Disqus - Latest Comments for Chris

Re: Chinesepod: Rare backstage tour with Hank Horkoff

Chris — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:38:10 -0000

I've used Chinese and Spanish Pods, and enjoy them, but I never thought about them all being in the same physical space. Only in Shanghai, I suppose...

Can't wait to see more.

Re: I Just Googled “Landline Reasons To Have”

Chris — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:15:07 -0000

No landline, no cable (TV, yes, but just for DVDs). Just a cell phone and internet connection, shared with the upstairs neighbor via wireless. Why pay for the same thing twice?

Re: A hard day here at The Star-Ledger

Chris — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:10:33 -0000

Hang in there. You guys are doing some of the most innovative and most important work in journalism, and I'd hate to see that suffer.

Re: Chinesepod: Rare backstage tour with Hank Horkoff

Chris — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:38:10 -0000

I've used Chinese and Spanish Pods, and enjoy them, but I never thought about them all being in the same physical space. Only in Shanghai, I suppose...

Can't wait to see more.

Re: Global Languages and Social Media

Chris — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:36:17 -0000

Could keep two blogs. That's more work, but keep in mind that different languages often means different audiences with different interests. Plenty of expat China bloggers keep a separate Chinese blog aimed at locals (or just for practice).

Re: Ducks go quack, quack, cows go moo

Chris — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:51:51 -0000

The attitude that people who get the web are somehow less qualified or not true journalists seems an extension of the "journalists don't do math" kind of thinking.

How did it get to be a badge of honor to be bad at something? How does anybody get credit for such an arrogant refusal to learn anything new?

Re: Doing the Bathtub Backstroke to Beijing

Chris — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 02:45:00 -0000

I don't have an exact date, yet. As soon as I do, it will be on this blog. I'm all for street-wandering.

Re: Do Not Trust This Man

Chris — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 20:25:00 -0000

Hello, Patty...
You know where I am. Do I really need to explain why I'm fleeing to foreign shores.

I don't have your email address. Send it to me at work (camico@avpress.com) if you want more personal updates.

Re: Easy as ABC: Already Blocked in China

Chris — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:12:00 -0000

Hey Joe: I'm teaching at Dalian Fisheries University, starting Sept. 1. I actually don't know much about the school (like, where it is). I'll probably reach the city the last week of August.

Re: “Non parlo cinese,” and useful Italian phrases in Beijing

Chris — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 04:23:00 -0000

Sorry man, my email lists have been screwy lately. I'll make sure you get the new one.

Re: I’m teaching Bon Jovi, Christ and Only You

Chris — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 00:19:00 -0000

Thanks for that. I just want to make sure I don't end up with a name that means "Guy who doesn't speak Chinese" (accurate as that would be).

Re: Army Men, Old School Style

Chris — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 07:04:00 -0000

If it makes you feel any better, I've had plenty of days where I longed to be where you are, when I couldn't stop asking myself, "Why am I not in Italy?"

Re: Are they INSANE?!?!

Chris — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 23:40:00 -0000

Yes. Resignation. Maybe I do need an editor now and then. At least it's fixed now.

Re: Dirty Jokes and Carrot Sticks

Chris — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 04:54:00 -0000

Tough call on the food. Some of it is great, some is awful. I guess that goes for most places. Very little is like Panda Express or anything in California, since that tends to be from the south, usually Hong Kong.

One thing in common, though. None of this can possibly be healthy.

Re: Not Voting? Maybe it’s the candidates, stupid

Chris — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 21:25:00 -0000

I know, one vote, who cares? It's really the coffee and cookies and old people I'm gonna miss.

And the hugs.

Re: North Korea will have to wait

Chris — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 21:24:00 -0000

That's the plan for next week. What I'd really like to have, though, is a translator.

Re: How do you get to the Apollo?

Chris — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 01:18:00 -0000

Thanks Chinese. Glad you're reading.

Re: “To kill those who do not remember history.”

