An Open Letter To Janet Evans About Her Web Site

And it's very quick.

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Dear Janet:

It's been awhile since I wrote you an open letter on this blog, but, having noted your forty-ninth birthday last week, I couldn't help but notice . . . 

Your Web site has been flagged as "unsafe" by my virus detector.

Because you just celebrated a birthday, and because you're still my all-time favorite female Olympian, I was prompted to look at your site and see what you're up to these days, but I'm not going to do that if there's a problem with it.  Am I right in assuming that you haven't updated it because of that other virus - COVID-19 - which is now ravaging your home state of California as I type this?  And would I also be right in assuming you're busy protecting your lovely family from this nasty virus, which can do far more damage to the general population than any computer bug could do to your page or to anyone who may click on the link to it?

Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to bring this to the attention of you and anyone else who still follows you.  And please take your time in fixing your site, Janet, because I know there are more important things to worry about, seeing as we're living in times crazier than when you saw that bomb in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park go off before your eyes.  Take care.

Sincerely, 

Steven Maginnis

P.S.  Just as a matter of curiosity, Janet, did you, seeing as you have a personal connection to the story, see Clint Eastwood's movie Richard Jewell?   Because I understand that Donovan Bailey recommends it. :-) 

Facebook Sneak Attack

The Internet hacking group Anonymous did not destroy Facebook on November 5 as they - or some of their renegade members - had promised back in August, but other hackers are doing the next best thing. Hackers have been attacking Facebook with a vengeance, posting all sorts of spam on users' profile pages. They've been posting pictures depicting graphic sex and violence, posting links to suspicious videos, and - wait for it - posting links to fabulous deals on products. According to an Associated Press report, clicking on such links took people to a page that asked them to copy and paste a line of malicious JavaScript programming code into the address bar of their Web browser.  Pasting such a message would pick up a message or picture from whatever Web site the JavaScript would be posting to.  The content would then be posted on the users' Facebook page, usually without their knowledge. It would spread further when their friends then clicked on those links, thinking that the user had posted it deliberately.

It gets worse. Four other Facebook viruses have been detected in recent days. The first virus is a notice of a photo tag, which people are likely to check. The second is a notification that a friend reported you to Facebook for offensive behavior, which is too temptingly intriguing not to check. The third is a video saying that 99 percent of people cannot watch it for more than fifteen seconds, daring one to watch it for longer. The fourth is any message from a friend via the online chat function (as opposed to a Facebook e-mail) urging you to click a link. Any one of these viruses can crash a PC.

I knew I should have gotten a Mac.

I'm paranoid now. After having scanned my computer daily for weeks and feeling I didn't need to scan it anymore for awhile, I've taken to scanning it three times in two days because I had clicked on a comment thread mentioning me that led to one of those links directing me to a fabulous deal on, ironically, an Apple product. Although I didn't click on the link itself, the fact that I was led to it was enough to freak me out. The link was indeed posted to my friend's Facebook page without his knowledge.

I love Facebook; I've been addicted to it, in fact, and it was because of Facebook that I've made so many invaluable connections to people (and I won't bore you with name dropping, because I did that in my August 10 post about, ironically, Anonymous), but with all of these attacks and threats of attacks, I've been worrying more than usual about my PC and the integrity of my antivirus protection.

Facebook says that it's stopped most of the spam attacks, and I assume the viruses have been cleared out as well. Facebook has also sought to re-assure its customers by pointing out that less than four percent of all of the content shared on it is spam. I'm not re-assured. A piece of spam - particularly a piece of spam carrying a virus - is like an atomic bomb. It takes only one of them to ruin your whole day.