Like the Chinese alphabet, DigitalHammer's post is rich but overly long.
You are incorrect. There is no "alphabet" in the Chinese language; whole words are represented by pictograms.
the Chinese have little or no notion of national identity
It depends on what you mean by "Chinese". The PRC recognizes over 54 resident ethnic groups, such as the Han (the so-called "majority" group), the Hakka, the Uzbeks, Manchus, etc... A person of Han descent will tell you that his or her homeland is mainland China. However, many Islamic Uighurs resident in western China and Mongolians in Northern China will tell you that they do not belong to China if asked what country they believe they belong to. (However, a large majority of Uighurs satisfied with their ties to China).
In closing, one must distinguish the Chinese lack of identity with any national government from their strong identity with other Chinese peoples. This is especially true for Chinese living outside of Taiwan and PRC.
About the Chinese living outside of Taiwan and the PRC, ABCs (American/Australian Born Chinese) CBCs (Canadian Born Chinese), BBCs (British Born Chinese) and most other "Chinese" born in the Western world identify with mainland China. I have learned this from personal experience and interviews.
But rather than being a form of national identity, this identity has more the flavor of a racist "us" versus "them" ("gaijin" or "foreigner", to use a Japanese term of Chinese origin) attitude.
The "racist flavor" you refer to is a product of over 3000 years of a generally homogenous society, and is not part of the Chinese' national identity itself. This can also be seen in 1500s-1900s Japan, where the same factors that form Chinese national identity exist.
On a side note, the Chinese term for "foreigner" (in the Cantonese dialect) is pronounced "gwei lo".
You may have not gotten my point. I was writing about how ideas of filial piety created a set of priorities that are transferred from from Chinese families to the corporate world, and how they influence the open source movement. I was not reffering to how a rigid set of rules lost them their jobs. (Which, in fact, has nothing to do with layoffs in Chinese companies).
From this article [globalaging.org]:""If you're over 35, it's very hard to find work," said a sad-looking 43year-old woman at the job center..." (in Tianjin)
Note that I was referring to Chinese tech companies, not the textile industry (which is what the globalaging article was about) which is under more control by the Chinese communist government. As the Chinese government wants their tech sector to grow, they lift more restrictions on Chinese tech companies on what they can do, such as partnerships with foreign companies. The textile industry do not have as much of these benefits.
Furthermore, it is not "older age" in China that will cause one's job loss in the state-owned industrial sector but rather the Chinese economy as a whole. Recently, state-owned factories have been shutting down, which I believe gained momemtum after the Asian stock market crisis of 1997 and became a full blown problem after 9/11.
On top of that, ideas spawned by filial piety do not influence whether a worker would keep his or her job.
Is there any Chinese Slashdotters...that can provide a cultural insight as to why china would be so open to open source?
First of all I would like to state that I am of pure Chinese descent.
To answer your question, I believe there are 3 factors that make China very open to open source: Confucianism, the WTO, and Microsoft licensing.
The centuries-old mentality of being extremly frugal with one's money or possesions. Though this idea is ancient, the Communist government began to encourage the use of this virtue in times of famine and hardship. This article from Time Magazine titled "Overeating Dying in China" further explains:
"In the early 1980s when some nouveau rich squandered their money on restaurants delicacies and government officials took advantage of their jobs to attend luxurious feasts, a distorted concept was built up in most Chinese's minds: the wealthier one is, the more fatty foods are on your dinning table.
The grumbles about upstarts' arrogance and the government officials' corruption turned into general disapproval. People began to look favorably at the ancient Chinese maxim which praises abstinence in consumption....Considering the 30 million destitute Chinese struggling in remote mountainous areas and those laid-off work who are living a hard life, traditional virtues like fighting one's way up and building the country through hardship and thrift are still highly encouraged by the Chinese government. "
This "frugal ideal", reinvigorated in the minds of mainland Chinese, compounded with ancient Confucian values of filial piety encourage the development and acceptance of open source software over propeitery ones in China. The bit about filial piety applies to the corporate environment of Chinese businesses. Filial piety in Chinese families enforce the younger family members' respect of older ones. This encourages the younger members' to set priorities that value the importance of the older family member (typically the father, mother, and grandparents). Chinese children, raised under this mentality, carry these priorities over to their workplace where they place their upmost importance upon the boss and senior officials (formerly occupied by older family members).
In most, if not all jobs in China involving internal technology, the IT manager must find software that will create a stable infrastructure while saving as much money as possible. This is where the "frugal mentality" and the rigid set of priorities converge to brighten the appeal of open source software. Because China is attempting to gain full membership within the WTO, which requires its adherance to strict IP rules, the country began an enormous crackdown on the "pirated" software industry. Using pirated (MS) software no longer was an option, as it used to be 10 years ago. Another path would be to purchase MS software licenses. However, the thought of accepting the dinosauric financial demands of Microsoft licensing contracts clashed with the frugal mentality prolific with Chinese tech companies, and the set of priorities spawned by Confucian filial piety led them to consider the amount of funds that could be saved and allocated for other departments by not buying licenses. In turn, Chinese techs were left with another option: Open source software, more specifically Linuix. The legal and cost-free nature of the penguin OS became an appealing option to the Chinese techs, and in turn took the opportunity to develop and integrate it in to their corporate infrastructure.
Chinese cultural traditions of filial piety and frugality are further explained in this excerpt of the site "Paul Herbig's Working Papers":
Chinese Network
The Chinese commonwealth is a group of small Chinese companies from all over the world affiliated with each other, protecting and taking care of each others businesses. They are also referred to as 'Greater China', or the 'Chinese Network'.
The survival mentality and the Confucian tradition of patriarchal authority, form the values of a typical Chinese entrepreneur - one who seeks to control his own small dynasty. These so call life raft values are:
l.Thrift ensures survival. 2.A high, even irrational, level of savings is desirable, regardless of immediate needs. 3.Hard work to the point of exhaustion is necessary to ward off the many hazards present in an unpredictable world. 4.The only people you can trust are family-- and a business enterprise is created as a familial life raft. 5.The judgment of an incompetent relative in the family business is more reliable than that of a competent stranger. 6.Obedience to patriarchal authority is essential to maintaining coherence and direction for the enterprise; 7.Investment must be based on kinship or clan affiliations,not abstract principles. 8.Tangible goods, like real estate,natural resources, and gold bars are preferable to intangibles like illiquid securities or intellectuals properties. 9.Keep your bags packed at all times,day or night (Kao,p.25). Unlike the Japanese Keiretsu, the Chinese network is an open system for all Chinese entrepreneurs all over the world. They watch for each others businesses and help those who are in need. These Chinese entrepreneurs have a give - and - take relationship. The network is usually formed by joint ventures, weddings, political opportunities and common cultures. Ownership of the company are usually passed to relatives, regardless of their educational background or competency (the classic example is An Wang's passing of his company, Wang Computers, to his mediocre son instead of professional managers--which ended in failure). Generation after generation, no matter in what culture they were brought up, every Chinese seeks control and security of their businesses. The first Chinese generation has a survival and Confucius mentality. Every business decision is made for the future of the family. Unlike the old generation, the younger generation are born in other countries outside of mainland China. They do not only carry the Chinese culture, but the one they were born in as well. This generation, especially if born in a western country, has a sense of individualism. Companies like Winbond,a high-tech company in Taiwan, which considers themselves to be a Chinese company , believes that you should respect your family and love ones but you have to set your mind on what is right for the company. D.Y. Yang,owner of Winbond, says, "A Chinese company depends less on data and more on intuition,feelings,and people." But on the other hand, he also mentions, "Of course you have to respect the family business structure, but since this is a high tech company,individual contributions are important (Kao,p31)." ---snip
I have heard about the open markets in china where you can purchase bootlegs of any software for near the cost of the CD. If the choice is between M$ at.5 dollars and Linux at.5 dollars linux wins.
On a side note, frugality, combined with Communist ideals and Confucian values led to the explosive growth of the pirated software and media industry in China, as this essay written by Rutgers Univesity student Sheng Ding explains:
"Confucius's concept of the transmission of culture and Marx's views on the social nature of language and invention arose from very different ideological foundations. Nonetheless, because each school of thought in its own way saw intellectual creation as fundamentally a product of the larger society from which it emerged, neither elaborated a strong rationale for treating it as establishing private ownership interests.[15] Deeply influenced by these two ideologies, China falls behind all developed countries and many developing countries in the field of intellectual property protection. It is also not difficult to understand why most of Chinese did not know what were IPRs in 1980s."
Well, I am confident that this reply answers your question. More information about Chinese philosophies and other ideals that are involved in China's flourishing open source movement can be found below:
Movie makers will have to start intentionally holding back EVEN MORE footage to fill up the vastly expanded "bonus feature" section.
But it'll sure give the movie companies a lot more space to store their (useless and irritating) trailers.
The article also implied that better copy protection (and possibly more draconian remote locking) measures will be used in the new format, creating a more secure way Disney can lock the fast forward button. I really hope some one will crack it so consumers wont be forced to watch their commercial propaganda.
Back in the 60s, shopping mall tycoons used shamless plugs in anti-Communist propaganda commercials to promote their centers of commerce in America. A man would typically walk in front of a camera projected at a newly constructed shopping center and say something like this:
"Hi Im Bill Jones of the Jon and James Commerce Enterprise, and I'd like to say that you should appreciate our country of free trade and capitalism not available in the USSR. Without them, the new Arcadia shopping centers in California, a new Jack's burger joint in Delaware, and the new, colossal Thames shopping mall here in Washington state would never exist. These places offer fun for the whole family, and include food courts to satisfy your families' nourishment needs..."
The "anti-Communist propaganda" shifts its focus from political topics to commercial ones in less than 10 seconds...
As one can see, the shameless plugs of the 60s were MUCH more obvious than ones that have infiltrated popular sitcoms. *COUGH* FRIENDS *COUGH*. Think of the torture American old and middle-agers went through...and to think the MPAA and congressmen still support it...
My 16X DVD-ROM Drive decided it didn't like one of my CD-Rs, so it blew it up on July 4th.
Celebrating the birth of America with a bang of silicon...What an excellent display of American patriotism by your drive!:)
Anyway, before playing discs in any drive, make sure it doesnt have any cracks originating from the center. Following this advice will assure that wont happen again.
can you say "pirated" - thats the main reason VCDs seem to have existed in Asian countries for YEARS now.
That's not the reason entirely. As the author of the article wrote, distribution and production costs are cheaper for VCDs than videotapes. As most Asian countries' populations (excluding Japan) have typically low average incomes, encouraging them to save money while distributing content by using the less expensive VCD. This is the reason why VCDs have been a popular format in Asia for the past few years.
They get used for anything that can be seen on TV, whether it be movies, TV, karaoke or educational productions.
There are more reasons why media is "pirated" in Asia. A popular, longstanding Asian mentality, which is Confucian in origin states that "knowledge is free". This "knowledge" includes videos, software, video games, books, movies, and almost all other forms of visual, and audio content. This excerpt of a paper written by a Rutgers University student further explains the beliefs behind digital piracy in the Asian country that has the largest pirate market in the Far East; China:
"Confucius's concept of the transmission of culture and Marx's views on the social nature of language and invention arose from very different ideological foundations. Nonetheless, because each school of thought in its own way saw intellectual creation as fundamentally a product of the larger society from which it emerged, neither elaborated a strong rationale for treating it as establishing private ownership interests. Deeply influenced by these two ideologies, China falls behind all developed countries and many developing countries in the field of intellectual property protection. It is also not difficult to understand why most of Chinese did not know what were IPRs in 1980s."
Also, another popular Asian mentality that states "if everyone does it, no one will be punished". As original products was brought in to China, demand for those products grew while the economy began to decline, finally taking a severe hit during the Asian stock market crisis of the late 1990s. Then pirates came to satiate that demand. This is yet another reason why "piracy" of brand-name "Western" merchandise to software has skyrocketed in the past 20 years. This excerpt of an article written by Lisa Movius of Salon.com further explains:
"China Record Co.'s Tang Haiyang recalls the evolution of piracy's acceptability. "No one thinks of it as theft anymore. At first, there was no choice but to pay 30 RMB [$3.60] for a real album, which is a day's salary for most. Then the pirates came along, at 10 RMB [$1.20] for a CD, and at first people were uncomfortable, and would still pay more for the real thing. But now, everyone's used to it, it's normal and accepted, and people just think, 'It's very cheap, very cheap, that's good!'""
As one can see, the connection can be made between VCD's popularity in Asia and the beliefs and financial situations of its' peoples are actually logical and economical--a low cost, lightweight media to meet small budgets and efficient, fast replication to drive the legal and non-legal media market.
Further information on "piracy" in Chinese countries can be found below. Note that some of the ideas and beliefs behind the creation of China's bootleg market also apply to other markets of Far East countries:
And besides they were hoping to get China to crack down on all the mainland pirating operations and figured you attract more flies with honey, etc. Either way it tickles me that China has been getting ready to stab Bill Gates in the back all along.
I'd like to expand on that. A popular Chinese business mentality is "get the best deal out of the guy before he can get the best one out of you". It is this mentality that has driven the fast-paced financial world of Hong Kong and Shanghai. Those who can't keep up with the tricks and cunning bartering techniques of Chinese businesspeople and merchants get financially burned in the Chinese markets. "Foreigners" investing in the China that do not know business etiquette also get burned. For example, when Microsoft brought legal action against 3 of the most respected and prosperous computer companies in China (one of them being Legend), public outrage ensued. The public was also angered at Microsoft's pricing policy of setting a standard price for their software worldwide rather than setting the cost according to the local average income of the country which it was selling its products in. Microsoft, in addition to its ruthless pricing policies, happened to be based in Redmond. Seeing Microsoft's "reign of terror" in their computer and software industry, and knowing Microsoft's outsider origins, the Chinese were more than eager to despise Microsoft. They view the corporate juggernaut as a foreign oppressor attempting to humiliate and exploit their population for its "high potential of profits", mirroring the situation of the Opium Wars. For reasons which are rooted in its 5,000 year-old past, many Chinese hate being humiliated by non-Chinese more than being humiliated by their own. The Chinese belief of "keeping one's face" (preventing humiliation of one's pride or paying retribution to the humiliator) combined with MS's business tactics further worsened it's reputation in China. As a result, most Chinese wouldn't care for potential legal problems that may be involved in the creation of their MS-Software-compatible OS, even as their country tries to enter the WTO.
If Cyborg Bill doesn't move fast enough, he'll get burned by a kind of Boxer Rebellion of the digital age--China's push against a foreign company's domination of it's software market utilizing (legal) cost-free alternatives. (A la RedFlagLinuix and development of an MS-Software-compatible OS).
