SMS + SARS: cellphone cures from babies and beans in Beijing

Xeni Jardin 7:50 am Wed May 21, 2003

A BoingBoing pal living in Beijing sends this surreal bit of local news involving rural SMS rumors, SARS, and talking babies.

The ideas stemmed from a rumor about a baby who
purportedly spoke immediately after birth and said
firecrackers and "green bean soup" could prevent
infection, said an official at Anhui Provincial Public
Security Bureau.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the province,
including the capital, Hefei, received the rumor via
text messages on their cell phones, the official said.

Different variations of the story, told in areas as
far-flung as Guangdong and the northern region of
Inner Mongolia, say the baby said the soup had to be
consumed by midnight on May 7 and that he died after
delivering the message, according to newspapers.

The rumor caused sales of mung beans and firecrackers
to skyrocket in Guangdong, Fujian and Guizhou.

Update: Link to Beijing-based AP correspondent Audra Ang's story.
Discuss (Thanks, John)

Amazon used a China firm on U.S. blacklist for thermal cameras to monitor workers for COVID-19 fever

• Amazon's new Chinese thermal spycam vendor was blacklisted by U.S. over allegations it helped China detain and monitor Uighurs and other Muslim minorities READ THE REST
Financial Times journalist Mark Di Stefano accused of accessing private Zoom meetings, then publishing the information

Mark Di Stefano of the Financial Times is accused by The Independent of accessing private Zoom meetings held by The Independent and The Evening Standard as journalists were learning how… READ THE REST
Hackers tried to break into WHO, which faces more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks

Hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization earlier in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, Reuters reports. Security experts blame an advanced cyber-espionage hacker group known as DarkHotel.… READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST