By silicon.com, 29 April 2004 17:05
NEWS 29.04.99: A California university student has posted online information about a Java bug that crashes PCs running Windows 95 and 98.
The applet can be embedded in internet sites and is activated when unsuspecting surfers click on an infected web page. The applet creates so many demands on a PC's processing power that it overwhelms the operating system kernel, crashing the PC.
Student Joseph Ashwood discovered the bug in the course of his research at the University of Southern California.
29.04.04: Matt Thompson, a 19-year-old from Aberdeen in Scotland was the latest youth to spot a bug in a Microsoft application - the company's Jet Database Engine.
But Thompson's efforts and endeavour caused controversy when the software giant rewarded him with little more than a 'thank you' - despite the fact he worked with Microsoft on fixing the bug for the best part of six months.
What Ashwood received for his efforts is unclear but you'd like to think a company as rich as Microsoft, which offers a publicity-grabbing $250,000 bounty on virus writers, could spare a few bob to reward somebody that spots flaws in its own software.
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