Well, since my old pandapassport post about expensive real software in China is doing so fabulous on the newly created Chinalyst’s Popular Content page, I thought I’d balance here it with a new post dedicated to helping foreigners shop for cheap hardware in China.

Anyway, I’ve been talking to some of my “people,” discussing my future plans to buy a new ninja-fied computer. I bought my current excuse-for-a-laptop on ebay 3 years ago for about CDN$400, and I think it’s soon time to buy a desktop. About the only function my laptop can successfully perform these days is pressing waffles.

Those who are in-the-know (i.e. my friends who are even nerdier than me) …

Ah, the Great Firewall of China - keeping the barbarians (with their porn, free thought, spiritual movements and user-generated encyclopedias) out of the Middle Kingdom.

Well, if you’ve ever had Kublai-like aspirations, here are a few proxy tools for scaling the wall, and getting back to reading the nefarious posts of all those Blogspot bloggers, and porn.

Tor: Anonymity Online
Easily the most important tool in a wallcrawler’s arsenal. Tor is a group of tools that with a bit of configuring, allows you to surf the net anonymously. Basically the software routes all your Web page requests through other people’s IP addresses (your Internet calling card), masking your identity …

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UFvVAcIJM0[/video]
Now, I’ve said my share of curses towards the lead footed (both gas and break) drivers of the over-stuffed death-traps that are China’s transit system, but man … some days it just doesn’t pay to ask for correct change…

Basically, the story goes… two dudes and their tight-panted tag-along get on a bus in Wuhan and put 5 RMB in the box. The bus driver explains that it’s 2 RMB/person, and therefore they owe another yuan. The guy, who apparently usually pays with a bus card (and gets a cheaper rate because of it, argues that it is 5 RMB for 4 people. Claiming the bus driver is trying to cheat him, he files his complaint to the back of …

I’ve decided that years of having really crap State-controlled TV has taken a huge toll on the populous of China. It has caused near all 1.3 billion inhabitants of the PRC to view the world around them as nothing but an uncontrollable, intangible source of entertainment.

It would seem to me that a numbness has overcome the gross majority of this nation and that when not directly involved in the situation around them, it all glosses over and an ignorant shroud cloaks them into thinking that the entire macrocosm exists simply in their being.

Having to venture out of the little oasis of my apartment a lot lately for …

About 2 months ago, me and my girlfriend got a dog - don’t ask me why, that’s another story. His name is Pepe. “Pepe Q-tip” to be exact, due to the fact that it looks like it’d be really easy to clean your ears with him. Anyway, to get to the point, it seems that little Pepe is growing up of late, often becoming quite… shall we say, “romantic” with his stuffed Doraemon toy.

Today my girlfriend had her Chinese tutor over for their regular Chinese lesson. The tutor is a young university student, working part-time in an agency specializing in teaching Chinese to …