Just this morning I was watching the MSNBC channel. The reporters literally spent 5-7 minutes talking about the 50th anniversary of Matchbox toys, and their "new state-commemortative edition cars" as they said it. Then they put them on the table and started commenting on their "coolness". Not to troll or flamebait, but the integrity of stock reports (and the news in general) are so clouded by other corporate interests these days...
The Chinese government is unwilling to do that. People outside of China who hold anti-abortion beliefs may see their "one child policy" as immoral, but they consider it neccesary to prevent China's fast population growth rate from outpacing local food production. Also, the Chinese do not view a human embryo (fertilized or not) as a human being, as many "outsiders" do. This is the reason why China's biotech companies are expected to outpace American ones in the next 25 years, especially in the area of stem cell research. Unlike America, where Christianity-derived "pro-life" ethics have a major influence in governmental regulation regarding the bio sector, China does not. The "pro-life" and "anti-abortion" that were derived from Christian beliefs that affect biotech regulation America and other "Western" countries are virtually non-existent in mainland China, as Christianity is not the majority religion there.
As you can see, the "one-child" policy in China is neccesary check on population growth. In a study conducted in 2001 (found in Newsweek I believe), China's population is actually begining to decline as a result, leading to a reduced risk for food supply exhaustion.
Yet even in such legal straits, Wallace seems oddly pleased. Goldberg's court order confirms everything he has always suspected: that the world, and particularly the academic world, is shutting him out, doubting his ideas, turning him into the crazy man out in the hallway.
They both show the same similarities in their personalities. As Einstein's teachers had ridiculed him for his theories and ideas, Wallace is shunned by academic officials for his perceptions of reality. Perhaps Walace will turn out to be next Einstein of the century.
Ha ha! I suppose THAT's what caused you to write your original post in the first place! Obviously the recommended dosage wasn't enough...You need to step up the intake of those smile pills, freak.
If try to sue file-swappers by linking them with their IPs, all DSL users will need is a static IP. (Though I think RIAA can go a step further to get over this hurdle).
Uh...yes...are you refering to the Cantonese pronouciations, Mandarin ones, or both? It appears you are talking about the Mandarin one. Anyway, I was reffering to the legendary general-turned-god. Well, at least in the Cantonese community calls him "Guang Gong". Im not to familiar with the Mandarin pronounciation...though i was told by a Chinese relative that "Guan Di" is his Mandarin name.
Just to verify who im talking about, its the red-skinned, bearded statue of a man found in Chinese resteraunts and stores who is commonly seen holding a halberd.
I'd hate to ask you this, but just out of curiosity...are you a FOB, ABC, CBC, or EBC?
Also, it depends on what dialect you are talking about. You're correct-"Guang Gong" is the Cantonese pronounciation of this god. Also, "Guang Di" is the Mandarin pronounciation. It seems I got the 2 letters of "Gong" and "Di" mixed up. Thank you again.
Wrong, and you're an idiot. The Chinese have had gods for the past 5 milleniums. For example, there is "Guan Dong", the god of war, whose statue is commonly found in Chinese resturaunts and stores. It is their belief that this god provides security for their property. They also hold traditional polytheistic beliefs, and Buddhism. Some in China are also Muslim. If you can't tolerate other's beliefs, then you have the option of committing suicide.
FYI, there are over 10 religions with believers(not including Christian denominations) living in the US.
You must be that same intolerant bastard polluting the board with "White Pride" messages. Get lost. Nobody, if not most people on this board want to hear your racist trash.
At my workplace, the woman in the cubicle neighboring mine plays Hanson and Bette Midler mp3s off of her personal server on open-air earphones for 5 hours straight. Everyone within a 10 foot radius hates her because of that. Even the boss tells her it's reducing our performance-ever since she set up that server, our productivity and innovation has gone down dramatically. The boss decided to shut down the server to get us back on track, but the RIAA got to him before he had the chance.
We're probably the only people glad that the RIAA is cracking down on businesses with mp3 filled servers.:)
Slashdot Mirror
Like the Chinese alphabet, DigitalHammer's post is rich but overly long.
You are incorrect. There is no "alphabet" in the Chinese language; whole words are represented by pictograms.
the Chinese have little or no notion of national identity
It depends on what you mean by "Chinese". The PRC recognizes over 54 resident ethnic groups, such as the Han (the so-called "majority" group), the Hakka, the Uzbeks, Manchus, etc... A person of Han descent will tell you that his or her homeland is mainland China. However, many Islamic Uighurs resident in western China and Mongolians in Northern China will tell you that they do not belong to China if asked what country they believe they belong to. (However, a large majority of Uighurs satisfied with their ties to China).
In closing, one must distinguish the Chinese lack of identity with any national government from their strong identity with other Chinese peoples. This is especially true for Chinese living outside of Taiwan and PRC.
