Several recent headlines fall into the "I'm shocked and amazed" category.

1. FBI Advises Windows XP Users On Measures To Block Hackers

To quote the Associated Press: "The FBI's top cyber-security unit warned consumers and corporations to take steps beyond those recommended by Microsoft Corp. to protect against hackers who might try to attack major flaws in the newest version of Windows software."

In case you've been hiding in the sand, or believing everything Microsoft told you, by now you should know that hackers have discovered how to seize control of the Windows XP operating system itself, with users only having to connect to the Internet to make it possible. They then can steal data or implant rogue computer software.

So what can you do if you have XP? Download the security "patch" from Microsoft's web site, to be sure (or allow the automatic update feature of Windows to do so for you when asked). And for the understandably paranoid, disable the Universal Plug And Play feature that was going to make it so easy to connect printers and other gadgets to Windows. The Microsoft web site has a quite good tutorial on how, step-by-step, to do this.

I've said it before so many times I'm sure it's boring: Do not be the first to adopt a new technology, be it hardware or a new piece of software. This advice especially applies to something as fundamental as the operating system.

2. Broadband Strategy Got Enron In Trouble

It has often been said that a decade does not end neatly with the calendar: the '50s, for instance, probably ended with President Kennedy's death in '63. So it goes with the '90s, which are straggling to their end as the '00s begin. I offer as poster child for that decade: Enron. Born from something that was actually useful and had a reason for existence (a gas pipeline company), it evolved to become a seller of air, a merchant of dreams of wealth supported only by the greed of those who hoped they were slightly ahead of the other greedhogs, and thus could cash out before it hit the fan. It became, in short, an energy futures trading company. Really, looking back, what exactly was that?

In any case, the Washington Post headline above says a lot, as does the sub-headline: "Bid to create market for fiber-optic space included aggressive accounting." Aggressive accounting? Is there someone named Guido involved? Anyway, recent disclosures involve "large gains with private partnerships that it had set up with itself," ahem, "some controlled by a top executive." As an example, there was a $100 million "profit" on the sale of unconnected fiber cable lines, for which Enron received $30 million in cash and a $70 million note from the private partnership. So how much was that really worth? To get the money needed to pay off that note, the partners created another partnership that re-bought the cable. Who acted as banker for that deal? Why, Enron, of course. And how much was it eventually short when all the paper stopped flying? About $61 million.

What Enron traded on was what everyone else used as bait in the '90s: the Internet. The high-speed fiber-optic cable lines involved form the backbone of the Internet. The magic word "broadband" created a burst of trading in Enron that helped double the stock price.

It didn't matter that the lines involved were not actually used by the Internet, although they could be some day. Top executives then sold massive amounts of their shares; the head of the broadband division sold more than $70 million in shares in 2000. He recently left the company (but before its collapse; timing is, indeed, everything).

And what is the legacy of all this? Broken dreams, lots of people holding absolutely worthless stock, many of them employees with now useless pension plans, and a few people sitting on their verandahs, watching the sun go down over their private beaches. As the stomach turns, the whole mess deteriorates into lawsuits, criminal investigations of "possible fraudulent accounting" and hiding of information from investors, Congressional hearings and revelations of shredding of documents by both the auditing firm and Enron.

Oh, and it has also resulted in a lot of holes in the streets of D.C., created by endless digging of the fiber-optic companies unrelated to Enron who were going to wire the metro area to within an inch of its life, and who are now also belly-up. (At least it looks like are we going to get rid of the moniker "PSI Net Stadium," since that company is also bankrupt.)

Are we any smarter now? I doubt it. Look at the interest/hype in genetic engineering and related health companies. Another train wreck in the making? But, hey, I just know about computers.