World Wide War

CHINESE HACKERS LAUNCHED A "CYBERWAR" against Web sites in the United States last week, which included the infiltration and damaging of U.S. computer system and networks, in retaliation for the death of pilot Wang Wei and in response to U.S. surveillance flights. 

American hackers, who reportedly believe surveillance flights are legal and justifiable and that Wang Wei was responsible for the mid-air collision, launched a counteroffensive, penetrating the "Great Firewall of China" to damage computer systems there. 

The attacks on both sides of the globe have taken the form of denial-of-service (DOS) attacks, viruses and web site vandalization. 

The media are treating this like a bloody tech-war being waged on the 21st-century battlefields of cyberspace. 

In reality, it's just a bunch of script-kiddies who have found yet another excuse to justify their insignificant games of sabotage. 

If anything, the "cyberwar" doesn't divide the China and the United States but rather exposes some of the things they have in common: 1) too many kids with too much time on their hands; 2) techno-ignorant media too lazy to report the real story, which is that there is no story; and 3) too many insecure web sites that are easily defaced. 

My take is that -- guess what? -- hacker-vandals exist. They gain illegal access to web sites every day. Just because they found some "cause" in the newspaper to justify their pranks doesn't mean a new kind of "war" exists. 

What do YOU think?

Scientists Create Mutant Space Plant
University of Florida scientists have created genetically modified mustard plants for gathering data from Mars. Funded by NASA, the project envisions robots planting seedlings in Martian soil in mini greenhouses on Mars. Some of the plants are designed to glow in specific ways according to environmental variables. For example, one of the plants, which contains jellyfish DNA, will glow green if it detects certain metals in the Martian soil, and blue if it detects peroxides. The first freak plants are scheduled for a 2007 lift-off to the Red Planet.

Marines Getting Flying Robot Spies
The Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C. is building portable flying robots for the Marine Corps. The project, called Dragon Eye, will produce self-contained devices that fit in back-packs. Marines envision launching Dragon Eye drones on battlefields to gather instant intelligence on enemy positions, as well as other details. Each robot weighs 4.3 pounds, has a wingspan of 48 inches and is propelled by two oversized, nearly silent propellers. The drones are not remote-controlled in real-time. Marines program them with altitude, and areas to be videotaped. They start the motors and toss them into the air. The robots fly their missions and return to the soldier who launched them. 

New Meaning to 'Crank Call'
Plans for a prototype wind-up cell phone was leaked last week by Freeplay Energy Europe, the same company that makes wind-up flashlights and radios. The company says the wind-up cell phone charger will be manufactured soon and sold to the public. A complete winding should get you about six minutes on the horn. It's the perfect cell phone for people unfortunate enough to live in an area without reliable electricity -- such as us Californians.

Cell Phone Paintball
A new cell-phone game can turn an entire city into a virtual battlefield. Called BotFighters, from the Swedish company "It's Alive," the game uses standard GSM phones, location awareness and text messaging to play what the company's CEO calls a kind of "virtual paint-ball." Here's how it works. You choose a robot character, as well as weapons and shields from a menu on the BotFighters Web site. Then, when you're wandering around town, you can use your phone's text messaging function to find out where your opponents are. Opponents are other users who have also registered with BotFighters. The message says something like, "Your opponent is 300 meters to the west of your location." Once you're close enough to fire, you can then "shoot" your opponent with another text message. Damage done depends upon distance, weapons used by you, and the armor and shields used by your opponents. When you destroy another robot, you win credits that can be used to recharge your robot's battery, and buy more weapons and armor. Currently, the game works in Sweden, and will be rolled out the U.K. this fall. 

Sickening New Security Technology
A new home burglar alarm produces a 125-decible alarm sound that is reportedly so grating that it makes intruders vomit. Tests show most people either sprint from the room or lose their lunch after 10 to 80 seconds of the low-frequency noise. Called "Inferno," and developed by Swedish army scientists, the alarm will be available to U.K. residents later this year. The British government is considering the technology for crowd control. Great. That's all we need at WTO summits -- thousands of barfing protesters.

Hot Coffee in a Can
Nestle will introduce in limited U.K. markets canned coffee that heats itself. Java junkies merely press a red button on the bottom of the can, wait three minutes, then start drinking. Pressing the red button mixes quicklime with water inside a compartment in the can, sparking a chemical reaction that heats the coffee. 