Chris — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:13:00 -0000

hey chris, i really appreciate ur writing, have fun in dalian!

Re: Japan, Wikipedia and a Chinese identity crisis

Chris — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:22:00 -0000

I'm certainly guilty of that myself. I asked a friend recently, "Do the Chinese actually care about each other?"

"Don't underestimate the damage the Cultural Revolution did," she reminded me.

Thirty years isn't so long, as I keep having to remind myself.

Thanks as always for the insight.

Re: Finally, a good use for snow

Chris — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 01:39:00 -0000

I'm working on it. YouTube hasn't been cooperative lately. I think it's my ISP more than anything, which likes to block way more than other places I get online.

Coming soon, I promise.

Re: We’re all on the same bus

Chris — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:07:00 -0000

Glad you enjoyed it, even if you (and Fallows, and ESWN) beat me to it. Maybe this will be the start of a new Chinese martial art--the Parting of Crowds style, or something like that.

Re: No awards for me…

Chris — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 01:57:00 -0000

Thanks for the name tips, guys. I'll keep all that in mind.

Sorry about the shirt, J., and for wasting beer. Next time I'll post a warning: Don't drink while blogging.

Re: It doesn’t feel at all like Christmas

Chris — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 00:19:00 -0000

I was actually supposed to give a final on Christmas day, but I seem to have wriggled out of it. Looks like instead I'll be on a bus to Shenyang (more on that later). Oh, tis the season.

Re: Elsewhere to wander…

Chris — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 23:09:00 -0000

Sorry Loughrie. I can never keep that straight. I knew you'd appreciate the Bleeding Gums bit.

Re: I guess I miss the health plan…

Chris — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 05:00:00 -0000

I'm actually not sure Tibet will be there. The way Chinese tourists have been moving into the place on the new Golmud-Lhasa rail line, I worry about how much of the place will be turned into a Buddhist Disneyland.

Re: Back inside the wall

Chris — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:06:00 -0000

Thanks man, it was a rough first day on the breathing front. Dalian is definitely cleaner than Dandong, but "cleaner" still isn't what I like to call "clean." And I'm planning to head to Beijing this weekend...what am I thinking?

Re: Why did I get out of the van?

Chris — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 04:42:00 -0000

Thanks for the sympathy, at least. I was hoping maybe you knew a quick way to learn Chinese, besides, y'know, studying.

Re: Holy Mao! There are no beaches in Beijing

Chris — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:09:00 -0000

@Anon 1:
A redesign might be in the works, though nothing is going to happen before I get back to Dalian in early March. Suggestions are more than welcome. No need to blow a fuse in the meantime.

@Nacho Arena:

Thanks for dropping by. I liked your blog's layout and pictures, but my Spanish is rusty these days so I didn't get much farther. Stop by any time.

Re: Holy Mao! There are no beaches in Beijing

Chris — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 03:54:00 -0000

@Jeremiah:
I'm already out, actually. I'm in Zhongdian tonight, after spending two days in Kunming. There's a long post coming when I have more than 30 minutes of internet access and a place to defrost my feet. We're buried in snow up here and I'm looking (still) for a way to head south toward Thailand.

I might come back through Beijing, briefly, the first week of March on my way back toward Dalian.

Re: Holy Mao! There are no beaches in Beijing

Chris — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 06:27:00 -0000

@Anon 2:
Thanks for the support. To be honest, I flirt with the idea of remaking the entire site every few months. If I start getting enough traffic, I may eventually buy some server space and switch to Wordpress, which looks more appealing than Blogger. The current scheme also seems to look better on my MacBook than on the crappy Windows machines I'm using in this net bar in Lijiang.

So...tell me what you like and what you don't, if you're so inclined. Or just sit back and enjoy it as is.

