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June 2006 - Posts

CNET 12: A closer eye on Beijing's Internet cafes

Posted Thursday, June 29, 2006 12:44 AM by will
This one earned me a nice flame from someone who appears at first glance to an American who is studying in China and who is apparently afflicted by an intoxicating combination of ignorance and a sense of enlightenment. I remember going through that phase Read More...
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A week in the life of a China flack

Posted Wednesday, June 28, 2006 10:24 PM by will
Imagethief has recently had several e-mails from young foreigners in China who are interested in embarking upon a career in PR here. Why these students should choose such a career as opposed to, say, enlisting in the Navy as a boiler technician or applying Read More...
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The bliss of single-party government

Posted Wednesday, June 28, 2006 1:14 AM by will
As someone who is cynical about politics, and who has been mostly alienated from the politics of his native country (although who still cranks himself up to vote in presidential elections), Imagethief has low expectations of politicians and is consequently Read More...
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Casa Imagethief a den of crackheads?

Posted Monday, June 26, 2006 9:25 PM by will
Stumbling home after a long day in the PR salt mines yesterday, Imagethief was surprised to see an interesting display inside one of the gates to his apartment complex. Leaning against the walls, near a tiny and seldom used police notice board, were eight Read More...
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CNET 11: Legal music downloads catching on at last?

Posted Monday, June 26, 2006 7:02 AM by will
Note : CNET 10 was an edited version of last week's " What if Yahoo abandoned China? " post. Legal music downloads catching on at last? 26 June, 2006 The Chinese love their music and they love their MP3 players. Indeed, there is nothing in the west quite Read More...
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Irony Daily doing its part for sex-ed in China

Posted Monday, June 26, 2006 2:33 AM by will
Imagethief was titillated interested to see an article in today's China Daily discussing reform of the Chinese sex-education curriculum. Given the importance of reproductive health, it is important to revisit this topic periodically to ensure that instruction Read More...
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Friday PR blog: 社会主义万岁!

Posted Friday, June 23, 2006 1:03 AM by will
This isn't a post of my own, rather it's simply a link to a post that Jeremy put up on Danwei today concerning a certain global advertising executive's opinions on free content (among other things). Read the post. Read the articles that it links to. Everything Read More...
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Google drops Baidu stake

Posted Thursday, June 22, 2006 9:49 PM by will
Google has offloaded its 2 percent stake in Baidu, according to Reuters . Not too surprising, considering that the two companies have become bitter competitors. But the split isn't too painful for Google, who turned their US$5 million up front into US$63 Read More...
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Drive-thru catburgers

Posted Wednesday, June 21, 2006 7:30 AM by will
Imagethief was shocked to read in a variety of Chinese media reports -- mostly via the always illuminating ESWN-- that the Southern Chinese have entire restaurants dedicating to the eating of kitty cats. Imagethief finds this offensive. He does not, however, Read More...
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Wednesday PR blog: CSR Asia on the Apple story

Posted Wednesday, June 21, 2006 5:24 AM by will
CSR Asia's Stephen Frost deconstructs the coverage of Apple's contract manufacturer in Shenzhen. He analyzes the quality of the stories, examines how the Apple story compares with similar situations, and discusses the likely consequences for Apple. He Read More...
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iTedium in Singapore

Posted Wednesday, June 21, 2006 1:44 AM by will
There is little that I can add to this post from Asiapundit, so I'll just send you there to read it. In response to Singapore's daftly named " iN2015 " plan to "integrate all the modern and Next Generation wireless and other infocomm technologies in every Read More...
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Busted

Posted Tuesday, June 20, 2006 6:06 AM by will
Imagethief was shamefaced to his red, white and blue core to read that China's crack columnists have outed the United States as the planet's true human rights abuser. This is daring penmanship of the first degree, from the always avant garde China Daily Read More...
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Tuesday PR blog: What if Yahoo abandoned China?

Posted Monday, June 19, 2006 9:35 PM by will
If you grew up in the US reading Marvel Comics, like Imagethief, you may remember the old What If? series. In What If? the fates of Marvel superheroes were projected into alternate realities. It made for some pretty good stories as the conventions attached Read More...
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Imagethief nominated by BBC- can a hot date with Angel!na Jol!e be far behind?

Posted Sunday, June 18, 2006 7:15 AM by will
Well, yes, if Mrs. Imagethief has anything to say about it. She's had just about enough of those Hollywood tarts sniffing around Imagethief. She bought a heavy, new frying pan this weekend. She claims it's because it will retain heat better than our old Read More...
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CNET 9: Apple in China 2: iPods from sweatshops - should you care?

