Today, an educator asked me about some webs where students can research information on China. Here are some things I do for China but they are generic Ideas, you can use them for any country.

This is the official data site of Chinese government statistics organization. Towards the end on that page, you will find market date.
http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/statisticaldata/

Also try, http://www.thechinaperspective.com/resources/index.html

Here are the two webs that I use often for demographic and economic data
http://data.worldbank.org/ and http://data.un.org/

http://www.wolframalpha.com/ is another site I use, you can try
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Textile+exports+China

More examples here
http://www.wolframalpha.com/examples/SocioeconomicData.html

You can also use Slideshare.net and scribd.com for presentations. Usually when people present at events their slides feature data and trends.

You can also do a Google search using the filetype option. For example - China ceramic industry filetype:ppt

try other filetypes such as pdf or xls and you can a lot of documents that you may not find online via regular google search.

There is always a risk that the cybercafe or a public computer you are using has a keylogger installed. A keylogger is a background program that records every keystroke on a computer and saves it on another computer file. Chances are that even the cybercafe owner has no idea that some malicious user has installed a keylogger. Once these bad guys have a record of all the keystrokes that were entered, they can go through the file and find your password. Most of the time it would be the text that you entered just after you enter you email address.

One trick that I got to know is opening another text file and typing some junk character in them after you type in each character of your actual password.

1) To start lets say I want to enter my gmail password. I will open an empty Notepad or Text file. Type in your username. Next type in some junk character in the text file. Come back to your password and enter just the first character of your password.

2. Type some more junk characters in the text file, move to the browser and enter the second character of your password.

3. Enter some more characters n your text file. come back to the browser and type 1 or 2 character in your password field.

4. Keep repeating this until your password is completely filled.

This process tricks the keylogger software into saving all the junk character interspersed with your real password. The hackers will not find it easy to guess your password.

We discussed this method while recording the Simply Geek podcast episode on traveling geeks. http://www.tech65.org/2010/08/03/simply-geek-11-1-–-travelling-geeks-part-1/

References

http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/?id=69367

Found one hackerspace.sg member using this smart looking notebook. It has 12.1 inch screen, 2 GB memory, decent size keyboard, 7 to 8 hours of battery and it runs an Intel ultra low voltage processor. It comes with Windows 7 home premium but this particular notebook was running Ubuntu. Michael Cheng of Sg PHP group fame and the owner of this notebook had installed Ubuntu from a standard install disc and everything works fine. Not too shabby for about 580 USD. 

         

Click here to download:

Playing_with_an_ASUS_UL20A_Not.zip (2130 KB)

 Mousan giving us a virtual tour via Skype

Some notes on the Skype sessions and how to improve Skype ins:

1. Do a test-run a day or couple of hours before so that we are prepared for the actual session. You also know that the bandwidth is enough.

On the desks of the heads of China's 50-odd biggest state companies, amid the clutter of computers, family photos and other fixtures of the modern CEO's office life, sits a red phone. The executives and their staff who jump to attention when it rings know it as "the red machine," perhaps because to call it a mere phone does not do it justice. "When the 'red machine' rings," a senior executive of a state bank told me, "you had better make sure you answer it."

The red machine is like no ordinary phone. Each one has just a four-digit number. It connects only to similar phones with four-digit numbers within the same encrypted system. They are much coveted nonetheless. For the chairmen and women of the top state companies, who have every modern communications device at their fingertips, the red machine is a sign they have arrived, not just at the top of the company, but in the senior ranks of the Party and the government. The phones are the ultimate status symbol, as they are only given out—under the orders of the Party and government—to people in jobs with the rank of vice minister and above.

The phones are encrypted not just to secure party and government communications from foreign intelligence agencies. They also provide protection against snooping by anyone in China outside the party's governing system. Possession of the red machine means you have qualified for membership of the tight-knit club that runs the country, a small group of about 300 people, mainly men, with responsibility for about one-fifth of humanity.

Richard Mc Gregor, Financial Time's man in China has a new book on inner workings of the Chinese communist party.  There is a discussion on this book at the Economist Podcast (iTunes Link) http://itunes.apple.com/sg/podcast/books-of-the-month-china/id151230264?i=845...

While the terrestrial internet so fast in Tokyo, it is difficult to get good wi-fi access.  Mc donalds and some cafe have Yahoo BB but you need to have an account to access them. I have a Yahoo BB account still the wi-fi tends to be weak and not everywhere. My favorite method is to rent the eMobile mobile router. Telecom Square, the company that rents it out calls this device Data Card (WiFi). Telecom Square has counters in both the terminals of Narita Airport, Kansai Airport and couple others.

The device itself is tiny and pocketable. It will give you about 4 hours of wi-fi on a single charge. The rental is 1,575 Yen per day  (about 18 USD) and gives you access to unlimited data. It supports upto 5 connections so you can run your iPhone and computer on it with some more devices to spare.  You will need a credit card to put on hold while you are renting the device. They will charge you when you return the device on your way back.

Telecom Square counters at Narita

Get current equivalent of  1575 Yen in US dollars

Doing the check in on Narita Express via Telecom Squares wifi data card. The card works well, even on the trains except for some underground areas.

I was in the Vietnamese delta region for couple of days.

While there, I attended the first ever tech un-conference that was held in the region. The event was in Can Tho, the biggest city in the delta region.

I was in this city five years back and it was good to be back. The participants talked about technology, the environment, general lifehacks etc.

Such a lunch.

Active discussions

Friends from Saigon also came over

Thomas enthralling people with his iPad

Local fruits for the breaks

Driving back from Can Tho to Saigon

In Tokyo, many people use these little gadgets. It is a 3G data modem coupled with a little wi-fi router. You turn it on, put it in your pocket or bag. It creates a data connection via the 3G data sim card. Then it uses the built in wi-fi router to create a wi-fi network. Now you have your own personal wi-fi network that goes with you.  The battery lasts for 4 to 5 hours. It supports 5 computers/mobile devices. Many iPod Touch users like this device as they can connect to the internet from anywhere. 

I got my own via Ebay. Similar device to the one I had seen in Japan. Both are made by Huawei and the model number is Huawei E5830.  I have been using it for last couple of days and it works fine.