VOTER COMMENTS FROM THE VIRUS HYSTERIA AWARDS

November 25, 1996



Microsoft-NBC's Brian Williams' is a favorite whipping boy of
almost everyone who bothered to send comment to the contest.  
His "I'm sick to death I'm going to get this, or worse, my computer"
quote guaranteed reaction.

Here are four letters, the second of which exhibits a
fine taste for satire:
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*Could you contact each and every company in the polls and tell them
*to check out [Virus Myths]? Some [quotes], especially Brian Williams'
*transcript had me laughing out loud. Truly hilarious. The media
*needs something to be afraid of and they've chosen computer viruses.
-------------------------

*The spin-doctors you lambaste could use a good dose of your
*skepticism and common sense.

*However, I think you did Brian Williams a disservice.  You
*cannot expect one of MSNBC's infomercial hosts to compete
*against those other "serious" investigative journalists and
*news organizations, especially journalists [Lisa] Carricaburu
*and [Stephen] Pizzo who -- in a perfect world -- would be on
*Fox as Scully and Mulder.
---------------------------------------------------------

*Excellent nominee's. I found the choices difficult, it boggles the
*mind that people who know next to nothing about a subject can
*cause such mass confusion, which is not quite as disappointing as
*the number of people who believe everything they hear.

-------------------------
*Some of these were tough picks!  Basically, I "awarded" the
*efforts of people who should have know better (as opposed to
*organizations, which often do dumb things by their very
*nature; or journalists who were apparently conned into
*writing fluff pieces by company marketdroids --- although
*I hope none of the journalists you feature ever call them-
*selves "investigative" !!)

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One Virus Hysteria voter had a particularly cunning suggestion:
A steep tariff on home computer use.

*But you should know that congress has a law on the floor that is
*going to require residential computer owners to have an operator's
*license.  Their hope is that this will curb some of the hype such
*as what you have outlined.  It will cost $70.

*Pass it on!  Warn your friends and family.  Don't forget the
*family pet.
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Another Virus Hysteria voter gave a name to the disease that
put the nominees on our list:

*This, all of it, is part of the new technology syndrome:
*People depend on computers to organize and entertain, yet
*don't understand them in the least.
*This is the real 'sad but fascinating' problem...
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This one really generated sympathy: A 'Netizen who found he'd been
duped by book merchants at the Smithsonian.

*But I bought [John McAfee's] "Computer Viruses, Worms, Data
*Diddlers, Killer Programs, And Other Threats TO Your System" at
*the Smithsonian Bookstore!!!

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A common thread in many comments was exasperation at the media,
vendors, cyber-pundits and users who drive the fast
distribution of virus myths and misinformation in the
networked world.

The following was the most pointed and typified the general
attitude toward the myth peddlers:

*I'd like to nominate every one of the hundreds of idiots who have
*e-mailed, faxed, or phoned to warn me about the [insert virus du
*jour here].  :-)
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You can still get your shots in on Virus Hysteria 1996.  Surf
over to:

http://www.kumite.com/myths .

Remember, we're going to give the "winners" some book, a number of
which contain chapters about 'Net myths, Good Times-type hoaxes
and computer virus hysteria. Perhaps they will even help.

George Smith
Crypt Newsletter
http://www.soci.niu.edu/~crypt

Rob Rosenberger
Virus Myths
us@kumite.com
