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McAfee's popular antivirus software failed spectacularly on Wednesday, causing tens of thousands of Windows XP computers to crash or repeatedly reboot.

A buggy update that the company released early in the day turned the software's formidable defenses against malicious software inward, prompting it to attack a vital component of Microsoft Windows. The update was available for business customers for about four hours before distribution was halted, McAfee said.

The damage was widespread: the University of Michigan's medical school reported that 8,000 of its 25,000 computers crashed. Police in Lexington, Ky., resorted to hand-writing reports and … Read more

An Avast virus definition file update late Wednesday accidentally marked hundreds of legitimate files as threats. The Czech Republic-based publisher Alwil responded quickly, issuing a fix less than six hours later, but some users are still dealing with the aftermath.

Going through Avast's forums, the Avast-written guide for rescuing files falsely marked as threats should be quite simple. Force an Avast update, then from the main interface go to Menu, then Virus Chest. Right-click on the file in the chest you want to resuscitate, choose Scan to double-check that it's not a threat, then right-click on it again … Read more

Czech Republic-based Avast issued an update late on Wednesday to its antivirus software that mistakenly flagged hundreds of innocent files as a Trojan. It fixed the situation five and a half hours later.

Falsely labeled as malware were programs from Adobe, Realtek, sound card drivers, and various media players, among others, according to a blog post on the Avast Support Center.

The errant update had been issued around 12:15 a.m. GMT. A new update was issued at 5:50 a.m. GMT that corrected the problem. Customers who did not use their computers between that time will most … Read more

The key to attracting traffic to your Web site is a high ranking by the major search engines, which deliver more hits than any other means. Attracting the attention of search sites usually means paying a consultant or other outside expert for the service. Fortunately, there's a less expensive option: SEO Administrator by FlamingoSoft. It can help get your Web site noticed. It's a search engine optimization (SEO) package that provides all the tools you need to optimize your Web site for maximum visibility and traffic. Its ranking monitoring tool checks major search engines and displays the most … Read more

Kenley Bradstreet joins the show to fill in Justin's shoes, after he has an unfortunate accident with a missing bike seat. On today's show, Jeff rants about Digg's new ads while he gets new Hoboken Twitter followers. Wilson doesn't feel too hot about James Cameron's new movie "Avatar." Violet Blue starts her own URL shortner. And Kenley brings us a story about a murderous Brazilian talk show host. Yes, it is yet another episode of The 404.

Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's explain today's show title. Apparently, there is a blog called "Skanks in NYC," and someone called a Vogue cover model, Liskula Cohen, a skank. Using words like "psychotic," "lying" and "whoring" to describe Ms. Cohen, a judge ruled that the model has a right to know who was defaming her. Beyond the First Amendment questions that this ruling raises, Kenley wonders if this undermines the whole point of the Internet?

James Cameron has been on hiatus for the last couple of years after his massive success with "Titanic." Turns out, he's been working on "Avatar" for the last 10 years, inventing all sorts of new technology to bring his vision to the big screen. While the project has been hyped in Hollywood, The 404 gang remains unimpressed with the blue people with tails. Kind of looks like a cross between a PS3 game and Halo, doesn't it?

Before we leave, we mention the new URL shortening service from Violet Blue, sex educator and columnist. At first, we were a bit confused as to why one would need another URL shortening service, but after a few hints from the chat room, we figured out that it's a warning that the link you're about to click on might be a bit NSFW. Bravo! Finally, Kenley alerts us to Wallace Souza, a Brazilian television host. On his top rated show, he features crime busts. Turns out, he was calling hits on people to get the ratings in the first place. We think the police were tipped off when a Steadicam operator, crane and lapel mic were found on scene.

Everyone have a great weekend! Wilson will be out for most of the week next week, so expect more awesome guests to keep his seat warm. In the mean time, please, please, please call in and leave a message at 1-866-404-CNET (2638) or write to us at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com.

