May 31, 2009
- A softer approach to North Korea (NY Times in 2005)
- Border calm as tensions rise on Korean peninsula (AP)
- Kim Jong Il’s provocations to the West may hide a rational purpose (Times Online)
- China, Japan on collision course over rare-earth metals (The Australian) :: it is an update to a previous story
- New Vietnam port heralds US service (AFP)
- Potential of US Copyright Agenda to Endanger Freedom of Expression in China (IP Osgoode)
- New Law In Korea Means Google Bans The Uploading Of Music On Any Blog (Techdirt) — I noted this quagmire two years ago in this footnote
And here are two somewhat conflicting articles on the economy in North Korea. The first is from Newsweek which says, “the North doesn’t have to rely on the black market to support itself.”
Yet a new piece from AFP discusses just how much regular/common/normal folk depend on black and grey markets to obtain consumer goods. Thus, the tie breaker goes to the interview with Andrei Lankov whose statements seem to affirm the AFP report.
- The Evolution of House Cats (Scientific American)
- A Human Language Gene Changes the Sound of Mouse Squeaks (NY Times)
- Why Are Humans Different From All Other Apes? It’s the Cooking, Stupid (NY Times)
- HTML 5 and Web video: freeing rich media from plugin prison (ArsTechnica)
- Nvidia Netbooks: Windows now, Android later (CNet)
- Mozilla: In the Shadow of the “Don’t-Be-Evil Bulldozer†(All Things Digital)
- Top 10 industry-changing applications (IT News)
- Ultra-powerful laser could make incandescent light bulbs more efficient (Engadget)
And the ridiculous claim of the day involves a notion that never dies, “the power of prayer”: Prayer is too scientific!
- Green GT’s All-Electric Supercar Unveiled (Inhabitat)
- Zooming in on extrasolar planets and hunting for oceans (ArsTechnica)
- Monster mashup: mapping every plane in the air (ArsTechnica)
- Silicon Valley Meets Land With No Time to Waste (Bloomberg)
- Google Holodeck for Street View (Google Blogoscoped)
- InvenSense gloats about world’s first 6-axis MEMS-based motion sensing solution (Engadget)
- A tiny wobble reveals a massive planet (Bad Astronomy)
- First Acoustic Superlens (Technology Review)
- 10 semiconductor companies in trouble (EE Times)
- Homebrew PC features 2MHz hand-wrapped CPU (Engadget)
- Carbon nanotubes: Saladin’s secret weapon (Royal Society of Chemistry) :: btw, the historical Saladin was in Kingdom of Heaven, a good movie
- Flood Across the Border: China and a North Korean refugee crisis (Nixon Center – PDF)
- The Dear Leader, On a Platter (Washington Post)
- Forgetting Pyongyang (National Interest)
- To Protect an Ancient City, China Moves to Raze It (New York Times)
- China’s Anger at North Korea Test Signals Shift (WSJ)
- China’s Software Outsourcing Export Growth Slowed In First Four Months Of 2009 (China Tech News)
- A note on Japanese household debt (Bank of International Settlements – PDF)
- Interview of the week: multilingual professor Andrei Lankov talks about North Korea with The Browser. A must read.
Two excellent blogs about East Asia: on the ground in China is Evan Osnos of The New Yorker; and the very informative North Korea Economy Watch (Site)
Encyclopedia entries: Feng Guifen (Britannica) :: Kashgar (Wiki)
May 30, 2009
NewScientist is reporting that the Discovery Institute, the creationist organization that lost in the Dover case, has finally admitted on a new website that:
[C]an one be a Christian and accept evolution? The answer, as far as the Discovery Institute is concerned, is a resounding: No.
This is the same organization that has year after year said that the concept of Intelligent Design is not based on theistic creationism. In fact, they have paraded several non-evangelical Christians at various events and even got a Jewish Ben Stein to stump for them in the movie Expelled.
Of course, this is not too surprising for anyone following the itallicized cintelligent designreationism debate. See the NOVA program: Judgment Day to better understand that typo and this admission.
May 28, 2009
Today is the annual Dragon Boat festival, so it feels a bit like a weekend.
Here are some other things happening on the mainland:
- Top political advisor meets KMT chairman (Xinhua)
- 2 or 3 more overseas banks to go local (Xinhua)
- China to ease controls on investment approval, top planner says (Xinhua)
- Vice Premier: China hopes for more investment from multinationals (Xinhua)
- China debates its bond with North Korea (LA Times)
- How The New “Yuan Carry Trade” Will Add To China’s Global Muscle (Daily Markets)
- Tenants of China’s ‘Optics Valley’ eye broader terrain (EE Times)
And in other areas of East Asia:
- ‘Peace clock’ gets set back to one (Japan Times)
- “150-day battle’: N. Korea succession drama? (MSNBC)
- Is North Korea About to Blow Up the World? (AWC)
Wiki entry of the day: Language planning
May 27, 2009
- Eco Watercraft electric waverunner makes no sound, burns no fuel, zaps no fish (Engadget)
- Drone Operators Ask Industry For “Open” Systems (National Defense Magazine)
- Robots get real: where are they used (CNet)
- How technology lifts Pixar’s ‘Up’ (CNet)
- Are Dog Breeds Actually Different Species? (Scientific American)
- Japan’s big guns prepare to rejoin global arms industry (Times Online)
And the featured “I can’t believe they said that” blast-from-the past: Japs are Human from Time in 1945. The numbers and POV are otherworldly, illustrating just how much things have changed in 65 years.
- China warns Federal Reserve over ‘printing money’ (Telegraph)
- China May Test North Korea Leverage After Kim’s Nuclear Blast (Bloomberg)
- China stuck in ‘dollar trap’ (Financial Times)
- China Bid to Rival Toyota, VW May Stumble on Local Politics (Bloomberg)
- PetroChina to Pay $2.2 Billion for Singapore Refining (Bloomberg)
- World’s first camera on display in Macao (Xinhua)
- When 1.3 Billion People Are Too Many (TechCrunch) — bad title, interesting numbers
- Chinese investors to buy into Cavs (ESPN)
And because I went to a mini-version last week: Chinese tea culture
May 24, 2009
Last night I watched Oliver Stone’s film, W. I thought it was pretty good and recommend it to any other news junky. Despite good acting and a well-written script, I’d give it a 4 out of 5, because it was made a year too early and misses Bush’s ridiculous response to the global financial meltdown.
Why was Stone in such a rush to get it done before Bush was gone?
Do not bother watching Eagle Eye. Total waste of time. 0 out of 5. Nothing redeeming, unless you want to learn Morse code from the flashes of a cell phone.
Same goes for Knowing, with Nicholas Cage. Craptastic. 1 out of 5. You can use it to practice your English skills.
Push was not much better, although at least the crazy special effects were plausible given the circumstances. 2 out of 5.
The new Fast and Furious was so-so (about the same as the others) and way too predictable.
Madagascar 2 was good, although not as good as the Shrek series or those from Pixar.
Oh and because a Chinese friend forced me to watch it, Anacondas 4 receives my first negative score for this year, at -1337 out of 5. Unbelievably bad. I could make better special effects with soy sauce, kung pao chicken and some chopsticks.
A few interesting stories on North Korea:
- North Korea conducts nuclear test (BBC)
- Gulags, Nukes and a Water Slide: Citizen Spies Lift North Korea’s Veil (WSJ)
- North Korea to allow limited access to “the internet” on cellphones (Engadget)