About the Chinese living outside of Taiwan and the PRC, ABCs (American/Australian Born Chinese) CBCs (Canadian Born Chinese), BBCs (British Born Chinese) and most other "Chinese" born in the Western world identify with mainland China. I have learned this from personal experience and interviews.
But rather than being a form of national identity, this identity has more the flavor of a racist "us" versus "them" ("gaijin" or "foreigner", to use a Japanese term of Chinese origin) attitude.
The "racist flavor" you refer to is a product of over 3000 years of a generally homogenous society, and is not part of the Chinese' national identity itself. This can also be seen in 1500s-1900s Japan, where the same factors that form Chinese national identity exist.
On a side note, the Chinese term for "foreigner" (in the Cantonese dialect) is pronounced "gwei lo".
You may have not gotten my point. I was writing about how ideas of filial piety created a set of priorities that are transferred from from Chinese families to the corporate world, and how they influence the open source movement. I was not reffering to how a rigid set of rules lost them their jobs. (Which, in fact, has nothing to do with layoffs in Chinese companies).
From this article [globalaging.org]:""If you're over 35, it's very hard to find work," said a sad-looking 43year-old woman at the job center..." (in Tianjin)
Note that I was referring to Chinese tech companies, not the textile industry (which is what the globalaging article was about) which is under more control by the Chinese communist government. As the Chinese government wants their tech sector to grow, they lift more restrictions on Chinese tech companies on what they can do, such as partnerships with foreign companies. The textile industry do not have as much of these benefits.
Furthermore, it is not "older age" in China that will cause one's job loss in the state-owned industrial sector but rather the Chinese economy as a whole. Recently, state-owned factories have been shutting down, which I believe gained momemtum after the Asian stock market crisis of 1997 and became a full blown problem after 9/11.
On top of that, ideas spawned by filial piety do not influence whether a worker would keep his or her job.
Well, there's my 2 cents reply.
Is there any Chinese Slashdotters...that can provide a cultural insight as to why china would be so open to open source?
,not abstract principles. ,natural resources, and gold bars are preferable to intangibles like illiquid securities or intellectuals properties.
.5 dollars and Linux at .5 dollars linux wins.
First of all I would like to state that I am of pure Chinese descent.
To answer your question, I believe there are 3 factors that make China very open to open source: Confucianism, the WTO, and Microsoft licensing.
The centuries-old mentality of being extremly frugal with one's money or possesions. Though this idea is ancient, the Communist government began to encourage the use of this virtue in times of famine and hardship. This article from Time Magazine titled "Overeating Dying in China" further explains:
"In the early 1980s when some nouveau rich squandered their money on restaurants delicacies and government officials took advantage of their jobs to attend luxurious feasts, a distorted concept was built up in most Chinese's minds: the wealthier one is, the more fatty foods are on your dinning table.
The grumbles about upstarts' arrogance and the government officials' corruption turned into general disapproval. People began to look favorably at the ancient Chinese maxim which praises abstinence in consumption....Considering the 30 million destitute Chinese struggling in remote mountainous areas and those laid-off work who are living a hard life, traditional virtues like fighting one's way up and building the country through hardship and thrift are still highly encouraged by the Chinese government. "
This "frugal ideal", reinvigorated in the minds of mainland Chinese, compounded with ancient Confucian values of filial piety encourage the development and acceptance of open source software over propeitery ones in China. The bit about filial piety applies to the corporate environment of Chinese businesses. Filial piety in Chinese families enforce the younger family members' respect of older ones. This encourages the younger members' to set priorities that value the importance of the older family member (typically the father, mother, and grandparents). Chinese children, raised under this mentality, carry these priorities over to their workplace where they place their upmost importance upon the boss and senior officials (formerly occupied by older family members).
In most, if not all jobs in China involving internal technology, the IT manager must find software that will create a stable infrastructure while saving as much money as possible. This is where the "frugal mentality" and the rigid set of priorities converge to brighten the appeal of open source software. Because China is attempting to gain full membership within the WTO, which requires its adherance to strict IP rules, the country began an enormous crackdown on the "pirated" software industry. Using pirated (MS) software no longer was an option, as it used to be 10 years ago. Another path would be to purchase MS software licenses. However, the thought of accepting the dinosauric financial demands of Microsoft licensing contracts clashed with the frugal mentality prolific with Chinese tech companies, and the set of priorities spawned by Confucian filial piety led them to consider the amount of funds that could be saved and allocated for other departments by not buying licenses. In turn, Chinese techs were left with another option: Open source software, more specifically Linuix. The legal and cost-free nature of the penguin OS became an appealing option to the Chinese techs, and in turn took the opportunity to develop and integrate it in to their corporate infrastructure.
Chinese cultural traditions of filial piety and frugality are further explained in this excerpt of the site "Paul Herbig's Working Papers":
Chinese Network
The Chinese commonwealth is a group of small Chinese companies from all over the world affiliated with each other, protecting and taking care of each others businesses. They are also referred to as 'Greater China', or the 'Chinese Network'.
