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Something about Skype: Alternative Approaches

对于大多数的朋友而言，Skype绝对不是个陌生的东西。毕竟在当今鱼龙混杂的VOIP市场中，Skype应该是领军级别了。无容置疑，它所提供的相对稳定的网络和服务，以及不错的价格，让他在广大用户中树立了相对不错的口碑。对于留学在外的朋友们，或者平时电话非常多的童鞋们而言，Skype可谓是一个福音。

就笔者而言，使用Skype已有数年。而大规模的使用，则也有大半年的时间。其中经历了由国内到国外，由教育网到家庭宽带，进而进入高速网络和3G的过程。此中经历，可谓如打翻了的五味瓶，酸甜苦辣咸交错混杂。然而，在大量的折腾与被折腾的较量中，本人也学到了不少的知识，尤其是一些歪门邪道的知识。

教育网：等同于自虐

最早使用Skype的目的在于节省打电话回家的费用。由于本人跟父母和家人的话向来较多，一个电话打上个把小时实在不是太困难的事情。对于这种经常性的长时间电话粥，中国移动的套餐显然是非常不给力的。笔者仍然记得当年的套餐是47元人民币，包450分钟国内非漫游呼叫。而这在湖北当时已经算是比较划算的套餐了。

我第一反应就想到了网络。而想到网络电话，我想一般都会想到Skype。而当时由于中国网民的过分热情，无线套餐（Unlimited Plan）在中国已经不复存在。我们能买到的就是400/1000分钟的套餐，价格分别是33/69元/月。相比较我后来使用的套餐，这个价格并不便宜。但是淘宝上经常可以在25元左右买到400分钟套餐，而1000分钟中国套餐是55元左右

而经过使用，笔者迅速发现了教育网的要命问题。那就是，直接使用skype呼叫的话，清晰度非常对不起观众。声音经常断断续续，对方根本无法听清我在说啥。而笔者当时采取的方法是，设一个美国的VPN服务器，然后把Skype的所有流量全部通过美国服务器中转。结果是啥呢？诸位可以想到的。世界上最长的距离，莫过于教育网和电信！
全球通套餐：让你吃到饱

全球通，英文叫做Unlimited World，价格为99元/月。通过它，你可以在每月无限制拨打超过四十个国家的固定电话和部分国家的手机。这个价格相对于我前面所提到的中国套餐而言优惠的多。然而，如果不是经常拨打国际电话，或者电话不是超过1000分钟，这个价格并不太吸引人。毕竟我们的工资水平摆在那里。

由于不可抗因素，笔者在家必须频繁拨打英国的电话，而Unlimited World显然是个明智选择。毕竟我不会傻到去用手机和家里的固定电话拨打国际长途。而与此同时，由于我的女友已经赴外地工作。于是电话传情也成了每天必做的一件事情。在每天打上两个小时的情况下，1000分钟一个月的配额显然并不是大问题。事实上，我们每月的通话时间，经我统计，基本都超过2000分钟。而令我们无语的是，为了省电话费，我们不得不“舍近求远”，把电话转到卢森堡，然后再转回来～。

尽管有拨号数量和累积通话时间限制，于个人用户而言，全球通套餐应该足以满足正常需求。
掌上电脑：尝试移动

因为手头一直缺乏一个可靠的GPS和电子词典，我入了一个X51v。然而在我收到这款机器的时候发现，该机居然自带麦克风和无线网卡。尽管Skype已经不再支持Windows Mobile系统，我还是从万能的网站上找到了Skype for WM 3.0。尽管界面简陋，但是实用性却很好，界面也很友好。只是该版本的系统并不支持联系人下的多标签。于是乎，当你同时具有A好友的Skype帐号和电话号码时，为了保证Skype 3.0的使用不出问题，您得把他们分开存放。

但是好景不长，很快我就发现兰卡的Wifi居然是使用Web验证的。而且在验证通过后Skype死活上不去。尽管曦哥的Skype for IPhone可以登录自如。对于能否登录，我已经没有了太大的兴趣，毕竟我要做的事儿太多了。而找到一个更灵活的解决方案迫在眉睫。而另一个重要的原因是，我们的办公室即将搬入管理学院新楼的博士工作区。显然在一个工作区内用电脑的Skype打电话不是个太明智的选择。
3G网络：终极方案

在英国的移动公司中，3一直是个传奇人物。倒不是说他们的市场占有率有多高（只有5%），也不是说多优秀的客服（说实话，只会忽悠，比O2差得多），事实上，他们提供免费的Skype和Live Messenger使用。何谓免费呢？你只要在他们的定制手机中插入他们公司的SIM卡，即使一分钱没有。您照样可以使用Skype！而且由于采用了特别的技术，他们的Skype音质甚至好于PC版本。

之所以说要使用定制手机，是来源于我的一个经历。一开始，我从英国的一个著名手机零售商那里买了个Nokia C2-01.然而在插入SIM卡后我发现，Skype和Live Messenger根本不能从3公司的网站上直接下载。一旦下载，系统就会报错，提示没有相应的证书。而当我在镇上将其换成与3的定制手机时，一切便迎刃而解了。看来，英国公司的所谓大方也是有限度的。不过，跟天朝比，这个Offer已经好到天上去了。
结论：Skype是个很好的解决方案

不得不说，Skype是一个好东西，尤其是对于有大量国际电话需要处理的个人用户而言。而Skype推出的Unlimited World Extras套餐对于需要的客户也是不错的。在你支付了10.99磅一个月以后，你将得到Unlimited World（价值7.99磅）的所有功能+8.6磅的Skype点数。这个点数你可以用来打一些电话（非套餐内），购买SkypeIn（本人买了个英国号码以备不时之需）以及发短信（Skype可以发中文短信）。而当这一切与移动通信技术结合的时候，他几乎可以秒掉80% 的通讯公司了。

