Bird Flu Hit China

screen-bird.flu-sina.PNG

Screen shot in courtesy of sina.com.cn

I heard the bird flu several weeks ago but wasn’t as worried as today. The Shanghai Morning Post reported the confirmed bird flu case in Guangxi and suspected cases in Hunan and Hubei. Tonight, the CCTV National News Program reported (Real video) the situation at 7:00 – 7:30 PM. All birds, ducks and chicken were killed in a three-km area around the place the cases were found.

Well done! I feel the society has become mature enough after the SARS crisis last April and May. They are skillful enough to handle this kind of situation. The media also responded quick enough to cover it. I am feeling much safer than I was in last Feb. Let’s wait and see the progress. Till now, Shanghai is still free of Bird Flu, according to local media.

Taxi Dropped into River, Killing People

Dead road, incorrect sign and poor lighting condition caused a taxi to drive directly into a deep river. Number of people kill still not clear. Shanghai Evening Post reported the astonishing news.

screen-dead.road-evening.post.jpg

Image courtesy: Shanghai Evening Post. Photographed by Jian Shuo Wang

Dead Road

The accident happens in Baoshan, Shanghai. The road directly leads to the 60-meter wide river. There is any dence or sign. The road just stops there, according to the same source.

The Wrong Sign

On the right, the traffic sign clearly marked “Going forwad, 29 KM to Shanghai. Turning Right, 11 KM to Jiading”. It is partly true. Shanghai is 29 KM ahead – but on the other side the river. Death is only 600 meters ahead.

Number of People Killed Unknow

According to one witness, they heard one man and one woman shoutting from the river. Others believe there should be four adults and one child. The car was pulled out 16 hours after the accident with door open. No victims are not found yet.

Sign…

There are many misleading signs in the city. Any of them may be the next cause for accidents like this. Most of them are usability problems. I drove around Pudong Airport just to find out the parking entrance, but failed after 30 minutes – what a design.

I hope some miracle happens to the driver and the passengers. Hope they may find ways to escape, just like Arnold Schwarzenegger escaped in the film True Lie.

Meanwhile, I have to ask who is responsible for the signs in the city and why the dead road is there without any fence?

Taxi Fell into Trap

Have I ever show off the nice violin statue under my apartment?

It looks nice but a woman taxi driver didn’t think so, because she drove her taxi into the low land on the right side of the violin, exactly from the place where the guy in yellow passed by.

It sounds so stupid to drive a car off the road and into the grass land. It is especially stupid if I tell you that the grass is at least 50 cm deep. Getting out is not easy. She managed to completed the hard job.

LOL – a Taxi Over There

When I walked out of my house to have some exercises at night round 10:00 PM already, I suddenly found a taxi with both the front and rear lights turned on. It was parked on the grass!! It is so funny that I could barely see its tires. The frustrated woman taxi driver was moving her car hardly in the small area and some guard were busy setting up “bridges” for the car, hoping to get it out.

Always Follow the Traffic Signs

The driver was complaining about the darkness and the design of the entrance, full of anger. She did do something wrong. She should had turned right and driven around the whole xiaoqu (Waltz Garden) to get out – the circular road is single pass road. However, this lady drove for opposite direction, despite the white arrow on the road. Then the “right turn” sign in the area was interpreted to be go strait ahead and turn right, because she saw no road to turn right, because she was on the road. At a dark night like today, she easily drove her car into the “trap”.

I Offered Help

The victim told me that she has been a driver for 7 years. I didn’t believe that, since she really had a hard time to move her car half meter to the right to be able to get on to the “bridge”. After going forward, reverse, forward, reverse for about 10+ times, her car was still at where it was. So she asked for help and I happened to the only one who could drive.

Ha. I am a new driver with less than 3 months experience, but at least I was confident that I can move the car to the right place. It was exactly what the field exam tested when I was applying for a driver’s license.

It was just the Step 3 in the test.

After confirming with her that I should not be held responsible for any damage to her car, and getting some witness for the agreement, I jumped into her Qiangshen taxi. (I was still not silly enough take the risks). In 30 seconds, her car was parked just before the bridge. I got out of the car and told her, this was her show time since to drive a car up stairs like this is too dangerous for the car. She’d better take the risks herself.

The Bridge

Look at the bridge. It is almost nothing. The guards were so nice to get some bricks, four to be exactly, and put them on the stairs. That was all. Actually it didn’t help, only a little bit better than nothing. Running the car onto the stairs had no different with driving it on to wall. Oh, my God. She really tried only to break the head of her car. Oh. The heart-breaking knocking sounds between the car and stairs! Looking anxiously at her damaged protection pole, she gave up. She began to complain about the darkness and lack of signs.

