VIRUS UPDATE
A recent study by the National Computer Security Association (NCSA) shows that the threat of a virus attack is much greater than ever. Of the 300 medium to large organizations responding to the survey, over 99% had encountered a software virus. The greatest threat is in the form of macro viruses. Macro viruses are designed to attach themselves to Microsoft's Word and Excel documents. Word macro viruses now account for 66% of the reported viruses. Excel macro viruses accounted for 1% of the reported viruses. The other 33% is all other viruses combined including boot sector viruses. One quarter of the survey respondents reported receiving a macro virus from a Word document sent as an e-mail attachment. The good news in the report is that the time a network server was down due to a "virus disaster" dropped from six hours to forty minutes. A virus disaster was defined as 25 or more infected personal computers. (Source: LANTIMES, 6/23/1997).

CRITTERS ON A CHIP
The "bioluminescent bioreporter integrated circuit" combines living bacteria with a silicon chip. The bacteria are suspended in a special layer on the silicon chip. When exposed to certain pollutants or chemicals the bacteria begin to glow. The integrated circuit detects the photons from the bacteria from which information is transmitted by converting the photons into electrical voltage. The only limitation is that the bacteria insist on dying in a few days. The inventors hope to fix this by pumping water and nutrients to the bacteria. (Source: Wired, July, 1997)

FLAT PANEL DISPLAYS
Look for new high quality, notebook computer displays to be introduced sometime in 1998. The new displays, called ThinCRT, will offer traditional CRT monitor quality to notebook screens no thicker than 8 millimeters. The image is created by firing electrons through a narrow space between a cathode and an aluminized-phosphor faceplate. Hand held computers will be the first products to feature this new display followed by notebooks and then desktop monitors. (Source: INFOWORLD, 7/21/1997).

WEB SITE OF THE MONTH
Does the hot, humid weather have you wilting? The National Ice Center may just be the site to provide you with the "cool" information you are seeking. A great place to find data to track the movement of Antarctic icebergs, information on ice breakers and maps of the ice on the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay and the Arctic region. Yes, all the ice is gone from Lake Superior! (Source: Wall Street Journal, 7/17/1997).
_______________________________________________________________ Technology Tidbits is published monthly by Jerry Price, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
© 1997 Jerry W. Price

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