Domain: sina.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to sina.com.
Stories · 10
-
Chinese Moon Rover Says an Early Goodnight
hackingbear writes "The Chinese moon rover, Jade Rabbit, encountered an abnormality in its control mechanism before its planned sleep during the 14-day-long lunar night. In the form of a diary, the Jade Rabbit said, "The shi-fu ('kung-fu masters,' meaning the scientists and engineers) are working around the clock trying to fix the problem and their eyes look like a rabbit's (red due to fatigue), but I may not be able to survive over this lunar night." (translated, original in Chinese.) The rover landed on the moon on Dec 14 and was designed to operate for three months." -
Foxconn Workers Getting Raise With Apple Subsidies
hackingbear writes "Workers at Taiwanese electronic outsourcing manufacturer Foxconn are getting a pay raise after a series of 13 suicides, including three in three consecutive days. According to an article by state-run newspaper China Daily, Apple concluded that the main cause of the suicides is low wages. (The media has also attributed the suicides to a variety of other factors — everything from the semi-military style of management, to long overtime, to China's one-child policy, and Foxconn paying too much compensation to the family of suicide workers, thereby encouraging copycat suicides.) Apple plans to subsidize raises using its own products (Google translation; Chinese original here) — the first one being the iPad. This would raise the outsourcing cost from 2.3% to 3% of the iPad's sales price. The article does not say the amount of the raise per worker, but it is rumored to be about 20%, according to other Chinese news sources." -
Anticipated Closure of BitTorrent Sites Spurs Panic Downloads In China
hackingbear writes "Beijing Internet users are scrabbling for downloads from BitTorrent websites following speculation that authorities will shut them down as early as this week. Internet experts told China Daily the failure might be caused by an overload of users seeking last-minute free downloads. As the largest BT download website in China with 5 million downloads each year, VeryCD has been on the verge of closure after the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) shut hundreds of similar peer-to-peer file sharing sites, including the 50 million-user BTChina, during the last 10 days in its latest attempt to fight pornography and piracy online." -
Taiwan Asks Microsoft To Open Windows Source
Andy Tai writes "According to this China Times article (in Chinese), the Republic of China government has asked Microsoft to open Windows source code. The official, Lin Jua-Cheng, in charge of the 'e-government' initiative, says many other countries have also sent similar requests to Microsoft. Lin explains that without Windows source code, the government cannot add custom firewall functionalities to Windows based systems in wide use, and that is very bad for the information security of Taiwan. Microsoft refused to publicly release the source in the past using reasons of copyright protection, but Lin emphasizes this request is reasonable since it is based on (government users') necessity." Read on for a bit more, too. (Can anyone suggest an online Chinese English translation engine that produces other than gibberish?) Andy continues "Lin points out that GNU/Linux systems, because of their freeness and high security (due to the availability of the source code, which can be modified to add firewalls and other security measures), have become widely used in government computer systems (especially in militaries and intelligence agencies) of many nations and the Pentagon, the FAA, and the air force of the U.S. Lin says the government cannot rely on a single vendor, and to promote the alternatives, the government has set up a 'Free (libre) Software Steering Committee' directing government efforts. The two aims of the ROC government's current software policy is making Windows source code openly available and the development of Free (libre) Software in Taiwan." -
Taiwan Expands Microsoft Investigation
Andy Tai writes: "Taiwan, Republic of China's Fair Trade Comission (FTC) is expanding the scope of its investigation into MS's pricing abuse to Microsoft Singapore as well as the core Microsoft in the U.S. (Referenced articles are from the United Daily News, in Chinese; summaries provided below)." Since I can't read Big5, I hope that some readers who can will provide more commentary here. Do any on-line translation engines do a fair job of rendering English from Chinese?"The focus of the investigation has shifted to 'constraining competition in the marketplace.' FTC invesigators has visited Microsoft Singapore and will the Microsoft headquarter in the U.S. Because of the experiences of the U.S. and European regulators focusing on Microsoft's monopoly to date with no concrete results, the Taiwan FTC tries a different approach and looks at Microsoft's constraints imposed on software customers. Microsoft has a clever, complex system of international operations, and Taiwan's customers actually obtain licensing rights from Microsoft Singapore. Now this case has become international in scope.