Posted Sunday, June 18, 2006 7:11 AM by will
Apple in China 2: iPods from sweatshops - should you care? June 18, 2006 Living China for a while can change how you think. Beliefs that were rock solid in the comfort of fully developed countries can go wobbly when confronted with the realities of China. Read More...
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Your music sucks

Posted Friday, June 16, 2006 6:23 AM by will
So I walk into the gym this morning for my Friday morning 5km death sprint on the treadmill. My eyes are glued shut by eye boogers and Gobi Desert dust. It's hot. I'd rather be doing just about anything than dragging my inert ass to the gym at 6:50 AM Read More...
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CNET 8: Apple in China -- Death of a brand temple

Posted Friday, June 16, 2006 5:26 AM by will
Apple in China: Death of a brand temple 16 June, 2006 Last weekend I was killing time in Beijing's slick Oriental Plaza mall prior to seeing a movie downstairs. I use an Apple PowerBook at home and I thought I'd pop into the mall's big Apple store to Read More...
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Ten foreign films that every good cadre should see

Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006 8:04 PM by will
Yesterday, in response to my post on the yanking of Da Vinci Code , reader Dishuiguanyin posted the following interesting comment (slightly edited): [I] can tell you why Titanic is unassailable at the top of the list: someone very important, can't remember Read More...
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The strange case of the disappearing blockbuster

Posted Tuesday, June 13, 2006 10:56 PM by will
Imagethief feels that it is dangerous and irresponsible to speculate and spread rumors. However Imagethief once also burned his own eyebrows off playing with gasoline, so if something is dangerous and irresponsible, it's a good bet he'll do it. That's Read More...
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Imagethief on Shanghaiist: Coin of the realm

Posted Sunday, June 11, 2006 10:10 AM by will
In lieu of having an actual Beijingist, Dan Washburn has thoughtfully invited me --among others-- to contribute the occasional rant well-considered analysis to Shanghaiist . What with Imagethief, CNET and various other assignments (not to mention a day Read More...
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CNET 7: Off the rails

Posted Sunday, June 11, 2006 3:30 AM by will
So much for the second mag-lev train line, from Shanghai to Hangzhou. Off the rails 11/06/2006 Just a couple of weeks ago I wrote about how China and Germany announced that they would work together on a second high-speed, magnetic-levitation (mag-lev) Read More...
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CNET 6: What do Chinese users want from Google?

Posted Friday, June 09, 2006 11:46 AM by will
Follow up on the previous post, and getting into some speculation as to what it would really take to get Google to rething China: What do Chinese users want from Google? 09/06/2006 What could be better than bringing the world's most popular search engine Read More...
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Real introspection or just talk?

Posted Thursday, June 08, 2006 11:38 AM by will
Interesting developments on the Google in China front, reported by the Associated Press: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin acknowledged the dominant Internet company has compromised its principles by accommodating Chinese censorship Read More...
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Coffee, tea or bleeding ears?

Posted Thursday, June 08, 2006 11:26 AM by will
With the exception of the Americans, who are in a league of their own for depersonalized airborne misery, the Chinese have done more than any other civilization to make flying as much like riding a bus as possible. Today’s flight, a zippy little transit Read More...
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Who doesn't want to be wet and hard?

Posted Monday, June 05, 2006 2:57 AM by will
Welcome to the new Beijing, where you can choose from a Bentley, a Maybach, a Rolls Royce and a Lamborghini, but if you're looking for deodorant your only choice is Fa roll-on. This is a serious issue for me because I have little need for set of luxury Read More...
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Technorati is back - updated

Posted Sunday, June 04, 2006 10:00 PM by will
Imagethief notes that after several weeks in the wilderness on the far side of the Great Firewall, Technorati is once again accessable from China. Why now? If I were a parnoid, conspiracy-obsessed recluse (I and I don't specifically deny it) I might suspect Read More...
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CNET 5: Guns, girls and goons

Posted Sunday, June 04, 2006 7:06 AM by will
Guns, girls and goons -- must be Chinese mobile phone spam 04/06/2006 Anyone who uses a mobile phone in China will be well acquainted with Chinese mobile phone spam. In the wee hours of the morning your phone will chirp. You stagger out of bed to the Read More...
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Talk dirty to me

Posted Thursday, June 01, 2006 10:13 PM by will
Imagethief likes Asian women. There. I've come on out and admitted it. I've always found Asian women sexy. You can call me any names you want: race traitor, yellow feverist, baby filcher, whatever. But now I've been married to a lovely Asian woman for Read More...
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Ok, so what's with the name?

Posted Thursday, June 01, 2006 9:42 PM by will
In my post yesterday about my new CNET blog I made what I thought was a throwaway comment about the name being "slightly regrettable" and having a story behind it. This is the line that seems to have caught people's attention. I don't want to get your Read More...
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