Addresses really aren't too much of a problem for the average Chinese surfer at the moment. Most surfers know some smattering of English to remember the URLs. Who said that a URL has to mean something for people to remember it? Two of the more popular search engines/destinations are sohu.com and 163.net. No meaning in either English or Chinese.
However, if you really, really, wanted to put Chinese into the URL, you can either:
Use the pinyin script, which translates characters to words like zhaopin (job vacancies). This can be a bit ambigious though (throws out all the tonal inflections) and from surveys done last year, not all consumers think in pinyin.
Use Unicode. Chinese characters are part of Unicode. This is more likely if and when Unicode becomes much more common. However, the Chinese market mindshare may already be saturated by then.
In short, I doubt it matters. URLs aren't a problem. Displaying Chinese script is very well established. The issues are no longer technical. They have everything to do with infrastructure now.
I think you are mixing up "open source" in it's purest form with the notion of simply releasing source code. Maybe I'm wrong, but for me, an open source project is more than something where the source code is freely available for all to download. A project like that is simply looking to jump on the hype bandwagon. And call me a sceptic, but I simply don't see HP incorporating bug fixes and code that other people write into their code tree.
Since HP released the stuff under the GPL and LGPL licenses, if HP chooses NOT to incorporate bug fixes or contributions from others, anyone is free to take the code and in the much cherished tradition of open source, fork it.
HP is probably trying to cash in on the "open source" phenomenon but not only in the sense of publicity. They need the developers badly if this is going to go anywhere. The fact that they are willing to devote 5+ of their engineers time and commit over US$40,000 to initial e-speak projects on SourcExchange says a lot.
This isn't a case of a PR machine exploiting the words "open source" without the vaguest notion of what it is. It is a company taking tentative steps and testing out a new way of doing business, of achieving things. We should give them our welcome and support.
Check out Sourcexchange where HP has had a few open proposals to get people to write stuff with e-speak technology in it. The amounts they are willing to pay are decent for someone hacking in his free time. So if anyone wants to take the time to really try out their stuff and get paid in the process, that's a good place to start.
It is nice to see HP putting their time, money and marketing muscle behind something open source. Hopefully, theirs will be a positive experience for all, rather than scaring a lot of developers/companies away.
I'm sorry. Do you have any facts to back up what you just wrote there?
The police I knew were hardly corrupt or "criminal". I might have issues with one or two individuals but that's no more different than any police officer here in the US.
*cough* CNN? Please. I've met the reporters of many of the major news agencies there and except for a few good people, the rest of them are pretty clueless and looking for sensationalism. Ask anyone who has lived in a non-US country and seen CNN coverage of any international event. You'll realize that they are very far off from reality.
On the other hand, I do agree that religion is controlled. The police pay special attention to them, just for control purposes. For the most part, as long as people don't do anything extreme, you will not be disturbed. I attended a few churches there, both for Chinese and foreigners. As long as you do not mix them (God forbid the foreigners corrupting the good local Chinese) you tend to be fine.
Life in China tends to be: Don't do anything to attract attention to yourself and you will be fine. You can have your religion, your business, your money, etc. Just don't try to make a public spectacle of yourself.
Depends where you are. In the smaller cities and rural areas, the economically depressed areas are no safer than a big US city. That's one of the reasons for such drastic punishments - you can't catch all the crooks but you can scare them really badly by making a few very public examples.
However, if you live in big cities like Beijing or Shanghai, they are mostly safe. I've walked those streets at any time, day or night, and been safe. Women walk the streets alone and feel safe. Most times... it's true. None of my friends have actually had any petty theft, violent crime, muggings, etc occur to them. I've also gone travelling to a few of the other cities and never had a problem beyond a few conmen.
The only times I ever heard of a crime occuring was when a policeman got killed. For several weeks after, the city of Beijing was locked tight with police all over the place, everything being checked, etc. You can imagine that things like this don't happen on a regular basis.
Second post from you knocking the Chinese. Dude, I walk into the university dorms and see people having Quake fests. In the big cities, every single non-government office has a computer.
Yes, computers are still relatively expensive. However, the middle class (few as they may be) can afford them.
The pace of Internet development in China is red-hot right now, with new companies springing up all over the place. Internet users in China hit 4 million sometime this year and look like they're still doubling every year.
Restrictive Internet access? Last time I was there (March) anyone could get internet access by filling up a form and plunking down cash. There are also tons of Internet Cafes. It's no harder to get Internet access there than in the US, UK or any developed nation. The only restrictions are more likely due to costs (phone charges, per minute ISP charges, etc.)
Yes, there is a tiny restriction on the Internet there. Some sites are occasionally blocked by the main China routers, like CNN.com or WSJ.com. Usually when they run something on Tibet. The blocks don't last long and anyone with half a brain goes through anonymizers/proxies.
Linux is used in a few areas. Some of the ISPs there use Linux or BSD. However, I've never met a Chinese person who used Linux outside of ISPs (and I did hiring in China.)
Uh, think you may be in for a bit of a surprise there. I worked in China for two years and the prevalence of MS products there is incredible. There are a few reasons for this:
1. Microsoft put a LOT of effort into putting Chinese support into their products. Their Chinese Win98 is actually considered to be more stable than their English Win98. There are Chinese versions of almost all their products, including full documentation. Most Linux documentation is still in English.
2. Piracy: hey, if both MS and Linux are free, then you choose based on the ease of install/use, which MS still wins for the beginner.
