Fallout from the unauthorized release of Microsoft Monkeyboy 2001 continues as you'd expect. Those of you who missed it should number yourselves among the very few insanely lucky individuals who have not been traumatized by exposure to Steve Ballmer's... enthusiasm onstage at what appears to have been a corporate pep rally. What's Microsoft's official reaction to the public getting a glimpse of Ballmer's unique motivational techniques? Well, straight from a company spokesperson, here's the party line: "Microsoft employees love how excited Steve is about the company and the software industry. We're glad he's leading Microsoft." Uh, right.

As for the rest of the world, faithful viewer Navarro Parker wrote in to note that no less a news authority than the New York Times is covering the aftermath of the Great Ballmer Outbreak. Curiously, rather than focusing on the widespread retching and projectile vomiting that exposure to the video appears to have caused (since when is "Man Throws Up On Dog" not news?), the Times has chosen to cover the lesser consequence of the release of the Monkeyboy footage: apparently some people have actually taken to mocking Steve Ballmer on the 'net. Really! We're just as shocked as you are that there could be individuals so callous as to makes jokes when thousands of people have suffered so deeply, but hey, that's the world in which we live.

Reportedly many of these online quips center around Mr. Ballmer's suspected caffeine intake, the possibility of illicit drug use, and comments on the man's more simian characteristics. Parodies of the original footage are also starting to make the rounds; one of them reportedly replaces the original soundtrack with "sounds of screeching monkeys" (and someone noticed?), while another makes a rather tasteless comparison to Hitler rallying the troops. (You can also download a Ballmer-based Apple ad created by faithful viewer saltines17, if you're looking for something perhaps a little more positive in tone.) And if you're struck by a desperate urge to plaster Ballmer's image all over your body, there are even Monkeyboy t-shirts available from Electric Escape-- though why anyone would want to wear pictures of such a disturbing man when far more attractive alternatives are available (and cheaper, to boot!) is beyond us.

Meanwhile, the AtAT staff is considering organizing and filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of the millions of unsuspecting viewers who have very likely been rendered sterile as a result of having witnessed Steve Ballmer shrieking like a threatened howler monkey on crack while jumping around as if he had a rabid badger in his pants. If you have suffered any symptoms commonly associated with Post-Ballmer Stress Disorder such as prematurely greying hair, loss of hair, loss of appetite, loss of bladder control, or incessant nightmares featuring sweaty bald men yelling at you, please document the decaying state of your physical and mental health. We'll put the word out once we've enlisted a few states' attorneys general to do the legal heavy lifting.