Good People

People passed by and shouted, “What a Car!” or “Ha Jie Gun” in Shanghaiese (Don’t even try to guess what Jie Gun means if you don’t know Shanghainese. It means “strong“, “super“) But there were no construction site nearby and it was not easy to find long wood stick long and strong enough to setup a real bridge.

About 1 hour later, a guard dragged one piece of wood pole to the site. Another half hour later, an old lady brought some other woods here from her home. With all the materials, a “bridge” finally came into shape.

It was a Trap

It was interesting to know that this was not the first car falling from the stage – other two drivers had done so already. They were all dragged out by professional pulling equipments. This taxi driver just didn’t want to pay more money for the pulling car. It should be around 400 RMB. I believe more signs should be setup before the violin area to avoid further victims. It is very dangerous if children are playing on the grass land while the heavy car falls down.

Finally, She Got Out

I didn’t wait there to see how she got out. I just check the status from time to time from my window. Around 00:20 in the mid-night, the car disappeared from the grassland. It was so funny – I cannot help laughing again when I thought of the poor driver, who drove her car down into the “trap”. Good luck to her and don’t make the same mistake twice. :-)

Muzimei Shock Wave (cont.)

Shock Wave in Search Engine Terms

Keyword: 木子美 (Muzimei)

11/10/2003 Hit 998 Baidu Rank 730

11/11/2003 Hit 117,318 Baidu Rank 1

Keyword: 遗情书 (Yiqingshu)

11/10/2003 Hit 181 Baidu Rank 5495

11/11/2003 Hit 54,151 Baidu Rank 4

Shock Wave in Website Traffic

11/10/2003 Unique Visitor 16K Bandwidth 2.99G

11/11/2003 Unique Visitor 114K Bandwidth 11.59G

Source: BlogChina

Can I draw the conclusion that on Nov 11, 2003, the hotest topic in China Internet users is, Muzimei and her sex blog?

Blogcn.com Shutdown Because of Traffic Reason

Intead of my guess of media or government pressure, blogcn.com is not accessible due to the huge volume of the traffic. According to Blogchina.com, blogcn is trying to add more servers to handle the huge traffic. Our reader JH and dodo, Muzimei’s website is accessible on North America while I cannot access it even via proxy in U.S. The traffic reason will explain this – it is not because of the block, it is because the traffic is much lower at U.S. day time – when the Muzimei seekers in China fall asleep. Zzzz…

“Microsoft Violated My Right of Know”

After reading Blogchina.com, I found one of the most interesting statement I saw this month. It is in an article about all the reasons of using pirated Microsoft software. Most of them didn’t make sense. I think the author just wrote it as jokes. Among them, I see this reason:

Microsoft refuses to open the source code to me. So they violated my right of know

Haha. What a right of know. :-)

Muzimei’s Sex Blog Brought Trouble

Hehe. After the DOS (Deny of Service) attack of U.S. network, a girl caused the same kind of attack to blogchina.com. Moreover, the magic is, the girl really caused people to click on the links to BlogChina using their own mouse, instead of the DOS previously caused by virus program. The girl is a journalist called Muzimei.

The girl shared all her sex experience with the public. This is extremely astonishing in the current China society. Also, she became the most famous blogger in China. After her blog was exposed by Sina, Sohu , ycwb and hundreds of blog sites, people got aware of the blog and rushed to her blog:

遗情书 木子美

www.blogcn.com/blog/?u=muzimei

www.blogcn.net/user/muzimei/main.asp

However, the blog has already be closed due to (maybe) media/ISP and/or government pressure Update: No pressure except huge volume of hit is involved so far. Disappointed people turn to Google or Baidu for help. Our victim BlogChina, as listed in the third of the result page, got 5 times more than normal hit rate.

Blogcn.com Shutdown

The Blog Service Provider (BSP) of Muzimei’s blog (blogcn.com) has already been shutdown. Along with Muzimei’s, many more people are affected. I don’t know the exact number of user for this server. It should be huge since blogcn.com is one of the largest BSP with the longest history. How painful others blog owners feel to be shutdown with this star blog.

I Support Muzimei

Clearly, I am on the side to support her. Sharing is good. Why people have to judge others behavior if it does not hurt anyone?

Wait a minute. Muzimei has released the name of the men who has ever slept with. This is bad. I believe a blog can reveal whatever you want to show about yourself, but not others.

This is my definition of privacy: Privacy is the right not being known. Everyone can judge about what is private and what is not. Of cause people has the right to expose everything about him/herself. It is granted right. But people cannot hurt other’s privacy by exposing other’s personal information without other’s agreement. I see the problem of Muzimei’s blog as privacy probelm only.

