Just posted a journal entry about an amusing email I received. It was really kinda just funny at first but it made me think quite a bit. I've felt a lot like giving up lately with all these AIM viruses. It's just not that much fun anymore, it's boring and tiring and takes up my free time. To make things worse, it means I have to run Windows as a dual boot just to be able to update AIMFix. I guess it's just discouraging because I can't use the tools I want (in other words, can't use Linux while I'm doing it), and I would really like to have a proper virus sandbox to make better removal tools. More than anything else, it just gets tiring that this stuff keeps on happening, and people keep on clicking the links and getting infected. Some people get infected three or four times by similar viruses! As much as I am glad to help people, sometimes I do wish they'd learn not to get infected in the first place. I don't get paid for this, and it sometimes takes up a lot of my time and effort to get these viruses removed and answer emails.

In some respects, I feel like retiring (it has been two years, after all) and moving on to other things, but I feel responsible. It seems like non of the antivirus companies are keeping up with this, AOL doesn't seem to do anything about it, and it seems like I'm the only one out there who cares sometimes. I don't even use Windows, let alone AIM anymore, so I feel out of place working on this now, but if I stop, then what happens to all the people I currently help? Will millions of people just have to live with viruses? Call me soft-hearted, but I can't seem to leave this project with that on my conscience, at least not yet.

-Jay