Weird weather in St. Louis.

Blogger Isaac Mao posted Blogger Isaac Mao posted to Google Founders, which provided three suggestions. For me, I don’t quite agree with him, so here are my comments. I do believe that Dr. Kai-Fu Lee is the right person for Google China and the current strategy is right. (Come on, I have no relationship with him:) Well, probably in detail, Google China needs some improve/change, but the fundamental strategy is right. You can say no to me, please leave your comments freely.

Dear Larry and Sergey,

I’m writing you the short letter on behalf of many Internet users in China to have some suggestions to resolve the current dilemma for Google in China, from both business and social perspectives.

Google China now is not exactly in a dilemma. When we say dilemma, which means you can not go either way. However, we can see the progress in China. The marketing share decreasing in China is not necessarily the dilemma.

During the National Day holiday week in 2002, when Google.com was blocked in China for the first time, Chinese Google users made an online protest spontaneously. They appealed to free the purer search engine wave by wave. Its seemed its also the first time grassroots power was demonstrated in China on Internet. You can imagine how eager they are to have a complete Internet instead of a shrinked one. At last, people won, Google backed. However, after 4 years, we started to question whether we should continue to support Google. Many users here were disappointed when they found Google.cn filtered many keywords. The compromise remarks by you in Davos made us more frustrated. Seems you are adopting self-censorship which hurts those loyal users a lot which also devalue your motto of “non-evil”.

Here your basic assumption is that GFW is evil, and when Google filter the content himself, it is kind of evil. Let’s put it this way, if you can access google but usually get a connection reset, are you annoyed? Yes, we are professional user, we can bypass the sensitive keywords, we can setup proxy, we can do everything to fight with GFW. But the problem is, what should the common user do? The are expected to get a result, no matter sensitive or not, related to their search. However, sometimes, even their keywords are not sensitive, unfortunately, in the returning result, there is a sensitive content. Boo, they get a connection reset. Who can they blame? They are using Google, right? GFW will not say: “Sorry, your connection is reseted by GFW, please try later or dail XXX for more information”. To guarantee the user experiences, some compromises are needed here in China. I know nearly every blogger in China consider the GFW as evil. However, self-censorship is a down-to-earth strategy to make things work and protect Google itself in China. I think the Google’s philosophy is first make it work, then improve it. It is hard to say this is evil or not. For instance, if you can use Google but usually get the annoying connection reset everyday, what will you do? Will you choose Yahoo! or Baidu? Actually Google.cn is facing the small-business more than the blogger as the small-business will bring google the major income in China. Thus, to make the Google search work in China is much more important than other issues like the content. To assume every user has the technical knowledge and is patient enough to use Google behind the powerful GFW is gratuitous.

Google is ever regarded not only a leading Internet business, but a hope for many people around the world to open their thinking. Many bloggers in China still believes that in their everyday writings. We guess you were misled by incomplete information on how censorship is good to Chinese people. The fact is Google in the 130M-Internet-Users country is losing loyal users with loosing your principles. We understand its tough to anyone to make decisions. But it high time to change it back to the right track. Here we would like to propose 3 ideas to Google for its China strategy in a long term run, to survive, and live better:

The question is, who is the loyal users for Google now? Let me put it this way, do you really think that the Blogger in China will contribute more to Google China than the common user in terms of the income or searching market share? Do you really think the small business will not pay for Google only because Google self-censored the content without the overall quality of related AdWords?

1. Set up a 1B US$ corporate venture fund to invest in China’s Internet pioneer sites and cutting edge companies. The venture fund can be managed by experienced fund managers and industry gurus who really understand the value of Google, as well market potential of China. In my estimation, a venture fund with such a size can invest over 100 deals totally cover 60% of Internet traffic in China. With venture fund strategy, Google can play its manageable chaotic game in a capital way.

This idea is really bad. If Google really wants to setup up a VC, the best place for this fund is Silicon Valley instead of China now and in the near future. The main problem for Google China is the market share in the searching market instead of the whole Internet market. To invest the Internet company in China, which is actually invest the accessing point of Internet and the content producer or communities in China, Google will maintain a very long product line. The things is: you can not solve the dilemma in China in a capital way, Google China needs no money from the capital market. If this fund is for obtaining the market share or communities in China, the best way to manage this fund is Google China team themselves. We always emphasis the concentration of a company when they make the decision, which is also true in China. If Google want to play the game in a capital way, OK, please just suggest them to move the whole China technical team to Seattle or MV to develop other products or do the localization, and convert Google China to another Sequoia. VC can earn money, but is it really what Google China want? I don’t think so. The marketing share in search is quite hard to gain simply via investing. Google China now has 200- technical members and probably about 200 marketing/hr employees, which is rather a small team. You can image that for them, the localization is quite a heavy task, not to mention the product development for China market. Of course this small team can not take charge with the management of the fund. However, without their feedback, how can the VC choose companies to comply with the whole strategy of Google China. In one word, VC is good, but not helpful to solve the dilemma for Google China now if you say it is a dilemma. This strategy is in fact not a strategy. If this is a strategy for Google, it is also of Microsoft, for Oracle, for IBM, even for Citigroup, for American Express, for every Top 500 companies that wants to gain more money/market share in China.

