Bad Times is a computer virus hoax sent out by e-mail. The original text was written by Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Kingkiller Chronicle. This "virus" does not actually exist, and the "warning" is meant to parody the alarmist message that spread the hoax of the Goodtimes virus. Like the "Goodtimes" hoax, the message warns of the horrible consequences that the virus can inflict; however, unlike "Goodtimes", where all of the consequences might have sounded plausible to people unfamiliar with computers, many of the claims made for the "Badtimes" virus are utterly implausible, such as that the virus "will drink all your good beer" and "will leave dirty socks on the coffee table when you are expecting company."
It is debatable whether the "Badtimes" message can be classed as a "hoax", since the intent seems to be to make the claims ludicrous enough to not fool anyone. However, Sophos' page on "Badtimes" classifies it under hoaxes and claims "... some users are still concerned by the message and we recommend you do not forward it to friends and colleagues."
The parody even inspired a musical version, by the group Laika, where the female lyricist recites the contents of one of the versions of the virus.
The "Weird Al" Yankovic song, Virus Alert, contains several similar claims in its lyrics.
Famous quotes containing the words bad and/or times:
“Things never are as bad as they seem.”
—Johnny Mercer (1909–1976)
“I shook off the sweat and the sun. I understood that I had destroyed the balance of the day, the exceptional silence of a beach where I had been happy. Then I shot four more times at an inert body which the bullets penetrated without appearing so. And it was like four brief knocks that I struck on the door of misfortune.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)