Sharp Zaurus at heart of new cyber-thriller

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Aug. 25, 2004

It's 2031, and Microsoft advertises Linux on Edinburgh's largest billboards. Duncan Steele roams a brave new world, besting techno-proles and fighting to extricate himself from a bogus murder rap, his trusty Sharp Zaurus by his side. So begins a cyberthriller from Scottish security professional Kevin Milne.

Milne's novel, entitled "Z4CK," was written entirely on a Sharp Zaurus PDA (pictured). "Z4CK was written on the train, whilst on my way to and from work," says Milne. "My Zaurus SL-5500 equipped with Open-Zaurus, and the Pockettop wireless keyboard was used to write the story. You should have seen some of the looks I was given by people looking for the cables!"

According to Milne, "Unlike Films like 'The Net', Z4CK gives a realistic insight into hacker tools and techniques. Z4CK features wireless hacking with the Zaurus, and a view of how an Open Source future might be."

The Zaurus PDA and OpenZaurus software play a central role in the novel. "Duncan uses Z4CK meaning Zaurus-ACK, compiled on the OpenZaurus OS," notes Milne.

So confident is Milne of the magnetic powers of his cyber-thriller, that he is offering the first six chapters as a downloadable PDF file. Following the example of king-of-thrillers Stephen King, Milne is also selling the complete version electronically (using PayPal) for 2 Great Britain Pounds (currently about $3.59).

A dead-trees paperback version is also planned, according to the book's website, where more details about the book and Milne are available.

Just think how many novels Anthony Trollope might have written, during his career carrying mail on trains, had he had a Sharp Zaurus and a wireless keyboard.

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