Hot Links - Stolen iTunes, Segways, and a China-free Christmas
Global Times: Hacked iTunes accounts sold online
Yes, we all know China is the world's virtual home for some 90% of all global viruses, and a classic breeding ground for hackers. If you thought iTunes was safe think again. Apparently, there is plenty to be made in account stealing. For a mere 200 yuan, an Internet user in China can purchase up to $200 worth of digital products from Apple's vast music, movie and applications vault. This reminds us once more to be vigilant about our online security.
Kickstarter: Xmas Without China
Another gem from Kickstarter, a website that enables aspiring artists to get funding for their projects. Here's a documentary worth tossing a few dollars at: Xmas Without China. We'll leave it to the filmmakers themselves to describe this project: "Tom Xia, a Chinese-American immigrant challenges his neighbors, the Jones Family, to spend the entire month leading up to Christmas with no Chinese products in their home and without purchasing any Chinese products for the holiday ... As the Joneses struggle to figure out how to have a simpler Christmas in a time when "we don't make anything anymore," they also begin to think about just how related they are to China. Fed up with the mudslinging between the two countries, Tom finds himself on an unlikely journey to break down stereotypes between China and America, and find his own place between these worlds."
Global Times: Robot Police to Patrol Tiananmen Square
If you are around Tiananmen in the middle of the day and you see policemen whizzing around on segway-lookalikes, relax, you're not crazy. They are. Policeman will be patrolling the Square between the hours of 10am-2om. "The vehicles are in trial operation, just making their debut on New Year," an officer of Tiananmen Public Security Bureau told the Global Times Wednesday. He added that there are only five such vehicles around the square at the moment.
People's Daily (English) China's Box Office Hits Record High in 2010
What do you get when you show movies in the world's largest market and then ask this market to pay about 125% more than in a developed country? You get a new box office yearly receipts record of US$1.5 billion. Blockbusters such as Let the Bullets Fly, and the record smashing Aftershock both raked in 600 million RMB each and Avatar cracked the 1 billion RMB mark in China, another box office record. Currently, the United States is the undisputed king of box office sales, with its box office revenue in 2010 projected to hit $11 billion. Japan is No. 2 at 2.5 billion. China's media regulators expect China to overtake Japan by 2015. Keep charging 90-120 RMB for each film and 2011 should make 2010's earnings look like monopoly money.
China Daily Students out to repair broken English found on city's signs.
Impossible: Mission. Whoopsy, Mission: Impossible. Nevertheless keen foreign students combined with Chinese foreign language students are hitting the streets fighting the eternal battle to rid the city of Chinglish and other incorrect translations. The volunteers have been divided into two groups, on-site and off-site. The off-site group will periodically visit public places to take photos of signs, while the on-site group will process the images and do linguistic assessments. The city's subway stations, Beijing Capital International Airport, the Summer Palace, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Bird's Nest and the National Aquatics Center are among the first places that will be inspected. Best of luck to them.
smh.com.au China's Youku Streams Hollywood hit in film deal
Internet users in China will soon be able to watch hollywood films on Youku guilt free, if you were already guilty enough to purchase Youku Premium. For 5 yuan, netizens can watch Hollywood blockbuster Inception with a very high quality stream. China has long been accused by the United States of turning a blind eye to piracy, which it claims costs the film industry billions of US dollars.