Web archiving service Iterasi is launching a new product late Wednesday called PositivePress. It lets users passively monitor and archive RSS feeds that are saved forever--even if a site disappears, or makes changes to its content. Users can compile pages they want to share into a single report, then send it off to others for review.

The service is aimed mainly at public relations firms, but it could also end up being a really versatile tool for historians, political sites, and Web archiving enthusiasts. It's also a distinct departure from Iterasi's original product (now called "Iterari Personal"), which would require users to either manually choose pages to save, or have them install a browser extension that could do so on a schedule of their choosing.

PositivePress simply saves pages as soon as an RSS feed is updated, which removes some of the need for taking scheduled snapshots. It can also archive fresh pages from search results on engines including Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Digg. In a meeting last week, Iterasi's CEO Pete Grillo explained to me that the scheduling feature would no longer be included in the free version since the mechanism that saves pages has moved to the cloud. One of the biggest positives about the new product is that you can now leave your computer off, or not have your browser running, and continue to have it archive.

There are four individual plans for Positive Press, ranging from $99 a month for the "pro" level, all the way up to $699 for the "platinum." There are also 5- and 10-user monthly licenses that run at $399 and $699 a month, respectively.

The main difference between all these plans is… Read more

AVG's free antivirus product temporarily blocked users from getting to iTunes late last week, detecting it as a Trojan, the company said on Monday.

For about five hours on Friday starting around 4 p.m. PDT, AVG users couldn't access iTunes because of the false alarm.

"AVG discovered the false alarm in the virus signature engine relating to some localization components of iTunes (so not iTunes as a virus but rather some localization components of iTunes) and it was fixed within 5 hours," AVG spokesperson Siobhan MacDermott said in a statement. "AVG would like to … Read more

IconRestorer promises to help users save their desktop icon arrangement just how they like. With a simple focus that works quickly and easily, this program is a great choice, especially for those who share a computer.

This program has a very simple user interface that spells out the options with minimal confusion. The program's tabs help manage the basic functions while each command is clearly marked in terms that even novice computer users should understand. The Help file is buried in the About tab, but shouldn't be needed much, since this program is so intuitive. Users can save … Read more

We always try our best to keep a positive mental attitude on The 404, so it makes sense that we've chosen The Hold Steady's latest album, "Stay Positive," as today's Audio Draft Pick. We also run through the accidental video game archive, shame the Guinness World Records, and warn our listeners about open manholes, literally.

Today's "Best Web site you've never seen" award goes to Derek Yu's Accidental Video Game Porn Archive that showcases sexual innuendos found in your favorite video games. It's an easy way to waste a few hours at work. They're all hilarious, but this Menage a Kong has got to be one of my favorites, with this Star Fox violation in a close second. I also like that Derek and I share the same last name--this Web site is totally something a Yu would do. Nice job, cuz!

We don't wag our fingers as much, but we have to scold the Guinness World Records for this record-breaking fail. One of the entries on its Web site awards the "Most Individuals Killed in a Terrorist Act" to the terrorists behind the attack on the World Trade Center towers and even invites viewers to "break this record."

Instead of immediately taking down the award, Guinness World Records compounded the fail by threatening legal action on the ICanHaz network for posting a screengrab that features the Guinness World Record logo without proper authorization. If that isn't a case of corporate cowardly B.S., I don't know what is. Daps to Fail Blog for their hilarious response complete with a Rick Roll at the end!

Jeff's pick for today's "Audio Draft," sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, is Brooklyn local band The Hold Steady. In our own words, these guys sound like the aural lovechild of Bruce Springsteen, Social Distortion, Joe Strummer, and Billy Joel. The music combines various instruments (banjos, organ, piano, theremin) to produce a jamming rock theme, and then adds gruff vocals with epic storytelling lyrics to complete the circle.

The band's latest album, "Stay Positive," keeps the party going with a steady balance of hilarious stories from the road ("Sequestered in Memphis") and heartbreaking admissions of love lost, but not forgotten ("Lord, I'm Discouraged"). Check out the entire discography and let us know what you think in the comments!

(Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News and Reviews.)