Re: Holy Mao! There are no beaches in Beijing

Chris — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 08:54:00 -0000

Thanks for all the input. Wordpress is tempting me day by day, and it gets worse everytime I find a new blog that uses it. Maybe it's the open source factor. The only thing that keeps me from making the switch, really, is the idea of having to redirect traffic to a new site for the second time in a year (this site used to be lions-mouth.blogspot.com). Since I use this blog partly as a learning tool, I'm always looking at new widgets I can throw in, and I'm about to add a new blogroll just for online journalism blogs that have been giving me loads of new ideas lately.

Re: Seeing Red and Grinning: Happy New Year from Lijiang

Chris — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 09:04:00 -0000

Hi Christina,
Thanks for dropping by. Stay as long as you like. I like your Manila blog, but I just realized it hasn't been updated since August. Do you have a current one?

I'm curious what it's like at Nanjing Normal University. My friends in Dalian who study Chinese at universities have generally disliked the experience, and most seem to be switching to private tutors or language schools. I may be facing a similar choice soon.

Re: Welcome back, Spammer

Chris — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 01:00:00 -0000

@Anon:
Thanks for the input. Yeah, a lot of things have been pushing me toward wordpress lately, and toward buying my own server space. Google slipping from its "Don't be evil" mantra is just the latest. It's not going to happen right away, but the change is definitely coming. Stay tuned.

@CLB:

Thanks for the tip. Easy isn't necessarily what I'm going for, though. This blog is partly a learning tool for me, so I'm kinda looking for a more do-it-yourself platform. Basically, I treat this blog like my father treats the house I grew up in: something to be constantly upgraded and meddled with, but never really perfected.

Re: Storm o’ the Century

Chris — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:30:00 -0000

Meursault:

For some reason I always think Shandong should be warmer than Dalian. Am I wrong on this?

I forgot to mention this in the original post: The hallway outside my apartment isn't sealed very well on either end, creating a kind of wind tunnel. I had to walk across that hallway to do laundry that night, but I forgot what kind of suction a wind like that creates, something akin to lift on an airplane wing. I had to lean back and use all my measly body weight to pull the doors open every time (no fat Canadians around). No fun at all.

Re: Dancing in the Dark with the Net Nanny

Chris — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:39:00 -0000

I think I spoke too soon. Today my podcasts are once again being stopped. It's maddening.

I'm sure there are all levels of blocks, from the ones starting at at the big wires going through Taiwan down to individual ISPs. It wouldn't surprise me at all that international hotels would have better access than Chinese hotels, since I suspect foreigners used to an open internet would be more likely to complain than Chinese travelers who've never known an unfiltered web.

Re: Censorship? Bu hao chi! The un-del.icio.us firewall

Chris — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 07:29:00 -0000

Loughrie: Specify. And I'll explain, if you're behind.

Re: Another Chinese Fake: My poker skills

Chris — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 16:01:00 -0000

I never played back home. Hell, I was damn scared of laying money on the line when it was "real" cash. That was the weird thing last night. I wrote it off as a donation to the team, so I went for hands I wouldn't have if I were worried about the money. Maybe that's the trick to it.

Oh, and a bit of bad news, since you mention Matt. It seems he took a bad step on his way out last night and broke his foot. Don't know how long he's out of commission. Maybe it's Murphy's Law.

Re: China Wakes, Cuddles Up to Africa

Chris — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:03:00 -0000

Thanks for the language tip, both of you. I figured it out once I knew where to look (on the main page, not in my blog's settings).

Africa thoughts to come.

Re: Another Chinese Fake: My poker skills

Chris — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:57:00 -0000

James: I couldn't figure out how to fit that part in. I mean, what do you say? "This is my friend who likes to poke dead people with sticks. He sins for the rest of us." I guess I have said that before, haven't I?

We'll definitely get a game here. I think it's becoming a regular thing at the Tin Whistle.

Re: Another Chinese Fake: My poker skills

Chris — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 23:59:00 -0000

Nicole: I think James is coming to Dalian sometime later in the spring. Might make for a nice AV Press reunion. I'm sure we can get a game going, though if I'm playing with you two, maybe we should stick to fake money. ;-)

Re: Another inch toward Wordpress

Chris — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:34:35 -0000

That's a handy gizmo, that ping thing. I'll have to keep that in mind. This has been my project for today. Next step: Themes. I should probably eat, too.

