Category Archives: The Tech Dynasty
Posts written at CNET Asia’s The Tech Dynasty
The End of a Dynasty
It is with a bit of sentiment that I announce this as my last post on CNET Asia, brining an end to the near year-long reign of the Tech Dynasty. When I took over the China beat from Rick Martin after his move to Tokyo (and Tokyo Shift), I was honoured to be a part …
A rundown on where to find weird China news
Aside from terrible traffic, row upon endless row of souless apartment blocks, and a rather brutal family planning system; China’s massive population also assures that it’s never short on bizarre news stories.
And while traditional media outlets are never shy to publish a juicy or scandalous story, a number of blogs have popped up in recent years that do all-weird, all the time. What follows is a list of some of my favourite sources of weird China news.
Twitter documentary by Singaporean filmmaker brings new angle to social media
Dubbed Twittamentary, a new documentary about Twitter by Singapore filmmaker Tan Siok Siok, is setting up to take the term “social media” to a whole new level.
Sexy Space — world’s first SMS worm made in China
There is a silent but ever-present chip carried around on the shoulders of many in this country about the nation’s “what have you done for me lately” innovation sector. Sure, China is responsible for the compass, gunpowder, paper making and printing. However, a little over a thousand years ago, it hit a bit of a dry spell which it has only recently begun to pull itself out of.
And what a way to get back in the saddle–China has created the first-ever SMS worm:
China, the world’s factory–a photo tour
It’s been a silent couple of weeks around the Tech Dynasty and for that I apologize. I headed off on vacation and spent two weeks desperately trying to pretend computers had never been invented. The vacation was great, but as is always the case, returning to work brings with it a mountain of things to do. While I process that, I wanted to share some photos I came across (via the most excellent All Roads Lead To China) depicting factory working conditions in China. These images certainly put my white collar–or more often than not in this summer heat, no collar–job in perspective.
Getting ready for the total solar eclipse
I have a vague memory of being a kid at school and going outside during class time to witness a solar eclipse. But other than that fuzzy moment, I’ve never witnessed a solar eclipse before.You might imagine then the sense of excitement I have about this Wednesday, July 22, when the longest total solar eclipse that will grace our planet this century comes to my dear Suzhou, China.
The path of the eclipse as it crosses over China
iPhone finally coming to China, but who cares?
When BusinessWeek’s Peter Burrows reported the other day that Apple has finally applied for a Network Access License with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), 1.3 billion potential Chinese customers collectively shrugged their shoulders.
Green Dam bursts under netizen pressure
I had meant to post this yesterday when I learned of it, but having my nation’s birthday to celebrate proved too much of a distraction–apologies. So, if you’ve not yet heard, Green Dam Youth Escort appears to be dead.
What was, as of July 1, to be mandatory censorship software installed on all new computers in China, has been indefinitely delayed due to a lack of prep time being given to hardware manufacturers.
Obama loves his Blockberry
I don’t have the strength or wherewithal to blog about yet another block, so instead of talking about the blocked/not-blocked status of Google today in the PRC, I thought I’d go instead with a bit of levity. Fortunately China’s shanzhai culture never leaves a man wanting for a chuckle, and it is especially amusing when …
Green Dam Youth Escort: A Summary of the Holey Harlot
Not since the release of Windows Vista has such a poorly designed, expensively developed, non-mandatory but strongly encouraged, scenically sounding piece of software created such a buzz as has Green Dam Youth Escort.
The new was-said-to-be-mandatory-but-now-isn’t-and-maybe-never-was software, produced for the Chinese Government as a way to protect the world’s most massive population from the evils of fairer skin tones, has everyone up in arms.
