I’m a Twit. Follow me on Twitter.
Monday, April 21st, 2008After meeting with a fellow blogger in Beijing I decided it might be time to give Twitter a shot. So far, I haven’t been completely consumed and I like it. Follow me there. I’m gwbstr.
Archive for the 'Sections' Category
Transpacifica’s New Blogging Project: Sinobyte at CNET
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008They said this day would never come.
Perhaps the biggest fight I’ve ever picked in the blogosphere was when I wrote an opinion piece while a writing intern at Editor & Publisher in 2005 arguing that newspapers should get over blogging and put more energy into innovation. It ran under the provocative headline “Forget Blogs,” and declared, “Blogs are a horrible way to deliver journalism. Forget them.” You can imagine the kind of reception this got from bloggers.
The argument was a bit more subtle, and I think it has stood the test of two and a half years. I was trying to convince editors and publishers to put more resources into non-blog online content. And many newspapers have. Many people know about innovations made by The New York Times, but fewer keep track of the minor successes of hundreds of smaller newspapers using non-blog online media to do journalism. Bravo!
I was a blogger then, and obviously am now. I just thought big media companies should be able to put together more engaging media than I can in my spare time. This doesn’t entirely eliminate the irony that now, as a freelance writer and freelance student living in Beijing, I’m launching a blog that will be my most consistent work. In a real sense, a guy who argued that blogs aren’t all that has become a professional blogger.
So here it is. As part of the CNET Blog Network, I am now the author of Sinobyte, which will follow technology in China and Asia from my perspective as a student of media, politics, and society. All I have there so far is an introductory page, but check back later this week for an account of an impending trip to a mobile phone market and several other interesting developments that have been churning in early 2008. Subscribe to Sinobyte’s RSS feed here.
What does this mean for Transpacifica? Not much. I’ll still be writing here on transpacific relations and political and social issues in Asia. But I won’t be writing so much about the Chinese internet here. That work, and much more, will from now on show up on Sinobyte. Enjoy!
links for 2008-01-07
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008-
William Long pointed out that what she said was basically wrong as it was impossible to see “very violent and very indecent” information in China internet because of the control
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…This is the proof that the world has become more integrated.”
Cai Yuanpei, 1914
links for 2008-01-06
Monday, January 7th, 2008links for 2008-01-05
Sunday, January 6th, 2008-
Six months ago, the Bush administration quietly eased some restrictions on the export of politically delicate technologies to China. The new approach was intended to help American companies increase sales of high-tech equipment to China despite tight curb
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One country’s motivation is political, the other’s pragmatic. Venezuela is seeking a strategic geopolitical alliance, China a steady supply of energy.
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China has announced tough new rules to crack down on the explosion of audio-visual content on the Internet, reiterating that sex and politically sensitive material will not be tolerated.
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In this episode we explore China’s version of “technonationalism”, a term used to refer to technological development as a government policy.
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Waseda University in Tokyo wants to answer the call. In April, it will launch what it bills as Japan’s “first genuine journalism graduate school,”
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Top China stories from China in Global Voices Online for 2007.
New Banner Image: A Wall Near Shanghai’s Moganshan Lu
Friday, January 4th, 2008Today I’m introducing Transpacifica’s third banner image. This wall near the Moganshan Lu (莫干山路) art district in Shanghai caught my eye. That placard advertising English tutoring is hanging several yards off the ground.
We’re also saying goodbye to the previous image. Here it is full-frame below, in a wallpaper-worthy high resolution version.
My Article for TBJ’s New ‘Urbane’ on Beijing’s Ullens Center for Contemporary Art
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008That’s Beijing’s design and lifestyle companion known until now as tbjhome became urbane with the January 2008 issue. It also contains my first story for the publication: a look at French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte’s rework of a 1950s weapons factory for the new Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing’s 798 Art District. Urbane’s website does not have text online yet, but those interested can read from the photographs below.
links for 2007-12-28
Saturday, December 29th, 2007-
The new Apple OS has Japanese dictionaries built in.
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Our blog’s intention is to request the US government to grant us a chance to defend our mother country Japan at the American court of law regarding the resolution “Comfort Women” passed July 30, 07.
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“The speech has become a hot topic recently on our university’s BBS (bulletin board system) and students are very interested in Fukuda’s visit, the future of China-Japan relations and how to secure a ticket
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The Asahi Shimbun reported Thursday that the two countries held secret talks on the gas dispute ahead of Fukuda’s visit.
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The Japanese Education Ministry announced Wednesday that it would partly reinstate references in textbooks to the Japanese military’s role in forcing civilians to commit mass suicide during the Battle of Okinawa
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Beijing, China’s water-poor and overpopulated capital, is stretching its resources to the limit. It is time for a new strategy, writes Xinyu Mei, the country should seriously consider moving its capital.
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A California free speech group whose board of directors includes Google and Yahoo said on Monday it had asked U.S. trade officials to challenge China’s Internet restrictions as a violation of global trade rules.
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[CCB] planned to open branches in London, Dubai and Doha according to a statement on its website.
Librairie Avant-Garde - Brilliant Nanjing Bookstore
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007Today, just as my wandering was turning into a walk home, I passed the Librairie Avant-Garde in Nanjing, a bookstore in an apparently never-used parking garage. Needless to say, I was not able to resist. Though its selection of foreign-language books is apparently zero, the range of subjects and the atmosphere of the store and the cafe inside are better than anything I’ve seen for a long time. This is located on the north side of Wutaishan (五台山). More pics after the break.
Driving up into the store.
(I have no idea what’s with the cross.)
links for 2007-12-06
Friday, December 7th, 2007-
France’s president has urged China to commit to sustainable development. Dongying Wang talked to Brice Lalonde, the French climate-change ambassador, and asked him what China can learn from France’s new green initiatives.
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Negotiations between China Mobile and Apple hit a snag earlier this month over the business model, and there is a rumor in the Chinese press that the parties have walked away from the table.
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The Japanese finance minister, Fukushiro Nukaga, urged Chinese leaders at a meeting in Beijing to allow their currency to appreciate at a faster pace, joining calls from governments in Europe and the United States.
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“President Hu Jintao will visit Japan next year. As for the specific date, that is still to be decided by the two sides,” ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.
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Choking on Growth Part VI
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The summit did not produce much in the way of concrete results, much to Amaki Naoto’s consternation. The two governments agreed to cooperate on green technology, and Foreign Ministers Yang and Komura made resolution of the East China Sea gas fields disput
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Former US president Jimmy Carter said Wednesday that when ties with China were re-established 29 years ago, Beijing privately acknowledged that the United States would keep selling arms to Taiwan.
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Baidu is now the first Chinese company ever to be added to the NASDAQ index. It entered the Top 100 Monday when its stock rose 3.3 percent in trading.
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Keso was reprimanded by another writer in the general-interest forum. “No discussion of politics here!” his fellow netizen insisted.
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China’s government is studying a U.S. intelligence review that concludes Iran stopped developing nuclear weapons in 2003, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