Re: A China blog of one’s own

Chris — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:01:09 -0000

I'm not going to hold onto it too long, a month is the absolute limit. As soon as things are functioning here, I'll happily be done with Blogger. Mostly it's just a matter of easing the transition for the readership and myself alike. People are still linking to the old site, and I still have things to move.

I may indeed shoot you a few questions about WP. Much more to play with here than with Blogger.

Re: A China blog of one’s own

Chris — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 09:10:34 -0000

@TaiTai: I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I can do some coloring with those Sinocidal crayons?

@CLB: Thanks. More to come. Stay tuned.

Re: Is BlogSpot Back?

Chris — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:55:06 -0000

No way to know. I think you'd have better odds with slot machines than trying to predict which way the net nanny will wobble next. I'm just glad to be free of the whole mess, at least on my own site.

Re: Three Language Daze

Chris — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:52:32 -0000

Hopefully I'll have it figured out myself by then. You should definitely make the switch. It took about 56 seconds to bring everything over from BlogSpot, including pictures and comments.

And yes, it would be nice not having to guess where you are and what blog you're updating. Just make it "Loughrie Does..." and leave it at that.

Re: Who needs a free press?

Chris — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:43:55 -0000

Hey Clement, good to see you on the Wordpress side. There's a bit more work to be done tidying this site up, but I'm enjoying it more than Blogger already. How are you getting around the Firewall these days, by the way?

As for Al Jazeera, my point (and Mindy's, I think) is that it has never been given a chance to work in a market setting. I cringe every time an interest group in the US says we should limit the amount of information available to people. Maybe Al Jazeera would fail miserably, but we don't know, and I think cable networks are being over-cautious and self-censoring. I'm hesitant to put it in the same category with "extremist nazi proaganda or obscure African languages or even Chinese dialect" though.

The French example is a stronger one indeed, and reminds me of another link I should put in, from Global Voices.

Turkey is having trouble with YouTube, as well, as the story says. I had to go through a proxy to get it though, because Global Voices is blocked here, too.

Re: Who needs a free press?

Chris — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 08:14:24 -0000

@Humanaught:
I just set up the proxy (I know, I'm probably the last China blogger to do so), and it seems to be working alright, except when FireFox switches proxy options on me for no reason. I don't know why it's doing that. The internet is a mountain of frustration for me today.

@Clement:
Wow indeed, lots to go through here.

Re: ClearChannel and the Dixie Chicks. That seemed like such a stupid thing for a radio station to do, but I don't listen to much country, so maybe I don't get the audience there. Personally, I try to avoid CC (in the US, anyway) because their stations tend toward the most banal and overplayed crap on the dial, regardless of genre.

I don't think anybody's talking about forcing stations to carry Al Jazeera, but I'm surprised no station with a large ME immigrant customer base would choose to carry it. Maybe in Dearborn, MI? Is anyone really going to switch cable providers (assuming there's an alternative) because the one they have carries AJ?

My big frustration, and the CC example made me think of this, is the idea that someone else gets to choose what I can watch or hear. I disagree on the difference between boycotts and censorship. Customers choosing not to buy the Dixie Chicks or watch AJ is a boycott. Everyone gets to choose to support it or not. If CC boycotts an artist or a cable station cuts off a networkÃ¢â‚¬â€for political reasons, at leastÃ¢â‚¬â€that's effectively censorship. No I don't get the choice of whether to support the decision or not, because most likely, I can't switch cable companies.

The obvious flaw in this is that there are now more options. I get most of my new music online, for free, through podcasts. News comes from everywhere. Given those new options, broadcasters seem daft to try to limit content for such trivial reasons as politics.

