Computer Virus

Hex dump of the Blaster worm, showing a message left for Microsoft CEO Bill Gates
by the worm's programmer http://nuevovirus.info/virus-blaster/, Public Domain, wikimedia.org

A computer virus is a malware program that, when executed, replicates by inserting copies of itself (possibly modified) into other computer programs, data files, or the boot sector of the hard drive. Like the biological viruses from which its name is taken, when this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected."

This area of computer science has borrowed a good number of biological terms.

Viruses often perform some type of harmful activity on infected hosts, such as stealing hard disk space , corrupting data, spamming their contacts, logging their keystrokes, or even rendering the computer useless.

Not all viruses must be destructive or even be hidden. What makes a virus a virus is that it is self-replicating and installs itself without user consent.


Computer scientists have categorized two main kinds of digital viruses. “Zoo viruses” are those that have little chance of spreading. Like zoo animals, they are often collected and preserved.

Viruses that exist “in the wild” are much harder to control—some are shape-shifters that imitate more benign forms of code, while others are parasitic and invade computers, phone systems, and other networks.

Though we think of viruses as part of the more modern Internet age, in 1949 by John von Neumann gave lectures about the "automata" and  published the "Theory of self-reproducing automata"which described how a computer program could be designed to reproduce itself, and his design for a self-reproducing computer program is considered the world's first computer virus. He is at least the theoretical father of computer virology.

SMART cars

smart Fortwo cabriolet - CC BY-SA 3.0,

smart Automobile is a division of Daimler AG that manufactures and markets the smart Fortwo and smart Forfour. The official trademarked name is stylized as "smart", with all lowercase letters.

“Smart” sounds like a good name for cars that are meant to be small, smartly designed city cars. But it turns out that despite the lowercase letter, this name is an acroym.

The early development of the brand and styling was a venture of Swatch and Mercedes and thus the name reflects the idea of Swatch Mercedes ART.

The corporate branding uses lowercase logotype for the "smart" and a visual logo incorporating the letter "c" for "compact" and an arrow for "forward thinking".


By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use

xoxo hugs, kisses and SWAK

When and why did x's and o's become a symbol for hugs and kisses?

xoxo (generally lowercase letters) is a way to express love or good friendship at the end of a written letter - and now in email and SMS text messages.

Which letter represents which action? That is not actually clear, but the custom of placing "X" on envelopes, notes and at the bottom of letters to mean kisses dates back to the Middle Ages.

The symbol x is the letter taw in early Hebrew (and in Ezekiel, a mark set “upon the foreheads” of men) and chi in Greek. A Christian cross was used on medieval documents or letters to mean faith and honesty. It can still be seen on Medieval churches as a symbol of Christ and is why we sometimes see Christmas written as Xmas.

The Chi Rho is one of the earliest forms of christogram, and is formed by superimposing the first two (capital) letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word "ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ" = KRistos = Christ to produce the monogram.

It is said that the pronunciation of the letter "X" in Spanish, though generally transliterated as equis, sounds like a native Spanish speaker saying "a kiss" in English.

The x also became the signature of choice in the Middle Ages since most of the common people could not read or write. A literal kiss would be placed upon the cross of a letter by the signer as a display of their sworn oath. Documents sealed with an x embossed in wax or lead (letters, books, oaths of political and economic fealty between kings and their vassals)were "sealed with a kiss.”

Much later, the acronym SWAK became popular during World War I for soldiers to imprint on their letters home.

There is speculation that the use of o may be of a more modern American origin. When arriving in the United States, Jewish immigrants, most of whose first language was Yiddish, would use an 'O' to sign documents, rather than the Christian X as a sign of the cross. Immigration inspectors called anyone who signed with an “o” “a kikel [circle in Yiddish] or kikeleh [little circle], which was shortened to kike,” and eventually took on a derogatory meaning.


Still, the origin of O as a hug and the combining of X and O is debatable.

Some interpret X as the crossed arms of a hug and O as the puckered lips of a kiss. How about X representing the four lips of a kiss and O the four arms of a hug?

The Oxford English Dictionary states that X is "used to represent a kiss, esp. in the subscription to a letter."

Some sources say that, based on the pronunciation of the letters, X sounds like 'kiss' and O sounds like 'hold', as in 'I hold you'.

How Team Names Travel: American Football

Since team franchises often are moved from one city to another, team names often move and are sometimes changed.

In 1936, Cleveland’s new AFL franchise decided to take its name from one of the top collegiate teams of the era, the Fordham Rams.

The Rams name stuck even with a move to Los Angeles in 1946. The team became the St. Louis Rams in 1995.

After more than a decade without a football team, Baltimore acquired an NFL team in 1996 when the Cleveland Browns relocated.

Owner Art Modell allowed the Browns’ name, colors and history to remain in Cleveland, so Baltimore set up focus groups and fan polls to decide on a new name. Baltimore Ravens was the winner, beating out Americans and Marauders. The name refers to the mythical bird in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.” Poe lived and died in Baltimore.

When an NFL franchise was bought for Boston in 1933, the team was set to play at the home of the baseball Boston Braves so it adopted the same name. The following year, the Braves moved to Fenway Park and changed their name to the Redskins. The Redskins name traveled with the team to become the Washington Redskins.

Catsup or Ketchup?

The etymology of the word ketchup has multiple possibilities. We know that in the 17th century, the Chinese had a mixture of pickled fish and spices called (in the Amoy dialect) kôe-chiap or kê-chiap. This was far from the modern-day tomato based condiment we use, but similar in sound and use.

By the early 18th century, the Chinese table sauce had made it to the Malay states (present day Malaysia and Singapore). There, English explorers discovered it and the Indonesian-Malay word used for the sauce was kecap (pronounced "kay-chap"). It's not hard to see that evolving in English to "ketchup" spelling. American Colonists brought it with them to the New World. We find the word in the 1690 Dictionary of the Canting Crew.

The spelling of "catsup" in American English is considered "a failed attempt at Anglicization." Catsup is the dominant term in American English and Canadian English, and it is particularly prominent in some southern US states.

It was news to me that in some places catsup is considered to be tomato sauce that is used on pasta and not as the condiment.