Lancaster of Winter: A First Impression

按照办公室好友金沙兄的话来说，我就像刚出生的孩子，对周围的一切都充满着极端的好奇和兴奋。对此，他充满了无语。也是，像他这样在英国呆了接近十年的老鸟，应该早就目空一切了吧？可是对于我这样一个接受了二十多年的社会主义教育的人而言，初次来到一个全新的国度，能不开心吗？更何况，这里有着远胜于国内的生活条件和科研支持，使我有着一种如鱼得水的感觉，这又能如何让我兴奋？于是，我决定接着上一回，利用办公室的电脑，写下这篇博客，以满足各位读者的好奇心。

全新的世界，不一样的体验

当然，住在荒山野岭的日子还是很无聊的。尽管说这里有着更蓝的天，更清新的空气，但是却少了很多东西。这里可没有南苑的餐馆，更不会有一帮男人排队冲入食堂的情景，更不会有什么KTV之类的娱乐。我不了解这里的硕士生们是如何过日子的，反正，我已经开始了办公室和宿舍的来回奔波。我们过去读书时都会很奢望有一个自己的独立空间，然而，当一切来临时，他真的很美好么？

有一点很幸运，那就是我的英语。尽管说我在这里与老板们沟通，与同事们聊天，与舍友们海侃还是遇到了沟通问题，但是却并不严重（专业内容除外）。这得益于我一直相对不错的英语听力和比较胆大敢说的特点。其实在这里，没人管你口音多标准。他们更关注的是，你能否理解他们说的是什么，同时你能否自如的表达你想要的表达的。所以：以后要出国的朋友们，先多多练练英语吧。
麻雀虽小，五脏俱全

不得不说，兰卡斯特校园真的很小。从一头走到另一头，我估计不会超过30分钟？不知道英国人是不是喜欢那种沧桑的历史感，但是这座建造于60年代末的学校，却已经显得略显斑驳和苍老，但是却不乏学校和高等学府所应该具有的那种厚重感。
1. 安全两字要牢记
  
  首先要说，这是一个非常安全的校园。无论是我所居住的College，还是我上课的管理学院，以及我办公室所在的工程楼，无不凸显这一点。在我办公室门外，短短不足百米就会有一道防火门。同时标签上永远写着“请随手关闭防火门”。我不知道墙壁是否是防火材料，但是很干净，没有国内学校常见的那种一抹就掉的白粉。这里的火灾警报和检测装置检测非常平凡。据说还会有演习，如果演习时候没有走出房间，据说会被罚款哦！据说罚款可达500磅。
2. 网络无所不在
  
  其次是网络。这里有着让坤哥瞠目结舌的设备。如果你以为100M的带宽只是用于LAN，那么我得告诉你，你的只是需要更新了。这里办公室的电脑的桌面带宽即为100M。而需要注意的是，这个100M其实是外网的速度，并不仅仅是内网。当你用IE另存为这个传统方式下载即可获得10.8M/s的速度时，您会作何感想？是不是“羡慕嫉妒恨”？
  
  这里的网络其实不仅仅是用于娱乐，更重要的是，他对科研支持非常的好。校内高性能计算机，可以给予我们更快的计算速度。我们不再需要在本地安装和调试各种工具。我们需要做的只是一个SSH客户端。通过这个客户端我们可以登录并使用服务器上的各种工具，进而直接跑程序。如果你习惯了被Matlab，SAS甚至小小的Stata拖累到机子无法动弹的话，你会更了解这个东西的好处。
  
  Exchange服务这里用的也非常纯熟。事实上，我过去也只是听说过这个东西。而当我真的开始使用时，我才发现其伟大。基于这个平台，微软的产品可以被很好的结合起来。各类小型报告会、交流会和各种社交活动不再需要手工电话或者短信通知，一个电子邮件请求可以很好解决这个问题。在对方确认的情况下，这个项目会被自动添加到Outlook的日志中，而不用再多费功夫手动添加。
3. 一夫当关，万夫莫开
  
  这是一个充满了授权与未授权的世界。如果说我们在国内对授权还没有什么概念的话，这里的每样设施会给你上第一课。小到集中管理的电脑系统，大到到处都可看到的门禁系统，会让你觉得似乎走进了一个保密单位。事实上，你只是在这个学校的管理学院和它的PhD学生办公室。
  
  这里的电脑系统管理是非常严格的，严格到可以用变态来形容。在我们成功注册学校以后，我们会得到一个唯一的计算机用户名和密码。通过学校分布式管理终端，我们可以方便登录学校的云端系统查看那个属于我们自己的桌面。这种桌面是不随你使用的电脑而转移的。如果你有一个U盘的话，是考虑丢掉它的时候了。毕竟云端储存要方便得多。
  
  但是这种管理也有不方便的地方。那就是，在这个鬼地方，尤其是办公室，我是没有管理员权限的。作为一个玩了多年电脑，并且从没关心过Windows系统用户组设置的朋友而言，这一切都是非常难理解的。两周前我为了安装一系列科研工具和其他娱乐工具，而曾经找过ISS要过管理员帐户权限。事实上，由于集中管理的方便，他们很快远程给了我权限。但是好景不长，今天我突然发现，我已经重新降回了普通用户！不过这样也好，权限低，我也不用担心安全问题了。
  