Meanwhile Taiwan's business software users are calling for the FTC to look into the new Microsoft licensing program starting on August 1, which they say is another type of price hike and consumer abuse.
The government is setting targets for national initiatives to increase GNU/Linux use: 50% of computers in the government and schools and 30% in private businesses will run Linux, and there will be a 20-billion-Taiwan dollar (US$ 600 million) Linux industry in Taiwan, in 2006.
To counter all this Microsoft Taiwan is increasing its PR efforts, including numerous donations of computers and 1-dollar (3 US cents) MS software licenses to schools and non-profits. Taiwan MS President stresses that one main task of his company for the next year is to improve Microsoft's image."
-
Taiwan Expands Microsoft Investigation
Andy Tai writes: "Taiwan, Republic of China's Fair Trade Comission (FTC) is expanding the scope of its investigation into MS's pricing abuse to Microsoft Singapore as well as the core Microsoft in the U.S. (Referenced articles are from the United Daily News, in Chinese; summaries provided below)." Since I can't read Big5, I hope that some readers who can will provide more commentary here. Do any on-line translation engines do a fair job of rendering English from Chinese?"The focus of the investigation has shifted to 'constraining competition in the marketplace.' FTC invesigators has visited Microsoft Singapore and will the Microsoft headquarter in the U.S. Because of the experiences of the U.S. and European regulators focusing on Microsoft's monopoly to date with no concrete results, the Taiwan FTC tries a different approach and looks at Microsoft's constraints imposed on software customers. Microsoft has a clever, complex system of international operations, and Taiwan's customers actually obtain licensing rights from Microsoft Singapore. Now this case has become international in scope.
Meanwhile Taiwan's business software users are calling for the FTC to look into the new Microsoft licensing program starting on August 1, which they say is another type of price hike and consumer abuse.
The government is setting targets for national initiatives to increase GNU/Linux use: 50% of computers in the government and schools and 30% in private businesses will run Linux, and there will be a 20-billion-Taiwan dollar (US$ 600 million) Linux industry in Taiwan, in 2006.
To counter all this Microsoft Taiwan is increasing its PR efforts, including numerous donations of computers and 1-dollar (3 US cents) MS software licenses to schools and non-profits. Taiwan MS President stresses that one main task of his company for the next year is to improve Microsoft's image."
-
Taiwan Expands Microsoft Investigation
Andy Tai writes: "Taiwan, Republic of China's Fair Trade Comission (FTC) is expanding the scope of its investigation into MS's pricing abuse to Microsoft Singapore as well as the core Microsoft in the U.S. (Referenced articles are from the United Daily News, in Chinese; summaries provided below)." Since I can't read Big5, I hope that some readers who can will provide more commentary here. Do any on-line translation engines do a fair job of rendering English from Chinese?"The focus of the investigation has shifted to 'constraining competition in the marketplace.' FTC invesigators has visited Microsoft Singapore and will the Microsoft headquarter in the U.S. Because of the experiences of the U.S. and European regulators focusing on Microsoft's monopoly to date with no concrete results, the Taiwan FTC tries a different approach and looks at Microsoft's constraints imposed on software customers. Microsoft has a clever, complex system of international operations, and Taiwan's customers actually obtain licensing rights from Microsoft Singapore. Now this case has become international in scope.
Meanwhile Taiwan's business software users are calling for the FTC to look into the new Microsoft licensing program starting on August 1, which they say is another type of price hike and consumer abuse.
The government is setting targets for national initiatives to increase GNU/Linux use: 50% of computers in the government and schools and 30% in private businesses will run Linux, and there will be a 20-billion-Taiwan dollar (US$ 600 million) Linux industry in Taiwan, in 2006.
