Catshanghai

This blog is a collection of articles about the things I am passionate about: technology, music, films and life in Shanghai. It is not a vessel for travel writing, but I have just come back from a five day holiday in Phuket and I figure that this part of Thailand is vaguely within the Shanghai [...]

Apparently this is the reason I can not access international sites from China at the moment. I was beginning to take it personally.
CHINA’S Ministry of Information Industry and major telecom operators have started an emergency action to detect the damages caused by a powerful earthquake off the Taiwan coast on undersea fibre-optic cables.
The Ministry said [...]

I have just finished reading Boo Hoo, which is Ernst Malmsten’s frank and entertaining account about the dramatic rise and fall of the fashion e-tailer called Boo.com.
Boo was started by three young Swedish entrepreneurs in 1998 (Ernst Malmsten, Kajsa Leander, Patrik Hedelin). They devised a lofty project to build a stylish and global E-commerce site [...]

I have 46 minutes until I leave to go on holiday to Phuket for a much needed rest away from computers, Shanghai and the winter. Before I go, I’d like to wish anyone reading this a happy seasonal time whatever place and religion you happen to be abiding in. I will keep this post short [...]

I have suffered from atopic eczema all my life. It is a complex condition that can be triggered by just about anything including soap, chemicals, fabrics, temperature changes, stress, tiredness, diet, genetics, pollution or even an oversensitive immune system. I have tried many different remedies from steroid creams to avoiding dairy products, but it comes [...]

The Key Stage 3 ICT Strategy was launched by the UK government in 2002 to try and improve the quality and consistency of ICT teaching and learning in UK secondary schools. It attempts to clarify the requirements of the national curriculum by offering lesson plans and resources to download from the strategy website. I [...]

I spoke about this Webcredible report a few weeks ago when I read that Marks and Spencer had topped the poll of most useable e-commerce websites among high street retailers.
I have finally read the report and I have to say that it is the most entertaining white paper I have looked at and I am [...]

Webcredible is a design consultancy that seek to make websites more useable and accessible. They have produced some great little online comic strips to get the message across, which are fun and easy to follow. My year 8 students have just finished a web design project and I will definitely use this next time around [...]

Bill Gates is becoming a bit of a loose cannon for Microsoft these days. First, he praises the Ipod (source: Engadget) and now he is dissing the current model of digital rights management (DRM). When you buy and download DRM music or movies from online stores like Itunes, Rhapsody and Amazon you are locked into [...]

Below is a copy of a message I just sent to Thai-Air’s customer service department. It says it all. I do not enjoy being ripped off whether it is in a restaurant or by an airline.

I have been unfairly charged a service fee of £30 to buy tickets using your booking office in London after [...]