  而门禁系统则更夸张。在非办公时间，这里的楼都是关闭的。但是，如果你有授权，则可以通过刷卡进入。比如我所在的工程学楼，在晚上六点半以后便会锁门。只有在门禁系统成功刷卡，自动门方能开启。而这对于管理学院面朝主干道的一扇门也同样适用。如果这一切还不够的话，呵呵，那我告诉你，管理学院三楼的咖啡房也是有密码的。如果没有密码，碰巧门也锁了，那想要讨点咖啡或者牛奶喝恐怕就有难度了～。反正，这是个充满密码锁和刷卡器的地方。
可爱的人们

英国人的低效率恐怕是出了名的。因为我在跟我哥打电话说我这里办事效率很高时候，他忍不住哈哈大笑。的确，英国人办事效率不是很高，毕竟如此高福利的国家，做事情懒散些也很容易理解。但是，我来到这里办事却是非常顺利。或许由于我所在办理事情的时间并不是通常的开学时间，我办理学校注册，网络中心和图书馆都花了很少的时间，总计也就20分钟吧。呵呵，这些事情如果在国内，一个礼拜之内别想搞定。

这里的人大多很客气，也很讲礼貌。无论你到哪里，永远是笑脸相迎。以至于我现在微笑的频率也越来越高。真希望我以后不会因为这些该死的习惯而给脸上弄出点皱纹来。有一点很特别的地方，我觉得值得广大刚从国内来的朋友注意。那就是，在你开门通过时候，如果后面有人，请一定要替别人顶下门。另外，经常把Thank You和Sorry挂在嘴边。尽管我才来两周，我却已经重复了无数遍这两个简单的句子。

给我感触最深的，跟国内差异最大的就是行政人员的态度。尽管这里人办事风格永远是不冷不热，永远只做分内事，但是不得不说，他们把份内工作做得近乎完美。在这里的每一个办公室办事，你永远会得到确切的答案。你不会遇到“有关领导”和“有关部门”的问题，也不会让你享受“回去等着”之类的礼遇。记得我第一次去图书馆，被我问询的那位夫人直接带我到了书库，并一直带我找到那本书。而在财大时，我曾因为一本书差点跟会计学院图书馆的干起来，或许这就是差距吧！当然，我遇到财大的那个管理员也的确是会计学院的JP+BL。

Internet: Crystal Space or Not?

随着“我爸是李刚”这句话成功的传到了国外并当上了纽约时报国际版的头条新闻，网络的功力越发被人们推到了一个全新的高潮。试想，如果没有网络这个好东西，我们到哪里去围观“楼脆脆”，我们到哪里去探求“躲猫猫”，我们更是到哪里去更新我们重要的物理知识——70功力/时的小车也能产生令人恐怖的动量，并在t无限小的时候产生无穷大的F。零零总总，正是这个水晶球（Crystal Space）给予了我们充分的空间，围观的内容，探求的真理以及学习的动力。哦，对了，还有我在这里胡言乱语的机会。

网络的力量是无穷的

网络真是个好东西，对学生而言，我们蠢蠢欲动，青春期的萌动都从网络得到了极大的满足。根叔的演讲让我们知道了校长原来可以这么当，也让我们知道了高层也喜欢我们的犀利和狂放，更是让我们知道了什么叫差距。而一切的后果，跟是让我在聆听我们敬爱的校长先生的传统报告时差点因睡着而扑到操场上。网络让根叔迅速走红，也让很多名校校长感到“鸭梨很大”。为了吃好鸭梨而不让口水流出，我们见识了什么叫imitation（中文叫啥？哦，那叫“学习”。不好意思，忘了版署的规则了）。看来网络真是个好东西。

网络的功力恐怕不仅仅于此。由于教材和某些规定的限制，我们的知识并不全面，而这却跟民生息息相关（相关的东西可不仅仅是菜价）。远在东瀛的德艺双馨艺术家们，用自身的行为告诉了我们某些奥秘，却因为版权的限制和某些原因而遭人诟病。而网络的普及则为我们提供了更多的渠道。因为，他们不仅仅限于手把手的教育，而是更多的提供了文字和理论支持。在股哥倒下，度娘迷茫，大众翘首之时，我们发现，一只大猫正扑在天涯的阳光下，微笑着等待我们心中的不惑与好奇。于是，奥秘们来到了阳光下，来到了理论层面。天涯的阳光和大猫的及时抓扑，再教育了70后，培养了80后，同时提携了90后。
网络给予了我们很多

我们是社会主义的一块砖，我们在祖国需要的地方奋斗。我们没有崇高的志向，却有着对美帝产品的向往。“爱疯”和“爱拍”让我们的钱花花流向了美帝；我们没有任何牵挂，却面对着父母和妻儿的顶天立地般的压力；我们怀着一颗虔诚无比的内心，却关不住自己喜欢乱说的破嘴。于是，我们怀着不同的目的，来看这个水晶球。在这个水晶球里，我们经历了虚拟的轮回，接受了虚拟的洗礼，更是接受了虚拟的规则。在这里，我们摇身一变，从“砖头”变成了“大师”，我们不再是普通人，我们成了“上帝”。秉承着基督教的教义，我们开始了“公平”的历程。

这是个平等的世界，我们不再需要阿谀奉承，不再需要察言观色，甚至于不再需要谨小慎微。这是天堂，正如圣经中所描述的一样美好，我们找到了自己的尊严和价值。于是我们开始惩恶扬善，我们开始伸张正义，我们更开始互帮互助。一颗颗的恶果在我们的大刀阔斧下被打开，一样样的罪恶在我们的齐心协力下被示众，一个个幕后的黑手被我们的众志成城所“撼动”。在这里，我们有了古代大侠般的快感，有了英雄般的凯旋，更有了一种胜利后的甜蜜。

