News is spreading fast that a Google Chrome app of Super Mario ports is doing some nasty things to people's computers. I'm not jumping in front of this particular bullet and buying it to see how messed up it makes my machine, but second-and third-hand reports (now fourth-hand for you, since you're reading about them from me: click the links to make them second-and thirdhand, and dig deeper if you really care) say they crack open complete access to all your bookmarks, your physical location, your browser history, and all your other apps.
All of this is, believe it or not, aboveboard: it's all in the user agreement -- that thing Kyle from South Park didn't read, to, um, mixed results. No one reads them, because people assume they're legally required and not the work of crooks. "heyimgoingtomugyouokaysayingnothignisconsent," whispered under your breath before you pick someone's pocket, is not a get out of jail free card.
On the other hand, the guy doing this is called "chromitude," which itself is a crime in 18 states. He's illegally selling Nintendo products, pocketing the money, and then (I'm spitballing here) linking all the computer into a zombie beowulf cluster to go help Flynn on his sky cycle fight the Master Control Program. But one of the nice things about the Internet is that it's filled with eRobin Hoods. Some white-hats (good hackers) will find out who he really is, and after that he will regret telling those CalTech students doing laser research that he hates popcorn, but loves his new house.
