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December 20 AMD Intel联手抗衡nVidiaDigitimes报道说,由于Intel一直为了压制Nvidia的高端芯片组平台的强势,Intel和AMD两大对头破天荒联手。 根据业内消息,Intel新一代P45芯片组已正式获得AMD授权支持ATi CrossfireX技术,双方均希望能打击Nvidia SLi平台的嚣张气焰多希望来个价格战啊,受惠的是咱老百姓.本来还想买个8800GT, 现在连HD3850都买不起了. AMD,Intel, 冲啊! December 19 Google测试百科全书Knol,挑战维基百科http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/encouraging-people-to-contribute.html 真是激动人心! 据报道,Knol在功能上和维基百科十分相似,网民可以为各种主题创建词条文章,Google将提供一个编辑工具,同时将建立后台服务器系统。 不过和维基百科不同的是,Google公司计划在每一个词条旁显示出作者的真实资料。 The Great Firewall: China's Misguided — and Futile — Attempt to Control What Happens Online
By Oliver August
I didn't know I was a surveillance target until the day I walked into a hotel in China's Fujian province. I was pushing past half a dozen workmen changing lightbulbs in the glum but busy lobby when a uniformed man stepped in front of me. Blue jacket, creased trousers, braided epaulets, peaked cap: government security officer. Politely, he asked whether I would mind answering a few questions. He stood erect, with the manicured swagger of a corporate CEO. Next to him, a gangly plainclothes colleague gave me a so-you-thought-we-wouldn't-catch-you look. How had they known I would be here? The only people who had my itinerary were my editors in London. A few days earlier, I had sent them an email outlining my trip, and I'd been updating them daily by phone. I could only assume that the authorities had been monitoring my email and calls. I had been chasing down leads on the whereabouts of Lai Changxing, China's most-wanted man. Lai had cheated the government out of $3.6 billion by smuggling oil, cars, and cigarettes. Embarrassed, Beijing wanted to hinder any reporting of his case. How to Breach the Great Firewall of China Go in disguise Scramble messages Post on the down low Search overseas Watch your language Log On to Skype The two officers in the hotel demanded to see my passport and asked what I knew about Lai. Then they withdrew to a corner of the lobby to confer. Eventually, they took me to a police car, drove me to the airport, and put me on a plane to Beijing. It was, in short, impressive evidence of the government's ability to monitor and control electronic communication. And my experience only hinted at the Chinese government's appetite for control. Beijing has recently added a new weapon to its arsenal of surveillance technologies, a system it believes to be a modern marvel: the Golden Shield. It took eight years and $700 million to build, and its mission is to "purify" the Internet — an apparently urgent task. "Whether we can cope with the Internet is a matter that affects the development of socialist culture, the security of information, and the stability of the state," President Hu Jintao said in January. The Golden Shield — the latest addition to what is widely referred to as the Great Firewall of China — was supposed to monitor, filter, and block sensitive online content. But only a year after completion, it already looks doomed to fail. True, surveillance remains widespread, and outspoken dissidents are punished harshly. But my experience as a correspondent in China for seven years suggests that the country's stranglehold on the communications of its citizens is slipping: Bloggers and other Web sources are rapidly supplanting Communist-controlled news outlets. Cyberprotests have managed to bring about an important constitutional change. And ordinary Chinese citizens can circumvent the Great Firewall and evade other forms of police observation with surprising ease. If they know how. Like its namesake, the Great Firewall consists of hundreds of individual fortifications spread out along a vulnerable frontier. At its core is a giant bank of computers and servers. Traffic generated by China's 162 million Internet users is routed through the shield, which checks all requested URLs against a blacklist of tens of thousands of Internet addresses. The list includes pages offering political information deemed dangerous by the government, like BBC News and Voice of America. Access to these sites is blocked (at least in theory), and when users attempt to view one of them, they are punished with an involuntary time-out lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. Search engines are similarly restricted. If you enter the characters for "democracy" or "Tiananmen Square massacre" into Google.cn you will generally get zero results. This is a technological breakthrough for the Chinese government. Until recently, it could not interfere with the inner workings of search engines and instead blocked entire sites, not just