然而，所谓人无完人，人的劣根性在这个水晶球里也被看得一清二楚。对于规则的漠视，对于责任的懈怠，以及更直接的无知和愚昧让我们尝到了苦果。或许是我们压抑的太久，或许是我们已经失望，或是我们的“围观”文化，导致了虚拟世界里的“文革”。渐渐的，我们发现，我们失去了理性，失去了思考，失去了判断，而我们却不自知。30万公里每秒的光速让我们习惯于一个又一个瞬间。真不知道，这是喜，还是哀。当这个水晶球变成了现实世界的第二战场，我们看到的不再是公平和正义，而是一波又一波的谋略式攻击；当我们不再具有纯情的大猫和天际，却取而代之躲猫猫般的暗算和诋毁，我们该何去何从？
除了网络，我们也需要思考

我们要感谢网络，感谢她陪伴我们的日日夜夜；我们要感谢网络，感谢他为我们默默完成的传情默默；我们更要感谢网络，因为他给予了我们知识和诉求。但是，我们的网络是年轻的，正如我们的年龄。我们需要学习思考，去积累，去冷眼观世界。以史明鉴，是我们的古训，也是我们的金玉良言。历史的悲剧我们不能再上演，历史的经验我们要牢记，历史的精髓更值得我们去学习。

所以，多读些书，少上些网吧。只有少随波，多思考，才能让我真正成为智者。

How to Use Google Voice in China

按照某些朋友的话来说，最近因为忙完了考博、雅思（不知道是否需要二战）以及毕业论文（等待答辩），实在是闲得无聊。于是想找点东西来捣鼓捣鼓。作为一个把玩了电脑快二十年（把小时候用286电脑学标准指法都算上了）的人来说，一般常见的东西，比如什么QQ概念版，开心网偷菜之类的显然不会引起我的太大兴趣。在苦思冥想之后，遂想起我的Gmail邮箱里还躺着一份Google Voice的邀请函。由于Google Voice原则上只对美国开放，而我目前却在天朝呆着。于是乎，如何让我这样的天朝子民来和谐这个服务成了我这两天最有兴趣的课题。

经过昨天和今天上午的刻骨钻研，外加研读网上各类教程，我终于试着成功骚扰了位于美国夏威夷州的VIP Tran服务。现在我就简要记录下我一路走来的心路历程。不过我并不打算将其写为教程了。毕竟要教程的话，网上到处都是。随便一搜就有一大把。

Google Voice服务的注册

要搞定Google Voice，最基础的就是需要一份邀请函。与Google的很多业务所不同，Google Voice采用邀请注册制度。需要邀请的请点这里。在输入完姓名和电邮地址后Google就会发送给您一份电子邮件。由于我的邀请是大半年以前搞定的，以至于我现在都不知道Google需要多久会给邀请。

之所以说Google Voice仅对美国服务，是因为如果您没有采取任何措施，而是直接点击了这个邀请，你会看到如下画面。想在我天朝使用此服务是等价于做梦。

但是俗话说“道高一尺，魔高一丈”。既然不让咱们用，咱就翻墙么。翻墙以后，登录Google Account，则直接转入第一步。在这一步，你可以选择一个Google Number。要知道这个电话跟普通的美国电话号码没有区别。你可以把这个作为你在美国的电话号码而让美国朋友同你联系以减少电话费用。

其余步骤可以按照提示操作而省略。最麻烦的一步，则是Google要求使用一个美国本地电话进行验证。网上的传统做法是注册一个Gizmo5帐号，然后通过该Gizmo5的帐号提供的SIP注册IPKall的电话号码。然后将IPKall的电话号码作为验证号码进行使用。但是由于去年Google已经收购Gizmo5，而Gizmo5现在已经停止了帐号注册。所以这条路是行不通了。目前常用的方法主要是注册VirtualPhoneLine和GroovyTel。前者提供一个免费试用24天的电话号码，后者则需要Facebook帐号（必须其中有20个好友）。显然对我们而言，前者更现实。不过好处是，我们只是需要一个电话号码来验证。
Google Voice服务的相关设置

在验证完成以后，我们就可以登录Google Voice。而这时候，我们不再需要翻墙。登录后可看到如下界面。

在这里我们就可以免费给全世界超过200个国家的人发短信。但是如图中所显示，中文短信并不支持。目前所发的短信只能使用英文。另外，在给国内朋友发短信时候一定要他们不要随便回复。他们的回复会被作为国际短信处理（一块钱一条）。小心你朋友反应过来砍了你，哈哈。但是进一步的，我们还需要设置Google Voice的转发电话。否则我们除了发短信什么都干不了。毕竟免费拨打美国和加拿大的电话还是很有吸引力的嘛。

如图所示，我主要是把电话转到了Gimoz5上。说起Gimoz5，还真是笑话。其实我自己都不记得我什么时候注册了这个服务了。本来以为已经享受免费电话无望了，因为Gimoz5已经停止注册了。在百无聊赖之下，我手贱了下，随便填入了我常用的用户名和密码。这时候，奇迹出现了，我居然成功登陆了。我顿时心中狂喜。以至于Bill在Twitter上回复我说：“你狠，在Google Voice出来之前你都想到注册Gimoz5了”。对此，我除了兴奋，就是无奈。毕竟这事情实在是太诡异。

如下是Gimoz5的页面。通过页面显示的SIP号码可以很方便的去注册IPKall而得到一个美国电话号码。不过我不知道IPKall和直接的Gimoz5号码有什么区别。

然后我唯一需要做的，就是把所有的Gizmo5的来电都转接到我的Gtalk上（据说Gtalk的转接没有时间限制，而到Skype则有3分钟限制）。其实我遇到的问题是，我转接到Skype以后就从来没有接到过任何Google Voice发起的呼叫。
Google Voice服务的使用

至此，我们完成了大概所有的设置工作。下来需要解决的就是来发短信和打电话了。在Google Voice网页的左上角，有两个按钮，分别是电话和短信服务。

如果觉得打开网页不方便，则可以试试看Chrome的插件。这样使用起来更加方便。我就是通过插件的提示才看到了我哥的回复。哈哈。插件如下图：
结语

通过这个服务，我们着实见识了Googel的强大。其实对我们而言，这个服务主要有两大好处：
- 免费的短信收发。如果有朋友在美国的话，我们有急事需要联系，那邮件显然不行。而如果是短信，70字/1元的代价实在是高了点。通过Google Voice，我们可以方便的使用免费短信来联系。尽管不能使用中文，我想对经常联系美国的人而言，英语不是大问题吧？
- 免费的电话。我们知道，有很多服务的客服中心在美国，比如ETS，比如Godaddy等。使用Google Voice我们可以直接使用免费电话跟他们联系。我亲自使用了Google Voice跟夏威夷州的VIP Trans公司联系（这是一家专门负责檀香山国际机场与Wakiki酒店区之间的班车的公司）。在我2M的带宽条件下，尽管偶尔有卡，但是我跟客服小姐的沟通没有问题。而且，客服的语速还是很快的。
当然，这个服务的缺点也是显而易见的：
- 网络电话的不确定性。毕竟这个服务是采用电话网络回拨。如果网络条件不好，或者服务载荷过大，通话质量必将下降。
- 只能拨打美国和加拿大电话。毕竟我的朋友也有人在英国和澳洲。至于天朝？不需要了，我们有善解人意的中国电信、联通和中国移动！
- 法律问题。严格来说，我们使用虚拟电话激活Google Voice，在美国法律看来，是一项欺诈行为。所以，大家好自为之吧。

Google.cn: Let’s Say Goodbye!

If you are familiar with the happenings these months related to the Google in China, you should not forget the debating several months ago that concerns the exit of Google, a world-famous search engine, from China, a country that is famous around the world for its strict censorship on both Internet and traditional medias, like TV, newspapers and magazines. In fact, in the past few months, majority of Chinese like me, are still holding the hope that the Google should maintain its service in China, with the consideration on the commercial benefit, which, in my opinion, ultimately determines the decision for most businessman.

Google Eventually Leaves China

However, the exit of Google bring me new understand of the business. Unlike the most common businessman that profit is the only thing they care, the great groups, like Google, make me understand that determination of its own culture and perspective is also essential. Till now, Google is the only company that bring the censorship in China open to the public. Though the censorship policy in China is quite strict and known to the practitioners in the field of media, it is rarely known to most common citizens in China, especially those who are not that familiar with Internet and whose English is not that good to read some articles published overseas.

If you open Google.cn this morning, you are surprisingly to see the following website, instead of the traditional Google.cn, a special version of Google that meets the censorship requirement in Chinese government:

On the front page of Google.com.hk, you can observe a short sentence saying “Welcome to the new house of Google Search in China”. Due to the special policy that is adapted in Hong Kong, though it is regarded as a part of territory of PRC, no censorship but only some potential controls on media exists. Following the rules in Hong Kong, Google would face less litigation risk for their oppose to this policy. But the question is that I am wondering whether this site would be forbidden for visit from China. Previous examples for this prohibition includes Yahoo! HK and many BBS in Hong Kong.
Official Annoucements from Google on Its Exit

An updated version of the announcement is also available in both English and Chinese. Due to the key words that are involved in this article, this article would soon be forbidden, according to the rules of censorship. The only question is that how long it would stay in live. Following are the two pics for this announcement. One in English from the Google Blog,and the other in China from the directly link to Google.com. You can click on the pictures for larger size.
Availability of Other Products: Official Evidence

The other action that Google made is that they expose the existence of GFW. Though it has been understood for most Internet users, it is unwillingly to know for majorities. As a strong evidence that argues the freedom of Internet recently claimed by Chinese officials, a site that detects the availability of some largest Web 2.0 applications around the world for most Internet users in China, without abnormal skills and trainings is now available. For interested readers, you can click here. Following is the result of detection today.
Conclusion

We are living in a country that regards censorship as a necessary step for filtering ‘unhealthy information’, though porn webs are mostly available. As a good saying goes that, you should try to be accustomed to the environment once you find you can hardly change it. In a country that regards politics as a sensitive term, any discussion on related topics can bring you unexpected consequences. What we can do is to follow the policy, do what we can do, and never try to break the rule.

Online Cheating: A True Story

话说这年头的诈骗行为真是如雨后春笋般层出不穷。我们的智商也在一次次的大浪中接受着考验。在这场攻防战中，诈骗技术和防诈骗技术都在你来我往的交手中大有长进。看来，与高手过招这句话果然是句放之四海而皆准的经典语句啊。而QQ上时不时的“中奖陷阱提示”，MSN上的“不要透露信用卡信息”的警告以及各大报纸上的诈骗故事时时都在提醒我们：社会有风险，领奖需谨慎啊。而我今天要讲的就是我遇到的一个真实的欺诈案例。

收到垃圾邮件

具有讽刺意味的是，我今天收到了一封诈骗邮件。如果是平时，我会一删了之。而今天我打算给它“晒晒太阳”。毕竟真的去点击这些网站的人是少数。不过这个邮件多少看着有点山寨。而且Outlook也把这个邮件放到了Junk Mail中，其中的超级链接也被自动disable了。
垃圾网站历险记

为了试验这个东西的真假，我直接打开了上述网址。其实这是个冒险行为，万一网站被挂马，说不定哥们的系统就会不幸效忠党国。不过兴趣还是高于一切啊。于是我看到了如下的一个半山寨页面：

