More about the computer attack!

Cue the piano music from the silent movies, as we look back at the history of computer virus attacks against my home office!

In 2003, I got hit by the feared Swen virus. I'm pretty sure I was targeted because I was on a progressive e-mail list. Swen wouldn't have harmed me but for the fact that the version of Outlook Express that was in vogue at the time automatically opened e-mail attachments (a feature that was one of the all-time most miserable moments in computing history).

The computer was ru. It was disheartening to start up the machine only to be faced with the hip, leafy background screen with none of my desktop items or the taskbar.

Undeterred, I buyed a new computer to replace the one Swen destroyed. I believe viruses also led to the demise of that computer in 2006 (though it could have been hardware damage incurred the day when the electricity kept rapidly going off and back on).

My current machine replaced that one. It's practically sparkling new, but within the past couple days it's been hit too. On Monday night, an error message popped up declaring that the virus detection software was shutting down. But it was still running. Yesterday, however, the computer was so slow I could barely use it. It took 15 minutes just to start up - and wouldn't start up at all if I didn't wait that long to try opening a folder. I had to start it about 5 times to get it working, and still it was slow.

Then, while I was writing an entry for this blog, the word processor announced it couldn't save the file. No way, no how. When I closed the file and tried reopening it, it said it was corrupted.

If my computer breaks, the 'Pail suffers. It suffers, I starve. This blog is more than just an adventure - it's a job! So (as Batman used to say in the old 'Super Friends' cartoons), I had to act quickly! As far as I know, the virus has been removed, but I worked all day cleaning up the mess it made. (I make backups frequently, precisely because of this ever-present threat.)

I find it rather interesting that the virus appeared on the very same day that: 1) I posted an entry linking to photos of my roadside protests against abusive teen confinement centers; and 2) the page that I linked to started linking here. Maybe the chickens have finally started coming home to roost for "the industry", and they can't deal with it. I think someone representing the teen torture racket didn't like what I have to say, so they somehow sent a virus through my Web browser. People connected to "the industry" have a history of doing stuff like this.

Isn't it also very strange that the virus only seemed to infect that one file, as if they knew what to look for?

And isn't it also weird that I got a hang-up phone call that couldn't be traced at 6:42 PM yesterday? That's not a new problem, but that it would happen within a day after the virus attack is suspicious.

I think "the industry" is behind the virus, and I think it's behind the phone call. I had my first dealings with this racket when I was going on 17, and I can tell you that these confinement centers are not run by nice people. If I've made any enemies who would have the ability to have a virus sent here, the teen gulag industry would be one of the top culprits. You only need to look at how many high-ranking politicians have links with these facilities.