Tag: CHINA

Facebook is reportedly working with China's largest search engine to create a new, jointly owned social network. The collaboration with Baidu would allow Facebook to get a foothold in the Chinese market while giving Baidu the chance to capitalize on Mark Zuckerberg's network-building expertise. The new site would still need to be approved by Chinese's Internet regulators, who retain final say ...

Next time you are scoring that amazing Amethyst Helm of Schadenfreude for your Level 38 Warlock Raider (I just made that up, but I hope something like that exists), you may be helping people in developing countries to make some cash. According to the BBC and a report released by the World Bank -- which is apparently now studying the effects of 'World of Warcraft' (PDF) on the economy -- when ...

During the Qingming festival (also known as Ancestor Day or Tomb-Sweeping Day), Chinese communities burn effigies of money and luxury items to honor their ancestors. This year, iPad 2 replicas are among the popular items that people are purchasing to offer to their deceased relatives. But, like its real-life counterpart, paper iPad 2s are in short supply. Reuters spoke to Jeffrey Te, a ...

Apple and Intel have both decided to stop using conflict minerals to manufacture products, as part of the Conflict-Free Smelter program. Conflict minerals include valuable commodities such as gold, titanium, tungsten and tin, which generate massive revenues used to fund wars in Central Africa, and, more specifically, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Beginning next year, all U.S. ...

In his new book, 'In the Plex,' tech journalist Steven Levy traces the history of Google and exposes some juicy details about the company along the way. The New York Times recently reviewed an advanced copy of the book, and highlighted some of its most interesting revelations. Eric Schmidt, for example, reportedly wanted to censor some Google search results in order to hide a political donation ...

China has always maintained tight control over what its citizens read and write online. But according to the New York Times, the Leviathan of governmental censorship seems to be digging its tentacles even deeper into the lives of mainland Web surfers. In the wake of the Middle East protests, the Chinese regime has only ratcheted up its surveillance and censorship of electronic communications ...

Having trouble with your Gmail in China? Google politely requests that you blame the government, not the company. For several weeks now, users in China have been complaining about glitches within the popular mail program. When Google's engineers looked into the issues, they discovered that the Chinese government was the source of the problem. "Relating to Google there is no issue on our side... ...

A savvy reader has informed Slashdot that the city of Beijing will soon begin tracking its citizens' cell phones -- ostensibly "to ease traffic congestion." According to the website of the Central People's Government, Beijing's cell phone-owning population (about 70-percent) will be tracked in real time as part of the project, which is called "Platform for Citizen Movement Information." ...

The Chinese government imposes strict regulations on what images can and can't be displayed in overhead photos, making life difficult for services like Google Maps. But Baidu, China's Google equivalent, recently discovered that it could get around the government's restrictions by turning the entire Chinese landscape into one big illustration. The search engine's rendering makes China look a lot ...

The University of Redwood, judging from its website, seems like any other college. The school boasts a full faculty, its campus features plenty of verdant, open spaces, and it even accepts applications online. The only problem, though, is that the University of Redwood doesn't exist. And all those alluring campus photos and accomplished faculty members actually belong to Oregon's Reed College ...

As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's true, Twitter and Tumblr should be very flattered by the Chinese copycat sites Sina Weibo and DianDian, which have plucked ideas and designs from the microblogging networks. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Sina Weibo has eclipsed Twitter as China's leading microblogging site. Mirae Asset Securities estimates ...

The Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese government's largest news service, has launched its own search engine, providing China's 450 million Web users with even more party propaganda. The search engine, called Panguso, was created in partnership with government-owned China Mobile -- the world's largest mobile operator with over 550 million customers. In combining Xinhua's news with China Mobile's ...

Taking their cue from the social media-savvy protesters in Egypt and Tunisia, a handful of dissidents in China have begun using the Web to organize their own "Jasmine Revolution." Unsurprisingly, the Chinese government is doing its best to silence them. The New York Times reports that Beijing has orchestrated a massive crackdown on Internet and phone services within the country in an attempt ...

Chinese industrial spies broke into a host of energy companies in a coordinated attack that researchers at McAfee have identified and dubbed "Night Dragon" (which is not a sequel to 'The Last Dragon'). The hackers stole proprietary information, including bidding plans for oil and gas field exploration contracts from five multi-national companies that McAfee was able to identify but declined to ...

China and IBM are teaming up to build a massive cloud computing and office complex. How massive? According to Computer World, it's the size of an entire city. The new center will cover an estimated 6.2 million square feet, with 646,000 square feet devoted to the data center alone. In total, the complex will be about the size of the Pentagon, though it will be spread out over a comparatively ...