Monday's Meander

Another week, another news feed. On this day in 1679 Europe panicked over the close approach of a comet. The first national automobile show debuted in Madison Square Garden in 1900. Laika, the first space dog, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Happy Birthday to the Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792). Today's daily productivity killer: The 80's Lyrics Quiz. "I'll love you with all the joy of living until the lights go out in ________ __________."

1. Mimail.C is on the loose and spreading fast. Subject line: Our private photos. The virus is in an attached .zip file. Now who could resist that? Open the zip and it unpacks photos.jpg.exe and runs it. Once installed the virus launches a DDoS attack against anti-spam sites.
2. Bill Gates tells ITBusiness that Microsoft code is "closer to perfect" but that if you'd been running a firewall and software updates you wouldn't have had any problems. In other words, it's all your fault.
3. Server shipments show double digit growth for third consecutive quarter. HP is #1, followed by Dell, IBM, and a setting Sun.
4. Apple's Panther problems are traced to external Firewire 800 drives with Oxford bridge chips. Apple says eject the drive before installing or using Panther.
5. Scarier than the Halloween memo, Friday's rumor that Microsoft planned to acquire Google. With an IPO in the offing I'm sure Larry and Sergei quickly spurned the approach from the Evil Empire. QOTD: Would you trust a Microsoft Google?