是不是觉得这个网站比较山寨？注意用户协议上写的是“雅虎邮箱”，而页面的其他地方都是Google。哎，看来作假的哥们不够细心啊。建议这个哥们雇佣个美女把把关。一般我的经验是，女孩子大多是非常细心的。此乃天性也。为了验证这个系统的真假，我随意输入了一个用户名，结果出来一个提示框：

哈哈，看到没，58000的现金和14988元的笔记本哦！超级诱人。不过呢，我从来是相信天上不会掉馅饼，而是宁可相信天将降大任于斯人也，云云。在按下Ok以后，页面显示正常登录。

在页面的下方则要求填写领取资料。注意：个人资料搜集开始了。怀着好奇的心情，我又进入了下一个页面：

从这个表单来看，需要的资料还是不少的，尤其注意的是，居然最后还要输入银行帐号和户名。我不知道是不是真的有傻瓜会去填个人资料。不过我想，大千世界无奇不有。被一时的贪念冲昏了头脑的人肯定也不少吧？而我的网站探险也到此结束了，毕竟我可不想让他们真的骚扰。
基于域名的一番“折腾”

事情到这里远没有结束。非常感谢Whois系统，我们可以很容易的知道域名的注册信息。而且考虑到域名注册的规定，这些信息我想至少有部分是真实的吧。出于对美国Privacy法律的考虑（我的服务器在美国），我只公布域名基本注册信息，而不包括注册人等信息。有兴趣的童鞋可以去whois查看。

从注册的信息来看，这个域名居然是几天前才注册的。而且呢，网站的服务器也在美国，是Windows主机。Okay，我对这个不熟悉，有专业的访客可以查下比如这个服务器在美国的哪个机房云云。
注册的联系人信息显示此人在云南昆明，并且还提供了一个手机号码。但是检索发现，此号码是海南号码。呵呵，骗人的就是骗人的，没办法啊。
结论和建议

我的测试到此就结束了。毕竟这只是出于娱乐所做的尝试，而并不是什么正规的法律手段。法律手段还是留给专业级玩家去玩吧。但是关于这个诈骗我有两点要说明：
1. 现在的诈骗技术是越来越高超了。域名也从早期的info等便宜货过渡到了com上来了。同时，山寨的网站也越做越好了。而越来越好的网站往往意味着更大的杀伤力。比如前阶段沸沸扬扬的假淘宝、假工行、假中国银行等。不知道坑害了多少人。俗话说：害人之心不可有，但是防人之心真的必须有啊！
2. 其实假冒网站还是很容易发现的，只是我们需要细心和耐性。从上面的这个站点分析我们可以看到，其实这个网站的漏洞非常多。除了自爆的邮箱名不统一以外，我们也可以利用Whois系统甚至我们的直觉来发现这些欲行不轨的家伙。

PS：其实对于做这些网站的人而言，他们不缺技术，而是缺德！

Freedom on Internet: An Alternative Explanation

Abstract: This article mainly discuss the production of regulation on Internet, as well as its anticipated consequence, grounded with the traditional economic theory. i argue the appropriate regulation on Internet is necessary due to the existence of naive users of Internet as well as the herding behavior. But I also argue that strict censorship can also mean cliff effect, which is a tragedy for the users. The contribution of this article is that it is the first time to link the development of Internet to the economic understanding. And the conclusion is also of practical meanings to the academics and practitioners who are focus on the investors protection in emerging markets.

Keywords: Internet Censorship, Naive Internet Users, Tendency Protection

DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE IS ONLY A PERSONAL ARGUMENT THAT CAN HARDLY FULLY REPRESENT THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING THAT BOTH THE AUTHOR AND THE OWNER OF THIS BLOG OWN. PLEASE BE AWARE OF TAKING YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT FOR ANY PART IN THIS ARGUMENT. NO LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR ANY PART OF THIS ARTICLE FOR BOTH THE AUTHOR AND OWNER OF THIS SITE.

Introduction

The gambling between the freedom and regulation on Internet in China is now becoming quite a popular topic, especially when Google announced a preliminary decision on its willing of exiting, a direct way expresses his arguments and annoy to the regulations in China. Various discussions and arguments are available in numerous BBS and blogs. Obviously, the freedom on Internet is becoming a new instrument for the US government to criticize the weak protection of human rights in China. A speech made by Hilary Clinton, secretary of US, would apparently concentrate the attention all around the world to this topic. I don’t know if it is necessary to treat it as an important speech or just some words by a politician, since such arguments in really common to see. But in fact, in this post, I would like to provide some deeper understanding on this topic, providing academic explanation for this gambling.
Regulation: A Production of Non-Rationality.
1. Internet Under Ideal Conditions: A Rationality Hypothesis
  
  According to the traditional economic theory, we can suppose that the behavior of an individual would be unlikely important to the decisions of others’ given the setting that the participants in an environment is numerous and countless. In fact, the Internet can provide us such an ideal environment. Considering it as a globally connected network, and the cultural differences exist for users from different countries and regions, various concept of value would be conflict that eventually form equilibrium. But do remember that the equilibrium is a general one. Under such anticipation, the arguments and issues provided by individual to the Internet can hardly affect the others. In fact, the Internet is playing as an pot, integrating various opinions, understandings, and even trivialities. Thus, the regulation on such pot is meaningless since they can hardly affect any one else. The regulation on such behaviors would be meaningless and contradict to the principle of ‘cost-efficiency’.
2. Internet in Real World: Naive Users and Harding Behavior
  
  However, be aware that the setting described above is likely to be ideal, since there is a fundamental assumption of economics that, I assume the individuals using Internet are totally rational. That is, they can fairly judge and decide what to do without any influence from others, which are regarded as exogenous. While whether such assumption can fit the reality is a question. In fact, it is widely acknowledge that the knowledge an individual matters can significantly affect his attitude and depth of though for an event, and such attitude is also related to the characteristic and some psychological factors. For this reason,i shall hereby expand the rationality hypothesis, admitting that the attitude and style of decision-making is differentiated.
  