individual pages of a site. The Golden Shield hardware — supplied by Cisco and other US companies — is supplemented by human censors who are paid about $170 a month. They sit at screens in warehouse-like buildings run by the Public Security Bureau. These foot soldiers in China's information war monitor domestic news sites, erasing and editing politically sensitive stories. Some sites provide the censors with access so the authorities can alter content directly. Others get an email or a call when changes are required. Similar methods are applied to blogs. Sensitive entries are erased, and in the most egregious cases blogs are shut down altogether. The censors also monitor email traffic, looking for politically sensitive content like calls for protest marches and anti-government tracts. Because it would be impossible to screen millions of Internet users, they home in on watchlists of potentially suspicious emailers — known dissidents, suspicious foreigners — and notify investigators of possible violations. Information spied online is collected in counties and major cities and matched up with other surveillance data. In my case, the effectiveness of this technique was obvious. Police minders always seemed to know where I was traveling and when I was back in Beijing. Sometimes they'd call as soon as I landed at the airport, telling me I had yet again broken the rules by traveling without permission or conducting interviews without authorization. Evading them, however, was surprisingly easy. I bought additional phone numbers, a tactic I picked up from Lai. I also learned dozens of tricks to avoid arousing suspicion online. But the cat-and-mouse game was unrelenting. A year before my book on Lai was published, I told an official about it. Maybe I mixed up my tenses, mistakenly suggesting I had already finished it. "Yes," the official said. "I enjoyed the book." I was too stunned to ask how he might have got his hands on the still-incomplete manuscript. But then, I didn't really have to: When I had arrived at my office in Beijing one morning some eight weeks earlier, I had found the cables on my computer changed around. The modem wire was rolled up in a coil, the power cable unplugged, and the printer attached to the wrong port. It appeared someone had been poking around my hard drive. When I lifted up the computer to fix the mess, I found a piece of paper. On it was my office address, written in an unfamiliar scrawl. ![]() Illustration: Guy Billout
For all its ambition, the gears of the giant surveillance machine keep getting fouled with sand. On one side of the Great Firewall, a small industry is sprouting up, dedicated to evading blocks and monitors. Libertarian software engineers, enterprising students, banned religious groups, and regular for-profit companies compete with one another to launch new downloadable tools that outfox the censors. They exploit proxy servers, deploy encryption technology, and ferret out holes in the wall. I have spent many afternoons in the Internet cafés of Beijing's Haidian University district, learning from the students who live in this world. For a dollar an hour, they will help anyone hack the system: set up secure SSH and VPN connections, use a circumvention tool called UltraSurf developed by the banned Falun Gong group, access unregulated Chinese peer-to-peer networks. Their techniques confirm John Gilmore's adage: "The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it." From these students I learned that censorship is not only easy to subvert, but sometimes it subverts itself. Each week, for example, Beijing's propaganda department updates a list of banned stories. Available to senior journalists at government-controlled news outlets, the list includes scandals, protests, and sackings across the country. Newspapers are not allowed to report on them, but some journalists post the lists online, telling you all you need to know. The system is self-defeating in other ways as well: Twelve national government bodies share responsibility for the Internet, and all of them have separate political and commercial interests. In some cases, departmental budgets are financed through revenue from online businesses, so it's often in their interests to loosen restrictions. Furthermore, the Great Firewall is besieged by bureaucratic infighting and incompetence that results in exceptions and loopholes. One day, I received an official summons from the Public Security Bureau, asking me to present myself at the national headquarters. When I turned up, I saw hundreds of bikes covered in dust, as if their riders had gone into the building and never