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At Least We Can Spread It (1/19/01)
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Remember that nasty ol' Melissa virus that nuked much of the Wintel world a couple of years ago? Well, it's baa-aack, though this latest variant doesn't seem to have wreaked much havoc thus far. According to a ZDNet article, "Melissa-X" is the latest rage-- and irony of ironies, guess which platform appears to be responsible for spreading it? That's right, your buddy and ours, the Macintosh.
"But AtAT," we hear you asking, "aren't Mac users immune to the Melissa virus?" Why, yes we are-- mostly. (You may even remember us ranting about the lack of a Mac port some time ago; there really isn't any software for the Mac!) Even with the original Melissa strain, Mac users were impervious to the virus's entertaining little practice of emailing itself to fifty people in the infected computer's address book. Unfortunately, that didn't mean that Mac users couldn't unwittingly pass on the virus by sharing infected documents with Windows users. In other words, Mac users were never any more than Typhoid Melissas, capable of spreading the disease without getting to share in the fun first-hand.
Well, here we are, almost two years later, and the Mac platform appears to be getting the last laugh. Apparently this latest outbreak was caused by a UK-based Mac user who inadvertently opened an older Melissa-infected Word document in office:mac 2001 and resaved it in Word 2001's new format. The result? The virus remained intact, but it was rendered undetectable by antivirus software looking for the unadulterated Melissa strain. And once again, while Mac users can spread the virus, we are immune to its effects.
This isn't a big deal even for Windows users, really, as Melissa seems to crop up with "one new strain a month" anyway-- but we couldn't pass up the irony of this latest version originating from a Mac. In any event, MacCentral reports that Symantec (the folks who bring you Norton Antivirus) has already released a fix, so this is more "noteworthy" instead of apocalyptic. Still, a fun time was had by all...
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SceneLink (2810)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 1/19/01 episode: January 19, 2001: CNN plans to use DV camcorders and PowerBooks to cut its production costs. Meanwhile, lead times on PowerBooks and high-end Power Macs increased sharply at the Apple Store, and the Melissa virus is back-- this time in a strain that appears to have originated from a Macintosh...
Other scenes from that episode: 2808: "This... Is Final Cut Pro." (1/19/01) The odds are pretty good that when many of you think "news," you think "CNN." Personally, when we think "news," we think "The Daily Show." But that's just us, and we're certainly not going to argue that CNN isn't one of the top dogs when it comes to sources of up-to-the-minute information about Senate hearings, border conflicts, chad-inspired lawsuits, and all that other stuff that, frankly, makes us change the channel in search of an infomercial about shapely abs or a miracle product that can get grape juice out of a white carpet... 2809: How's Next March Grab Ya? (1/19/01) CNN might want to consider getting its PowerBook orders in fast, though, because as usual, when Steve mentioned the ship dates of Apple's new gear during last week's keynote, he was evidently speaking in tongues...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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