is an SP due for Vista in early 2008. If this fails to put matters right then I shall have to return to XP. I very often find that software will not run on Vista but does run on XP.
-- Ken Knight, Mexico

Seems clear that for most businesses Windows is the problem and not the solution (at least the solution they would like).

This is just tiresome. Constantly the same debate about extra spend on an OS upgrade with implicit or explicit threats about security and maintenance costs if you don't play along.
-- Finbar Dineen, Budapest

Encryption key…
Encryption not the key to data security

I agree with almost all of the article but encryption can at least stop accidental or deliberate theft/loss of sensitive data in transit which seems to be a major problem for the UK government.
-- Andy Lankester, London

This title 'Encryption not the key to data security' is a bit misleading, you simply can't compare technology with policies and procedures like this.
-- James Robertson, Edinburgh

Without encryption you are relying solely on policies telling people what they can or can't do but not preventing them from doing it.

Encryption can be used to enforce policies. Had the software only allowed data to be exported in encrypted form, would we have had 25 million records floating around readable by anyone? No.

I would say encryption therefore IS the key to data security where it is properly used and can enforce the policies laid down for the data access.
-- Graham Coles, UK

Please note, comments may be edited for clarity - but are not corrected for grammar, spelling, punctuation or style. The views expressed are not necessarily the views of silicon.com. You can write to silicon.com by posting a Reader Comment below, or emailing editorial@silicon.com.