Terrorists Open PC Store
A former Red Army terrorist, who was involved in a 1970 hijacking, has opened a PC store in Osaka, Japan, and hired an AUM Shinrikyo cult member as technical advisor, according to the Mainichi Shimbun. They plan to buy cheap parts abroad, then build and sell discount PCs locally. I don't even want to know who they'll hire to run the "complaints" department.

Cult Spam
And you thought spam advertising get-rich-quick schemes and pornography were annoying... Some 40,000 Japanese college students recently received spam from the AUM Shinrikyo cult (mentioned in the previous item) urging them to join. Tokyo police recently discovered CD-ROMs full of e-mail university-student e-mail addresses somehow stolen from Japanese universities while examining disks taken from the homes of cult members.  

AOL Wristwatches?
AOL and Swatch are working together on wristwatches that display AOL content. The watches will likely connect to PCs using USB connections, and download e-mail, as well as AOL screen names, keywords and other information. 

Rumor Watch
A rumor bouncing around the net says Microsoft is secretly working on a handheld version of the Xbox, based on Windows CE, to compete with Nintendo's GameBoy Advance gadget. 

Proof You Can Buy Anything On the Net
Going away on business? Can't trust your spouse? Then buy a chastity belt! They come in a variety of attractive styles and colors for both men and women. 

Ad Creep
An American company called Wonton Food is selling ad space on the back side of fortunes inside 20 million fortune cookies sold per month to Chinese-food restaurants. 

Follow-Up
I reported in Mike's List 17 that CNN scooped the other networks by using a cheap satellite cell phone to broadcast live video of U.S. Navy crewmembers boarding a flight on Hainan Island after being detained by the Chinese. Since that story, the company that makes the equipment, London-based 7E Communications Ltd., has apparently been flooded with purchase requests by other news organizations, according to this story. 

Reader Web Site o' the Week
Master your broadband connection with reader (and fellow Winmag.com alumni) Scot Finnie! Scot's got a great new newsletter called -- drum roll, please! -- "Scot Finnie's Newsletter"! It's just like Scot's popular Winmag.com "Broadband Report" newsletter, but even better. It's free! Check it out!

Get YOUR web site on the high-traffic Mike's List Reader Links page. HERE'S HOW! 

Mike's List o' Gotta-Get-It Gadgets
Web usability expert Jakob Nielsen reviewed recently the user interface on the Panasonic P503i cell phone, a very cool color iMode phone available only in Japan. Here's a closer look at the screen. 

Mobility not your scene? Then you need the latest La-Z-Boy. Called the The Explorer e-cliner and built under the influence of Microsoft, this monument to the mouse-potato lifestyle features a built-in wireless Sony keyboard, Web TV service and both an RJ-11 jack and electrical outlet into the arm-rest. 

Sony makes a mouse with an extra hole. The pointing device includes a Memory Stick reader/writer. Simply insert the Stick into the mouse, and you can transfer its contents -- MP3s, digital pictures, etc. -- to your PC. It's perfect in every way but one: Nobody uses Memory Stick devices.

Here's a PDA keyboard you can roll up and stick in your pocket. 

Mike's List o' Wacky Web Sites
Is the collapse of the net immanent? Forget the whales. Save the Internet.... before it's too late!

Here's how to use strawberry Pop Tarts as incendiary devices. 

Did you know you can use Jell-O as hair gel? Did you want to know? If so, check out WackyUses.com. It's a web site that lists unintended -- but possible -- uses for well known consumer products.

Has it come to this?: Assisted living for the technologically impaired... 

Last Week's Mystery Pic
Last Week's Mystery Pic showed a U.S. soldier modeling a Land Warrior wearable computer system designed for the army by Pacific Consultants. The system includes a wireless communications module, GPS receiver, mouse soldier control unit (they have mice soldiers?), audio subsystem and weapons-control functions such as a daylight video system, thermal sight and laser range finder. It was demonstrated recently at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco. 

Mystery Pic o' the Week

<Picture removed by owner>

What is it? Send YOUR guess to mysterypic@mikeslist.com. I'll publish the name of the first person who gets it in the next issue of Mike's List. 

Mike's List o' Required Reading

Dot-Coms Investing in Dot-Coms: A House of Cards
By Lori Enos
"In the days when everyone believed that the future of the economy lay in cyberspace, many dot-coms unwittingly built financial houses of cards by investing substantially in their online brethren."
E-Commerce Times