As we've said before, the early days of the internet were an unregulated playground for pranks and tomfoolery, but also viciousness. The reason you still hear so much about computer viruses - even though most modern computers are protected from them to a ridiculous degree, and you really need to be looking for one to fall prey - is because they actually were a big deal when people were first getting online, they didn't have sophisticated email accounts to junk them or software to defend against them. Open one dodgy email and your whole PC goes into meltdown - that's what made the Goodtimes virus so scary. Well, that and the fact that it's called the "Goodtimes virus", supposedly transmitted via an email bearing the subject header "Good Times" or "Goodtimes," which is a mildly unsettling title for something that's going to tear your life apart. In fact it was the emails warning people against the virus that actually went viral, with detailed descriptions of nightmarish feedback loops it would send your computer into before forwarding itself to everyone in your address book. Eventually hacker group Cult Of The Dead Cow copped to the hoax, but we're still a little weirded out by it.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
