Now this really is getting out of hand. In the good old days of micro computing, long before Tim Berners Lee (or 'Sir Tim' as we call him in these parts) invented the www, hooking up with your mates online actually involved placing one's telephone receiver in something called an acoustic coupling device.

This device was capable of converting the audible bleeps made by one's computer into something that could be sent down a telephone line (and received in the same way). Trouble is, it was about the size of a house brick.

Now, ofcourse, it's all MSN-this and Google-that, and it's all about the size of a pin-head. Quite out of the understanding of people who still know and care about what a Command Prompt is. So it comes as no surprise to us that the world of MSN messaging is becoming much more confrontational - with the engineering of a remotely controller missile launcher.

The missile launcher - attached to your computer by the wonder of USB connectivity and interfaced with MSN messaging - can be controlled by your buddy and guided into position courtesy of an in-built webcam. Genius. He (or she, let's not be sexist) can then unleash a holy terror in your bedroom, in the form of three foam missiles.You, ofcourse, can do the same in return, ensuring fully-compliant Mutually Assured Destruction.

And with that, an uneasy peace will descend on relations between you.