Word of the Day: sui generis

Word of the Day for Friday August 6, 2004

sui generis \soo-eye-JEN-ur-us; soo-ee-\, adjective:
Being the only example of its kind; constituting a class of
its own; unique.

This man, in fact, was sui generis, a true original.
--Ruth Lord, [1]Henry F. du Pont and Winterthur

They're a special case, a category of their own, sui
generis.
--Eric Kraft, [2]Leaving Small's Hotel

In the degree of their alienation from their society and of
their impact on it, the Russian intelligentsia of the
nineteenth century were a phenomenon almost sui generis.
--Aileen M. Kelly, [3]Toward Another Shore

William Randolph Hearst did not speak often of his father.
He preferred to think of himself as sui generis and
self-created, which in many ways he was.
--David Nasaw, [4]The Chief
_________________________________________________________

Sui generis is from Latin, literally meaning "of its own
kind": sui, "of its own" + generis, genitive form of genus,
"kind."

Source: Dictionary.com "Word of the Day"

Lone German Teen Responsible For 70% Of Computer Viruses

LONDON - A teenager arrested in May was responsible for 70 per cent of all viruses received worldwide in the first half of this year.

Sven Jaschan, 18, was still at school in Germany when he admitted to writing and spreading the Sasser and Netsky "worms'' and their variations, which caused vast irritation and damage.

Graham Cluley, senior technical consultant at computer security company Sophos, said: "It is simply staggering that a single German teenager can have had such a dramatic impact.''

The Sasser worm caused huge disruption to businesses and organizations in May, hitting, among others, British Airways, Taiwan's national post office, government departments in Hong Kong and Australia's Railcorp train company.

The Sophos report also shows many more new viruses are being created. The company detected 4,677 new types of virus up to the end of June, up 21 per cent on last year. Actual numbers of infections are not known because many remain unreported. But of all e-mails sent, about one in 11 contain viruses.

Police arrested Mr. Jaschan at his family home in Waffensen, near Bremen, on May 7 after being tipped off by individuals motivated by a $250,000 U.S. reward offered by Microsoft. A court date has not yet been set. He could face up to five years in prison, but he might escape a custodial sentence because he wrote the viruses before his 18th birthday in April.

Mr. Jaschan told the German magazine Stern that he spread the viruses to gain his peers' respect and admiration.

"I felt as if I had written a first-class essay. How Netsky spread, I think it's terrific, and my classmates thought I was terrific. Then it was reported on TV. That was cool. Only occasionally did I wake up in the middle of the night and think, 'Yikes, there might be trouble.' ''

He is now hopes to find a job with a computer security company.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2004

I Think My Life May Now Be Complete....

...the Okapi was discovered as late as 1901, the last large mammal to be discovered.

...if the Giraffe invited its whole family to a birthday party, the Okapi would be the only guest.

...the Okapi is the only mammal that can clean its ears with its tongue.

...the only place you can see the Okapi in the wild is Zaire's Ituri forest.

Can't wait to learn more?

Wordcount

The 86,800 most frequently used English words.

Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places?

Petfinder.org lists pets available for adoption by shelters.

Think of it as a matchmaking service for people who are into cats, dogs, rats, bunnies, horses, pigs and more.

PIGS? Pigs is fer eatin'.

Pet care information? Yep. Breed facts? Uh-huh.

There's even a classified section for people who want to deal directly with people with pets to sell or give away... or who have pets of their own to give away/sell.

My favorite animal shelter is WAIF. The folks there - and their furry friends - are wonderful.

Yet Another Kids Site (Y.A.K.S.)

It's always hard to find kid-safe websites that kids actually like. Here's one of the better ones: Yak's Corner.

It's entertaining, factual, and loaded with hands-on activites.

How Many PowerPoints Is "Too Many PowerPoints?"

After all of the presentations I've seen - good, bad, and ugly - the last one was hopefully the, um, LAST ONE!

Microsoft's Producer is free. You can add audio, video, images, video effects, transitions. WOW!

Get it for free at the Producer web site. Hurry: you wouldn't want to miss this. It's a way to put electronic lipstick on a virtual pig.

Tutorial? Sure.

Caffeine? You're on your own, there.