To counter all this Microsoft Taiwan is increasing its PR efforts, including numerous donations of computers and 1-dollar (3 US cents) MS software licenses to schools and non-profits. Taiwan MS President stresses that one main task of his company for the next year is to improve Microsoft's image."
-
Taiwan Expands Microsoft Investigation
Andy Tai writes: "Taiwan, Republic of China's Fair Trade Comission (FTC) is expanding the scope of its investigation into MS's pricing abuse to Microsoft Singapore as well as the core Microsoft in the U.S. (Referenced articles are from the United Daily News, in Chinese; summaries provided below)." Since I can't read Big5, I hope that some readers who can will provide more commentary here. Do any on-line translation engines do a fair job of rendering English from Chinese?"The focus of the investigation has shifted to 'constraining competition in the marketplace.' FTC invesigators has visited Microsoft Singapore and will the Microsoft headquarter in the U.S. Because of the experiences of the U.S. and European regulators focusing on Microsoft's monopoly to date with no concrete results, the Taiwan FTC tries a different approach and looks at Microsoft's constraints imposed on software customers. Microsoft has a clever, complex system of international operations, and Taiwan's customers actually obtain licensing rights from Microsoft Singapore. Now this case has become international in scope.
Meanwhile Taiwan's business software users are calling for the FTC to look into the new Microsoft licensing program starting on August 1, which they say is another type of price hike and consumer abuse.
The government is setting targets for national initiatives to increase GNU/Linux use: 50% of computers in the government and schools and 30% in private businesses will run Linux, and there will be a 20-billion-Taiwan dollar (US$ 600 million) Linux industry in Taiwan, in 2006.
To counter all this Microsoft Taiwan is increasing its PR efforts, including numerous donations of computers and 1-dollar (3 US cents) MS software licenses to schools and non-profits. Taiwan MS President stresses that one main task of his company for the next year is to improve Microsoft's image."
-
Taiwan Expands Microsoft Investigation
Andy Tai writes: "Taiwan, Republic of China's Fair Trade Comission (FTC) is expanding the scope of its investigation into MS's pricing abuse to Microsoft Singapore as well as the core Microsoft in the U.S. (Referenced articles are from the United Daily News, in Chinese; summaries provided below)." Since I can't read Big5, I hope that some readers who can will provide more commentary here. Do any on-line translation engines do a fair job of rendering English from Chinese?"The focus of the investigation has shifted to 'constraining competition in the marketplace.' FTC invesigators has visited Microsoft Singapore and will the Microsoft headquarter in the U.S. Because of the experiences of the U.S. and European regulators focusing on Microsoft's monopoly to date with no concrete results, the Taiwan FTC tries a different approach and looks at Microsoft's constraints imposed on software customers. Microsoft has a clever, complex system of international operations, and Taiwan's customers actually obtain licensing rights from Microsoft Singapore. Now this case has become international in scope.
Meanwhile Taiwan's business software users are calling for the FTC to look into the new Microsoft licensing program starting on August 1, which they say is another type of price hike and consumer abuse.
The government is setting targets for national initiatives to increase GNU/Linux use: 50% of computers in the government and schools and 30% in private businesses will run Linux, and there will be a 20-billion-Taiwan dollar (US$ 600 million) Linux industry in Taiwan, in 2006.
To counter all this Microsoft Taiwan is increasing its PR efforts, including numerous donations of computers and 1-dollar (3 US cents) MS software licenses to schools and non-profits. Taiwan MS President stresses that one main task of his company for the next year is to improve Microsoft's image."
-
Taiwan to Start National Push For Free Software
Andy Tai writes: "Taiwan will start a national plan to jump-start the development and use of Free (libre) Software, according to this report by the Central News Agency, the government news agency of Taiwan, Rep. of China. Due to high Microsoft license fees and also to improve the levels of software technology in Taiwan, this plan includes the creation of a totally Chinese free software environment for Taiwan users, free software application development, and training of 120,000 people for free software skills, as well as efforts at schools to provide diverse information technology environments to ensure the freedom of information. The original article is in Chinese; an English summary appears in this Kuro5hin article."