Geek Mystique

We know that movies with great special effects involving aliens from outer space require their audiences to suspend their disbelief to at least some degree. Nevertheless, we couldn't help but wonder about a few of the details in the hit movie Independence Day . What programming language did David, Jeff Goldblum's character, use to write his computer virus that disabled the aliens' force field? Or was it a macro virus similar to one that hit BYTE editors at a recent trade show? What OS were the aliens using; was it Copland (Goldblum's chara cter used a PowerBook)? Should more programmers start drinking hard liquor and throwing themselves on the floor to find solutions to difficult problems? And with all the resources they had at their disposal, couldn't the aliens afford an intergalactic version of an antivirus program?

Revenge of the nerds, part 73: Two software whizzes made the most recent Forbes magazine list of the top billionaires in the world. Tops on the list is Microsoft's Bill Gates, whose estimated net worth rose to $18 billion, thanks to the company's rising stock. Also making the Top 10, in eighth place, was Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, with an estimated net worth of $7.5 billion. However, four of the Top 10 billionaires' fortunes were due largely to real estate or property investments.