3. MS Marketing's own efforts: they try to establish relationships with EVERYONE. Trying to set up a portal in China? Talk to MS and no matter how stupid your idea, they'll willingly "support" you with at least free software. If your idea is good, you may get more than that. At least, that's what the MS reps that I talked to intimated.
4. For those without formal CS degrees, the MCSE is the only other computer certification they can get. The exam is considered rigorous there and the last time I did hiring there, more than half the applicants were MCSE certified.
Anyway, for those of you who think that Linux is going to be real popular in China, you may want to reconsider. Linux is really far behind there and that gap will most likely widen as the new users just follow the lead of the established users and use MS products. China might well become the last MS stronghold in the years to come:)
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Addresses really aren't too much of a problem for the average Chinese surfer at the moment. Most surfers know some smattering of English to remember the URLs. Who said that a URL has to mean something for people to remember it? Two of the more popular search engines/destinations are sohu.com and 163.net. No meaning in either English or Chinese.
However, if you really, really, wanted to put Chinese into the URL, you can either:
In short, I doubt it matters. URLs aren't a problem. Displaying Chinese script is very well established. The issues are no longer technical. They have everything to do with infrastructure now.
Since HP released the stuff under the GPL and LGPL licenses, if HP chooses NOT to incorporate bug fixes or contributions from others, anyone is free to take the code and in the much cherished tradition of open source, fork it.
HP is probably trying to cash in on the "open source" phenomenon but not only in the sense of publicity. They need the developers badly if this is going to go anywhere. The fact that they are willing to devote 5+ of their engineers time and commit over US$40,000 to initial e-speak projects on SourcExchange says a lot.
This isn't a case of a PR machine exploiting the words "open source" without the vaguest notion of what it is. It is a company taking tentative steps and testing out a new way of doing business, of achieving things. We should give them our welcome and support.
It is nice to see HP putting their time, money and marketing muscle behind something open source. Hopefully, theirs will be a positive experience for all, rather than scaring a lot of developers/companies away.
The police I knew were hardly corrupt or "criminal". I might have issues with one or two individuals but that's no more different than any police officer here in the US.
On the other hand, I do agree that religion is controlled. The police pay special attention to them, just for control purposes. For the most part, as long as people don't do anything extreme, you will not be disturbed. I attended a few churches there, both for Chinese and foreigners. As long as you do not mix them (God forbid the foreigners corrupting the good local Chinese) you tend to be fine.
Life in China tends to be: Don't do anything to attract attention to yourself and you will be fine. You can have your religion, your business, your money, etc. Just don't try to make a public spectacle of yourself.
However, if you live in big cities like Beijing or Shanghai, they are mostly safe. I've walked those streets at any time, day or night, and been safe. Women walk the streets alone and feel safe. Most times ... it's true. None of my friends have actually had any petty theft, violent crime, muggings, etc occur to them. I've also gone travelling to a few of the other cities and never had a problem beyond a few conmen.
The only times I ever heard of a crime occuring was when a policeman got killed. For several weeks after, the city of Beijing was locked tight with police all over the place, everything being checked, etc. You can imagine that things like this don't happen on a regular basis.
*sigh*
Second post from you knocking the Chinese. Dude, I walk into the university dorms and see people having Quake fests. In the big cities, every single non-government office has a computer.
Yes, computers are still relatively expensive. However, the middle class (few as they may be) can afford them.
The pace of Internet development in China is red-hot right now, with new companies springing up all over the place. Internet users in China hit 4 million sometime this year and look like they're still doubling every year.
*cough*
Restrictive Internet access? Last time I was there (March) anyone could get internet access by filling up a form and plunking down cash. There are also tons of Internet Cafes. It's no harder to get Internet access there than in the US, UK or any developed nation. The only restrictions are more likely due to costs (phone charges, per minute ISP charges, etc.)
Yes, there is a tiny restriction on the Internet there. Some sites are occasionally blocked by the main China routers, like CNN.com or WSJ.com. Usually when they run something on Tibet. The blocks don't last long and anyone with half a brain goes through anonymizers/proxies.
Linux is used in a few areas. Some of the ISPs there use Linux or BSD. However, I've never met a Chinese person who used Linux outside of ISPs (and I did hiring in China.)
Uh, think you may be in for a bit of a surprise there. I worked in China for two years and the prevalence of MS products there is incredible. There are a few reasons for this:
:)
1. Microsoft put a LOT of effort into putting Chinese support into their products. Their Chinese Win98 is actually considered to be more stable than their English Win98. There are Chinese versions of almost all their products, including full documentation. Most Linux documentation is still in English.
2. Piracy: hey, if both MS and Linux are free, then you choose based on the ease of install/use, which MS still wins for the beginner.
3. MS Marketing's own efforts: they try to establish relationships with EVERYONE. Trying to set up a portal in China? Talk to MS and no matter how stupid your idea, they'll willingly "support" you with at least free software. If your idea is good, you may get more than that. At least, that's what the MS reps that I talked to intimated.
4. For those without formal CS degrees, the MCSE is the only other computer certification they can get. The exam is considered rigorous there and the last time I did hiring there, more than half the applicants were MCSE certified.
Anyway, for those of you who think that Linux is going to be real popular in China, you may want to reconsider. Linux is really far behind there and that gap will most likely widen as the new users just follow the lead of the established users and use MS products. China might well become the last MS stronghold in the years to come