OK, what else? I agree on subpoenas being a huge threat to press freedom. Worse than the Plame mess is the Congressmen calling for reporters to be jailed for printing stories like Dana Priest's CIA prisons story. Frightening.

Re: Europe
I haven't spent enough time reading non-English papers to comment with any intelligence. The Paris riots are an interesting case study, though. Here's one of the best stories (a slide show, actually) I've seen on it, from the Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/slideshow/page/0,,204...

Re: AJ improving and all
I suspect the infusion of talent from more established outlets will help bring standards up. I'd still like to see it now, though, because I just can't sit through another news cycle of talking heads and over-blown non-stories of the other three 24-hour networks. Some other perspective would be nice.

This is getting to be a very long comment thread.

Re: Who needs a free press?

Chris — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 05:17:49 -0000

Sheesh, man you write a lot. I'm not going to do a point-by-point response because there's just too much that won't be resolved in this thread, so here's what I will say:

First, careful on lumping reporters into some mass conspiracy. Most of those I've worked with have their own peculiar politics that don't fit neatly into a left-right framework. If you're seeing a liberal tilt, it's probably your own lens that's off-center. That's cool, just don't go accusing everyone in the press of some half-hatched plan that isn't there. Anyway, let's not get into this, because it won't get anywhere.

I'll hold my ground on the Dixie Chicks and AJ. In both cases, a few are making a political decision to limit access for many, based on an ideological position. The fact that it's not as effective because of the Internet and dispersed media make it no less sinister. The Nevada case is a similar story in the same category.

I think that's all I'll say for now.

Re: Who needs a free press?

Chris — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 21:57:05 -0000

@Clement:
We definitely agree on the proxies. They're awesome.

@Gracchi:
The Net Nanny's hijinks definitely makes me appreciate open information. I was strong on free speech before I moved here, and those sentiments have only been reinforced since.

As for my reading list, let's just say thank the internet gods for proxies and tech-savvy bloggers who share them. And RSS feeds. Bloglines is my new best friend.

Re: Happy Easter

Chris — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:07:21 -0000

Hey Nicole,
It's called Sociable. Handy little gizmo, indeed. Check it out.

I like your new project, too, btw.

Re: Mess of a language: It’s London’s fault.

Chris — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:51:28 -0000

Hi Mike,
Dalian's a cool place, especially on days like today, when the sun is out and I can walk on the beach near my university and skip rocks in the Yellow Sea. Life ain't bad.

I'd be curious to compare Dalian to Shenzhen, since they're both largely products of the economic reforms of the past 30 years. I went through Shenzhen briefly a month ago, on my way to the airport. Must get down there again.

Re: So it goes.

Chris — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:41:44 -0000

For sure, man, I'll read anything you got. I just have to get SH5 back from a friend first. It may be locked up somewhere in Lushun with the other DaWai kids. My small library of English books are becoming the hot commodity these days.

Can I interest you in something by Paul Theroux or Leo Tolstoy?

Re: Rite of Passage, my ass

Chris — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 06:32:29 -0000

I don't have a name for the place.

It's just off Zhongshan Square. The address is Youhao Lu 125. Phone number is 8281 5680.

I was going to add it to the listings, but I don't think so now.

Re: Who needs a free press?

Chris — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:25:02 -0000

Phil: Well said. Thanks for the three cents. There's probably a follow-up post coming on all this, as soon as I make some time for it.

Re: Standout Stand-ins, or What you can buy in a capitalist China

Chris — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 22:58:46 -0000

CLB,
I meant to add a point about capitalism washing away "all that is fixed, fast and solid" and making teens everywhere equally annoying, but I figured you could make it better. I'm sure my little sister contemplated similar schemes in high school.

Jeremiah,

Did I go too low on the clothes price? I asked a few friends how much they spend each year and went with the bottom end.

Re: Building a Better Dalian Map

Chris — Thu, 03 May 2007 02:56:50 -0000

Hi Kelly,
To add to the map, click the link in the top-right corner that says "Contribute to this map." That will give you a pop-up window where you can add markers.