Update November 30, 2003

Muzimei’s book of Yiqinshu was ready to be published these days. The Twenty-First Centuary Publishing House has made 120,000 copies of the book already. However, the National News and Publishing Administration banned just issued the order to stop the publishing of this book. Why?

China is Sending Man to Space

The news of the launch of manned space vehicle was sealed so good that it was announced within two week before the launch. Today, I saw the news report on TV confirming that the first manned space vehicle will be launched between Oct 15 to Oct 17, 2003. Shenzhou V will orbit the earth 14 times on a 21-hour mission.

It is just too good news to be true. I thought it will be a 10 year project just like the Manhattan Project, instead of such a late notice to me. Maybe the project has went on for two or three decade – I was just shocked and cannot believe the first astronaut of China will go to the space immediately.

Good luck to the first astronaut and the space vehicle.

Disaster – Mud-rock in Danba

This is the unpeaceful season again – bad news comes after bad news on TV. I am feeling very sorrow for all the victims.

Mud-rock in Danba, Sichuan, China

Last weekend, the mud-rock in Danba killed more than 50 people (latest news said 62), according to China Daily. In the victom list, four comes from Shanghai.

I have been to the mud-hit area of Danba. It is on the route of my Daocheng trip. After seeing the pictures of Daocheng, most people will say: “I will go there, definitely”. I heard this again and again, but be warned, that area is dangerous.

Altitude Sickness – unvisilable murderer

In the Tibet area of Sichuan, the mountains are high – with altitude of 4000+ meters. If you are not aware of the danger of altitude sickness, don’t go. Read this Altitude Sickness Prevention Guide first.

My best wishes to all the people going their, may they be safe and happy. I am so shocked during my last trip my dear group mate passed away for ignorance of altitude sickness symptoms. Sign….

Mud-rock

The roads leading to the Tibet area are tough. Unless you are 100% sure, don’t drive there. The July and Augest are the rainy season and don’t go. Oct may be good, but it is very cold there.

For disasters like mudslide, no one would predict and maybe the only factor is your luck. I feel very sorrow for the people who lost their lives in the disaster and may God bless them and their family.

Gel Candy, Operation and Metro Line 4

How can imagine a Gel Candy can choke a child and kill him? It did. Meanwhile, the operation atempting to seperate the two Iran women failed. The disater of Shanghai Metro Line #4 also caused heavy economic loss. The good news out of the bad is, no one get hurt.

Sign…..

Bill Gates Murdered by Media in China

This morning, my wife received a phone call from her friend that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was murdered in Los Angeles.

What? The whole world goes crazy!

Her friend continued to tell the bad news. She was on a taxi and the radio repeatedly reported the news – “Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was murdered in Los Angeles when he was attending a charity ceremony“. The reporter used very sorrow voice and interrupted the regular news. The news came from China International Radio Station, he reported.

I was completely shocked, as much as I heard the news of Sept 11 one and a half years ago. I went to Sina.com.cn, the largest and most popular website in China, and they had put it in red font on the home page: ““Bill Gates Murdered in Los Angeles“. The same piece of news appeared on Sohu.com and Yahoo! China too. Here are some screen shot of the news.

"CNN: Microsoft President Bill Gates Murdered in Los Angeles" 11:28

AM, March 29, 2003 on Sina.com.cn

"CNN: Microsoft President Bill Gates Murdered in Los Angeles" 11:12

AM, March 29, 2003 on Yahoo! China

The words spread quickly. I got 3 phone calls and 4 MSN Messenger queries in just half hour (from 11:30 to 12:00). People are spreading the news as quick as they did when the first plane hit the NYWTC. Thanks to the morden technilogy – via SMS, mobile, and MSN Messenger. You know what, the first reaction for a lot of my friends is, forward the news to his/her friends.

On the web, it causes stronger reaction – 190 comments were posted on Sina.com.cn under the news entry.

On the contrary, CNN.com, MSNBC, Yahoo! are just as usual – the news cannot be found there.

After about one hour, the rumor ended. Sohu released an announcement that the

news is fake. Sina did the same 1.5 hours later. This event raises everyone’s attention to the media in China again – who is responsible for this?

Sohu IT News, March 29

Sina’s clarification of the fake news, March 29

Big names in this game

Big names in the traditional media industry in China is involved in this game. Besides Sina and Sohu, the following agencies also reported the news:

CCTV 4 (according to posts in BBS)

China International Radio (according to my friends who heard it)

Oriental TV (according to BBS)

What people are saying at hearing the news

There are 190 posts under Sina.com.cn’s entry. They reflect the real reaction of people when hearing the news. I digits some of them. They are all posted within 1 hour after the news is release.

