Hope you are using Netscape, if not watch your back. I know there have already been a couple of postings regarding the "ILOVEYOU" virus but I thought I would give you an update. Read carefully, the virus is taking new names such as..."JOKE" and "Mothers Day". http://newscenter.about.com/news/2000/05/05/rontz/1888-0810-NEWS-VIRUS-LOVE....htm Hope this link works. If not go here http://newscenter.about.com/news/index.htm and look for the heading "Love Bug" under More news stories. Have a good one! Schnaps

C|Net (www.cnet.com) also has an extensive article about this, as does (of all places) www.aol.com (though most of the data at AOL sounds like it was re-written from the C|net article)

I'm quoting this from C|Net: "For its part, Microsoft attributes the ongoing security issues not so much to inherent problems with Visual Basic script and its macro language, but to bad people using good software." What spin...

Yeah, I thought that was cute. Is Microsoft naieve enough to believe all programmers are ethical? Come on - they wouldn't be where they are if that were true!!!

But then, as one of my co-workers pointed out, it's good that he released this NOW instead of three months ago. Could you imagine the havoc the "Love Bug" would have wrought if sent out around Valentines Day?

RE Is Microsoft naieve enough to believe all programmers are ethical? It really dosn't matter how fool proof, bug proof and virus proof you make something....some little sh** head is going to find a way around it and leep righting their viruses (f'in little useless punks)

It does matter. Windows: 47,000 viruses. Mac (not counting Word macro viruses): 40 viruses. Unix: Don't know but it's not much. You can see the difference in the raw numbers; and it's not because of popularity, but the exploits MS introduces for their own purposes. ("Oh, that's in there? Here's a patch.") MS's Allchin was quoted as saying 'security is a good reason to upgrade (to Win 2K)'. Fact is the MS campus has migrated to Win 2K and they went down. Besides, viruses serve a useful purpose: culling the herd of the weak and lame.

Hi Folks! Let's not let this degenerate into a platform debate; this Forum has been great to visit because Windows, Mac, and Linux users coexist peacefully. However, as a Mac user who hasn't had a problem with a virus since the Autostart strain several years ago, I would strongly encourage my Windows bretheren to begin applying some collective grassroots pressure on that company in Redmond to start building better and more secure products--and I will join you. Sooner or later one of these punks is gonna find a way to tap into some mission critical systems and do some real damage. No one would tolerate MS's mediocrity--and the horrible spin it puts on this mess by blaming users--if it produced key components for cars or baby strollers instead of software. Peter (Dr Zik)

I heard that the person they THOUGHT wrote the virus (a 22 year old man in Manila, the Philipines) was brought in for questioning and cleared, and now they're trying to track down one of his room-mates - a woman who hasn't been seen since the virus was unleashed, and who's studying computer programming at a school in Manila. Dr. Zik, you have a good point; heck, half of the software industry would be gone if they had to worry about people being safe from their products (Oh no! Quark express 5.0 was just recalled AGAIN). Unfortunately, the product is less tangible, and often hardware or user error can be blamed for major screw-ups, so they get away with (heck, game manufacturers are ENCOURAGED - by marketing flaks and shareholders) releasing shoddy, bug-ridden products.

Hi Folks! Good point, CB. Unfortunately, the terms "Bug fix" and "patch" have become too commonplace a part of the average computer user's vocabulary, even for Mac users. Peter (Dr Zik)