I didn’t know making money was so easy (Student Rewarded for Finding Porn)
A college student in China who said his studies suffered after he discovered Internet porn has been awarded 10,000 yuan (1,466 dollars) for helping the government crack down on sexual content online.
The unidentified student at an unnamed college in northern Shanxi province reported 32 websites that contained pornography, winning a nationwide contest that has encouraged web-surfers to hunt down porn.
The unnamed student said, “In the past, when I was in middle school, I used to get grades that were good enough to enter a really good university. It is because of the influence of pornography on the Internet that I was only able to go to junior college.”
During an interview with the Shanxi Daily, this student stated his first encounter with porn was in middle school.
“I used Google because we couldn’t find any porn on Chinese websites. After our English teacher taught us the word “sex”, I entered the word and many foreign porn sites came up.”
Nearly 62,000 websites were reported during the first month of the crackdown, the paper said -- an indication that a hefty number of web users were on the lookout for porn.
Chinese authorities arrested more than 5,000 people in a crackdown on Internet pornography in 2009, officials said earlier this year.
Internet use has expanded at a dizzying pace in China, which now has the world's largest online population with at least 338 million users.
I don't know what to say. Each site that the govern-ment takes down, about 100 new ones pops up. So in a way, one can make a living just by reporting porn sites; it is a sustainable way of making money.
The comment about can't find any porn on Chinese websites and had to resort to using Google is simply outrageous and is a tell tale sign of being scripted ahead of time.
Pay Attention to Me!
If the web can speak and say only one thing, I’m sure it would cry out: “Notice me!”
Everything on the web these days are there to get your attention: follow me, comment here, vote there, hear me sing, read my controversial idea, look at this, et cetera.
Wanting to get noticed is fine (businesses depend on it) as long as “you have a goal that is reached in exchange for all this effort.” (Seth Godin)
I remember in one episode of I Love Lucy where Ricky told Lucy that “all publicity is good publicity.” At that time, I thought Ricky is right, I mean getting your name out there and be noticed is better than being unknown.
Now I feel differently.
The same is true in marketing. Some people feel just getting your name out there no matter to what audience is good for the brand and good for business. There are many things that are far better than being noticed:
- Trusted
- Engaged with
- Purchased from
- Discussed
- Echoed
- Teaching us
- Leading
My promise to China (if China promise to unblock Google)
I use Google to check my personal email and company email, I use it to share word documents and spreadsheets, I use it for search and read up on my favorite blogs. However, today, everything came to a grinding halt when China blocked (and still blocking) Google and its applications.
I don't care why China is blocking Google, but I'm innocent (I promise) and this punishment on Google have indirectly affected millions of people.
So here's my promise to the Chinese government if they unblock Google for me:
1. I promise NOT to search for politically sensitive keywords;
2. I promise NOT to search for "unhealthy" materials;
3. I promise NOT to search about that Gate in the middle of Beijing;
4. I promise NOT to search about that man in exile in India;
5. I promise NOT to search about that "law wheel gong";
6. Finally, I promise NOT to search for anything that might hurt the feelings of China.
OK now, would you pretty please with cherry on top, open your gate and let Google in?
Inaccuracies of China Youth Daily’s survey concerning swine flu
From the China Daily:
More than 85% of the Chinese public are satisfied with government measures to prevent the spread of the A/H1N1 flu, according to a survey. The online survey of 15002 people by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily found 62% of the public believe more people will cultivate hygienic habits in light of the flu virus, while 41% believe the public's sense of responsibility will improve.
Online surveys are rarely accurate because the respondents are not randomly picked from a population. Instead, certain conditions must exists in order for the people participating in the online survey to cast their vote.
The survey that China Youth Daily conducted needed these requirements from the respondents:
- Must have computer
- Must have Internet access
- Must know about the QTick website
- Must be a registered member in order to vote
When these conditions are met, he/she is able to vote on issue presented by the China Youth Daily.
How the survey data by the China Youth Daily is unreliable:
According to CIA's 2008 figures, there are 253 million Internet users in China, that's only about 19% of the entire Chinese population. Moreover, the QTick website has a Google PageRank of 3, which is relatively low and is an indication of its relatively low "importance."
Only registered members of QTick are elegible to participate in the survey and not all visitors to QTick register as a member. Moreover, registration requires users to provide their real name, this will deter more users from registering; this also lowers the accuracy of the survey, which should be conducted anonymously, where the participant is not affraid to provide what they really think.
Although the sample size is quite large (15002) but the survey takers are not randomly picked from the overall population. People to take this survey actively seeked out this survey (because they need to know the address of the survey site, register as a member, and provide their real name). The result, therefore, can hardly represent the Chinese population, which is what China Daily is trying to claim.
A more accurate statement concerning this survey would be:
"85% of Chinese Internet users who regularly visite QTick and are registered members are satisfied with government measurs to prevent the spread of the A/H1N1 flu."
Rock and roll version of the ABC Song
We've all sang and heard of the ABC song, little kids sing this song to learn their ABCs. Here's the orginal version:
A~ B~ C~ D~ E~ F~ G~~
H~ I~ J~ K~ L M N O P~~
Q~ R~ S~~ T~ U~ V~~
W~~ X~~ Y~ and Z~~
Now I know my ABCs.
Next time won't you sing with me!
While here's another version, rock and roll version, sang by a chubby (and some what cute) Chinese:
Fake Gmail from China, Gmail China | Gmail 中国
Gmail China
Gmail or Google Mail is a mail service that I use everyday. So when I heard about Gmail China (Gmail 中国) I thought it's Google's email service tailored to the Chinese market. Boy was I wrong.
Gmail China is operated by "爱思美（北京）信息科技有限公司", an Internet service provider that offer services such as domain name registration and management, web hosting, website design, enterprise email service, blog service, photo service, and SNS.
Here's their copyright notice:
著作权
爱思美中国、GMAIL中国、GMAIL.CN、中国核电信息网著作权均属于爱思美（北京）信息科技有限公司（以下简称“爱思美”）。爱思美保留网站上独立拥有相关内容（包括但不限于文字、图片、音频、视频资料以及页面设计、编排、计算机软件及名称）版权和其他知识产权。商标
爱思美、ISM、Gmail、Heneng.net.cn、1997.cn 文字、字母或图形的商标或注册商标以及软件名称权受中华人民共和国著作权和商标权等知识产权保护，违反上述声明而给爱思美造成损失的，爱思美将依法追究其法律责任。
For those who can't read Chinese, the statement above simply states Gmail China, the Gmail name, the Gmail dot cn domain name, pictures and colors are copyrighted and are under the protection of the Chinese Copyright Law.
What a pile of crap!