Swine Flu Outbreak!

I've been busy for the past few days preparing for my Mom's Birthday Party, so I have been unable to post anything. Since then, I've noticed news clippings that appear to look like the End of the World or the beginning of a best-selling help guide titled "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse". Either way, it's really cool. But all kidding aside, let's look at how we're all going to die.

First a virus is an infectious agent that is (evil and...) not alive, unlike bacteria, which are (also evil and...) basically a microscopic "animal" that is alive. What that means is that viruses are a pain in the ass to health care workers. Think about it. How do you kill something that isn't alive? That is why antibiotics work on bacteria but not viruses.



Typically, you just need to let a virus "run it's course". What that means is that you get really sick, then your body builds up antibodies to fight it off, then you get better unless you are really old or really young. There are anti-viral medications, but these medicines do not actually kill the virus, they just stall the development of the infection. So basically your body is still in charge with developing an immune response and fighting off the infection. The anti-viral medication just gives it some "bonus time" to do so.

Ok. You may be asking, "So what is the big deal anyway? The flu is the flu, right?" Well... just read below.


How to get a Bad-Ass Flu Strain in 3 Easy Steps!

Step 1: First, have a virulent flu strain in a species population. Let's use the aforementioned swine flu as an example.

Step 2: Next, have said flu strain mutate so that it can now spread between swine and humans, instead of the usual same species spreading. Not really a problem for anyone unless they spend a lot of time in close quarters with their livestock.

Step 3: Finally, have said flu strain mutate again so that it can now spread from human to human and voila. Swine Flu Outbreak '09.


The Spanish Flu which spread across the world in the late 1910's is an example of a virus that made it to step 3. Even though viruses don't normally make it that far, when they do (like the Spanish Flu) weird shit starts happening that isn't suppose to. Just look at the headlines of newspapers from the time of that era and you will see what I mean. "Up to 100 million people dead from the flu!" - "20 - 40 year old adults are the bulk of the deaths from the flu!" - "Women now have the right to vote!" It's horrifying. I personally remember hearing the CDC (Center for Disease Control) state a few years back during the SARS scare that as long as a flu strain doesn't make it to Step 3, we'll be ok. Well, what now? Guess I will have to go to Hatley's and bunker down for the next decade or so. As least I'll be safe from the zombies.



Ok. So far the Zombie fl... I'm sorry... the Swine Flu could possibly kick our ass. You may think there is still hope? "Can't we just pass out vaccines to make us all immune?", you may ask. Well not exactly. Yes, every year there is a flu vaccine available for the upcoming flu season. That is only because it is harvested months in advance from chicken eggs. This particular strain appeared out of nowhere (nowhere meaning Mexico City) and even if we could cultivate some strains of it for vaccines, it would still take several weeks if not months to synthesize vaccines and even then the supplies would be severely limited (This is my own professional opinion - and by professional, I mean fuck off!). *UPDATE* I'm guessing that there is really nothing we can do except hope that this turns out to be a "scare" and not a Pandemic. Other than that, it will be zombie hunting season. YEE-HAW!

Breaking News: Skynet is Online!

courtesy of botjunkie

Robot Child is now age 2

Looking to get murdered by a robot this year? Well, there's no other robot out there that looks as capable of committing the cruelest of acts upon its master without any remorse than the CB2 (Child-robot with Biomimetic Body). Just look at those dead, soulless eyes! They harbor some serious evils within, you can tell.

Still not scared? Get a load of this: "Underneath the silicone skin are almost 200 pressure sensors, and CB2 is able to associate touch with action and emotion, just like a real child. With the aid of a human mommy, CB2 has taught itself to walk, using 51 pneumatic muscles. The basic idea is really to create a robot that mimics the physical and mental learning abilities of a 2 year old child." Yeah, a murderous, robotic 2 year old. Thanks but no thanks.

I don't know what else to say except this is straightup batshit crazy. Do these robot creators ever watch Sci-fi movies? Below is a video excerpt from the future when these Robot Children become self-aware. You can see all the adorable Robot children at the 1:00 mark.

Conficker Worm's Fury unleashes on April 1, 2009

The Conficker Worm has been harassing computer network security administrator's for months since it climbed out of the internet underground sometime in 2008. It is about to get a fresh update on April 1, 2009 and security officials are bracing for the impact that the upgrade might have.

Before we get too far you should know what a worm is. Here are some definitions to put it into perspective.

Virus - a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without the permission or knowledge of the owner.

Trojan Horse - a computer program that may be legitimate but has secondary illegitimate objectives. For instance, a computer program that lets you burn DVD's but also opens a backdoor in your computer to let a hacker get in and control the computer of the user.

Worm - a self-replicating computer program. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program.

Though they sound similar, they are considerably different. Right now the Conficker worm is tearing through the internet and business computers like the sands of the desert planet Arrakis (Dune). It has infected as many as 10 million business computers with many high profile computers noted such as French Air Force, Royal Navy Warships and Submarines, Sheffield Hospital network, UK Ministry of Defence, and Norwegian Police. It has also infected scores of individual users alike. A simple action such as using a USB drive on an infected computer and then using that same USB drive on another computer will be enough to spread the infection.

The problem with the Conficker Worm is that it is ever evolving, meaning that it gets updates from it's creator(s) periodically so it's always one step ahead of the security "police". For instance, at one point (when the worm was first detected) Microsoft (MS) released a patch to fix the hole the worm was using to wreak havoc. Then shortly after, the worm updated and found a new hole to use to infect systems. What's worst is the worm uses a different site to update out of a list of 50,000. To say the least, security experts are impressed with the Conficker worm's ability to adapt and lead experts on wild goose chases.

What's interesting about this story now, is that the worm has stopped spreading. It is becoming more defensive in nature. Instead of finding ways to infect more computers, the creator(s) are taking measures to ensure that the computers that are infected with the Conficker Worm, stay infected. For instance, an infected computer may not be able to install any anti-virus programs or go to any anti-virus program web sites. It's as if the creator(s) want to protect the worm's install base by removing the worm's ability to replicate itself, which would suggest they believe they already have enough infected computers to accomplish whatever they are planning to do.

Though the worm is believed to have originated in the Ukraine, no one knows for certain. MS is concerned enough about the damages that may ensue (or have been caused), they have put a $250,000 bounty on any information leading to the creator(s) of the worm. I have never heard of a bounty (or such a large one) being put out for the creator(s) of malware. It's interesting to see where this will go.

The bottom line... IT security experts are reluctant to say "the end of the world is at hand", but the worm is set to update on April 1st, 2009, with unknown consequences.