In this post, however, I want to look at the substance of the story and spend some time thinking about what it tells us about cyber capabilities and about the state of the law relating to the cyber domain.

I do not agree with people who are arguing that Stuxnet had no collateral damage. This slight represents a probably willful misunderstanding of IT operations and the costs involved.

Lawfare › The Stuxnet Story and Some Interesting Questions

Over the coming days and weeks, security experts will deconstruct Flame and explain what it can and can’t do. This work ongoing, it is also important to consider the politics of Flame, as they matter as much if not more.

Cyber Intrigue: The Flame Malware International Politics | Munk – Cyber Security Forum

Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, on Monday urged the international community to make joint efforts to formulate rules for cyber space as the world is faced with "grim" challenges concerning online risk.

Chinese general calls for international cyber space rules - Xinhua | English.news.cn

The first I ever heard of Magnus Walker was Michael Jordan's post last fall. Walker is a hardcore Porsche fanatic, builder and collector. He's got a fascinating tale, so I suggest you read MJ's take.

As it turns out, filmmaker Tamir Moscovici also appreciates Magnus Walker and his obsession with the 911 and is in the post-production stages of a film all about Walker. It's called Urban Outlaw and it looks pretty slick. Check it out after the break.

Urban Outlaw: The Trailer

Hypponen and others speculated that this week’s leak was a calculated political move by Obama Administration officials to give information to the press regarding the Stuxnet program as a way to shore up political support and to project the president as taking on one of the US’s main adversaries.

Stuxnet admission likely to have foreign policy consequences | Ars Technica

From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.

Wow - its amazing to see confirmation of what everyone was suspecting.

Obama Ordered Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran - NYTimes.com

Speaking at the D10 Conference today, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB) partner Mary Meeker announced her company's latest report on Internet trends for 2012.

Meeker's data is very useful.

Mary Meeker unveils KPCB's Internet trends for 2012 | Internet & Media - CNET News

The Le Mans 24 Hours are a legend. They are mentioned in the same breath as the Rallye Monte Carlo, the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. Since 1923, hundreds of thousands of motorsport enthusiasts have been flocking to La Sarthe year by year to experience the one-day race. To watch the protagonists in their sports cars battle for each place and each meter of tarmac with bated breath. The drivers cover 4,800 kilometers in 24 hours - almost as many as the Formula One racers in a whole year. Every Le Mans winner has gone down in history. The three Audi drivers Andr‚ Lotterer, BenoŒt Tr‚luyer and Marcel F„ssler did so in a special way with the triumph they achieved in 2011. The film TRUTH IN 24 II documents the tenth and arguably most emotional triumph of the brand with the four rings at this sports car classic. After two Audi R18 TDI cars have retired following spectacular accidents, the remaining Audi fights a dramatic battle for overall victory with the three Peugeot 908 cars ? which the Audi trio ultimately decides in its favor with a narrow margin of 13 seconds. The film captures the entire drama of the fourth-narrowest running of the Le Mans 24 Hours ? with intimate insights into the team of Audi Sport and breath-taking pictures.

TRUTH IN 24 II - Every Second Counts - YouTube

Tucker & Dale vs Evil is a hilariously gory, good-spirited horror comedy, doing for killer rednecks what Shaun of the Dead did for zombies. Tucker and Dale are two best friends on vacation at their dilapidated mountain house, who are mistaken for murderous backwoods hillbillies by a group of obnoxious, preppy college kids. When one of the students gets separated from her friends, the boys try to lend a hand, but as the misunderstanding grows, so does the body count.

Tucker & Dale vs Evil - Rotten Tomatoes

Among the good economic institutions that motivate people to become productive are the protection of their private property rights, predictable enforcement of their contracts, opportunities to invest and retain control of their money, control of inflation, and open exchange of currency. For instance, people are motivated to work hard if they have opportunities to invest their earnings profitably, but not if they have few such opportunities or if their earnings or profits are likely to be confiscated.

My overall assessment of the authors’ argument is that inclusive institutions, while not the overwhelming determinant of prosperity that they claim, are an important factor. Perhaps they provide 50 percent of the explanation for national differences in prosperity. That’s enough to establish such institutions as one of the major forces in the modern world.

What Makes Countries Rich or Poor? by Jared Diamond | The New York Review of Books