Web Shorts

New email worm attacks week after WTC strike
The record for fastest, most insidious computer virus was broken again last week with the discovery of the Nimda virus. It has spread quickly, because simply clicking on the subject line of the email while trying to open it, or visiting a web page based on a contaminated server, infects the user's computer. Worse, once the virus takes its toll, it breaks open a security hole that allows hackers into the tainted machine or network. The name “nimda” is “admin” backwards, so called because the worm launches a tainted file named admin.dll. The worm only attacks computers running a Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft's email, web browser or web server applications. The virus is a nasty combination of previous monsters Code Red and SirCam, allowing it to spread so rapidly that systems administrators found Nimda scans spiking at several hundred times per hour Tuesday, while forefather Code Red only averaged around 100 scans in the same time frame. But because the virus proliferated so quickly, there was a heightened level of urgency that allowed it to be contained more effectively.

Poynter Institute archives front pages online
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies has established an online archive of newspapers’ front pages following the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The front pages range from student newspapers to The New York Times and publications from abroad. The pages were captured in .pdf format, so they can be read using Adobe Systems’ popular Acrobat Reader software. Poynter dabbled in a similar archive after the 2000 presidential election, after which it saved more than 50 front pages. While Poynter initially contacted newspapers about the archive plan via email following the attacks, word spread rapidly, and newspapers began sending images of their front pages unsolicited. Some newspapers create digital versions of their front pages to send to the printer, so sending Poynter an image presented no inconvenience. As of Monday, Poynter featured about 400 front pages in the archive.

Military site sees a big upswing in traffic
Patriotic feelings are running high all over the country following last week’s terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with the Armed Services reporting an unusually high level of interest and a large number of recruits. That phenomenon extends to the internet as well. Military.com, a web site for military personnel and veterans, says its traffic has increased significantly since the attacks. Typically, about two million unique visitors come to the site each month, but if the current trend holds, it could see up to four times that. Military.com is a privately owned site run by a company called Military Advantage that offers links to recruiters, sells military gear and runs information about military and veterans’ affairs.

Omen? Wizards site lists Jordan as player.
A couple of weeks ago, the media was abuzz with rumors that basketball great Michael Jordan would return to the sport as a player rather than as a coach or team owner. Jordan himself has hinted strongly that he plans to set foot upon the court once more and plans to make an announcement within the next two weeks or so. On Monday the Washington Wizards team, for which he serves as president of basketball operations, jumped the gun and listed Jordan on its roster, smack dab between Christian Laettner and Popeye Jones. The National Basketball Association got wind of the slip-up and had the listing pulled late Monday afternoon. In all, it was up for about 90 minutes. The NBA dismisses the listing as a “clerical error.”

Yahoo postpones online music awards
Yahoo Internet Life Magazine, like the Emmy Awards and Latin Grammys before it, has decided to postpone its awards show. The Yahoo Internet Life Magazine Online Music Awards was slated for this Thursday, Sept. 20, in New York City. But in light of the attacks last week on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the ceremony has been postponed. The show has yet to be rescheduled, and the magazine says a new date will depend upon when it can line up all the originally scheduled performers. Rock star Pete Townsend was to receive a “Pioneer” award, and veteran rock band Aerosmith was to be commended for offering the “Best Online Experience.”

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