Little Red Blog

Will the Middle Kingdom sinicise its latest barbarian invader?

by Rick Martin, China

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Open Web Asia: Some thoughts on China

Oct 14, 2008 23:25

While I didn't get a chance to attend Open Web Asia in Seoul today, it looks like they managed to snag a few big names. The most recognizable name on the bill was Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo (meh...). While I have yet to see his speech from today, I was curious to see his thoughts on China after he spoke to Christine Lu recently:

The problem is, of course, is there advertising yet in China? Not really. And credit cards, not so much. So I would say that China's really, at least five years off from being a great market for American companies. (See full video interview)

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IBM virtualizes the Forbidden City

Oct 11, 2008 08:31

If you didn't get a chance to visit Beijing during the Olympics, here's an opportunity to see one of its most famous landmarks--well, virtually at least. IBM has created a virtual Forbidden City (website) in an effort to "provide the means for a worldwide audience to celebrate and explore aspects of Chinese culture and history". Check out the intro video: Read more »

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Ride with me on the Shanghai Maglev

Oct 8, 2008 23:34

Ok, I know this thing is a few years old. But I thought that for anyone who can't get to Shanghai to check it out in person, I'd post this short video so you can experience a little bit of the ride for yourself.

The Shanghai Maglev normally gets up to about 430kmh, but can apparently reach 500 clicks when she's in the mood. It takes about 7 minutes to do the Longyang-to-Airport run, and costs 40 yuan one way with a boarding pass stub. Check out the video below. Pay special attention at the 4.5 minute mark where I think we passed another Maglev, or possibly ran over a rabbit.
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Peeping Tom: Some thoughts on Skype Spygate

Oct 6, 2008 12:17

Both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Skype's China partner, Tom (or Tom-Skype), has been monitoring and recording instant message chats. A Canadian, Nart Villeneuve, made the discovery and reported about it on his Web site.

Shocking revelations like this in China have long lost their shock value. It's pretty much everyday news. Either a company comes into China independently, or it comes in via a local partner (as Skype did), or it doesn't come at all. When a company chooses to do business here, for better or for worse, it is subject to local laws--even if those laws clash with common ethics. With that in mind, here's a statement from Skype's president which explains their position. But to me, this statement only underscores why they should have been watching Tom like a hawk from day one:
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Xinhua's premature exclamations

Sep 29, 2008 23:56

Another one to file under F for fake...�

Xinhua, China's official news agency, can now apparently report news events before they actually happen. Such is the case with China's recent space walk, where Xinhua scooped all those other chump news agencies by two whole days:

A news story describing a successful launch of China's long-awaited space mission and including detailed dialogue between astronauts launched on the Internet Thursday, hours before the rocket had even left the ground.

The country's official news agency Xinhua posted the article on its Web site Thursday, and remained there for much of the day before it was taken down... The article, dated two days from now on September 27, vividly described the rocket in flight, complete with a sharply detailed dialogue between the three astronauts. AP via Shanghaiist

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About Rick Martin

After years of honing his skills playing Shinobi on the rocky shores of Newfoundland, he moved on to become a freelance ninja. But due to a lull in the Canadian ninja market, Rick Martin teleported to Asia where he studied Chinese and the dark arts of China blogging. When he's not busy with all that stuff, he makes appearances at an international computer company where he does a little something called "work". He can also be found on Twitter and Facebook, or contact him via Email.