  Given the differentiated understanding, the interacting influence between the individuals can be anticipated. For differentiated individuals, two types can be generally distinguished, one is holding information advantage and good master of knowledge, who can fully think and express their opinions independently, while the other is comparatively weak on their knowledge and expression. Under such pyramid structure, those individuals with full knowledge and comparative information advantage can thus conduct the fashion, while the others would follow. In such setting, the interacting influence is formed. And the equilibrium I argued in ideal settings are now transformed into a Nash Equilibrium.
3. Regulation on Internet: A Protection Mechanism
  
  Thus the herding among the Internet users forms. Following the terms in capital, I define the users without sufficient knowledge to conduct their own decision as naive users. Due to their disadvantage on knowledge, such naive users would prefer to follow the fashion conducted by certain mature users. Under most occasions, such following can help hide their weak mastering of knowledge, which can be regarded as tendency protection. It is easy to anticipate that the pursuing of such protection can, under some occasions, lead to misleading by those who are conducting the fashions. Such misleading is from the conflict between the personal understanding and accepted virtue given a specified social environment. Related explanation would not be given here since its complexity. And it is the misleading, or say gaps between the understanding and accepted virtue that form the regulation.
Regulation on Internet, Be Appropriate!

The regulation can be important to constrain the fashion that is contradicting to the accepted virtue. In fact, FBI is taking real-time monitoring on the Twitter, a popular micro-blog service in US, to find the clues for both existing and potential victims. And the Emails to and from US is also filtered by the network gate for security purposes. In China, such monitoring is more severe. Messages and posts on BSP and BBS are totally filtered. Any contradicting information is abandoned by such filtering. Undoubtedly, such filtering offers us a better environment, protecting us from harmful information. Just imagine the Internet without regulation, virus, Trojan and trivialities would be the main stream of the Internet.

But we must also be clear that the monitoring, or say regulation should be appropriate. Too strict censorship can lead to ‘cliff effect’, a term used in economics and finance, representing the depression on information announcement in capital markets due to a strict regulation unacceptable to the investors and managers. Similar effect can also be anticipated in Internet as well. A good example on the censorship from China can obviously provide such explanation. Since the 7*5 Event in Xinjiang, China, the Internet service in Xinjiang Province is strictly controlled till now. No Email service, no instant messaging. Taking a surf to the BBS in Xinjiang, though accessible to the citizens there, little information can be found. The other example is on Google.com. There is little report in China, but it becomes a hot topic in WSJ, a top newspaper in the field of finance, in the next two days. Obviously, the censorship in China leads to the serious cliff effect. While, jokingly, I wonder, is the cliff effect just what the government want?
Censorship and Cliff Effect: A Tragedy for Most Chinese!

Admittedly, appropriate regulation on the Internet is unquestionable. Such behavior is meaningful to the protection of naive users, who takes up the majority. But too strict censorship in China has changed its purpose. In China, the censorships is being blindly expanded. Nearly all the excellent Web 2.0 service has been abandoned in China, the personal websites, including the BBS and blogs has been strictly controlled. Anything that is contradicting to the governmental willing, even the potential ones that can hardly be observed, would be deleted. Democracy has lost its meaning here. i don’t want to underestimate the brain power of the leaders, but frankly, such censorship is a tragedy.
Enlighments to Research on Capital Markets: A Joke

Literature on accounting and finance provide us evidence that the protection of investors is quite weak in emerging markets, and the governmental organization for regulation is seeking for an efficient way for solution. Now I suppose the answer has been out. That is, they can learn from the censorship of Internet, a good lesson on how to build a solid firewall against its citizen!

Google in China: To Be or Not To Be

It would be amazed to see that a young man who works at the computer for eight hours and more that is ignored about Google. For us, the coming out of search engine has changed our lives. Their service make the seeking of specified information from the pool of Internet become easy. Among the numerous search engine, Google is undoubtedly the most famous one due to its advantage on technology and service. And in less than a decade, the Google has developed from a small workshop, settled in a garage, to a global company that integrated various services, like online photo album, Email service, Books, etc. However, it is this large firm that announced his willing of exiting China this morning.

The respect of freedom is a virtue of the Internet, and it is proposed to be a bottom line for Internet as well. In a virtual environment of Internet, people from everyone corner can share their understanding on public affairs, political events, and technical issues. It is the application of the Internet that boost the development of international trading and academic exchange among the institutions around the world. No matter if you are an expert, professor or just an ordinary citizen from a small town, the Internet is served as a public dictionary, from where you can look up historical events, statistical data, or even the pricing vegetables in a town that you are living in. Any attempt on preventing the users of Internet from obtaining certain contents can thus be regarded as a volatility to its virtue, except for some cases like threatens to the national security.

But in a mystery China, everything can happen, including the governmental control of the usage for this network. For decades, the information from the Internet is carefully filtered, which is generally introduced in a previous post. Such filtering also exists on the controlling of paper based materials. Materials and publications that are against the communism are fully controlled, especially when such materials are written in simplified and traditional Chinese, which is comprehensive for most readers hereby. That’s why for decades, the custom between Hong Kong and Mainland is caring much more on the publications within the traveler’s luggage, comparing to the custom in Shanghai, who are welcoming most travelers from US and Europe.