come out. I was met by two uniformed officers who led me to a windowless room. They came straight to the point: Had I been in touch with Wang Dan, an exiled dissident living in Boston? Yes, I said. I had exchanged emails with him — but had not yet published a story (so how did they know?). Was I aware, they continued, of the rule requiring foreign journalists to ask for official permission to interview Chinese citizens? "Yes," I said. Then the conversation took an unexpected turn. "There is a problem," I told the officers. "Wang Dan has become an American citizen." The officers were silent. "In the future," I said, "which government department should I ask for permission to email and interview him?" Confused and sheepish, they let me leave, and I found myself back by the dusty bikes. So these were the bureaucrats guarding the mighty Great Firewall? Even police departments working in the same building were not talking to each other. Otherwise they would have known that Wang Dan was in fact still carrying a Chinese passport, as I later found out. Government attempts to suppress coverage of another persona non grata, Lai Changxing, were equally futile. Although excised from the official state media, Lai was well-covered by dozens of Web sites. Hunted by the government, he was cheered on anonymously online. Bloggers compared him to the characters in All Men Are Brothers, a 12th-century book of tales about outlaws who outwit greedy, abusive officials. "Lai is like an ancient bandit," I read on a discussion board. "He only takes from the rich." After almost two years underground, Lai eventually sought asylum in Canada. Again, independent Web sites carried the news. "Lai has a million-dollar home in Vancouver," was the headline on one site. At this point, newspapers gave up their silence and began to report on the Lai case, too. New media was drawing away millions of readers, so newspaper owners lobbied censors and officials to give them more leeway to defend their commercial interests. As Chinese citizens become aware that their most potent advantage over censorship is their sheer numbers, more and more grievances are aired online — sometimes with significant consequences. The first cyber-rebellion to have a major political impact took place in 2003. Sun Zhigang, a young migrant worker in Guangzhou, died in police detention after failing to produce identity documents during a street check. Sun's friends protested his death on discussion boards, and soon other sites picked up a campaign demanding police accountability and reform of the laws affecting migrant workers. Before the unprepared system monitors could react, an avalanche was in motion. Tens of thousands of Chinese became involved in a national conversation, despite the risk of punishment. Emboldened, the mainstream media jumped in and reported the Sun case. The government opted not to crack down on these violations, rightly sensing that doing so would have been more politically costly then letting the debate run its course. A few months later, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao abolished the law requiring China's 120 million migrants to have special identity papers. (Singapore, with just 2.4 million regular Internet users and very deep pockets, might have a chance at quelling Internet-fueled popular revolts. But China comprises a fifth of humanity. Any attempt to impose iron-fisted control over a network this big seems certain to trigger economic paralysis.) Since the Sun case, dissent has regularly roiled the Internet in China. Last year, 13 retired senior officials, including Chairman Mao's former secretary, protested a decision to close down a liberal weekly. In a joint letter published online, they wrote that the government suffered from the "delusion that it can keep the public locked in ignorance." The weekly was reopened. This year, the pace of protests has increased. In March, the government provoked an outcry online by banning eight controversial books. Their authors published petitions — widely emailed and blogged — criticizing Long Xinmin, the chief censor. Within a few weeks their books were returned to shop shelves, an unprecedented move. Long defended the necessity of censorship, saying, "Advanced network technologies such as blogging and webcasting have been mounting new challenges to the government's ability to supervise the Internet." A month later, Long was fired. Hu Fayun, one of the eight temporarily banned authors, told The Times of London: "The traditional no-talk' style of control by the government has been broken by the Internet. Different voices can be found