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October 2007 - Posts

Crazy days = light posting

Posted Saturday, October 27, 2007 12:43 AM by will
Imagethief is moving from Shanghai back to Beijing this weekend, and then in Hong Kong Monday and Tuesday, so posting is likely to be light. I should be back to form --spotty though that is-- mid next week. Thanks Will Read More...
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I like you OK, but oh, those hairy crabs!

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 7:14 AM by will
Imagethief celebrated his birthday in the office in Shanghai today. True, it was a bit late, but better late than never. We had a nice cake and various other naughty treats. At the party the Shanghai Managing Director announced that I would be moving Read More...
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The up is red

Posted Monday, October 22, 2007 7:24 AM by will
Imagethief was enrocketed to read on Friday that China's taikonauts --whom I prefer to call "astronauts" because "taikonauts" sounds like they should be exploring my sugar bowl-- are considering starting a Communist Party cell in outer space : "If China Read More...
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YouTube.tw and other irresponsible conspiracy theories

Posted Thursday, October 18, 2007 9:55 PM by will
The consensus opinion on the cause of the now three-day-old YouTube block is probably still "Party Congress". We'll find out how valid that is in the next week or so, I suppose. Meanwhile, here are two more theories from a colleague of mine. First, apparently Read More...
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YouTube blocked -- Don't panic...yet

Posted Thursday, October 18, 2007 5:58 AM by will
As noted by Danwei yesterday evening , and one or two other places , YouTube remains NoTube in China today. Heaven knows what I'll do if I can't get my daily dose of copyright infringing Stephen Colbert clips, "Chad Vader" and "Ask a Ninja". And I'm not Read More...
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Deconstructing the White Rabbit wrapper

Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2007 7:36 AM by will
Imagethief has rather a sweet tooth. Hence my long acquaintance with the gym and the pleasures of the long run. One of China's under-appreciated pleasures is the enamel-stripping joy of a chewy White Rabbit Milk Candy. I'm not the first to be smitten, Read More...
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Piggybacking PR on the China quality scandals?

Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2007 6:59 AM by will
A reader recently sent me an interesting bit of PR. An organization called Safecosmetics.org is trying to raise awareness of lead in lipstick. Lead in lipstick seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to get worked up, if you are the kind of person who Read More...
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Top signs I'm 40

Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2007 2:01 AM by will
I read printed newspapers and magazines I actually lived in a household with a black and white tube television set I remember Gopher and WAIS "Star Wars" at the Coronet in 70mm, ca. 1977 My parent's record collection: Hendrix, The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Read More...
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Imagethief speaking at AmCham Shanghai next week

Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007 6:34 AM by will
Imagethief will be speaking at an AmCham Shanghai event on corporate blogging next week alongside Debbie Weil ( blog ), author of The Corporate Blogging Book , and Sam Flemming of CIC . Debbie will be talking about CEO blogging, Sam will fit CEO blogging Read More...
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Ideological slogan inflation

Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:15 AM by will
Imagethief was intrigued to read the following in a Washington Post story about the Seventeenth Party Congress this morning: [Hu] used his two-and-one-half-hour speech mainly to underline his doctrine of "scientific development," which he described as Read More...
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"Vii" with a "V" and two other tech tidbits

Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:40 AM by will
Three weird little stories from the Chinese technology scene. First, there is a Chinese knockoff of Nintendo's runaway-success console, the Wii. In a move of blazing originality, it is called the "Vii". Especially dozy Chinese Christmas shoppers may be Read More...
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Note to politicians: Democracy is not anarchy

Posted Monday, October 15, 2007 7:30 AM by will
Those Hong Kong politicians seem to be having trouble staying out of trouble. A few months ago it was the late Ma Lik with his assertion that what happened at Tian'anmen was not a "massacre". Late last week it was Chief Executive Donald Tsang suggesting Read More...
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Inconsistent Internet censorship

Posted Monday, October 15, 2007 7:23 AM by will
It is often commented that China's laws are written vaguely so they can be interpreted as needed. A somewhat different manifestation of that trend is in the censorship directives and guidelines that filter from the various authorities down to the media Read More...
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40

Posted Monday, October 15, 2007 6:59 AM by will
Today is Imagethief's 40th birthday. That's pretty old. Or at least it feels old to me. I am vintage 1967. For the sake of comparison, some other things that are vintage 1967 are: Jimi Hendrix' "Are you experienced?" The Six Day War China's A-bomb Rolling Read More...
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PR hint: Don't threaten the pretty girl on camera

Posted Friday, October 12, 2007 4:14 AM by will
Imagethief does a lot of spokesperson training, in which we work with clients to help them get better results from interviews. In those sessions we show videos of people doing well in interviews and doing badly. One of our basic rules is to remain composed Read More...
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You know you're back in China when (part 2)

Posted Thursday, October 11, 2007 8:19 PM by will
A good friend of mine pointed out that a post I put up the day I got back from Italy and that remarked on a soaring fistfight that broke out near my apartment has disappeared. I didn't even realize it. Lest anyone feel that this was a craven act of self-censorship Read More...
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A succinct recap of the RSS hysteria

Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 12:58 AM by will
The great thing about leaving China for two weeks is that you are virtually guaranteed to come back to some kind of scandalous dustup. In this case it is the hysteria that accompanies the most recent blocking of Feedburner by the Net Nanny (among others). Read More...
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Don't mention the leadership changes

Posted Tuesday, October 09, 2007 6:32 AM by will
On behalf of all of his journalist friends (don't hide, you know who you are), Imagethief was pleased to read in today's China Daily that foreign journalists are to be allowed more access than ever to the upcoming National Party Congress. According to Read More...
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The scientific theory of reality shows

Posted Monday, October 08, 2007 1:13 AM by will
I knew it was a mistake to go on vacation in the run-up to the upcoming Party Congress. I was bound to miss a few interesting developments as the government busily harmonized the country in preparation for the event. This didn't stop me from going, of Read More...
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Family photos from Italy

Posted Saturday, October 06, 2007 2:21 AM by will
For friends and family (or stalkers, if I have any), here are the family shots of my recent trip Italy in a public Facebook album. I'm too lazy to use the nastier gallery software in my blog engine today. These are all goofy family holiday snaps, so if Read More...
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Pretentious, arty photos from Italy

Posted Friday, October 05, 2007 7:12 AM by will
Here is a gallery of some of the photos I took in Rome, Fiumicino and around Tuscany (and the slightly slicker Facebook gallery of same photos). Note that the thumbnails in the gallery are cropped for some reason I cannot change right now. There are 27 Read More...
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I'm back

Posted Thursday, October 04, 2007 12:38 AM by will
Along with about ten extra pounds thanks to intemperate consumption of just about everything. Observations, photographs, etc. soon. Off to the gym now to try to start making a dent in the dreaded Tuscan table muscle*. -W *Sounds much filthier than it Read More...
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