It has been reported that penguins can get avian 'flu as well:
Now read on - nicked from a newsgroup:
H5N1 BIRD FLU BELIEVED TO BE FIRST VIRUS UNABLE TO SPREAD THROUGH MICROSOFT OUTLOOK Researchers Shocked to Finally Find Virus That Email App Doesn't Like
Atlanta, Ga. Scientists at the Center for Disease Control and Symantec's AntiVirus Research Center today confirmed that H5N1 bird flu cannot be spread by Microsoft's Outlook email application, believed to be the first time the program has ever failed to propagate a major virus.
"Frankly, we've never heard of a virus that couldn't spread through Microsoft Outlook, so our findings were, to say the least, unexpected," said Clive Sarnow, director of the CDC's infectious disease unit.
The study was immediately hailed by British officials, who said it will save millions of pounds. "Up until now we have, quite naturally, assumed that bird flu was spread by Microsoft Outlook," said Sir Liam Donaldson, Britain's Chief Medical Officer. "By eliminating it, we can focus our resources elsewhere."
However, researchers in Romania, where bird flu has recently appeared, said they are not yet prepared to disqualify Outlook, which has been the progenitor of viruses such as "I Love You," "Bubbleboy," "Anna Kournikova," and "Naked Wife," to name but a few.
Said Andrei Niculescu, director of the Molecular Virology Lab at Bucharest University: "It's not that we don't trust the research, it's just that as scientists, we are trained to be sceptical of any finding that flies in the face of established truth. And this one flies in the face like a blind drunk sparrow."
Executives at Microsoft, meanwhile, were equally sceptical, insisting that Outlook's patented Virus Transfer Protocol (VTP) has proven virtually pervious to any virus. The company, however, will issue a free VTP patch if it turns out the application is not vulnerable to bird flu.
Such an admission would be embarrassing for the software giant, but Symantec virologist Ariel Kologne insisted that no one is more humiliated by the study than she is. "Only last week, I had a reporter ask if the bird flu spreads through Microsoft Outlook, and I told him, 'Doesn't everything?'" she recalled. "Who would've thought?"
Cheers Tony, despite feeling a bit poorly myself that raised more than a slight titter.
(Before anyone asks...no I don't have bird flu, I have Man Flu which is of course at least a thousand times worse)
On a related note, do you think it is safe to mix lemsip and Whisky ? Doesn't specifically say you can't on the packet....or am I better of drinking one after the other ?
On Thursday 27 October 2005 18:48, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
Cheers Tony, despite feeling a bit poorly myself that raised more than a slight titter.
(Before anyone asks...no I don't have bird flu, I have Man Flu which is of course at least a thousand times worse)
On a related note, do you think it is safe to mix lemsip and Whisky ? Doesn't specifically say you can't on the packet....or am I better of drinking one after the other ?
Lemsip contains paracetamol, so no, not good to mix with Whisky.
However, Ibuprofen is completely alcohol safe, so why not down 2 or 3 of those plus half a bottle of Whisky? You'll feel great, at least until tomorrow morning ;-)
Matt
The message 1130435305.9734.89.camel@localhost.localdomain from Wayne Stallwood ALUGlist@digimatic.plus.com contains these words:
On a related note, do you think it is safe to mix lemsip and Whisky ? Doesn't specifically say you can't on the packet....or am I better of drinking one after the other ?
Well, I have, and I'm still here. Actually, I think it helps.
This is not based on medical knowledge, mind...
Wayne Stallwood wrote:
Cheers Tony, despite feeling a bit poorly myself that raised more than a slight titter.
(Before anyone asks...no I don't have bird flu, I have Man Flu which is of course at least a thousand times worse)
On a related note, do you think it is safe to mix lemsip and Whisky ? Doesn't specifically say you can't on the packet....or am I better of drinking one after the other ?
If you drink enough whisky, the lemsip will be superfluous.
Ian
On Thu, 27 Oct 2005 18:48:25 +0100 Wayne Stallwood ALUGlist@digimatic.plus.com wrote:
On a related note, do you think it is safe to mix lemsip and Whisky ? Doesn't specifically say you can't on the packet....or am I better of drinking one after the other ?
Lemsip contains paracetamol which, in high doses, will damage your liver, in severse cases causing death. Alcohol lessens the amount of paracetamol that is require to do permenant damage. That said, plenty of people have got away with a standard dose of paracetamol (1g = 2 x 500mg tablets) and 1 or 2 units of alcohol.
Steve.