Big Worm Attack
January 23rd, 2009
Apparently we are in the midst of a massive internet worm attack, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in years. Estimates of the number of compromised systems range from 6% to 30%. Let me clarify—that’s the percentage of all Windows computers in the world that have been taken over. The worm doesn’t destroy data on the target systems, it just turns them into ’bots for sending spam and creating DDOS attacks. Time to update those virus definitions and do a scan.
Link: http://www.computerworld.com/…
(via Kim Komando)
Several Seagate hard drive models, but especially the Barracuda 7200.11, have been freezing up and failing. The problem is with the firmware, and Seagate says that the data is still intact on the drives (but just not accessible). See the linked article for instructions on how to update the firmware.
In the third installment of an 
Professor Richard Wiseman decided to research luck. He found that “lucky” people have attitudes/habits that actually create their luck, without their realizing it. He also determined it’s possible to increase a person’s luck by having him/her perform exercises to strengthen those attitudes and habits. I was astounded by the fake newspaper advertisement that went unnoticed by the “unlucky” group.
Google Street View is an extension of Google Maps with pictures taken from the street. Here, for example, is 
Windows users: ever had one of those stalled print jobs that won’t go away? I’ve gone to the extreme of unplugging the printer and rebooting Windows in order to get rid of them. “Stalled Printer Repair” is a free utility that forces the removal of stalled print jobs.
When shopping for sheets, I just assumed that higher thread counts were better. This is not necessarily the case, and some thread counts are outright deceptive.
Although it’s a bit morbid, this Google Maps mapplet shows the thermal damage caused by a nuclear explosion centered at an address that you specify. It also allows you to choose between various types of nuclear devices.
This weatherman demonstrates the effects of cold weather on bananas, soap bubbles, and hot water. Here’s more images of 
Back in 1961, astronaut Gus Grissom took two rolls of dimes into orbit on the Liberty Bell 7 spaceflight. Upon returning to Earth, Grissom’s capsule sank in deep ocean waters and he was forced to leave the coins behind. The capsule was retrieved in 1999, and the dimes now reside in a space museum.
The speed at which a program is executed on a multi-core system can vary by up to 10 percent, depending on a variety of things from how interrupts are handled to the way the program is coded. Chad’s news has 