On Google’s Impending China Decision, and How It Has Lost Its Impact
The Social Analyst is a weekly column by Mashable Co-Editor Ben Parr, where he digs into social media trends and how they are affecting companies in the space.
Two months ago, Google threatened to shut down its China search engine over censorship. Yet until today, its China search engine has stayed up with results still censored. Now the search company is finally expected to announce that it’s going to actually follow through and slowly shut down its China search engine.
So why does it feel like Google’s impending decision will not have the impact it could have had two months ago?
When Google first made its declaration, the implications seemed enormous. One of the world’s largest technology companies was reigniting the censorship debate. Governments and activists would query China over the Google attacks and the state of free speech in its country, while Google would be taking the moral high ground as it walked away from one of the world’s largest markets due to principle.
Instead, we’ve had a two month “will they or won’t they?” type of affair that even Google’s co-founder said could take a year or two to resolve. Now that the end game may be close, what will happen when Google actually pulls out of the world’s most populated nation?
The answer, sadly, is not much.
Google Is Trying to Have Its Cake And Eat It Too
Ever since the company’s bold statement on censorship in China, it has kept quiet publicly. Privately however, the company has been in talks with the Chinese government over its operations in the Asian nation. Google’s attempts to run its search engine unfiltered though seem to have failed — not a big surprise for those of us who have been tracking the Chinese government’s Internet policies.
Now the heart of the issue seems to be that Google doesn’t want to completely leave China, even if it does shut down its search engine. The company would like to keep operations in the country. The fallout from the Google-China dispute has already affected Android, which is something the company cannot afford to lose in such a budding market.
Has Google’s resolve wavered? It’s tough to tell, but my guess would be no — it will stay true to its word and shut down the Google China search engine if it cannot serve unfiltered search results.
What is happening though is this: it is trying to have the rest of its China pie while coming out looking like the good guys. Operations in advertising, mobile, and non-search fields would stay open, keeping Google’s foothold in China. At the same time, it could take its moral stand.
A Rock and a Hard Place
The problem though is that the message it wanted to send has already been lost. China has won. Its laws have not changed, the damage to China has been minimal at best, and it looks like it will get to keep one of the world’s most powerful technology companies within its borders. Google, on the other hand, has lost much of the shine from its original announcement, will soon give up a small but valuable piece of the Chinese search market, and has weakened its other initiatives in the communist nation.
After Google was hacked, it was put in between a rock and a hard place. Its actions, while still bold, will not change how things are done in China. Its indecisiveness with how to proceed has made the pressure on China all but evaporate.
Google’s going to finally make the stand it promised to make two months ago. It’s unfortunate that it allowed time to rust the shine of its declaration and take away much of the principle and authority that made the decision so powerful and inspiring.
Tags: china, Google, Google China, google search, The Social Analyst
Dems, GOP Pressure Fence-Sitters Over Health Care Reform Bill
Political pressure is being applied from all angles in Washington, as Democratic leaders scramble to close the deal on health care reform, and Republicans are being tapped to argue against — and even in favor of — the legislation
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Dems, GOP Pressure Fence-Sitters Over Health Care Reform Bill
Haim Death ‘Linked To Illegal Drug Ring’
The death of former teen actor Corey Haim is linked to an illegal prescription drugs ring, US authorities have said.
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Haim Death ‘Linked To Illegal Drug Ring’
Ex-Astronauts Criticize Decision to End Moon Trips
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Ex-Astronauts Criticize Decision to End Moon Trips
GOP: WH Job Offer to Sestak Would Be a ‘Crime’
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GOP: WH Job Offer to Sestak Would Be a ‘Crime’
GOP Slams Brakes on Diplomat Pick
Senate Republicans delay confirmation of Obama’s ambassador pick over concerns about her ties to Cuba
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GOP Slams Brakes on Diplomat Pick
First Health Reform, Now …Student Aid Overhaul?
After yearlong struggle to pass health care reform, Dems have now decided to add overhaul of student aid to the bill
• Dem Takes on Party Over Abortion Language in Bill
• Ga. Weighs Banning Abortions Based on Race
• Senators in Spat With Obama Over Health Bill Deals
• YOU DECIDE: Is Health Care Reform Doomed?
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First Health Reform, Now …Student Aid Overhaul?
Officials : N.J. Al Qaeda Suspect Tricked Yemeni Guard
The U.S. Al Qaeda suspect detained in Yemen had persuaded his guard to unshackle him so the two could pray together and then snatched his unattended gun and killed him during the suspect’s failed escape attempt, senior security officials said Saturday.
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Officials : N.J. Al Qaeda Suspect Tricked Yemeni Guard
Tweet #RefreshMashable to Support New Location App to Change Your Community
Here in Austin, I just finished introducing SparkHelp, the project Mashable has decided to support for the Pepsi Refresh SxSW Challenge. We’re competing against two other teams over the next few days to help get our idea $50,000 in funding, which will help make it a reality.
The Project
After lots of great submissions from our readers, we settled on SparkHelp’s simple and timely concept that we think stands to make a huge social impact with the resources of Pepsi and our support.
Here’s how SparkHelp explains their concept:
“SparkHelp’s idea is to encourage local communities to band together with a Foursquare meets Craigslist application. The idea is simple: anyone can place a call for help and anyone can answer that call. Help can be sought for anything: fence repair, car repair, computer work, dog walking, etc.”
With the increasing popularity of location-based apps on smartphones, think about being able to turn on SparkHelp when you have a couple hours free to find a project in your neighborhood – from the simple helping a neighbor in need to helping build a local playground. This makes getting involved simple, timely, and free of any long-term commitment.
We think this vision can be realized with a $50,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project, allowing the team behind SparkHelp – lead by Brian Milner – to build its website as well as the apps for all of the major mobile platforms.