there." Why can't the government block coverage of Lai and other sensitive subjects? Besides the seemingly insurmountable technical challenges, one important answer is this: online business. Rigorously policing encryption technology would undermine ecommerce, which is vitally important to the government's crusade to lift the economy. If all encrypted credit card details and other sensitive corporate information had to pass through surveillance bottlenecks, whole sections of the economy would be harmed. When forced to choose, the government seems to trust that raising incomes is a better way of securing power than spying on dissidents. Of course, China is hardly a Jeffersonian paradise. Thousands languish in prison because of harmless online activities. A recent example is Zhang Jianhong — blogging as Li Hong — who was sentenced to six years for posting political essays. Cases like his justify strong criticism of China. But they don't prove that its monitoring system is successful on a national scale. Furthermore, the government is increasingly relying on physical rather than electronic surveillance. Internet cafs are now required to write down the ID numbers of all users so police can track them down no matter how clever their online disguises. But again, there are physical limits. Police cannot chase after millions of Internet caf&233; visitors. Today, anyone in China can send a sensitive message if they are minimally savvy, and that fact is transforming the political discourse. True, technology has not led to the overthrow of the Communist Party, as some had predicted — the party has even harnessed the Internet for its own purposes. But this does not mean that Beijing has insulated itself against political change driven by technology. Its critics have unfettered access to mass communications, and the Internet — not the Communist Party — is the main influence on public opinion. No shield, golden or otherwise, can protect them from the public. China's leaders should know this. Their predecessors built the Great Wall of China to keep out Mongol invaders. It proved as useful as every other fixed fortification in history, and the Mongols still invaded Beijing and overthrew the political elite. Oliver August (www.oliveraugust.com) is the author of Inside the Red Mansion: On the Trail of China's Most Wanted Man. 哦也! 色戒DVD screener出来了 还是未阉割版. 苍天啊大地啊, 是哪位天使大姐出的DVD啊, 太感谢了. 为了省$10的电影票终于等来了完全版的色戒! bt万岁! http://bbs2.btbbt.com/attachment.php?aid=697950 December 18 布宜诺斯艾利斯的春光 跟房东聊起阿根廷,聊到布宜诺斯艾利斯,想起了那大瀑布,想起何宝荣黎耀辉,想起安静跑马灯,想起王家卫摄氏零度,想起温情地图,想起几年前的梦. 想要那套限量典藏套装DVD,只可惜现在囊中羞涩买不起这贵重的圣诞礼物给自己. 我想会在一个夏天, 去布宜诺斯艾利斯, 寻找到何宝荣与黎耀辉当年的住所,买一台破电视, 放那个瀑布跑马灯在边上; 抑或坐在Río de la Plata沿岸, 一个人喝着易拉罐啤酒(本应该是抽烟的,不过我不吸烟,所以改喝酒); 或者,带着voice recorder, 去到世界最南端的灯塔下,录下一段话. 反正去了布宜诺斯艾利斯可以免费住宿,还可以逃离严寒,估计情况乐观的话,明年可以去. 黎耀辉说, 站在瀑布下的应该有两个人, 况且需要一个人陪我在Bar Sur喝一杯. 那么......那个人会是谁? 中国人所关心的 老外所关心的 不一样
中文10大“如何”(据百度)
英文10大“如何”(据Google)
December 17 Facebook被搞,群众反思.Facebook has filed a lawsuit against a Canadian porn company alleging that they attempted to hack Facebook’s servers.一切都在预料之中. 今天早晨看Toronto Star,l里面有句话说"If you say 2006 is the year of YouTube, then 2007 is the year of Facebook." 所谓人怕出名猪怕壮, 枪打出头鸟,都是这个意思. facebook被hack,放在三个月前,这就被我预料到了(偶也不是预言家,根据谚语,已经成为定律),所以有点小小意料中的意外.不过最终还是来了. 让你一切私人信息暴露在整个互联网上,让人肆意践踏,不知道你怎么想. 所以我到现在也没有facebook帐号,谢天谢地,顶着压力还是过来了. 当然,不要以为FB就经历这么些小hack就算完事了,更大的风浪还在后头. 如果你之前addicted into facebook, 现在是时候浪子回头. 可以介绍你看一篇叫"Facebook suicide: the end of a virtual life"的通讯. 如果说Social Network是Web通向未来的桥梁,那么security就是坚固的桥墩, 基础设施还是很关键的. December 10 任天堂创意销售策略................汗一个![]() 当然,这项措施只会实行到今年底,明年Wii供货量增加时老任就会重新出发了。至于其它地区会不会面临同样的窘境呢? [来自 Wii Fanboy] December 09 Blizzard和Activision宣布合并
游戏《使命召唤》和《魔兽世界》的制作公司宣布合并,
预计将震撼全球的视频游戏产业。暴雪(Blizzard)和Activision合并后的新公司今年销售收入超过了EA,跃居全球第一。
Activision的CEO Bobby
Kotick将担任新公司的CEO,维旺迪(Vivendi,暴雪的母公司)成为新公司最大的单一股东。Activision的著名游戏有《吉他英雄》、
《使命召唤》、Tony
Hawks滑板系列;暴雪则拥有《星际争霸》、《魔兽争霸》、《暗黑破坏神》,和圈钱机器《魔兽世界》。两家合并后的公司规模依旧比行业巨头EA要小。新
公司的名称为Activision Blizzard,官方网站已经上线。 -=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-非华丽分割=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 如果你觉得不知所云的话,我可以很负责任的告诉你,相当于游戏界的微软和google合并了! 大地震来了,大家快收衣服啊. December 08 李嘉诚入股Facebook, 以及facebook用户侧面概览
李嘉诚的投资将是帮助Facebook走向全球市场的第二笔受到广泛关注的交易。Facebook与微软的协议约定,到2011年之前,微软将负责Facebook网站国际版的广告销售。 ---------非华丽分割线---------------------------- 我们先不谈市场调查报告,不谈投资运营. 有个很直观的侧面印证法: Google Trend . 打开google trend,输入facebook,返回的图示在意料之内,及其陡峭的走势图 以下为搜索facebook最多的城市排名,前10名里,加拿大占6个, 剩下全是UK,让人奇怪的是US倒是很少人关注. 似乎加拿大同学特别热衷于Facebook, 尤其是nova scotia的同学,怪不得........周围的同学朋友都有facebook,回国就变校内网了. |
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