Chinese Bloggers’ Mountain Meetup

[WSJ/vodpod]

The China Bloggers Conference was held last week in the mountains of LianZhou (a city in the southern province of Guangzhou). Yes, you heard right. It was held in the sticks and looking at the WSJ video (above), the attending bloggers somehow had Wi-Fi access and electricity to power their laptops. I have no idea how they did it, but I’m impressed.

The location, nevertheless, seems very weird. I mean, could you even imagine Macworld being hosted in Golden Gate Park or CES in Death Valley? Strange as it seems, the location – according to the video testimonials -  had a lot of symbolism. It represents the technology gap between the wealthier coastal cities in the east and the poverty-stricken regions in the west. On another level, it also represents the repercussions of Green Dam (i.e., China’s netizens are now forced underground because of increased censorship and on/off blockage of Facebook Twitter and Amazon).

What do you think? Would you go to a tech conference if it was held in the woods or on a farm? For sure, it would be a logistical nightmare, but it sure would be an “experience.”

China’s annual blogger conference was held

Filed under: Breaking News, Social Media, Web, Asian, Blogging, China, Conference, Green Dam, Social Media, Web 2.0

Punk’d [WIRED.com Edition]

[Flickr/jacketseason]

Have you ever received an accidental SMS text from someone with the wrong number? While most people would ignore it or kindly let that person know that they’ve texted you by mistake, here is what happens when the text recipient is a tech reporter with a penchant for pranks and a huge Twitter following to egg him on.

Premise: This morning, Brian X. Chen over at Wired’s  Gadget Lab tweeted about a random text message that he got from a would-be “Romeo” who had the wrong number. At the suggestion of Macworld’s Roman Loyola via Twitter, Brian then proceeded to prank the poor guy by pretending to be “Juliet” and make a startling confession that “she” got knocked up. Hilarity ensues…

[Flickr/jacketseason/SMS prank set]

I wonder if “Romeo” ever figured out if he got punk’d or if Brian decided to put the guy out of his misery and say, “just kidding…tee-hee.” Either way, I was very entertained this morning and I hope you are too </3

Filed under: Breaking News, Social Media, @bxchen, @pinatubo2000, Asian-American, Brian X. Chen, Comedy, Prank, Punk'd, Roman Loyola, Social Media, Twitter, Web 2.0

Chinatown Smack Down on SF MUNI

I’m not the first person to blog about it and I most certainly am not the last. This was one crazy smack down between a Chinese woman and a Black woman. While it’s unclear who started the fight, the burning question is: What’s wrong with these two crazy middle-aged women? If anything, the lesson here is: If you throw the first punch in a fight with a stranger, you may shut that other person up or you may just get your ass kicked (and it may end up on YouTube and spread like a bad rash).

From a PR perspective,….sucks for Muni…..their PR team definitely has their work cut out for them. Good luck on trying to clean up that mess (along with all the other messes your nutty passengers make).

That’s all I have to say on the matter, but if you’re curious, this is what’s been buzzing on the Web:

• Angry Asian Man – “just another day on muni“
• Gawker – “Bus Seat Fistfight: More Transit Mayhem Policed By YouTube“
• San Francisco Chronicle – “Fight on Muni Lights Up YouTube“
• The SFist – “Fight on SF Muni Bus in Chinatown“

Filed under: Breaking News, Social Media, Asian-American, Chinatown, Muni Fight, Public Transportation, San Francisco Bay Area

Conversation with Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki., originally uploaded by Emily Barrera.

Two days after shaking hands with Hyde of L’arc en Ciel, I attend the highly anticipated (if you’re a Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away fan) “Hayao Miyazaki in Converssation with Roland Kelts” event at U.C. Berkeley. A special thanks to @ritapizza for the ticket. I live tweeted the event as best as I could while I waited for the translator to tell me what Miyazaiki-san just said. Here are my tweets, in case you missed it the first time around:

• #miyazaki‘s head shuttered at the thought of making a live action film.7:45 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• #miyazaki advice to new animators? Have a good critic for your work.7:29 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• #miyazaki makes a hilarious long & drawn out grunt before answering his questions hahaha!7:20 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• In japan it’s normal for the storyboards to be drawn by the director, otherwise he is kind of useless….#miyazaki7:09 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• Totoro was designed so that you don’t know if he’s smart or stupid, ie you don’t know what he’s thinking #miyazaki6:51 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• Did you know that Ponyo started off as a red toy tin frog? #miyazaki6:47 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• Ponyo’s set designer always included red and green as well as 5 clouds. Can you spot them in the new #miyazaki film?6:44 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• So much discussion about the new #miyazaki film Ponyo, I should have watched it yesterday….darn!6:42 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• #miyazaki doesn’t have evil figures in his films because he doesn’t want to have to draw them. LOL6:40 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• #miyazaki says that you shouldn’t associate natual diasters with evil. For example, forests often look healthier after a flood.6:37 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• On the end of the world as a subtext? #miyazaki wishes he could see the end of civilzation in his lifetime, but not gonna happen hahaha6:33 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• Miyazaki-san!!!! http://yfrog.com/76ni1j6:23 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• Have fun, will you be live tweeting the concert? RT @TommyKTse: Going to see HYDE from L’Arc~en~Ciel in a Jrock concert tonight…6:13 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• True to form, the #miyazaki talk is on Berkeley time (eg everything starts 10 mins after the hour)6:10 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• Holy Crap! I am three rows away from #miyazaki, this is going to be awesome!6:04 PM Jul 25th from TweetDeck
• Heading over to UC Berkeley to listen to the #Miyazaki talk, will be live tweeting if I have a connection.

Filed under: Film, Social Media, Animation, Asian, Director, Film, Hayao Miyazaki, Japan

Thoughts on Twestival SF

twestival sf, originally uploaded by emilychang.

So I attended the Twestival in San Francisco this evening with @flackette and @tommyktse. In case you didn’t get the memo, this even was a worldwide fundraiser for charity:water. There were about 175 participating cities, in which the Twitter communities in each community would host a party. Proceeds from the entry fees are to be donated to a nonprofit dedicated to providing clean water to developing countries. Here’s a short blurb about the Twestivals on CNET’s Webware blog.

While I thought the event was a very worthwhile cause, I couldn’t help but leave Twestival SF with some thoughts on the pros and cons of the event.

Let’s start with the pros. I am glad that the Twestival organizers chose a real charity with a cause worth raising awareness for rather than something fluffy. The free t-shirt and reusable bag were great quality swag. The cupcakes by teeny cake were delicious and pretty! Props to the sponsors who made that happen.

….and in terms of the cons, I felt that the organizers were not as prepared as they should have been. I got to Paradise Lounge around 6:30pm. The event was suppose to start at 6:00pm, but I stood out in the cold for a while since “they weren’t ready yet.” Lame. In terms of the setup, I thought that there should have been more focus on the charity (e.g. provide materials, run slide shows, etc.). It just seemed like a regular networking event than anything else, though nothing wrong with that. Also, maybe it was just me, but I thought that there wasn’t a whole lot of mingling at this event. Most of the Tweeters kept to themselves and the groups that they came with. Though, it wasn’t a total loss, since I did meet some cool people this evening.

Filed under: Social Media, Charity:Water, Event, San Francisco Bay Area, Social Media, Twestival, TwestivalSF, Twitter, Web 2.0