August 31, 2010
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By sushipan in only in china
From CityWeekend:
As if Apple doesn’t have enough problems with iPhone and iPad piracy here, China Unicom’s latest stunt is just a little bit ridiculous. The telecoms giant is now offering an in-store jailbreaking service for iPhones, meaning that devices that are locked to a particular service provider can be used with a Unicom SIM.
According to this first hand report (Google translated), the stores are also offering to help you download the top 10 paid apps for free, and they’ll trim down your SIM card so it will fit inside the iPhone 4’s micro-SIM slot. Since the iPhone 4 isn’t available in China until next month, unless you want to buy a knock-off or a super-expensive grey market model, this service is only of any use if you’ve brought your iPhone 4 back from overseas.
Apple is yet to release a statement. We think they’ll be less than pleased.
I don’t see what Apple has much to be displeased about. Firstly, let’s clarify CW’s blog post: jailbreaking is not the same as unlocking, it just opens the phone to run 3rd party apps. Of course, jailbreaking is a requirement for unlocking, which is undoubtedly what all these phones are going through at these Unicom stores. However, jailbreaking is undoubtedly a market driver Apple and not something they should be preventing. Being locked makes an iPhone less attractive as it ties the owner to one provider. Apple is making their margin off the hardware, after all, and so it should make no difference whether the phone is unlocked or not, or whether it’s been purchased overseas or not; the gold’s in them there damn parts! Unless, of course, they’re majorly marking up their phones to China Unicom, which would have an incentive to install as many of their SIM cards into anyone’s phones. I doubt that is happening though, as Apple should know how prohibitively expensive the Unicom iPhone package already is. The smart money is that they’re happily looking the other way while this stuff happens. And yes, they’re losing a some money on the whole 10 app thing, but it’s a pittance compared to the insane margins they’re making off of Foxconn’s back. And us purchasers, of course.
August 27, 2010
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By sushipan in photos
Here are some pics I took last weekend during my first ever trip to the Shanghai World Expo. There aren’t many as we got there in the late afternoon, and the lines were obviously too long for us to bear, especially in this ridiculous Shanghai summer heat. Fact: Iran juice tastes dangerous and uncertain and extreme. But that’s just me.






Tags: shanghai expo
August 27, 2010
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By sushipan in art and entertainment
Thanks to @peijinchen’s excellent recommendation, I have now migrated over to Posterous for all my social media needs. Now I can do a blast to Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Flickr, and my own much neglected site sushipanda.com. And all these sites have my own personal information and surfing habits, and will share with each other! Now I know what Meg Ryan’s character felt like when she jumped into that volcano in “Joe Versus the Volcano.” (great movie, by the way).
August 20, 2010
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By sushipan in miscellaneous, sports
Just read this article in the New York Times, and think it’s one of those fabulous ideas that can be totally transplanted to Shanghai, and I’m looking forward to someone other than me to kick it off!
Joyride is a group bike ride with a shared route and a common soundtrack. Riders equipped with MP3 players and headphones set off from the same point, pushing “play” simultaneously. They travel individually or in a pack, but each knows what the others are hearing. Gliding through the city on two wheels can already feel like being in a long tracking shot in a very personal movie, especially if you do it while listening to music. Joyride gives that experience an added dimension — an audience of participants.
There’s more to Joyride than just a leisurely bike ride, though. There’s a picnic in Central Park, complete with checkerboard tablecloths spread on the grass, bouquets of flowers and a menu of lobster rolls and fresh corn salad, courtesy of Jane Park, a friend of Ms. Sherman who is also a chef. Ms. Sherman said it was integral to her vision to have all the participants meet. “Jane and I talk about it as the second act,” she said. “If everyone just rode and listened and then drifted away, it wouldn’t be right.”
I know there are already a few biking groups in Shanghai, both expat and local-oriented. While having everyone listen to a soundtrack on their headphones while biking might be a bit harrowing in this town, at least participants will know that if they do get hit by a wayward taxi cab or heavy-duty truck, they’ll have a support group ready to call for help and stabilize their spines instead of being gawked at by a useless ring of pajama-clad bystanders.
Someone do this quickly! I want to join! (at least, for the part where everyone picnics)