NYT reports that Corrupted PC’s Find New Home in the Dumpster. Let me get this straight, rather than exerting some care or caution with your computing habits you willfully discard your computer, an object chock full of PCBs, into a landfill and replace it with another.

On a recent Sunday morning when Lew Tucker’s Dell desktop computer was overrun by spyware and adware - stealth software that delivers intrusive advertising messages and even gathers data from the user’s machine - he did not simply get rid of the offending programs. He threw out the whole computer.

Mr. Tucker, an Internet industry executive who holds a Ph.D. in computer science, decided that rather than take the time to remove the offending software, he would spend $400 on a new machine.

This is behavior that I might expect from any old executive but there are two things that cause me to pause and reflect. He works for Salesforce.com so surely he must have at least passing knowledge about how to secure a computer against malware and viruses particularly given that the article states he has a Ph.D. in Computer Science. Did Lew Tucker at least keep on top of the patches and service packs issued by Microsoft? Likely not. Is Lew Tucker’s background in CS center largely around theory? Likely. If he had more practical knowledge about desktop computing he would not be blithely tossing his PCB laden computers into a landfill. That is of course if he really cares about the world we live in which judging by his nonchalance it is very lkely he does not.

Here are some clues for all the idiots like Mr. Tucker who would pitch their PCs into a dumpster because of Bonzai Buddy (note- Windows users only):

1. Stay on top of patches and service packs at Windows Update.
2. Get a software firewall like ZoneAlarm.
3. Download, install, and use Anti-Spyware products. SpyBot and AdAware are two very capable packages.
4. Purchase and use an anti-virus solution like Symantec’s Norton Anti-Virus.
5. Use another browser. IE is the root of many of your problems, Mr. Tucker et al. Get Firefox.
6. When all else fails remeber that you have a disc labeled Recovery. Use it.

Now, if this is too much for you to do than I suggest you get an alternate OS. Apple makes a great product and I have found that Linux suits my needs just perfectly, I recommend Ubuntu. If that is too much that I recommend you get yourself a day planner and leave computers well enough alone.

Rant material provided by the fine folks at Gizmodo.