Yes, I am quite aware how there are no viruses for Macs. However, Macs can get Windows viruses, although obviously those viruses have absolutely no effect on a Mac. Still, I like to be a good Internet citizen so I periodically scan my Library directory and my caches for viruses just so I don’t inadvertently pass something along in an e-mail. I guess I hadn’t checked my e-mail caches in a while, because I was alerted “Exploit.HTML.MHT-6” had been found in my main mailbox!The only thing was there was no way to quarantine the virus. To do so would reportedly move my entire “mbox” cache. Due to limitations in the clamXav software I was using I was not told which of the e-mails contained the virus, just that it was in there. I first skimmed through the mailbox, looking for anything suspicious. I moved these letters into a newly created folder called Questionable. I ran another virus scan and got the same result. I then skimmed through the mailbox again, deleting e-mails I didn’t need: old confirmations from Paypal, alerts from eBay, old newsletters; anything dated that I no longer needed. Another scan showed there was no change. I still had not found that one e-mail. The only thing was to start methodically searching. I moved everything from March into a separate folder and ran another search. Then February, then January, then December, onward. Fortunately I found out ahead of time that, according to the application’s author, “The important thing to remember if you’re using Apple’s Mail program is that the move from one mailbox to another doesn’t actually take effect until you quit the Mail program. Scanning with Mail open is just a huge waste of time…not that I’ve ever done that of course…never…not me! ;-)”.
I at least made some progress when I found out the virus dated from October 2004. I created new folders: “1 – 10” and “11 – 20” and “21 – 31” and moved the October e-mails accordingly. And I found the virus was inhabiting the “11 – 20” folder. I created another set of folders: “11”, “12”, “13”, “14”, and “15”, for starters, and soon deduced that the virus had to have been sent October 13.
I checked the October 13 folder and was a tad concerned to find those e-mails were from legitimate sources. It was possible someone I knew or did business with might have been infected. But then, upon closer inspection, I was able to see exactly what the problem was and where the virus was. It was even helpfully in an e-mail called “Exploit”. It was back during the days when my IPowerWeb server had been continually attacked with Trojans. I had found a line of code being attached to my PHP and I’d copied the code and sent it to myself. The one line was not a Trojan, but I guess it linked to one, which was enough to set off alarms in both clamXav and Virex 7.5 … and which caused me to waste an hour and a half, as well as your time here, hunting down an e-mail I had sent to myself.
They say the best way to treat an iPod battery is to drain the battery once a month to give it a full charge. The improved battery life on my iPod Photo almost makes this difficult. I use it during the day but then I hook it up to my G5 in the evenings so I can listen to it some more. It charges when it’s hooked up my computer which means it almost constantly has a full charge. However I tried the procedure on Wednesday night. I let my iPod Photo play all night and all day, through to Thursday evening. I tried restarting the iPod a couple times too, to make sure it was truly powerless. And then I charged it back up again all Thursday night.
According to 
24 is reaching the midpoint of Day 4. To mark the occasion here’s a little bit of audio, direct from the Japanese edition of Sean Callery’s soundtrack album. Click below and get a sense of the constant pressures and non-stop activity facing you in the CTU.
I saw rumors over the weekend that U2 might add a second show in Detroit. I wasn’t sure if they like us anymore since they skipped us on the first leg (and I still remember how many people left early during their 2001 show). But it looks like all is forgiven. I see a second show has indeed been added and is 
I suppose I should start becoming interested. Fox aired the new Episode III trailer tonight. I was able to see it in its high-def (though window-boxed) glory. Hayden Christensen has some red marker on his face, Samuel L Jackson is worried about some “very dangerous pudding”, CGI Yoda is ready for his close-up, some stuff blows up real good, and, according to Slashdot, Star Wars might get its first PG-13 rating.
Quite frequently The Daily Show will run a news clip that is so remarkably funny, even before they skewer it with their own comedy, that I wish I had kept it and archived it. Last night was no exception — although this time I have archived it.
The big news today is that Bloomsbury and Scholastic have revealed the covers for the new Harry Potter book, which will be published in July. Yes, it’s just a book cover; but at least it’s better than 24 hours of Martha Stewart and Michael Jackson news.
