Viruses

Viruses - we don't like them. Probably we pretty much hate them. They knock us down and make us feel horrible while we're down. But, they seem to be inevitable. Even the most isolated among us can be susceptible. All it takes is one little slip, one unsanitized shopping cart, or a sneeze from a fellow parishioner.

And so it is with computer viruses. The most innocent and careful user is vulnerable. Sure we're always told, 'don't open any files that you're not absolutely sure about' but not even that seems to protect us. They're out there and it seems that they can find insidious ways of invading our most sacred places.

The way I understand it there are real viruses and viruses that aren't real. But whether they're real or not, they incapacitate us to the same degree. The difference is that the real viruses actually attack and kill our precious files. The fake viruses throw up a window that tells us our computer has been infected by a dangerous virus and that we need to scan our files with their software and then download the solution at a cost of about $60.00. Until we do or until we get rid of their presence, our computer is rendered unusable. Whether or not the solution would even work is open for discussion. I haven't heard of anyone purchasing it and then successfully using it yet; and I don't intend to be the one to check it out.

As you've probably guessed, I've been attacked.

My desktop is suffering the effects of an unknown invader and it's not looking good. I think it's a fake virus and I hope so because I haven't backed up my files in a couple of months. There are lots of pictures (a few thousand), not just of You Capture subjects but of grandchildren and a newborn great grandson and his birth. Now once again I vow that I'll never go so long without backing up my entire system again.

So here I am on my new, not so Mary friendly laptop. I'm thankful that I have it but it's not the same as the desktop that has everything in it that has happened in my life for the last ten years or so and some things from much farther back than that. I can navigate around that old desktop without even really thinking about it whereas this laptop seems cumbersome and challenging in every application.

So my desktop is sick and that makes me sick but the thing that troubles me the most is why. Why are there viruses? Honestly I don't think I would ever intentionally do anything that I knew might hurt somebody; but there are people out there, probably geniuses really, whose sole purpose in life is to create and spread evil viruses that they know will cause untold misery and heartbreak. I just don't understand it.

So you tell me. Why are there viruses?

Oh! And just so you know. This particular virus is not contagious. Otherwise my laptop would have it too.