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Virtual Bush is a runaway hit in China

In the wake of the downed US spy plane, the Chinese apparently have found a new way to ridicule President George W. Bush -- a virtual pet modeled after him.

The PortaBush software for handheld computers available from www.eruptor.com wasn't released with much fanfare last week, but it has quickly become a big hit in China.

Designers of the software noticed a huge traffic spike Thursday coming from China, at one point reaching about 2,000 downloads in an hour and threatening to overwhelm their servers.

"About 80 percent of the downloads were coming from China," Eruptor Entertainment President Brad Foxhoven said Friday. "We just got too much traffic in such a short period of time that wasn't letting up."

Foxhoven said he suspects an e-mail is traveling through China that includes a link for the program. About a quarter of the 20,000 PortaBush downloads to date have come from China, he said.

"It's just incredible that it's taken off like this," he said.

The White House had no immediate comment on the new Chinese interest.

Released a week ago by Marina Del Ray, California-based Eruptor Entertainment, the software toy is similar to the faded Tamagotchi craze.

Players feed their PortaBush, keep him happy and help him make vital national decisions like whether to bomb teen singer Britney Spears.
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