With more time passing, it looks like everything is not so bright after all. Windows 7 has now started to lose his shiny title of the OS we have been dreaming about since the beginning.

In an attempt to protect the rights of the music authors, Microsoft has degraded the functionality of your sound card through his software in order to prevent you from recording any quality music. This however makes your hardware useless and directly questions you, why bother buying something that you can’t even use? Furthermore, the software denies you access to your own files, and renders them inaccessible and completely useless. And it doesn’t stop here. From now on you’re not allowed to interfere and change your installed programs any more. If you attempt to change a file that is essential for the operation of a certain program, you’re instantly sealed off from that section and unable to access your Local Settings folder anymore. You can’t even move those files and examine them somewhere else, no matter what privileges you have on that computer.

What they’re trying to achieve through such limitations bears a positive message, because they’re trying to fight piracy. However, in my opinion they’ve started at the wrong place. Limiting access to something you own is not the answer, instead they should take more care in the way they redistribute paid software and find other means to prevent people to copy it without permission. After all, who doesn’t want to have full control of something he or she paid for? With such actions I’m more and more of the impression that even after I paid the price, I’m still not the one who owns that software. And that’s not right! I’m not prepared to simply watch how my computer restricts me from my own property!

Rip Cantrell is a student working with a seismic group in Sahara, when he suddenly spots a shining piece of metal in the middle of the desert, which turns out to be a saucer, that is, according to professor Soldi, who is an archaeologist, buried there for over 140.000 years. This discovery is of course quickly spotted by the US military who send its UFO force to seize the saucer. But they are not alone. The second richest man in the world, Richard Hendricks has also dispatched his own group of soldiers to bring him the vessel. And just when it seems that Hendricks will be able to steal the Saucer from Rip, he and Charley Pine, a US air force pilot, take off in the saucer from the scene, right in time before the local army, who also joined the game, was able to get their hand on this precious machine. And this is where things get complicated, when extortion, hiding and decisive action from individuals take place. A story that really keeps the adrenaline in your veins and leaves you with asking for more. And there is more! There is a second book, named The Conquest, which was released in 2004. I haven’t read it yet though, because I couldn’t find it in my local library.

The whole story is very fascinating and all, but since I’m a science fiction lover I also demand answers to the opened questions! And there were many in the book. From the colonization of the Earth, to the contents of the encyclopedia which was found on the ship, but was just briefly mentioned, to their common technology knowledge and the home planet of that civilization. … Yeah, I need to get the second book.