Re: Shots in the Dark: The Dalian Police Murder

Chris — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:42:59 -0000

Ain't that the truth.

Re: Standout Stand-ins, or What you can buy in a capitalist China

Chris — Wed, 09 May 2007 11:58:25 -0000

Meursault,
That's a tempting offer. Do you need Britons to pass muster? And must they be actually married or simply acting the part? Make it a large bag of salt and vinegar, perhaps some salty popcorn (none of that too-sweet stuff) and we might have a deal.

Re: Dalian’s clean, but is it really open?

Chris — Sat, 12 May 2007 00:58:51 -0000

Rick,
The issue of short history did come up a bit, but most of the comments I heard were about people. Even a friend from Shanghai said Dalian people suck. Again, that could be just mutual snobbery.

Cici,
My students brought up the Japanese; I'm just passing it along. I've certainly heard local people say nasty things about Japan, too. I found it interesting that non-Dalianese thought local people were more "Japan-friendly," and viewed this as a bad thing.

Re: Standout Stand-ins, or What you can buy in a capitalist China

Chris — Sat, 12 May 2007 01:01:17 -0000

Curses! Foiled again. The quest for decent snack food continues...

Re: Dalian’s clean, but is it really open?

Chris — Sun, 13 May 2007 13:31:20 -0000

Chris Waugh,
Like I said, Dalian has treated me well, for the most part. Actually, one way I usually spot out of towners is by their utter shock at seeing foreigners about. Most Dalianren are used to laowai.

Kim,
I tried to get more detail on the Japan claim but all that came out was fuzz, the usual bit about history, and a few more assertions of distaste.

Ray,
I haven't spent enough time in Beijing to make a proper comparison, and I have never been to Shanghai, I'm sorry to say. Shanghai's reputation for producing first-rate snobs does precede it far and wide, though.

Re: Did the Chinese freighter ‘Hit & Run?’

Chris — Wed, 16 May 2007 11:53:43 -0000

Wow, Dezza, you get the prize for fastest comment ever on this blog.

If it makes you feel any better, I'd say you're not being any more negative than the situation itself. It's rough out there.

Re: Did the Chinese freighter ‘Hit & Run?’

Chris — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:59:47 -0000

Alex,
I'm pretty sure the British press would be all over it if a UK freighter nailed anything. There's no one who could tell them otherwise.

Jeremiah,
Agree on both points. Sad state of affairs...

CLB,
Thanks. Will do.

Re: Tibet just got farther away

Chris — Thu, 17 May 2007 10:33:18 -0000

Dezza,
That was my plan both times. I actually emailed Michael about it and got some great info. The trip didn't happen for other, far less interesting reasons.

Re: Apple Store Opens in Dalian

Chris — Fri, 18 May 2007 12:36:19 -0000

Yeah, I've been to the one at Olympic, but it's not really a store. This place looks a bit more ambitious.

What it's still lacking, unfortunately, is repair service. Not that I've needed it yet (knocking on wood now) but it would be nice to be able to walk in and get the laptop fixed, if need be.

Re: Apple Store Opens in Dalian

Chris — Sat, 26 May 2007 00:16:20 -0000

Lonnie, I'm pretty sure there are Apple stores closer to GZ than Dalian, but if you're bound and determined to come all the way up here, the couch is open.

Re: My students fought the power–and won

Chris — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 07:39:36 -0000

For my students: The videos will be up Monday or Tuesday. I'll email you all when they're ready.

@Wha Wha What
I'll do a post soon on all the universities moving. No need to be anonymous, though. We're a friendly bunch around here.

Re: China’s to-do list, according to my students

Chris — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:20:33 -0000

Hi Yadira,
Glad you liked the experiment. Where are you teaching?

Re: Flickr Blocked: Net Nanny doesn’t like what she sees

Chris — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 09:36:03 -0000

Yup, still blocked. Like I said above, the site loads, the photos don't. The Firewall is blocking two of Flickr's photo storage servers. I can't see the photo in the post right now, which is linked through Flickr.

