TODAY'S TOURBUS STOP(S): California Recall / New Worm

Howdy, y'all, and greetings once again from deep behind the orange curtain in beautiful Irvine, California, where you too can be governor!

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On with the show ...

The California Recall

As you probably know by now, my recently adopted home state of California [motto: "the land of fruits and nuts"] will be holding a special election on Tuesday, October 7th, to determine if Governor Gray Davis is recalled and, if so, who will succeed him.

At last count, 247 candidates have filed candidacy papers. [In the end, I chose not to run for Governor because I was concerned that my gubernatorial campaign would significantly interfere with my career as a professional Microsoft mine sweeper player.] The California Secretary of State will issue an official list of candidates by the close of business Wednesday, August 13th. If you want to be the first person on your block to have a copy of the official list of candidates, hop on over to

http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/recall_cand.htm

As usual, our friends at Yahoo Full Coverage have done a bang-up job of collecting the latest recall-related news stories, editorials, and Web sites. You can find Yahoo's US California Recall Election page at

http://tinyurl.com/jsg8

[The real URL is kind of long, so I smushified it.]

If you'd rather get your news straight from the source, check out the online recall news sections of any major California newspaper. Here are links to but a few:

LA Times http://tinyurl.com/jshr

Sacramento Bee http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/recall/

San Jose Mercury http://tinyurl.com/jsil

Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/features/recall/

Also, while there are also literally HUNDREDS of Web logs (or "blogs") that focus on the upcoming California recall election, my current favorite is the LA-based Calbog at

http://www.calblog.com/

Blogs are, for the most part, wholly unfiltered outlets that contain significant amounts of personal bias. Calblog is no exception. But it is still a good read. [For more California-based blogs, do a search at Google for: California recall blog.]

Finally, while 247 candidates have filed candidacy papers for the upcoming recall, there is, I am sad to report, one candidate whose name is missing. A candidate whose name is synonymous with "California." A candidate who, above all others, embodies what this state truly stands for.

I'm talking, of course, about David Hasselhoff.

Can *YOU* think of a better candidate? :P

New Computer Worm

This may seem like shameless self-promotion, but (for once) I can assure you it isn't. If you haven't yet checked out my "Weekly Fab Five" page at

http://www.netsquirrel.com/fabfive/

or (better still) my "Viruses, Cookies, and Spam ... Oh, My!" PowerPoint presentation at

http://www.netsquirrel.com/classroom/

stop what you are doing and read them *NOW*! Both of these resources show you, step-by-step, how to use Microsoft's free "Windows Update" utility to patch some critical security holes in Windows ... including the hole that is currently being exploited by the now infamous "double- u-thir-ty-two-bla-ster" worm. [Sorry for the phonetic naming there, folks. I shy away from including viruses names in my posts because overzealous sysadmins have been known to block ALL email that even MENTIONS the name of a known virus or worm.]

The current Worm-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named takes advantage of a known security hole in Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 2003 Server. Microsoft patched this hole back in mid-July. If you've run Windows Update and downloaded all of the critical update anytime after July 16th, your computer should be safe from this particular worm. If you haven't run Windows Update, though, let me be the first to bid you a hearty "bye-bye!"

[One of the symptoms of the Worm-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named reportedly is that your computer automatically restarts every 60 seconds, making it quite difficult for you to download and install the necessary patch. Word is that you can delay the restart by double-clicking on your computer's clock and then changing the year to 2002.]

To learn more, including what you should do in case your computer becomes infected with this particular worm, check out

http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2003-20.html

or

http://tinyurl.com/jp8z

Help Placing a Book

This also may seem like shameless self-promotion, but only because it is. :P

Does anyone personally know a good literary agent? I want to write a trade book on how to teach with PowerPoint -- sort of a second generation PowerPoint book, one that combines current learning theory and research, usability studies, and practical experience to show readers who already know the basic mechanics of PowerPoint how to effectively use PowerPoint to teach in *ANY* environment.

Can you think of any good literary agents who could help me place this book (preferably an agent I wouldn't have to "cold call")?

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That's it for today. Have a safe and happy week, and we'll talk again soon. :)

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