Catshanghai

My Nexus One

I bought a Nexus One phone last month, but it took me a few weeks to get it shipped from the UK. It cost just under 4000 RMB, but I would buy it from Expansys.com.hk in the future or PDA Dream at Cyber on Huai Hai Road. You can buy a Nexus One in shanghai for 4600 RMB without waiting several weeks.

I could have bought an I phone, but I like linux and wanted to be able to run multi tasking.

I have been using my new phone for two weels. This is what I like about it:

The phone feels great in my hand and is beautifully designed.

The amoled screen is crisp and at 800 by 480 is good for reading text and watching movies.

GPS is amazing. I have had fun tracking my location on Google Earth and Google Maps.

I like the choice of apps from the market place. I have been using Seesmic for Twitter Guardian Anywhere, Gmote to remote control my computer and Listen for podcasts.

Mobile web browsing looks great.

The camera is really good for pictures and videos in natural light.

The syncing of Google contacts, calendar and Gmail is seamless.

Android is easy to use and easy to customise compared with Windows Mobile.

Multi touch lets you pinch and zoom when browsing and viewing photographs.

The noise cancelling microphone makes call quality very high.

Battery life is very good (all day) if you manage the phone properly by turning off animated (live) wallpapers, dimming the screen brightness, regularly using a task manager to kill background services and turning off gps, wifi, bluetooth and 3g when not needed.

There are a few kinks and issues that need to be figured out for Android to be perfect rather than merely very good.

Android needs Audible audiobook support. I have to use Macosome Audiobook converter to listen to my Audible collection on my Nexus One.

You need third party software to sync Itunes with Android. Doubletwist works fine on my Mac, but it cannot handle smart playlists.

Android does not yet support many video codecs. It supports h264, m4v and mp4, but I had trouble playing the mp4 files I downloaded from BBC Iplayer Downloader only rectified using Handbrake.

Copy and paste is awkward. It is buried in menus for browsing and is not available in the native gmail app.

The virtual screen keyboard takes a lot of getting used to after a physical keyboard on the HTC Tytn. I have recently installed Swype, which is much better than the native keyboard.

Paid apps are only available from the Android marketplace in a few countries (not China). I had to pop in a UK sim card and use a vpn to download paid apps such as Pixelpipe Pro and The Egg talking timer.

There is vpn support, but you need to root your phone to use openvpn. Chinese isps keep cutting my pptp connection after a few minutes.

These are a few minor gripes amplified by living behind the GFW. I am sure they will be fixed or worked around as Android develops and matures. This is still the best phone I have ever used, although I have never owned an Iphone.

It’s been more than a week since Google announced that they were no longer going to censor search results on Google.cn in response to accusations that Chinese hackers were trying to spy on activists’ Email accounts and steal source code. I was almost expecting  the Sino Google apocalypse, but it has not yet happened.

When the story first broke, I was in a state of excitement and anxiety. Call it dysphoria. On one hand, it was amazing to see my favourite web company stand up for free speech against an arrogant emerging superpower. I was also worried that this Google fanboy would lose access to all the tools that make him feel connected to the world inside and outside China. I feared and still fear losing access to Google search, Gmail, Google Calendar, Picasa and Google Reader. I’ve been telling students to get ready by setting up alternative Email addresses and getting used to the idea of using Bing.com as a second choice search engine.

Since then nothing much has happened except for rash speculation about Google’s real agenda throughout blogs, Twitter, podcasts and news sites about the real reason and impact of Google’s announcement on January 12. Here are a number of theories being tossed about:

• Many employees at Google are unhappy about their decision in 2006 to censor search results when they made and agreement with the Chinese government and setup Google.cn. The free speech Google faction was looking for an excuse to get out of China in order to reconcile their ethical free speech motto of ‘Do No Evil’.
• Sergey Brin was particularly unhappy that the Chinese government or patriotic hackers were trying to use Google’s technology to spy on human rights activists and dissidents given that his family originate from the former Soviet Union.
• Google can not trust the Chinese government as a business partner if they spy on them and try to steal Google’s intellectual property.
• Google were using the hacking attack and free speech issues to leave for business reasons given they only had 30 percent of the search market in China compared with Baidu’s 60 percent.
• The Chinese market accounts for only 2 percent of China’s online revenues, but it is also a source of problems in terms of hackers, click fraud and phishing scams. Leaving the market would help to mitigate these issues.
• Leaving China would give Google a huge PR boost as advocates of Internet freedom.
• Google insiders in their Chinese operation helped Chinese hackers with the attack so they need to close Google.cn to maintain security of their systems and customers’ data.
• The incident revealed an embarrassing security flaw, which could reduce confidence in Google as a secure place for Internet users to keep their online data. Blaming the Chinese would point the blame at others rather than put the spotlight on Google’s security failures.
• China wishes to become a large intranet that excludes access to all international sites that have not been issued with a license to be viewed within the Bamboo firewall. Such a move would fracture the Internet. What is good for the Internet is good for Google. What is bad for the Internet is bad for Google. Leaving China is a hardball negotiating tactic to try and keep the Internet whole and complete.
• Google is using their announcement to initiate a foreign policy response from the US government to protect open standards, free speech and American commercial interests overseas.
• Google is showing that modern corporations can operate as quasi states with more clout than sovereign countries, rather like the Dutch East India Company during the colonial era. Notice how the Chinese government gave a muted response to Google’s announcement. Contrast this with the indignation meted out to the UK government’s criticism of Akmal Shaikh’s recent execution for drug smuggling.