(Btw, if anybody really wants to see it, drop and email to eyeseast at gmail.com and I'll email it to you.)

Re: Flickr Blocked: Net Nanny doesn’t like what she sees

Chris — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:03:30 -0000

Jenn,
I had the same problem. I had just uploaded a half-dozen to my page when the block came down, so there are a lot with no info at all. It's maddening.

Rick, Great post. Keep up the good work.

Alex, indeed. Very interesting.

Re: A fast Flickr Fixr to flip off the Firewall

Chris — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:16:22 -0000

I'm curious about that, too. Blaming TAM2 almost sounds like a cop-out. Compare it with the Global Voices story. Seems a difference between reporting from inside China and outside of China.

Though, to be fair, I've had YouTube reset when I search TAM2, often after it loads. The page will suddenly reload and reset before I can choose a video.

Re: How many people live in Dalian?

Chris — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:07:56 -0000

One hundred thousand to one million? That's a huge spread. Did you type that right?

Dandong is about 700,000 and ZhuangHe, technically part of Dalian, is 900,000, so anything close to 100,000 sounds like a farming village (in China, anyway).

Re: There’s a Chinese lesson in here somewhere…

Chris — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:25:42 -0000

For sure. Should be fun. As fun as studying all day, every day can be.

Re: Setting out, a bit farther this time

Chris — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 02:40:36 -0000

Thanks guys. Updates will come, I promise. And yes, Rick, I'll keep Leo safe.

Re: When all else fails, find a bigger hammer

Chris — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:42:22 -0000

I just checked, and it was St. Patrick's Day that you sent it. Boredom was indeed the culprit:

Hey Chris, I'm not entirely sure why, but I got bored and decided to play around with a banner for your site. Don't know if you'll like it, but it's yours to use if ya do. :-)

I've been meaning to put it up for a while now, but it took me until now to sit down and learn enough HTML/CSS to do it.

Re: Flickr Blocked: Net Nanny doesn’t like what she sees

Chris — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:11:31 -0000

Andrea:
Go two posts forward in time and you'll see a Firefox plug-in to take care of this. Here's the post:

http://www.chrisamico.com/2007/06/13/a-fast-fli...

Re: Seeing Dalian

Chris — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:19:24 -0000

You should definitely make a run back up here. Plenty of couch space if you need it.

Re: Vote China Law BlogÃ¢â‚¬â€It’s Chinese (sort of)

Chris — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:53:47 -0000

CLB,
Figures.

Josh,
That's because most of us like CLB much more than CCP.

Re: The Tattoo

Chris — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:49:53 -0000

Glad you guys like the video. I'm going to try getting more up soon.

I'm using a Canon A530 that I bought in May 2006. The video quality is decent at 320x240, where it shoots at a normal frame rate (I think 30 fps). Shooting at 640x480 drops it down to 15 fps or less, so that's not as useful.

There's probably much better stuff out now for the same price, but I've generally been happy with the Canon line. I used an earlier model at my last newspaper job.

Re: What did Apple know and when did it know it?

Chris — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:01:38 -0000

@Steven,
Sorry to hear that. At least you were backed up. New hard drives aren't too pricey, usually, and certainly cheaper than reclaiming the lost memories.

Good luck.

Re: Costco in Korea: Americana in large portions

Chris — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:31:10 -0000

Hey Nicole, haven't heard from you in forever. Of course I know Youku.com. How else would I keep up on South Park?

Re: Why I didn’t blog much about Korea

Chris — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:49 -0000

Gotta say, Python's use of white space is one of my favorite things about it. I know everybody says that, but it's true!

...and I'm a nerd...sigh...

Re: The Pottery Barn theory of blogging

Chris — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:52:37 -0000

Yeah, I'm not in love with this theme either, but it works for now. I tried one that was super-minimalist called "Simple Green," but it was a bit too far in the other direction, and it didn't seem to like Chinese characters. I'll keep looking.

