Wanna bet that your fried rice crops were grown in California's Central Valley. Maybe you should check the packages for illegal aliens instead of communist spies. China and Japan already complain that they're importing too much American rice...

>> "If you're a foreign intelligence service and you know that a [US] federal agency is buying 15,000 computers from [a Chinese] company, wouldn't you look into the possibility that you could do something about that?" USCC chief Larry Wortzel told the BBC Monday.

And that's why the whole world loves the US.

So we can use their electronics, and eat their food, but we cant use their computers. Should I start checking my fried rice for little spys?

Paranoia is a good thing. Of course you can take this too far like anything, but it would be childs play to trojan these things at the hardware level. Here is a small example:
build a keylogger into the PS2 port on the machine (tech already exists for this google ps2 keylogger). Build it to use an "enhanced driver" that comes out later after the machine is deployed so that the keylogger has access to network stack. Then when the cache gets full it bursts it's memory out to a server somewhere. This could be months after it was deployed, so who would be watching. After all the thing is totally quiesent until triggered. Give me $20,000 and a couple months and I could build this into any machine you want. Without knowing to look for it you would not ever find it or stop it. All you need is for the server to collect the data from all the keylogger dumps and then parse it for keywords and you would have a treasure trove of intelligence.

I am not really that smart and I just came up with that off the top of my head. Anyone want to buy a cheap motherboard off of me?

Imagine what things they could come up with having the vast resources of the most populous nation in the world. I know for certain that they have few scruples (how could you when you run over protesters with tanks) and that they covet the technology of the west. Why is it so farfetched that they would use the resources they have and sneak a bit of data on the side? After all, the US has done it.

I'm in no way supportive of China's government, but I think everyone is being a tad paranoid when it comes to these things.

I mean, after all, the US buying Chinese computers? It's definately a conspiracy to hide the fact that George W. Bush is from Polaris, and he's come to deliver Earth to the other Polarisians, which will cause the human race to be enslaved by our galactic masters.

I get too excited about exaggerations.

Take me to your leader.

Obviously they have no ITs working for them.

Or their ITs only drink coffee all day all night long and watch porns.

"Or their ITs only drink coffee all day all night long and watch porns."

Not a far off description of a cushie govt IT position.

The world is just getting so overly paranoid!
Does the state department make all its employees take off all electronic parts from their bodies and strip every time they enter the building? Who knows, maybe that chineese made watch on their hand might have a GPS transmitter or something, or maybe the chineese zipper on their trousers could have some hidden transmitter.

You obviously don't have a clue what can really happen.

It's people like you who will say that the world is paranoid, until it comes true and then you're like "oh fsck".

Duuurrrh.....Duuuh. Doh kay.

This is a much more common occurrence than you might think. In fact, Boeing manufactured a plane for the premiere of China, similar to our Air Force One. The Chinese stripped the thing completely to check for bugs (and I believe they actually found something? Somebody correct me on this if I'm wrong).

I think reacting to a reaction with an over-reaction is overreacting a bit. :)

Hell; the high tech firms spy on each other just like the bad old days of the CIA and KGB...

Why in the world the Government would buy anything from China owned Lenovo is beyond me.

Buy Dell, or Compaq or HP.

IBM sold out to China. I wouldn't buy anything from IBM ever again.

I never did anyway, at least not since OS/2 Warp. IBM couldn't score a touchdown if they were the only team on the field. They subsist on consulting and gouging customers with unrealistic promises.

I love my Z60m, made by Lenovo in North Carolina!

Xenophobia is ugly.

Imagine the American with his extra wide arse splayed out on his an extra wide recliner complaining about people who are willing to work harder than him for less money.

Enjoy it while you can because it can't last much longer.

Yeah.....That's me.

I don't support communist countries.

:-)

Go figure.

"If you're a foreign intelligence service and you know that a [US] federal agency is buying 15,000 computers from [a Chinese] company, wouldn't you look into the possibility that you could do something about that?"

... absolutely.

die you f~!@#$% Chinese die.
die
>-|

negative score in 3...2...1...

there was a bug in my pc.
all these years i was trying too blame it on Microsoft, dell, indian call centers, linus etc etc.

but now i KNOW china is behind all those bugs.
i hate Chinese.

die you f~!@#$% Chinese die.
die
>-|.

i knew there was one in BN.
ching ming pow woo shi ka nu mak fuk ur slf.
he he
-sorry

That won't get a negative score. We all know betanews editors value cats higher than Chinese citizens. :P

It's the guilty mate syndrome. Don't any of you have a best friend who's a notorious cheater? Compare him to a completely faithful best friend....
99 percent of the time the cheating buddy is the one who's most cautious about his girl's actions - who is she out with? when is she out? where is she?....etc.
The faithful one, while not being completely naive, is not worried about his mate at all. His girl gets all the respectful freedom she can get *that is, respectful to say she's not out clubbing with friends till 5am while he's home in bed alone*.

Long analogy, but similar.

You're going to be paranoid and cautious about certain things because you have, or have at least thought of doing it yourself.

Not always a bad thing; if it makes the US and the welfare of US citizens safer, then there's nothing to complain about.

good comment

Did this group foresee the US government spy on it's own citizens?

And, where are the parts made for the computers they have now? All Dell's parts come from China/Taiwan too. Were talking about 15,000 PC's, with a "deal" that will be about $30,000...oh wait...government discount...$300,000. Anyway...what are you going to do about it, what computer can you get that is made in the USA from parts made in the USA by a US company? None.

Perhaps.
The US didn't hesitate when bugs were put in a plane bought for the Chinese leadership a few years back. That was found when they took delivery.

Hmmm...I suppose that would be possible, but it is kinda hard for China to pull off without it being discovered.

I don't see why it would be so hard, as our own government does it all the time.

Yes even to themselves.

is not hard at all to embeed certain extra functions on the MOBO chipsets ...
ex, the south bridge could have embeeded GPS and it could easily go unoticed since it'd be powered by the mobo's own current

or us.