1. Develop anti-censorship tools and service for global Internet users. In China as well some other coutries, censorship is still a tradition in culture. We are accustomed to control or to be controlled(It’s true!). But it’s too far from modern humanity and universal value. It won’t target China only, instead its a global issue to be solved. So it won’t cause Google’s operation in China into trouble. The budget to complete the mission will be not more than several millions dollars.

Good willing, but not easy to implement. I don’t know if you have heard about Tor. Tor is a tool to protect your content from GFW. However, to develop the product officically and distributed it openly is under a very high legal risk. For example, if we have this tool, can the gov-er-ment say: It is not legal to use this, as it is not legal to use a GPS speed camera detector? Of course the gov-er-ment can ban this tool like banning the speed camera detector, even these two things are inherently different (one is dangerous, one is for freedom). Actually, GFW is not the Google’s source of trouble in China. If the only issue is GFW, how can the smartest people at Google not come up with this idea? As you know, it is hard for google to obtain a permit to collect the news in China, that’s why Google News in China is called Google Information. It somehow reflect the key issue: the gov is the key constraint for Google China. However, how can Google blame/fight with the gov apparently in China if it wants to start the business? The only way to solve the dilemma is the combination of time and public relationship, which is in fact not a technical problem.

3. Increase the incentive to Chinese Google Adsense users. This can dramatically encourage more Internet users to participate Google’s business ecosystem. It’s a pure business strategy to increase loyalty as same important to Google’s products in China. Anyway the tactic should be deployed with better localized customer service to respect to individual users and protect their less to hundred-dollar income.

True, but unachievable. It is in fact the unfair competition and will essentially impair the whole searching market in China, which is also not good for Google.

Google is not alone. There are still several millions Google fans in China, especially those bloggers who are more real time intelligent to outside world. If Google do good as they did in early days. There will be more supporters for sure. Google is not playing a game of itself. You may under-estimate that before with limited information sources. People here are looking forward that you can pick the three suggestions(or partly) as China strategy in the coming years which can keep Google’s “non-evil” motto alive in people’s mind. It will also benefit to Google’s business in China. It will be also benefit to the whole Internet neutrality in China. All the Internet users will appreciate that eventually.

True. I am also a GFan. Support is not everything in China, right? We have supported someone in the history, but the result was not tah as we expected. If Google’s opponent in the game is baidu, support is everything. If the opponent is gov which you want Google to be the other player, it is a fatal game and usually no winner, support is nothing.

All of all, the pure the better; the more compromise, the worse.

You bet, but it is a further goal. Now, let’s face the truth: In China, more people choose Baidu while Baidu does the self-censorship ever since the very beginning. Why Baidu success, because of the pure? Well, I am not going to say: be evil. The key is: know the real situation in China, understand the local policy and have the good relationship with the gov. Sounds evil, but it is true. And I can see the progress, I think Google will be out of this trap soon.

快过年了，最近也有点忙，不频繁更新了, 即日起到春节，休博。从xkcd抓了一堆图，把第一页贴满 :)

要过情人节了，先贴几个和情人节有关的

追女生的时候，命令行不是万能的

数学无用处时:

最强的电子系学生情书

机器语言情书：

史上最色的情人节情书：

最强的数论学家的情书 （素数和Riemann Zeta 函数）

史上最浪漫的韦恩图：

再来几个搞的：

看天花板的计算机学家的枕边话:

计算机学家打游戏

右手原理(最后有点搞)

