Security Update

"Friends, do not despair. The doctors told me I had three or four weeks to live, but I have persevered and am still alive over three years later! I owe it all to my steady diet of tasteless gruel, my exercise regimen (I saw the dance-dance revolution take place with my own eyes, and it was magnificent), and my morning martini.

"I learned recently that some rapscallion has discovered a serious flaw in an old edition of the Visual IRC. Well, it may have taken him three years to find that hole, but it only took my clever sons three days to plug it back up! Please visit my down-load area for your complimentary copy of the new edition '2.0pl1'. It will allow you to chat with confidence.

"Now I am off to discover the meaning of the LOLCAT. Berti tells me cats can say the most ridiculous things. I do not believe him." --Hans Prestige, Sr., 9 June 2007, translated by Jan Prestige

Hans on ViRC

"Top of the morning! My sons tell me I ought to dictate a message for my Visual IRC section today.

"When I was a boy, we had the electric telephone. We were also the first in the neighborhood to have a wireless set, and we would listen to music and variety acts every night. I often thought about how with the telephone, I could talk to one person and he could talk back to me, whereas on the radio, one person could talk to many of us at home, but we could not talk back.

"After I came to America, I saw a film called Smokey and the Bandit and was fascinated by the wireless CB. One person could talk to many, and they could all talk back! Of course it only worked within a certain area. But it seems now that we are in the atomic age, there is an alternative.

"One day I saw my sons Berti and Martijn staring at monitors full of tiny letters. 'Ho ho!' I said. 'Are you boys becoming actuaries now? Finally you are useful, instead of loafing all day. Maybe later you can cut the grass!'

"'Father, we're chatting,' said Berti. 'Look, this person is from California. This one is from Detroit.'

"He explained to me that a product known as Visual IRC was capable of relaying messages worldwide, using that infernal Internet. Martijn added that although there were other similar products, only Visual IRC was truly worthy to be used in the Prestige house. I was fascinated, and decided that I must be its patron. So here you are, friends, at the part of my electronic home dedicated to this marvelous product. You can obtain a copy of your own, or enter the discussion area and leave messages for other users to see.

"Give it a try; I think you'll like what you see. Thank you, and good day." --Hans Prestige, Sr., 20 May 2001, translated by Nico Prestige