The survival mentality and the Confucian tradition of patriarchal authority, form the values of a typical Chinese entrepreneur - one who seeks to control his own small dynasty. These so call life raft values are:
l.Thrift ensures survival.
2.A high, even irrational, level of savings is desirable, regardless of immediate needs.
3.Hard work to the point of exhaustion is necessary to ward off the many hazards present in an unpredictable world.
4.The only people you can trust are family-- and a business enterprise is created as a familial life raft.
5.The judgment of an incompetent relative in the family business is more reliable than that of a competent stranger.
6.Obedience to patriarchal authority is essential to maintaining coherence and direction for the enterprise;
7.Investment must be based on kinship or clan affiliations
8.Tangible goods, like real estate
9.Keep your bags packed at all times,day or night (Kao,p.25).
Unlike the Japanese Keiretsu, the Chinese network is an open system for all Chinese entrepreneurs all over the world. They watch for each others businesses and help those who are in need. These Chinese entrepreneurs have a give - and - take relationship. The network is usually formed by joint ventures, weddings, political opportunities and common cultures. Ownership of the company are usually passed to relatives, regardless of their educational background or competency (the classic example is An Wang's passing of his company, Wang Computers, to his mediocre son instead of professional managers--which ended in failure). Generation after generation, no matter in what culture they were brought up, every Chinese seeks control and security of their businesses.
The first Chinese generation has a survival and Confucius mentality. Every business decision is made for the future of the family. Unlike the old generation, the younger generation are born in other countries outside of mainland China. They do not only carry the Chinese culture, but the one they were born in as well. This generation, especially if born in a western country, has a sense of individualism. Companies like Winbond,a high-tech company in Taiwan, which considers themselves to be a Chinese company , believes that you should respect your family and love ones but you have to set your mind on what is right for the company. D.Y. Yang,owner of Winbond, says, "A Chinese company depends less on data and more on intuition,feelings,and people." But on the other hand, he also mentions, "Of course you have to respect the family business structure, but since this is a high tech company,individual contributions are important (Kao,p31)."
---snip
I have heard about the open markets in china where you can purchase bootlegs of any software for near the cost of the CD. If the choice is between M$ at
On a side note, frugality, combined with Communist ideals and Confucian values led to the explosive growth of the pirated software and media industry in China, as this essay written by Rutgers Univesity student Sheng Ding explains:
"Confucius's concept of the transmission of culture and Marx's views on the social nature of language and invention arose from very different ideological foundations. Nonetheless, because each school of thought in its own way saw intellectual creation as fundamentally a product of the larger society from which it emerged, neither elaborated a strong rationale for treating it as establishing private ownership interests.[15] Deeply influenced by these two ideologies, China falls behind all developed countries and many developing countries in the field of intellectual property protection. It is also not difficult to understand why most of Chinese did not know what were IPRs in 1980s."
Well, I am confident that this reply answers your question. More information about Chinese philosophies and other ideals that are involved in China's flourishing open source movement can be found below:
Paul Herbig's Working Papers
A Paper on IP Rights in China, by Sheng Ding
The Chinese Way with Money, an article from the Shanghai Star
Excellent! This will invalidate the first-grader's rant for a paperless crap session!:
:)
"Be a man, use your hand."
Movie makers will have to start intentionally holding back EVEN MORE footage to fill up the vastly expanded "bonus feature" section.
But it'll sure give the movie companies a lot more space to store their (useless and irritating) trailers.
The article also implied that better copy protection (and possibly more draconian remote locking) measures will be used in the new format, creating a more secure way Disney can lock the fast forward button. I really hope some one will crack it so consumers wont be forced to watch their commercial propaganda.
Back in the 60s, shopping mall tycoons used shamless plugs in anti-Communist propaganda commercials to promote their centers of commerce in America. A man would typically walk in front of a camera projected at a newly constructed shopping center and say something like this:
"Hi Im Bill Jones of the Jon and James Commerce Enterprise, and I'd like to say that you should appreciate our country of free trade and capitalism not available in the USSR. Without them, the new Arcadia shopping centers in California, a new Jack's burger joint in Delaware, and the new, colossal Thames shopping mall here in Washington state would never exist. These places offer fun for the whole family, and include food courts to satisfy your families' nourishment needs..."
The "anti-Communist propaganda" shifts its focus from political topics to commercial ones in less than 10 seconds...
As one can see, the shameless plugs of the 60s were MUCH more obvious than ones that have infiltrated popular sitcoms. *COUGH* FRIENDS *COUGH*. Think of the torture American old and middle-agers went through...and to think the MPAA and congressmen still support it...
My 16X DVD-ROM Drive decided it didn't like one of my CD-Rs, so it blew it up on July 4th.
:)
Celebrating the birth of America with a bang of silicon...What an excellent display of American patriotism by your drive!
Anyway, before playing discs in any drive, make sure it doesnt have any cracks originating from the center. Following this advice will assure that wont happen again.
