Conficker Grounds French Air Force
Sometimes the collision of news and comedy is so spectacular, so earth-shattering, that mere jokes don't suffice in the face of raw hilarity.
We believe that we've experienced such a collision this week, with the infamous Conficker virus having struck the French military and effectively grounding the French Air Force. (For ceux qui parlent français, you can read about the whole thing here in French, in a blog posting in which the word "Conficker" is spelled no fewer than three different ways.)
OK, OK. So this story isn't really funny. It's actually pretty scary and no doubt has produced a lot of stress for the folks who have been in charge of ridding the French military network of the nasty virus. But rarely have two comedy gold mines -- Microsoft security and the French military (let's face it, not history's most successful outfit) -- combined in such a spectacular way.
Your editor lived in France for five years and loves the country, so we mean no offense to the good people of the hexagon here. But you have to admit, there are jokes to be made. We're not going to make them, though. Instead, we're just going to let the comedy of this story stand on its own merit. If you want to take a crack or two, feel free to e-mail us at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on February 10, 2009