atw: Re: Feeling sick? Blame your computer!

  • From: "Jill Nicholson" <jpnicho@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 16:31:39 +1100

  Thanks Beadle.
  I just love Dave Barry's stuff
  An old one I remember was about mowing a lawn - and keeping the mower
serviced.
  Hysterically funny.

  Jill

  e ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: "beadle whitehead" <beadle580@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 10:21 AM
  Subject: atw: Feeling sick? Blame your computer!


  This is from Dave Barry , a columnist and comedy writer in the USA.  Do
not
  take this advice too seriously.  (copyright remains with Dave Barry and so
  on).  Check his website for more funnies, and some that are really quite
  serious.

  Feeling sick? Blame your computer!
  DAVE BARRY, Miami Herald, Sun, Dec.  14, 2003

  It's time once again for Keyboard Korner, the computer-advice column that
  uses simple, ''jargon-free'' terminology that even an idiot like you can
  grasp; the column that shows you how to ''take command'' of your personal
  computer, if necessary by reducing it to tiny smoking shards with a
hatchet.

  Today on Keyboard Korner we will address a very important topic: computer
  security.  If you own a computer, or have touched a computer, or have ever
  shaken hands with somebody who might have touched a computer, you need to
  take precautionary measures NOW.  Because modern cyberspace is not the
  friendly, open, trusting, safe place it was back in February.  Modern
  cyberspace is a deadly festering swamp, teeming with dangerous programs
such
  as ''viruses,'' ''worms,'' ''Trojan horses'' and ''licensed Microsoft
  software'' that can take over your computer and render it useless.
  This is exactly what happened last summer when the ''SoBig'' virus
infected
  computers around the world, causing millions of computer users to be
  completely cut off from the Internet during what turned out to be a
critical
  phase in the relationship of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.  Fortunately,
  most of these computer users were able to resume monitoring the situation
by
  turning on their televisions.  But precious minutes were lost.

  If you want to prevent a similar tragedy from happening to you, you should
  immediately take the following steps to protect your computer from
viruses:
  1. Determine what version of operating system your computer uses, and
write
  this information on a piece of paper.  If you don't know how to determine
  the version, just write down ``Version 2.038.''
  2. Now write down the numbers and expiration dates of all your credit
cards.
  3. Now mail this information, along with your mother's maiden name, to

  WARNING  WARNING  DELETE  DELETE

  Whoa! That was a close one! A computer virus just attempted to take over
the
  Keyboard Korner column WHILE YOU WERE READING IT.  That's how
sophisticated
  these darned things have become!

  And that's why it is so important that you take certain simple, basic
steps
  to protect your computer.  To determine what these steps are, Keyboard
  Korner called the Association of Technical Support Personnel Who Actually
  Understand Computers, where, after a brief wait, we were connected with a
  cheerful, knowledgeable and sympathetic recorded message informing us that
  we would be kept on hold until the sun was a cold dark cinder the size of
a
  walnut.

  So we decided to do our own research into computer security, and here's
what
  we learned: There is a Nigerian businessman, Mr. John Ombmwlbmle, who has
  come into possession of $285 million in cash, and he needs to give 35
  percent of it to somebody, and out of all the people on the planet earth,
he
  has chosen Keyboard Korner! All we had to do is send him some banking
  information and samples of our signature! So pretty soon we will be on
  ''Easy Street'' and won't have to write this stupid computer advice column
  for you losers, so ha ha ha!

  But in the meantime, here are some simple, basic steps that you can take
to
  make your computer secure:
  1.  GET RID OF TEENAGERS -- Teenagers are a major cause of computer
trouble,
  because they think they're so smart, and they're always messing with
things
  and changing things and installing things and swapping songs and
downloading
  disgusting porno filth that they refuse to share with their parents.  To
  prevent this from happening to you, get a good anti-teenager program such
as
  Teen-B-Gone, which causes the computer, when booted up, to play, at full
  volume, a video of Mr. Barry Manilow singing his rousing hit number
  Copacabana.  NOTE: Teen-B-Gone is a complex program; to install and
  configure it properly, you will need the help of a teenager.

  2.  CHECK FOR INCOMING ELECTRICITY -- One factor common to many computer
  viruses is that, in order to function, they require electricity.  Get down
  on your hands and knees and crawl under your desk; do you see a wire going
  from the computer to the wall? If so, chances are that -- unbeknownst to
you
  -- this wire is bringing electricity directly into your house from a
massive
  ''power grid'' that is also connected to prisons, crack houses, municipal
  sewage facilities, porno filth stores, etc.  Yank it out.  (The wire, we
  mean.)  Then curl into a foetal position and REMAIN UNDER THE DESK,
because
  there are new computer viruses out there now that can travel through the
air
  and bypass your computer entirely and enter your brain via your dental
  fillings.  Keyboard Korner can feel it happening right now.

  _________________________________________________________________
  Cricket crazy? Catch the latest action.
http://server1.msn.co.in/sp03/gprs/
  Now on your mobile!

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