Naw, they should have chose MSN and Windows ME install CDs. I swear they sold the ME discs as beta. :)
can you say "pirated" - thats the main reason VCDs seem to have existed in Asian countries for YEARS now.
That's not the reason entirely. As the author of the article wrote, distribution and production costs are cheaper for VCDs than videotapes. As most Asian countries' populations (excluding Japan) have typically low average incomes, encouraging them to save money while distributing content by using the less expensive VCD. This is the reason why VCDs have been a popular format in Asia for the past few years.
They get used for anything that can be seen on TV, whether it be movies, TV, karaoke or educational productions.
There are more reasons why media is "pirated" in Asia. A popular, longstanding Asian mentality, which is Confucian in origin states that "knowledge is free". This "knowledge" includes videos, software, video games, books, movies, and almost all other forms of visual, and audio content. This excerpt of a paper written by a Rutgers University student further explains the beliefs behind digital piracy in the Asian country that has the largest pirate market in the Far East; China:
"Confucius's concept of the transmission of culture and Marx's views on the social nature of language and invention arose from very different ideological foundations. Nonetheless, because each school of thought in its own way saw intellectual creation as fundamentally a product of the larger society from which it emerged, neither elaborated a strong rationale for treating it as establishing private ownership interests. Deeply influenced by these two ideologies, China falls behind all developed countries and many developing countries in the field of intellectual property protection. It is also not difficult to understand why most of Chinese did not know what were IPRs in 1980s."
Also, another popular Asian mentality that states "if everyone does it, no one will be punished". As original products was brought in to China, demand for those products grew while the economy began to decline, finally taking a severe hit during the Asian stock market crisis of the late 1990s. Then pirates came to satiate that demand. This is yet another reason why "piracy" of brand-name "Western" merchandise to software has skyrocketed in the past 20 years. This excerpt of an article written by Lisa Movius of Salon.com further explains:
"China Record Co.'s Tang Haiyang recalls the evolution of piracy's acceptability. "No one thinks of it as theft anymore. At first, there was no choice but to pay 30 RMB [$3.60] for a real album, which is a day's salary for most. Then the pirates came along, at 10 RMB [$1.20] for a CD, and at first people were uncomfortable, and would still pay more for the real thing. But now, everyone's used to it, it's normal and accepted, and people just think, 'It's very cheap, very cheap, that's good!'""
As one can see, the connection can be made between VCD's popularity in Asia and the beliefs and financial situations of its' peoples are actually logical and economical--a low cost, lightweight media to meet small budgets and efficient, fast replication to drive the legal and non-legal media market.
Further information on "piracy" in Chinese countries can be found below. Note that some of the ideas and beliefs behind the creation of China's bootleg market also apply to other markets of Far East countries:
"Imitation Nation", an article written by Lisa Movius
"Preliminary Analysis of Intellectual Property Protection and Economic Development in China", an essay written by Sheng Ding
"To Steal A Book is an Elegant Offense: Intellectual Property Law in Chinese Civilization" by William P. Alford
And besides they were hoping to get China to crack down on all the mainland pirating operations and figured you attract more flies with honey, etc. Either way it tickles me that China has been getting ready to stab Bill Gates in the back all along.
I'd like to expand on that. A popular Chinese business mentality is "get the best deal out of the guy before he can get the best one out of you". It is this mentality that has driven the fast-paced financial world of Hong Kong and Shanghai. Those who can't keep up with the tricks and cunning bartering techniques of Chinese businesspeople and merchants get financially burned in the Chinese markets. "Foreigners" investing in the China that do not know business etiquette also get burned. For example, when Microsoft brought legal action against 3 of the most respected and prosperous computer companies in China (one of them being Legend), public outrage ensued. The public was also angered at Microsoft's pricing policy of setting a standard price for their software worldwide rather than setting the cost according to the local average income of the country which it was selling its products in. Microsoft, in addition to its ruthless pricing policies, happened to be based in Redmond. Seeing Microsoft's "reign of terror" in their computer and software industry, and knowing Microsoft's outsider origins, the Chinese were more than eager to despise Microsoft. They view the corporate juggernaut as a foreign oppressor attempting to humiliate and exploit their population for its "high potential of profits", mirroring the situation of the Opium Wars. For reasons which are rooted in its 5,000 year-old past, many Chinese hate being humiliated by non-Chinese more than being humiliated by their own. The Chinese belief of "keeping one's face" (preventing humiliation of one's pride or paying retribution to the humiliator) combined with MS's business tactics further worsened it's reputation in China. As a result, most Chinese wouldn't care for potential legal problems that may be involved in the creation of their MS-Software-compatible OS, even as their country tries to enter the WTO.
If Cyborg Bill doesn't move fast enough, he'll get burned by a kind of Boxer Rebellion of the digital age--China's push against a foreign company's domination of it's software market utilizing (legal) cost-free alternatives. (A la RedFlagLinuix and development of an MS-Software-compatible OS).
