Illustrated introduction to the four tones of Mandarin Chinese

July 24, 2011 by Jason Li

(Disclaimer: This is a repost of a blog post I wrote at my day job, which I think 88 Bar readers will also find interesting. Apologies for the plug.)

We’ve started playing with the newly released ShowMe app, which lets you create Khan Academy-style video tutorials. So far it’s been pretty great. Below, we’ve included the first…

Continue readingIllustrated introduction to the four tones of Mandarin Chinese

Losing respect for the manicured wilderness of the US

July 19, 2011 by Jason Li

From Outside’s Kinda Long March:

I CALL A HALT and set the video to capture the scene. After three days of clear weather, broken curtains of low clouds chase across the wooded slopes of Thunderhead Mountain in the distance. The rising wind brings a damp chill, and our team begins…

Continue readingLosing respect for the manicured wilderness of the US

Ethnography of Tech

Tricia Wang, undercover migrant worker extraordinaire

July 4, 2011 by Jason Li

Follow Tricia in her adventures to put herself in the shoes of migrant workers in Wuhan and to understand youth at the borders (economically and geographically) are using technology in China.

First stop: Room, board and internet in an underground tunnel:

I’ve been touring underground tunnels looking for a short-term…

Continue readingTricia Wang, undercover migrant worker extraordinaire

Android & Arduino-powered electric bike

June 24, 2011 by Jason Li

Debuted at the Techyizu Demo Day a week ago, the Rudy Bike.

Via 新车间, the hackerspace in Shanghai.

Iwan Baan photography: New versus historic Tulou architecture

June 23, 2011 by Jason Li

VANKE Tulou Housing Guangzhou – Affordable housing complex
By URBANUS Architects

Historic Tulou Housing in Yongding – China

More from Iwan Baan on his website. (Via Solid Gap.)

The netizens in the underbelly of China

June 17, 2011 by Jason Li

From the excellent The Story of W&L: China’s Great Internet Divide:

I also asked L, and only a handful of his grassroots users own a computer or have a 3G connection. So how could this happen? L smiled and said, internet cafes are not the most effective channel. Next to the factory districts there are convenience stores, where the…

Continue readingThe netizens in the underbelly of China

Hong Kong is not competitive?

June 13, 2011 by Jason Li

Just read two recent articles on the Financial Times on Hong Kong’s sham competitiveness, especially within its own boundaries:

Hong Kong’s land system that time forgot — about how the government still profits from a colonial custom of land sales, and how this not-so-competitive system has created the most expensive property prices in the world.
Model economy’s…

Continue readingHong Kong is not competitive?

Casting call to translate Chinese videogame classics into English

June 6, 2011 by Jason Li

While videogame hackers and fans have been translating Japanese games into English for decades, there hasn’t been much attention paid to translating and popularizing games in other languages. Part of the reason is that games that aren’t from the US or Japan are not very well-known, and part of the reason is that a fan-made translation of a…

Continue readingCasting call to translate Chinese videogame classics into English

ARTHK11

May 28, 2011 by Jason Li

Ending today. Hong Kong’s annual art fair featuring works from galleries from all over (with Asian galleries dominating). Well attended by locals passing by, visitors flying in and from early reports, also by prominent buyers and sellers.

Above: A local favorite that blends traditional Chinese landscape painting with modern Hong Kong skyscrapers. I wonder if people unfamiliar with…

Continue readingARTHK11