Authority Week

The Relevant Universe, Asia Asian Affairs Bureau, (Which Is Really More of a Credenza, It’s Late Qing Dynasty, Clean Lines, Stylish Yet Very Functional)

BEIJING AND SAN FRANCISCO. Rumors of Internet search giant Google’s departure from the Chinese market have sparked protest from Chinese netizens and innovation from China’s increasingly high-profile pro-government online community. Beijing based TangTech has announced plans to launch a search engine called Guoguo (国国), a “wholesome, patriotic alternative to certain Western brands” said Xi Rong, its developer.

State media have touted Guoguo’s search capabilities. In a country where censorship often hamstrings browser speed, Guoguo can nearly instantly search the nearly hundreds of government-approved websites. It is especially formatted to search four-character idioms, no matter how recently coined or followed by how many exclamation points. This seminal development aims at the future, but Ms. Xi conceived it as a response to personal difficulties.

“My son is a Qinghua graduate, but at 22 he has no marriage prospects, seeming only interested in wasting time with some foreign woman whom I’m convinced doesn’t have a home of her own” Ms. Xi related.

“So, I decided it was time to intervene myself as my parents did. Of course I didn’t want to spend exorbitantly for a matchmaker, so I turned to the Internet to find a suitable match. I wanted to find an educated, demure young woman of sound character and promising political connections. I typed in ‘man wants Party girl’ into a foreign search engine and it turned up nothing of any use!”

The Beijing manager found more trouble trying to find work for her son abroad in Japan or Korea “A search for ‘Pacific rim job’ proved completely fruitless. I knew we needed a search engine more sensitive to Chinese characteristics.”

Ms. Xi’s product is unique, but government and traditionalist frustration with the Internet seems plentiful. Wangwang (王网) has netted millions from the government for its of Facebook, FaceFile. While Chen Xuefei, a Shanghai-based blogger focusing on human rights and environmental protection, may disdain the social network’s politics, she cannot dispute its effectiveness.

“After I got home from the police station one afternoon, I saw the ‘politics’ section of my profile had been changed and there was no more pulldown menu. And why would I take tens of photos of my building from every possible angle? I mean, snapshots of my landlord and a bunch of telephone wires? That’s too pretentious, where did that come from?” Ms. Chen asks.

Despite its leadership in the field, half-formed, bug-ridden adaptations of expensive tech tools developed by tony liberals are not limited to the People’s Republic of China. SoftCell, a Saudi firm, has developed the Mackberry, a mobile device that allows web browsing only after a biometric software analyzes a drop-sized fluid sample for sufficient testosterone.

While Iran’s government has yet to sponsor major software of its own, countries from Venezuela to Vietnam envy its rapid response content blocking. Searches for “grassroots green”, “revolution en vert” and “green movement meet-up” prompted immediate content removal and police action. Although an anonymous off-the-record source within Iran’s security sector say he has been pleased, he does not take full credit.

Hackers eventually linked to the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee attempted to crash browsers making similar searches.

“I had no idea US Senator James Inhofe was so sensitive to our political situation” the source said.

After some research, using my newly acquired Internet superpower, I found a very special show featuring not only dubstep but also some really amazing and cutting edge electronic music.

But, as per usual, it is a little hard to find those who share my interest, at least in person.

And, of course, there aren’t many shows here in Beijing. Even if there were, it would be rough getting my girlfriend to come with me.

whiel i write waiting for the words to appear on my screen becauseter something isnt working with my proxy…. sometimes i have the feeling that something is coming… Nietzsche it describes giving birth to an idea as giving birth to a baby… I feel like I’m on to something, something big, huge… but I don’t know what it could be

These ideas floating around waiting for a voice… the voice of a revolution, but how can anyone listen if not spoken?

This isn’t something new for me. Seeing these words now slows me down, like the censor has been turned on… it was easier before when I couldn’t see.. maybe that’s why it is so much easier for me to speak.. writing is oh so hard, because you can always take it back… that’s what the delete key is for, right?

Is this okay? is that okay? second guessing sucks

I’m slower… words don’t come as easily, the music is too loud, but the beats are amazing

When I first heard that “the internet is moving to the cloud,” my pride took a hit. As a fairly tech savvy guy, I should know what these people are talking about.

So I looked it up and it still didn’t make sense so I just left it, it really didn’t seem all that important at the time. Then I found websites like Glide society, Hobnox, and Dropbox, and that’s when I realized what it is.

Behind all the lingo, slang, and jargon, cloud computing is actually quite simple in concept: for the individual consumer, you only need a functioning computer, an internet connection and a web browser to use the cloud . Everything you need to be productive, play your games, or be creative can be found by pointing your browser to the web address that gives you access to the cloud where your stuff is stored.

All of this is say that you don’t need to actually install anything on the computer you use. You don’t need to worry about upgrading your hardware all the time, you don’t need to purchase hugely expensive pieces of kit, and you can access the same information and applications from anywhere that has an internet connection.

The key strength of the cloud is portability. The idea is that I should be able to access all of my files, documents, and information from anywhere, whether that be at home, in the office, or at the local wireless hotspot. This, of course, makes things so much easier. Not only does it mean that I don’t need to worry about the kind of machine I have, but it makes sharing things with co-workers, friends and family so much easier. Want to share a movie? Send me the link! Want me to help with your job application, send me an invitation to collaborate!

Many of the companies involved in this new method of delivering services and web solutions, such as Salesforce and Google, would like us to believe that we should all transition to the cloud now.

However, we are still some distance from any kind of mass exodus. Individuals will probably embrace cloud computing much faster and with much less pain than most corporate clients. Think about it: if you are storing or sharing any kind of file on a website, and not on a piece of hardware, then you are already using the cloud.

As individuals, we don’t have to worry about infomation security as much as our private sector brethren (although maybe we should). The biggest obstacle to adoption, for most companies, is exactly that: they cannot trust that any provider will be able to keep their secrets truly safe off site. Instead, many companies, at least for now, would prefer to place the burden on their Chief Information Officer. This, according to the proponents, however, is exactly why companies and corporations will begin to transistion to cloud computing.

Program conversions, updates, and upgrades will be much easier. CIO’s don’t have to worry as much about the latest security measures, instead there will be a company that worries for them and that’s ALL they do. Employees can work from any computer, in or out of the office. While on a trip, you lost your laptop with your career on it: documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. But with cloud computing, nothing is actually lost. Just go get another computer and voila all your stuff is still there

Something I’d like everyone to bear in mind: when people use the words “the cloud,” as I have done, (its hard not to use the accepted lingo sometimes, isn’t it?) it is a bit misleading. When I use the web software Google Docs, I do not access “the cloud,” I access Google’s cloud, the online infrastructure they setup for their users. When I use Microsoft’s Office Live, I access Microsoft’s cloud, not Google’s and so on.

All in all, there probably won’t be a complete cloud computing revolution for sometime. However, we will start to see more and more people, especially young ones, take advantage of its portability and flexibility.

Cuboy faces the dastardly Esquire Padrino

Introducing Cuboy!

Or rather, this is a radio piece I did on him.  It was the first I did for China Drive and I spent many long hours working on it.

Please, be forgiving:  this is the first radio piece I ever recorded, edited, produced, etc.  I am no longer a radio virgin.

If you liked the piece then visit their website to watch cartoons, play the game, and even make your own cutoys!

(This is not a paid promo, I swear.  I just like the game that much.)

High expectations weakened Obama, don’t let that happen here.