He should be fine, from IP:210.21.107.*

What on earth is it? Is it true of false? May God Bless Bill Gates. IP:211.91.134.*

Oh, my god. It cann’t be true. Why not murder Bush? Bill is a good guy! IP:218.68.239.*

Don’t fool us! People who love to donote to charity will be fine. IP:202.110.116.*

It is really on China Daily. I don’t know whether it is true or not. I hope it will be false. IP:61.236.192.*

Updated Source of the fake news March 31, 2003

All the media pointed out that China Daily is the source of the fake news. According to an announcement later, China Daily said:

America news website CNN (CNN.com) reported on March 28, 2003 (Morning of March 29, 2003 Beijing time), that “Bill Gates was murdered in LA”. The news appeared on CNN’s web site for about half an hour before it was removed. Till now, other news media and agencies didn’t report the news.

After China Daily translated and reported the news, Sina and Sohu quoted the news and spread the news via SMS. At 12:20 AM, March 29, 2003 Beijing time, Microsoft cooperation called China Daily and told us that the news is released in April 1, 2002. It appeared on CNN for unknown reason.

Best News Photos of 2003

A friend of mine sent me the links to some photos. They called it the Best News Photos of the Year 2003. Yes, they are. The images are beautiful and inspiring. The pictures themselves are better than thousands of words.

Copies used with out explict permission – but news photos and articles are OK to be copied and referenced, I thought. Did I make any legel mistake here?

Recent News

Something strange and interesting:

1. Microsoft.com cannot be accessed via Great Wall Broadband Network and some China Telecom users in Shanghai. It reports the same error when Google.com is banned. However, this only affects Shanghai. This has lasted for 4 days in GWBN.

2. Heavy rain today in Shanghai. There is no empty taxi on the road. I walked 1 mile in the rain and catch a crowded bus to office.

3. I talked with Prof Ju and really admire his knowledge and thinking.

4. Too many things to do and I struggled to complete only half of the to-do-list on my PLOG (Isaac’s term = paper-log = notebook). I have to complete the second half tomorrow, since it is already deep 1:30 AM in the night. (I have changed the time of this entry so it falls to the entry of Nov 17. Thus I avoid a blank day in my blog)

Korea: The Bandwitdh Capital of the World?

Today, I found this piece of news about broadband in Korea. This is one of my interest recently. Please read this first.

In Seoul, the broadband age is in full swing – online games have become a national sport, and cybercafes are the new singles bars.

And the numbers are impressive ?South Korea has the highest per capita broadband penetration in the world. Slightly more than half of its households have high-bandwidth connections, compared to less than 10 percent in the US. The growth in broadband has surged in the last three years from a few hundred thousand subscribers to 8.5 million

As luck would have it, urban apartment dwellers have a lot of broadband capacity right under their noses, courtesy of Kepco, the public power utility, which developed a network of fiber-optic cables for its own use years ago. In 1996, South Korea allowed Kepco to lease the unused 90 percent of its capacity, giving upstart providers a cheap, instant last-mile solution. Sharp competition with Korea Telecom, which the government forced to open its network in the early ’90s, has driven broadband prices down to the world’s lowest levels. All-you-can-eat service is available for as little as $25 a month.

I partly disagree with the report on some details.

South Korea has the highest per capita broadband penetration in the world? No.

According to Nielsen/NetRatings report, Hong Kong seems to be the top region in the world, with amazing 66.6% of people accessing Internet using broadband. German 45%, Switherland 43%…. United States ranked low with 17% broadband access, not less than 10%.

… drives broadband prices down to the world’s lowest level? Maybe.

It is true that it is of the world’s lowest level, but it is not the lowest price in the world. In Shanghai, ADSL (type of DSL) charges 130 RMB ($15.7) each month. For 100M broadband, like GWBN, it costs only 100 RMB ($12) for one month.

Korea did great job in broadband deployment? Yes.

It is amazing to see how Korea is wired with broadband. The online game, PC Baangs, and the certification for buildings…. all sound exciting.

Much more problems ahead for broadband deployment in Shanghai

I checked local media to find the comparasion data in Shanghai. At last, I found this one:

Internet users in Shanghai exceeded one million last week. 61.7% in urban area chose traditional dial-up, the other 38.3% chose broadband.

source: Jie Fang Daily (Chinese site)

However, the situation here is not that good than in Korea. Another report from Eastday.com (Chinese site), only 5% of the residents are subscribers of broadband. News about the finanical difficulties for some broadband companies is full of media.