极品旋转矩阵：

fMRI 出现以后

和菜头的 Blog我是非常喜欢的, 在那边的粉丝一般都比较有文化. 这次他要大家给开个书单，大家群策群力，开了如下：

《ＣＬＡＳＳ》
《一个牧羊少年的奇幻之旅》
〈一千零一夜〉
《三国演义》
《三百首》
《上下五千年》
《世界美术二十讲》
《人鱼之伤》
〈伊豆舞女〉
《傅雷家书》
《傅雷画传》
《傲慢与偏见》
《儒林外史》
〈元曲〉
《别闹了，费曼先生》
《剑桥图解少儿百科》
〈包法利夫人〉
〈北岛的诗〉
《十日谈》
〈华尔街之子摩根〉
〈博尔赫斯小说〉
〈历史〉
〈变形记〉
《变态心理学》
《史努比全集》
《史记》
《哈克贝利 费恩历险记》
〈唐人绝句〉
《唐诗选》
《喧哗与骚动》
《围城》
〈国家地理杂志〉
《圣经》
《圣经的故事》
《圣诞的故事》
《城市猎人》
《基督山伯爵》
《基督最后的诱惑》
《堂吉诃德》
〈夏洛的网〉
〈天是红河岸〉
《奥德赛》
《孤筏重洋》
〈学校〉
〈安徒生童话〉
《安德的影子》
《安德的游戏》
〈宋词〉
《宽容》
《小妇人》
《小王子》
《少年维特的烦恼》
《幸福之路》
《幻城》
《庄子》
〈影子武士〉
《心理学与生活》
《性学报告》
《悟空传》
《情人》
《战争与和平》
〈拿破仑传〉
《挪威的森林》
〈时间简史〉
《昆虫记》
《春江花月夜》
〈林语堂文集〉
〈梁实秋散文集〉
〈梵高传〉
《欧 亨利短篇小说精选》
《死者的代言人》
《汤姆 索亚历险记》
《洛丽塔》
〈海子的诗〉
《滚石合集》
《漫话圣经》
《炼金术士》
〈熊〉
《父与子漫画全集》
〈瓦尔登湖〉
〈生命不能之轻〉
《生命中不能承受之轻》
《百年孤独》
《石涛山水画赏析》
《神曲》
《神秘岛》
《福尔摩斯探案集》
《窗外》
《笑死你不偿命》
《第二十二条军规》
《第二性女人》
《简.爱》
《荆棘鸟》
〈繁星〉
《红楼梦》
《约翰.克里斯多夫》
《纸牌的秘密》
《经济学》
《经济学原理》
《经济文论》
《罗兰小语》
《美国读者文摘合订本》
＜老子他说＞
《老子》
《庄子》
《肖申克的救赎》
〈舒婷诗选〉
《苏菲的世界》
《茶花女》
《荆棘鸟》
《要塞》
《论语》
《说唐》
《读者》
〈谈美书简〉
〈辞海〉
《钢铁是怎样练成的》
《长恨歌》
《长腿叔叔》
《长袜子皮皮》
《阿加莎.克里斯蒂系列》
〈雅科卡传〉
《霍乱时期的爱情》
《青年文摘》
〈顾城的诗〉
《鲁滨逊飘流记》
《麦兜故事》
《麦田里的守望者》

这些推荐给高中生的书阿, 我都大学毕业了, 至少2/3没读过. 现在的小孩子知识面越来越广了.

PS:大家肯定好奇，说，靠，You XU 同学你还真闲，还一个一个拷贝粘贴下来。呵呵，我才没有这个闲功夫。我在Linux下几行脚本解决问题。

1. 下载和菜头的网页： wget http://www.hecaitou.com/?p=1406 -O index

2. 把书名号框着的抓出来（中文书名号居然有三种，无敌了……）: cat index | grep -o “《.》” »book.list; cat index | grep -o “〈.〉” » book.list; cat index | grep -o “＜.*＞” »book.list

3. 把书名大致排个序 cat book.list |sort >book.list

4. 手工稍微处理一下(正则表达式匹配的是最长的) vim book.list

5. 再排序，uniq: cat book.list | uniq |sort

6. 贴过来，把错别字的书名删除，好了

整个过程只用两分钟，大家使用Linux吧，好处就在这里.

(写这个文章居然花了10分钟…….人的效率就是没机器高. 还发现 tr 对UTF-8支持不好， 不过grep 和sort 都比较牛, 不过sort的顺序我还没看出来)

[Translated From Ask Blog and Googleblogoscoped] (快速翻译一篇文章，仅做调侃搞笑用)

Google牌笔坏了 [原文]

Ask.com (美国一个搜索引擎公司) 的Blog上又贴出了一个Google 的产品最近出现了小问题一个帖子。这次的问题产品叫做”Google圆珠笔” 这里还有一个 Google迷宫游戏坏掉的视频。

下面是Ask.com的帖子的翻译

Google 最近的一次当机

世界上有些事情就是巧啊，才读了 Nick Gonzalez’s 在 Techcrunch 上的一篇 Google 又当掉 的文章，又一个Google产品让我们当了一下，这次是；

2007年2月2日: Google 圆珠笔没油了.

Scott Grieder, 是Ask.com 团队的产品经理。他在一个很重要的电话会议中用Google 圆珠笔做纪录，不幸的事情发生了，那支圆珠笔居然没油了。这个Google基础产品／服务的失误使得他在重要时刻不得不换一支笔，并且造成了显然的不便以及数据的丢失。

在最近一次见面中，Scott和我们说，”我应该更多了解一点Google产品用于商业用途的(利弊)，Google 圆珠笔适合家用，但是当考虑到我们公司的生产率时，（他就不一定适用了） 我不得不在纪录过程中换了一支笔。而且我也不知道我丢失了多少数据。

下面是Google圆珠笔的生产效率图

这个笔的笔体和笔芯都是透明的，用户可以看到笔中间并且大致预测什么时候没油了。但是因为可能有些杂质，圆珠笔油把笔体弄脏了，所以给用户一个笔还有足够多油的错误印象。

“现在我用其他的笔办公了（或者，我现在申请其他笔的服务了）”，Grieder说，”唉，我一直相信Google一直支撑着他的产品，现在看来我错了”

Google圆珠笔，谢谢你，你起到了你应有的作用。

－－Ask团队

更新1：他又可以写了。好像里面还有油的。谢谢Matt Cutts 的建议”写前用力摇一摇”

更新2：又不能写啦

[Ask 也是够绝的，拉着这个发挥:)]