Btw, I love that Pasden is now a color. Blog fame at its best.

Re: China’s top schools go beyond its top cities

Chris — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:31:54 -0000

As far as I can tell, everything is in UTF-8, both in my theme and in the database. This is definitely new--I've never had an issue with Chinese--and it's definitely wordpress. It's been a problem in several themes, including default, and last time the characters didn't even survive editing (reverted to ???). Makes me want to jump platforms again.

Re: China’s top schools go beyond its top cities

Chris — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:13:46 -0000

I didn't see any division of grad and undergrad on the original list. I imagine it's an aggregate ranking, including instruction, research, competitiveness, etc. I've seen a lot of lists like this, with generally similar rankings, but never a post-grad v. undergrad breakdown. If I see one, I'll post it.

Re: Help me write about California, cement and global warming

Chris — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:04:48 -0000

David, you've been a huge help already. I can't wait to see where Spot.us goes, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Re: Did Bush get it right on China?

Chris — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:29:56 -0000

I'd like to think we're beyond that, but we are in an election year...

Re: There’s no ‘I’ in team, but there sure is in China

Chris — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 02:24:44 -0000

Prof. Gillespie,

Thanks for the added explanation. It's an interesting proposition, and the Olympics make a compelling test case, but I think it's the wrong one.

China's overall aim was to win as many events as possible. In the NY Times article I quoted above, Grinko, the rowing coach, says, "One gold is worth a thousand silvers." The Chinese were thinking numbers, and the clearest way to do that was individual sports.

It would be interesting to see if a 119-style project would work for the World Cup.

Re: DalianDalian was down

Chris — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:30:54 -0000

I hear good things about Slicehost. I considered moving this blog there, but went with WebFaction as the cheaper option. Both get high ratings among Python people, too, so that's a plus.

Re: Finding a local news feed

Chris — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:48:37 -0000

Ha. "The cheese cloth of local content." I like that.

Eventually, I want to make a bunch of feeds each giving me one specific area from one specific source. This is just the first one.

Santa Cruz definitely has the same issue. I don't know of any newspaper that just covers one town anymore. The Sentinel covers Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Capitola, Soquel and sometimes ventures down into Watsonville.

I think a big aggregation of all local content--from blogs, TV, newspapers, whatever--is the way to go. If I can get some infrastructure built, maybe we can all pitch in on this.

Re: Finding a local news feed

Chris — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:13:27 -0000

@Andrew,

I haven't timed it, but I'd assume there's at least a slight delay, since Pipes needs to pick up the feed, filter it, then retransmit. Not sure if it's noticeable, if there is indeed a delay.

I'm going to do a few more of these (probably for the East Bay) and see how it handles.

Re: Finding a local news feed

Chris — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:13:19 -0000

@Adam

I remember that script, and reading the Economist on that sketchy little dictionary on the way to Qingdao. That's exactly what I want to do (again, assuming newspapers don't do it for me).

I may hit you up for coding help to make it happen.

Re: Yo China, why are you blocking YouTube?

Chris — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:26:40 -0000

Funny you should bring up animal songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKx1aenJK08

It makes more sense if you can swear in Chinese, but the annotations will give you the gist. Really pissed off the Chinese censors, since they missed it.

Re: Advice To Newspapers From The Father Of The Internet: Learn From iTunes

Chris — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:07:21 -0000

Take out the Apple Store, and how is iTunes all that different from any RSS reader? What iTunes did, first and foremost, was give people a way to find and buy music. It exploited an existing demand for digital music (demonstrated by Naptser and friends) for which there was no convenient market.

News has a different problem: There are too many markets (from the perspective of suppliers, not consumers). A news site could certainly develop an iTunes-like site for news, sell articles individually or as a subscription, but there's nothing to prevent users from going to competitors who offer content for free and make their money off advertising.

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