Just this morning I was watching the MSNBC channel. The reporters literally spent 5-7 minutes talking about the 50th anniversary of Matchbox toys, and their "new state-commemortative edition cars" as they said it. Then they put them on the table and started commenting on their "coolness". Not to troll or flamebait, but the integrity of stock reports (and the news in general) are so clouded by other corporate interests these days...
ATT BI is blocking game ports in the Chicago area as well as file sharing progs... check out this link for more details...http://www.dslreports.com/comment/1900/2 8460
The Chinese government is unwilling to do that. People outside of China who hold anti-abortion beliefs may see their "one child policy" as immoral, but they consider it neccesary to prevent China's fast population growth rate from outpacing local food production. Also, the Chinese do not view a human embryo (fertilized or not) as a human being, as many "outsiders" do. This is the reason why China's biotech companies are expected to outpace American ones in the next 25 years, especially in the area of stem cell research. Unlike America, where Christianity-derived "pro-life" ethics have a major influence in governmental regulation regarding the bio sector, China does not. The "pro-life" and "anti-abortion" that were derived from Christian beliefs that affect biotech regulation America and other "Western" countries are virtually non-existent in mainland China, as Christianity is not the majority religion there.
As you can see, the "one-child" policy in China is neccesary check on population growth. In a study conducted in 2001 (found in Newsweek I believe), China's population is actually begining to decline as a result, leading to a reduced risk for food supply exhaustion.
...the next Albert Einstein.
Yet even in such legal straits, Wallace seems oddly pleased. Goldberg's court order confirms everything he has always suspected: that the world, and particularly the academic world, is shutting him out, doubting his ideas, turning him into the crazy man out in the hallway.
They both show the same similarities in their personalities. As Einstein's teachers had ridiculed him for his theories and ideas, Wallace is shunned by academic officials for his perceptions of reality. Perhaps Walace will turn out to be next Einstein of the century.
I TAKE PROZAC...
Ha ha! I suppose THAT's what caused you to write your original post in the first place! Obviously the recommended dosage wasn't enough...You need to step up the intake of those smile pills, freak.
If try to sue file-swappers by linking them with their IPs, all DSL users will need is a static IP. (Though I think RIAA can go a step further to get over this hurdle).
Though I don't know of any stores in N.J., try some of these anime conventions in neighboring states. There's:
Otakon in Maryland.
Big Apple Anime Fest and Anime Expo New York in New York City (coming this July)
Shoujocon in Newark, New Jersey. (Though very shoujo oriented)
Check out their dealer halls, but beware, their products are overpriced.
Yes, i remember these legends, vaugely...parents, grand parents told them to me.
Well now that you implied that you're Chinese, i'd like to say the inevitable..."What is up my homie g?"
I'm not an expert chemist, but according to the article, the mountaineer recharged his cell phone batteries be flinging them in to the snow.
How do frigid temperatures recharge Ni-Cad or Ni-MH batteries, which most cell phones use?
Uh...yes...are you refering to the Cantonese pronouciations, Mandarin ones, or both? It appears you are talking about the Mandarin one. Anyway, I was reffering to the legendary general-turned-god. Well, at least in the Cantonese community calls him "Guang Gong". Im not to familiar with the Mandarin pronounciation...though i was told by a Chinese relative that "Guan Di" is his Mandarin name.
Just to verify who im talking about, its the red-skinned, bearded statue of a man found in Chinese resteraunts and stores who is commonly seen holding a halberd.
I'd hate to ask you this, but just out of curiosity...are you a FOB, ABC, CBC, or EBC?
Also, it depends on what dialect you are talking about. You're correct-"Guang Gong" is the Cantonese pronounciation of this god. Also, "Guang Di" is the Mandarin pronounciation. It seems I got the 2 letters of "Gong" and "Di" mixed up. Thank you again.
Yes, thank you for the clarification.
Wrong, and you're an idiot. The Chinese have had gods for the past 5 milleniums. For example, there is "Guan Dong", the god of war, whose statue is commonly found in Chinese resturaunts and stores. It is their belief that this god provides security for their property. They also hold traditional polytheistic beliefs, and Buddhism. Some in China are also Muslim. If you can't tolerate other's beliefs, then you have the option of committing suicide.
FYI, there are over 10 religions with believers(not including Christian denominations) living in the US.
You must be that same intolerant bastard polluting the board with "White Pride" messages. Get lost. Nobody, if not most people on this board want to hear your racist trash.
Uh...I don't have a problem. Yes, my PC emulators perform much better than consoles...like you're saying.
At my workplace, the woman in the cubicle neighboring mine plays Hanson and Bette Midler mp3s off of her personal server on open-air earphones for 5 hours straight. Everyone within a 10 foot radius hates her because of that. Even the boss tells her it's reducing our performance-ever since she set up that server, our productivity and innovation has gone down dramatically. The boss decided to shut down the server to get us back on track, but the RIAA got to him before he had the chance.
:)
We're probably the only people glad that the RIAA is cracking down on businesses with mp3 filled servers.