"60 Minutes" freaks out over Conficker. Where's John Hodgman when you need him?

I love "60 Minutes," but sometimes it just makes you scratch your head. Isn't anyone working there who has any sophistication when it comes to technology? Lesley Stahl just finished a 15-minute freakout on the dangers of the Conficker virus, dangers which many information experts say have been blown way out of proportion ... especially by reports like the one that just aired on "60 Minutes." The segment producer would have done well to read the much less hysterical Conficker FAQ from CNet ... that's now appearing on the "60 Minutes" Conficker's story page. (CBS owns CNet.)

I'll leave it to the interwebs' approximately 10 million computer experts to dissect Stahl's script line by line (as Paul Harris pointed out a while ago, she is the queen of the obvious). But as a media guy, I couldn't help but notice that CBS has had millions of dollars thrown at it by Microsoft Windows for a new ad campaign running during the NCAA tournament. And yet, I waited in vain for any mention in the "60 Minutes" story of the fact that the only computers capable of being infected by the dreaded Conficker virus were PCs running Windows.

Just to amuse myself, I started doing a variation on the old fortune-cookie game -- you know, where you tack on "...in bed" at the end of random sentences, usually after having one too many drinks? Tonight, I hit the pause button on the TiVo and finished Stahl's sentences with "... on a PC." Even Mrs. TVB thought it was kinda funny. (For a while. Then, annoying.)

Hey, I don't want to totally discount the idea that CBS is doing a public service here. Maybe tonight, a lot of 50-plussers will update their security software or lock up that wi-fi they've been sharing with the neighborhood. I suppose that's all for the good. Still, I wonder if anyone bothered to inform Lauren, the 30-trying-to-look-like-22-year-old featured in those Windows ads, that her $700 Windows box could get infected with Conficker -- but a Mac, or a PC with non-MS-manufactured Linux as the operating system, can't?

AUDIO: Chip Franklin and I talked about the story this morning on KOGO Radio in San Diego.

UPDATE: This company claims it can knock out Conficker.