I heard/read about this a few days ago (I forget where) and only just now got around to looking into it.

Windows users ranging from 98 all the way up to present-day incarnations are vulnerable to this attack, although a patch for it has recently emerged.

Malware programmers exploiting a flaw in Windows programming can open Internet-connected machines to spyware, viruses, and other malware. All you have to do is view an image from either a Web site or in the preview pane of email to become infected.

All people using Internet Explorer are especially vulnerable. Users (like me) who use Firefox or Opera to get around Explorer's weaknesses are also vulnerable, although in some cases (by no means all) you'll be asked to download something to view the image with the malicious software encoded in it.

Please keep in mind, it appears you do not have to download anything to your computer. You just have to view the image to become infected.

It appears that Microsoft will not be sending out a fix until at least January 10. By then, we'll have a mess on our hands.

What makes this insidious is that the average computer user is vulnerable, even the paranoid sorts like myself who download almost nothing down to my computer unless it's from a trusted site.

The Washington Post more fully explains the details here and here.

( Right now, the advice to deal with this is as follows: )

I might as well exercise my shiny new purchase, right?

I mean, it keeps staring at me with its puppy-dog eyes saying, "Watch me! Watch me!"

So, over dinner tonight, I decided..."Hey! Let's start from the beginning!"

( The Harvest )

Finally, upon finishing 'The Harvest,' just how happy would these characters be if they saw what would happen to them?

I think Giles might be okay with how he turned out. If anything, Giles almost returned to type in S7. Which...well, that's not actually character growth, is it?

Willow would be horrified and would run squeaking away. She might be cool with the magic mamma part, but not so much with the thumb-sucking, ex-murderess, forgot-how-to-use-a-computer part.

Buffy would probably force herself to eat a hamburger. She'd then make fun of Ms. I'm-Depressed-So-I-Must-Make-A-Speach-A-Lot. If 'The Harvest' Buffy was in S7 Buffy's house as a Potential? She'd be the bane of her own existence.

As strange as this sounds, I have positively no clue how 'The Harvest' Xander would react to 'Chosen' Xander beyond, "Dude! You have one eye!"