Guest post by Latifah Adeleke, PR Intern for InterviewStream and senior Journalism major at Baylor University

I’m not sure how a virus can be appreciable, especially for those of us who have actually had the misfortune of coming in contact with one (be it digital or microbial). Nevertheless, Oct. 3 has been allotted for Virus Appreciation! But if viruses aren’t your thing, here are some tips to steer clear of them in either form:

Protect yourself and protect others (especially as the weather cools and we begin to spend more time indoors)

1. Wash your hands! – Who cares if you only did number one and hardly touched anything in the restroom. We come in contact with millions of germs and bacteria every day. They’re on your keyboard, your cellphone and all the door handles in the building, so your hands were likely covered in bacteria before you even made it in the stall. You’ll never be able to simply wash off all the germs on your body, but you’ll definitely decrease them in number if you adopt this healthy practice.
2. Cover your mouth! – Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. While it may not make you feel any better, you can stop the spread of viruses. Also, use your elbow to cover your face. As previously mentioned, our hands come in contact with many germs and those germs will continue to spread until you wash your hands.

Protect your computer

1. Don’t get suckered into clicking on those enticing Direct Messages on Twitter asking “have you seen this video of you?” or those provocative “you have to see this” fake video spam messages on Facebook. It’s either a scam or a virus. Or both. (http://news.yahoo.com/oct-3-virus-appreciation-day-techies-day-national-225300566.html)
2. Don’t open emails you weren’t expecting no matter how compelling the subject line is, even if they use your name and even if you recognize the sender. Be especially evasive of emails from people you don’t know and never open any attachments, particularly those ending in “.exe”

National Techies Day!

There’s nothing like a good virus to make you really appreciate the technology enthusiasts. Oct. 3 also is national Techies Day! If you’ve been lucky enough to never lose a computer to a virus take this time to appreciate the techies who made it possible. Here at InterviewStream, our technical support team is our lifeline. We live in a day and age where technology is ubiquitous and most of us are very well acquainted with a computer, but to be a true techie you must be quantified by the following definition:

“Techie is a term, derivative of the word technology, for a person who displays a great, sometimes even obsessive, interest in technology, high-tech devices, and particularly computers. Some techies express a disregard for any technology that could possibly be considered obsolete, even if the technology or process in question might only be considered obsolete within the techie community. Consequently, techies are also often early adopters. With the increased spending power of techies, a few media outlets exist that cater solely to them, most notably Wired, Slashdot, and, while it existed, TechTV. Geeks or nerds are often also considered to be techies; however, the reverse is not necessarily true and more people who would not be considered “geeks” are becoming techies, especially with the advancement of technology in recent years.” (http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/national_techies_day.html)