Seemingly lost amidst all the windbaggery on this topic is the fact that according to Alexa, google.cn is as of this writing the #3 most-trafficked website in China. google.com, though, is #6.

I’m now beginning to think that Google’s strategy here might have something to do with the fact that google.com is already one of the top websites in China, with or without google.cn. Sure, by exiting the country entirely, they lose some leverage with the government, but monetarily, one would guess that at least some of the viewership and revenue from the Chinese operations will transfer back to the mothership.

Of course, the Chinese government could block Google’s domain entirely, like they do with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and they well might, but I would rate such a prospect as somewhat unlikely, since the GFW can already filter particular search queries when it wants to begin with.

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Post tags: business, china, google, internet

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First, as someone living in China, I’d like to explain some things. Google operates in China as a separate entity from Google’s main headquarters in the USA. I’ve frequently seen this misunderstood by people who post on sites like slashdot, whenever there is a story about Google censoring information. In the past, Google has agreed to censor information on google.cn (from Tiananmen Square, to Falun Gong, to the Dalai Lama, and so on).

However, these same searches are not censored on google.com, and google.com is not blocked by the Great Firewall. The Great Firewall, though, does detect your search queries, and will itself block access to information coming off of google.com (and others) if it finds material it has flagged as objectionable. (Of course, it should be said that anyone who gives a shit about free access to information in China uses a proxy, VPN, or some other secure means of avoiding the Great Firewall entirely.)

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Read the rest of Clever PR move, Google: give up the ball (717 words)

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Apparently, when you submit your app to the App Store, they have people using it and looking for naughty words interspersed in the language, or looking for bare breasts (oh no…the horror), or they are judging the overall functionality of the App based some loose and unknown standards. You can probably guess that my personal opinion is that any and all apps should be allowed, unless they are violating specific laws, but I am not conceited enough to think that my standards should be applied to everyone else, so I agree that there needs to be a solution.

Personally, I think what Apple does well is write great software and build great products. I also think they suck at determining what is offensive and what isn’t, and quite frankly, I think everyone sucks at that. More to the point: putting themselves in this position only brings them bad publicity. Either they will piss off conservatives who think they are allowing too much horrible stuff that scars the children, or else they will piss off free speech advocates who believe that responsibility for judging decency falls on the individual and are paranoid about a 1984-esque future. In short, from the corporate perspective, there’s no way to win.

Rumors are that version 3.0 of the iPhone software addresses this issue to some degree. But, in the meantime, here’s how I think this problem should be solved.
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Read the rest of A suggestion to get Apple out of the censorship business (1,196 words)

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This is a week that shook up the computer industry, because, after Apple’s move to Intel chips earlier this year, this week they officially endorsed the running of Windows on their hardware with the release of Boot Camp. This is certainly a Big Deal™, for more reasons than one, and I’ll toss my opinions into the fray, having been a Mac user for 13 years now.

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Read the rest of New world order (1,386 words)

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That’s one way to look at it.

Here’s the problem: Here in the USA, there’s this scumbag company called Setanta which owns exclusive rights to the Euro2004 games. They have chosen to only offer the games via satellite and digital cable on PPV ($179 for the whole package or $20 a game, or via direct broadcast to pubs, where there is also a $20 cover charge! (The cover charge goes straight to Setanta.)

So, basically, it means normal Americans can’t watch these games at all.

Also, UEFA has blocked ALL web streams of the event (they don’t even offer a games stream from their own web site, though they offer a package of ‘highlights’ and bullshit I don’t care about, as I just want to watch the games.

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Read the rest of Moneygrubbing pigs take us back to the 1950s (114 words)

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Anyway, I think it would be difficult to find two books articulating such opposing values. The first was “Hit Men“, by Fredric Dannen, and the second was, at a friend’s recommendation, “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom.

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Read the rest of Clash of values (419 words)

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This whole thing is a complicated issue, I agree, with validity on both sides, but in the end I just think the RIAA is desperately trying to maintain their castle while it’s under siege from all sides by Napster and GNUtella and the clones, CD burning, and a new movement for individual freedom and information flow.

They’ve successfully castrated Napster, but GNUtella will be a far more difficult beast for them to topple. And, presently they are trying to go after CD burning.

The problem for them, is that the cat has been let out of the bag. It’s too late. Sure, their armies of lawyers might score temporary victories against music piracy and the free exchange of information, but eventually they will be toppled. They’ve pissed off the open source movement, they’ve alienated younger listeners and that just means its going to become war.

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Read the rest of Boycott the RIAA (193 words)

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It’s amazing to me that a company whose products have touched so many people could be as universally reviled as they are. About the only organizations people hate more are the phone companies.

But, this story sheds some light on the practice of lobbying in this country. Personally, I have always thought of lobbying as a truly loathsome profession; down there with pimps and thugs and Hollywood agents. Lobbying as a concept doesn’t sound so bad: Not everyone can make it to Washington, after all, so why not send representatives there for you?

The problem is, as soon as there’s an extra person involved, it costs more money, which means in effect that these people end up just functioning as whores who bend over for the highest bidder.

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Read the rest of At least dead people like them (130 words)

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