My Mac by default allows "all incoming connections", this seems more dangerous than "Firewall is turned on". I never said firewalls were the be-all and end-all of security. I'm also curious to know why you're comparing the firewall in my Macbook Pro to the bog-standard Windows Firewall (which everyone knows is [LIFTED]).

We have sharks in the water ,damn and i was having such a good summer now i cant go to the beach no one there .

The Windows firewall is fine, as a firewall (post XP SP2). It does what it says on the tin. What it isn't (and what the Apple firewall isn't) is a personal firewall.

A firewall has one purpose to block unwelcome incoming packets on ports that shouldn't be in use.

The term "personal" firewall was invented for Windows. Unlike the general usage of "personal", which means cut down, a "personal" firewall does a lot more, stopping apps from actually reaching out and contacting the network, unless they have a rule already in place. A personal firewall also tends to immediately inform the user something is trying to use a closed port, whereas a normal firewall writes the information to a log file, ready for the administrator to look at.

Some firewalls have exploits, like any other software, but in general they are enough - as long as you know what is running on the machine, which is why personal firewalls for Windows came along, there was so much malware trying to phone home, that something needed to be done.

When switched on and configured correctly, a firewall will be fine. On a home network, it isn't critical, as long as you know all of the computers and what they are running. If you are on a public network or company network, you should switch on the Firewall. It might be of limited use, but it is enough unless somebody is really trying to hack in.

I'll assume that everyone is worried about the sharks getting through thier firewallz.

Sorry, I could have resisted but I chose not to.

I've left my lunch on the side in the kitchen

This is a random question, but is it safe to drink water from the bathroom tap in a hotel?

Peter.

If it's in the UK, then yes. They're required by law to make the water in the rooms drinkable I think - certainly if not, they're supposed to put a notice up saying it's non drinkable.

Overseas, I might not want to chance it, depending on the country.

I should have mentioned that they are all UK or Irish hotels. Thanks for that anyway, it'll save me buying bottled water now

Peter.

You could always boil it the night before, if you're worried.

Or take the view of what doesn't kill you will only make you stronger...

Out of interest, how bad can non-drinkable water (that comes out of a tap in a company toilet or similar) be?

upto fatal.

lolcats do Metallica

^ That's great!

+1 Truly excellent!

It depends really - in this country at least, that means it's not certified as fit for human consumption, and isn't subject to the strict regulations that drinking water has.
So it could be anything to perfectly safe mains tap water that nobody can be bothered to get certified, down to water out of an old storage tank full of dead pigeons, rats and god knows what else, and can be crawling with all sorts of potentially fatal nasties.

Basically, if it's marked as non-drinkable, don't drink it.