Google’s respect to the virtue of China is apparently conflicting with willing of the Chinese government. For Google, they are willing to present every result that they can obtain from the Internet based on their automatic indexing service, which is regarded as both the virtue of Internet and their customers. In contrary, for Chinese government, such service may not be that pleasant. Since the result presented by Google can offer news reports and analysis from other news agencies that are inconsistent to the Xinhua News Agency, which is regarded as an authority of news in China. To prevent the readers in China of reaching such ‘invalid information’, the links to the ‘invalid information’ that is regarded by the government would be reset by a firewall, known as GFW. The service of Google would down for minutes when such volatility is detected.

The reset by the GFW greatly reduce the user experience of Google. To reconcile for this action, Google.cn, a special edition of Google in China is coming out. His result is artificially intervened and all the ‘invalid information’ would be excluded. By using Google.cn instead, the user experience is much better, but, the accuracy for the result is totally lost. Frankly, the result presented by the Google.cn is biased, which is criticized by numerous mediums overseas.

i don’t know if it is the criticism or some other reasons promote Google for an announcement on his official blog this morning. According to the announcement, from today, the Google.cn would stop his artificial intervene and provide unbiased result consistent to the Google.com, his global site. And the Google.cn would be abandoned if the government refuse to accept this decision. It is obviously a good news for most users of Google. However, it means much more than only a piece of good news and the freedom for Internet in China.

Abandoning the Google.cn can directly be regarded as its abandon of markets in China. For Chinese users, Google.com would be their only choice, as what we did prior to the release of Google.cn. But don’t forget that the domain of Google.com can be locked by a firewall, just like what they have done for YouTube, Flicker, Face book, etc. Problems can be more serious if the IP of Google.com is located in the black list for Email service providers in China. Such action can prevent most Gmail users to the friends in China if they are using the mailbox provided by an national ISP. It is of some probability to happen due to the official announcement from Google, which shows evidence on the concerns of Email accounts from some persons from the Chinese government.

Besides Email, numerous services would also be unavailable once Google is locked in China. For webmasters of certain websites, including myself, the Google Adsense, Google Analytics, Google Webmasters would out of use. For academic and graduate students, they would never expect the Google Scholar for certain academic references. The life would be totally changed, and we are forced to seek for numerous alternatives for these services. The transition cost can be expected to be large.

I don’t know who would this even further go, but I do appreciate the excellent services that Google has bring us. It is hard to imagine how the life would be once Google is prohibited. Let’s just wait for the governmental response for this announcement.

Internet Constraints: Sounds Kidding but Real!

It is quite amaze to hear that there are some country that are trying to constrain the usage of the internet from their citizens, with the reason of preventing them from the ‘bad things’. But it is really happening now, and increasingly famous software are obeying this governmental willing. The failure of some largest firms, like Wal Mart and Bol-China, both tell us the importance of running a business with political connections in China.

When checking the hotmail box, I got a strange mail from TwitOnMSN, a robot that I use for twitter. Since the forbidden on twitter, this has been the only way to use my twitter, though I doubt its protection on my accounting information. Do read the suggestions in this mail, you will find something strange.

Hi,

As you may noticed, people who added TwitOnMSN to their contact list, occasionally fail to login Windows Live Messenger Chinese Version since 3rd of Dec.

If you are suffering a landing problem on WLM with a good network, you could try the following measures to resolve it:

* If you can, please reinstall your WLM in English version or other non-Chinese version. They should work just fine.

* If not, you need to login your account with other client, like meebo , and remove TwitOnMSN from your contact list. Then you might can login again in a couple of hours or a day.

We do not know the specific reason why this happens. We are terribly sorry for the problem and hope it would go away soon.

FYI. We are making a survey about TwitOnMSN. Please come in to help us to improve it:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFlmSkVYdUVaVVVBUUlBUFlYa3lnOXc6MA

Thank you so much for your time!

Best regards,

TwitOnMSN Team

For people with elementary knowledge on programming, it is clearly to see the language adapted on the user interface can hardly affect the usage of the program itself. Such difference can render only when there are differences on raw code. A reasonable interpretation in this way is that TwitOnMSN has been forbidden in a MSN Messenger of Simplified Chinese.

I don’t know how to comment on this event, but the fact is that many bloggers has changed their domain names to the international ones with registrars without China, like Godaddy and Name.com.

I am sorry to write this in English, but I don’t want my blog be forbidden in China due to its content in Chinese that are officially unwelcomed!

Short Address Forbidden: Internet or Intranet?

This post is quite occasional, I don’t even plan to discuss the GFW again since it can repeat my previous article on this related topic. It is Bill again, that told me some errors occur on my short link posted to the Twitter when updating my newly posted articles. Though due to some faults he temporarily closed his personal blog, he kept the professional perspicacity as a software engineering. Thanks for his help on helping me fix numerous faults since the start of this blog.

It is due to some political reasons, though I can hardly identify what they are indeed, that the world-famous Twitter was forbidden. But we were still able to use a gadget to login based on the Gmail. While today,I eventually find the gadget is forbidden as well. And the technology for this filtering is great improved. Any links with the word ‘twitter’ is definitely forbidden. And great piles of products that can be applied on Twitter are also enjoying the same treatment, including the short links, twitterfeed, are totally forbidden.

To solve this problem, some posted an article that describes the process of building up a private platform with Python based on Google App Engine. Here is a solution and introduction written by William Long (in Chinese). But which is a great trick that, the official site of Python was later forbidden as well. The reason why I call it as a trick is that Python is only a programming language, i really cannot explain the potential harm from a language to the security of the country. If anyone can provide a reasonable answer, do tell me!

I really don’t know if we are using the internet or just intranet. Since the beginning of this year, many great service has been forbidden, including Blogger.com, WordPress.com, Youtube.com, etc. And now, the Twitter and its byproducts are forbidden as well. Wish one day our Email and instant messaging can be forbidden as well, then there would be no child get addiction to the internet!