The Chinese Armada

I love going to IKEA not only for the furniture and knick knacks but also for the weird names that the store gives to its merchandise. I think my favorite name/product combination is the "Bastis" line at IKEA for pets. My mom came back this evening with two items that were interesting an "Armada," a china or porcelain serving dish set and a "Fangst" a blue cylindrical hanging basket. Some items are fixtures however with other merchandise sometimes its a wonder if the names are more than coincidence. It's astonishing how things can be produced, named, and then consumed on such a large scale. This not only goes for furniture or household items but also for the internet. This week's BusinessWeek article "E-Spionage the New Threat" reports on the growing amount of cyber attacks on corporations including military contractors over the past two years. The authors identify the source as the People's Republic of China. Companies such as 3322.org allow individuals in the PRC create websites harboring malicious "phishing" codes to attack sites here in the United States. The attacks are repeated barrages that corrupt the site even after the codes are deleted.

Meetings Leading up to Olympics Cancelled...

France among other European nations and US corporations are hesitant about China's failure to change the status quo anticipating the upcoming Olympic games. Charles Bremmer of The Times online has been keeping on top of the story since last week. The amount of decisionmaking that goes into selecting a host for the games alone should have probably motivated China, albeit by embarrassment, into a period of reform. However, I think the country thought it was best to "capitalize" on the opportunity, save the lives, limbs, and judgments lost. The article also mentions a Chinese website designed to boycott French products. I can't translate the page right now, but I cannot think of any purely French products widely sold worldwide. Charles Bremmer also has a new blog.