So many theories raise more questions than they answer, but it is useful to bring together a list of sources on this issue even if history finally reveals that some of them have speculated falsely.

Google Defends Against Large Scale Chinese Cyber Attack: May Cease Chinese Operations

Google Official Announcement on January 12

Google’s China Stance: More about Business than Thwarting Evil by Sarah Lacy of Techcrunch (January 12)

What Google Should Do by Jeff Jarvis (author of What Would Google Do) (January 12)

Google Puts Its Foot Down by Rebecca Mackinnon (January 12)

My Response to Jeff Jarvis’ Comments on the Google-China Showdown by Siva Vaidhyanathan (January 12)

The Google News: China Enters The Bush-Cheney Era by James Fallows (January 12)

China Seeks Clarity on China’s Intentions by Miao Xiaojuan, Cheng Zhuo and Wang Cong of Xinhua (January 13)

Google sends a shockwave through Chinese internet by Charles Arthur of The Guardian

How Google censors its results in China by Bobbie Johnson of the Guardian (January 13)

China’s cyberwar goes beyond Google by Tim Stevens of The Guardian (January 13)

Everything (almost) that’s happened with Google + China so far – Elaine Chow of Shanghaiist (January 13)

Google strikes a blow to China’s Great Firewall by Jeremy Goldkorn in The Guardian (January 13)

Google v. Baidu: It’s Not Just about China by Sarah Lacy of Techcrunch (January 13)

Google’s challenge to China: the reaction by Tania Branigan and Dan Chung of the Guardian (January 13)

Google attacks ‘trace back to China’ by Tania Branigan and Kevin Anderson of The Guardian (January 13)

Google counts cost of censorship and draws red line under China by Boobie Johnson of the Guardian (January 13)

Timeline: Chinese internet censorship over the last year by Tania Branigan of The Guardian (January 14)

Google the latest victim of Chinese ’state-sponsored’ cyberwar by Charles Arthur of The Guardian (January 14)

Google investigates China staff over cyber attack by Tania Branigan of the Guardian (January 18)

Playing the Wall Game in China by Tania Branigan and Charles Arthur of The Guardian (January 18)

Podcast Links

NPR Onpoint Radio Google Versus China – 18th January 2010 with Tom Ashbrook, James Fallows, Kara Swisher, David Barboza and Yong Xue

This Week In Google Podcast Episode 25 ‘The People’s Republic of Google’ with Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Gina Trapani and Siva Vaidhyanathan (January 19)

BBC Digital Planet – 19th January 2010 with Gareth Mitchell, Bill Murray and Fons Tuinstra

I'm back at work today after nearly three weeks in Guangzhou, southern China.

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

We enjoy films at home on a 90 inch pull down projector screen. One of the benefits of living in China is that the latest releases are available on DVD for less than $1. Even James Fallowes of the Atlantic admits to buying pirated DVDs while he was living in China so I don't feel too guilty as there is really no other choice and it's a big hole in the censorship net if you live in this country. Here is my list in no particular order:

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

Highlights of 2009

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

Last night I saw a new American diner at 200 Taikang Lu. It's called Superdiner.

The sight of mirrors and neon sickened my stomach. This may work in Las Vegas or even Tongren Lu, but it does not fit this place. Taikang Lu-Tianzifang is special, because it is an organic collection of independent shops, art galleries, bars and restaurants. It has an independent, artistic sprit that is difficult to find in Shanghai. The hordes or hipsters and package tourists may be a sign of ongoing gentrification, but it is not Xintiandi and there are no Starbucks or McDonalds in this asylum.

Replacing a lesbian night club with a hideous looking sports bar restaurant diner monstrosity is a most unwelcome development. Let's hope it fails. I don't want to look at it so there are no photographs. File under #boycott.

Posted via email from catshanghai’s posterous

Yesterday my journey to work took two hours. Normally the same trip takes less than an hour. What happened?

I tried a new route and everything went wrong. Normally i take a taxi or school bus. The bus is provided by the company. It’s free, but I need to cycle to the bus stop and the return bus gets back after 5.30pm. This was not a problem before, but now my baby son is asleep before I get home.

Getting a taxi to and from work is quick and easy, but expensive at 45 rmb each way.

I was looking four a quick and cheap easy way to travel to work and back to be home in time to hang out with Jake.

I tried a new route yesterday. I took metro line 4 to Lancun Lu before changing to line 6 to get to Linye Xincun. I missed the first train at Nanpu Bridge and I had to wait for several minutes at Lancun Lu.

Trouble started at Linye Xincun.

I had to wait for over half an hour before I could find a taxi. The taxi did not understand my instructions. He failed to take the most direct route and we got held up in pre expo/ back to school traffic. I arrived at my new destination after two hours.

It’s time to rethink my commuting plans to be able to see more of Jake. My journey is going to look more like a triangle as I take the company bus from downtown Shanghai to Pudong and back to Nanpu Bridge on a taxi. This means I have to leave my bike at home.