How to Support It
The winner will be chosen based on which project gets the most tweets that include its own unique hashtag. Our hashtag is #RefreshMashable – if you believe in the SparkHelp concept, be sure to include it on all of your tweets until voting ends on Monday, March 15th, at 11:59 CT. You can follow the voting in real-time on the Refresh SXSW Facebook Page.
Also, if you’re at SXSW, your registration bag includes a “VOTE” button with room to write in the project you’re supporting – you can add the #RefreshMashable tag there as well (find me if you need a sharpie!). The SparkHelp team has also setup a Twitter account where you can track progress and activities. Thanks for your support!
Adam and Brian Do Oprah Radio
Brian and I also got a chance to appear on the Derrick Ashong Experience on Oprah Radio earlier today to talk about the project. Here’s a snapshot:
Tags: pepsi refresh, sxsw, sxswi
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Tweet #RefreshMashable to Support New Location App to Change Your Community
Democrats Dump Student Aid Overhaul Into Health Care Bill
If a yearlong struggle to pass sweeping health care reform that will affect every American wasn’t enough for Democrats, they have now decided to add a sweeping overhaul of student aid to the bill.
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Democrats Dump Student Aid Overhaul Into Health Care Bill
Former Astronauts Criticize Decision to Stop Moon Missions
Jim Lovell, who led the Apollo 13 mission in 1970, told the BBC the cancellation could be disastrous.
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Former Astronauts Criticize Decision to Stop Moon Missions
35 killed in Kandahar blasts
Officials say at least 35 people were killed in a series of blasts in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. CNN’s Phil Black reports.
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35 killed in Kandahar blasts
Alleged cover-up of crash
A fatal car crash in Moscow has become the focus of an internet protest. CNN’s Matthew Chance reports.
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Alleged cover-up of crash
Families flee shelling
Families flee their homes in Mogadishu, Somalia, as government forces and rebels do battle.
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Families flee shelling
Stimulus ‘little victories’
The White House draws attention to ways the stimulus plan is helping Americans, as CNN’s Sandra Endo reports.
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Stimulus ‘little victories’
Snapshots from serial killer
Hundreds of photos of women and children are found in a serial killer’s storage unit. CNN’s Stephanie Elam reports.
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Snapshots from serial killer
5 Must-See Google Easter Eggs
There’s no doubt Google has a sense of humor — its excellent April Fools jokes are a testament to that. But there’s a wealth of funnies that can found any time of the year too. Here we pull together a handy list of Google “Easter eggs” that you can uncover right now.
Bearing in mind we’re working up another list covering surprises that can be found in Google Maps, Earth and Street View, have we missed any other tricks from those crazy Google funsters? Do share in the comments below.
1. Try a Different Version of the Google Homepage
Sure, Google’s doodles make the famously sparse homepage a little more funky on certain days, but there are ways to jazz it up any day with some homepage tricks that will turn your search base into a pirate-, Klingon- or even Swedish Chef- themed online property.
Most of these work by entering an exact search term and then hitting the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. There’s a ton of these, some of which have been active for a while.
Google nods to open source software with Linux- and BSD devil-themed options that can be activated by typing “google linux” and “google bsd” then hitting the IFL button.
Those partial to a bit of grog meanwhile can get their Google homepage pirated by doing the same with “xx-pirate.” Google will display in “hacker-speak” if you type in “google l33t.” The Klingon version can be found with “xx-klingon,” and if you want some bork with your Google, enter “xx-bork” to go all Muppet Show.
Even more options include pig latin (“xx-piglatin”), an Easter egg-themed page complete with bunny mini-game (“google easter egg”), and a dark gothic way to search (“google gothic”). Typing “elgoog” offers Google backwards, and there’s an Elmer Fudd tribute at “ewmew fudd.” Finally, it’s not quite a whole homepage change, but entering “ascii art” will make the Google logo display in that style.
2. See Quirky Calculator Results
While the few funny answers Google offers via its Calculator app don’t quite top the amusement to be had by typing 5318008 into your upside-down elementary school calculator, they are nonetheless another sign that the search giant doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Case in point — searching for the number of horns on a unicorn makes the Calculator app spring into life with the answer “1,” which is the same number it returns if you ask Google what the loneliest number is. Searching for “once in a blue moon” brings up “1.16699016 × 10-8 hertz.”
And, always a classic, searching for “the answer to life, the universe, and everything” will trigger the Calculator display “42,” which we all know is a reference to Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
3. View Search Results Funnies
A classic, third-party search gag is revealed by asking Google to “find chuck norris” and hitting the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. The result, in bold red, reads “Google won’t search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don’t find Chuck Norris, he finds you.” Suggestions for the next course of action include, “Run, before he finds you.”
Although not falling into the Easter egg basket, some of the auto-suggestions that can be found via Google’s search service are pretty funny, too.
4. Get Teddy Bears and Ninjas
Google programmers have messed around with code for both Picasa and Google Reader to yield some surprising results.
Taking Picasa first, when in the desktop software, hitting control-shift-y will make a teddy bear appear. Hitting the same combo again will give the first teddy a new buddy, and so on. It’s since been revealed this was the childhood bear of photographer and photoblogger Noah Grey who worked with Google on the project.
Reader, meanwhile, gets an even more comprehensive Easter egg. With a reference to the old Konami video game cheat code — that, depending on the game, would give you 30 lives or other bonuses — hitting up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, will make your RSS feed reader go into “ninja” mode.
As well as making some of the screen blue, all your feeds will read “30,” and some of the icons will change (e.g. the like/unlike buttons, which turn into animated hearts). A little cartoon ninja will actually appear on the right hand side of your screen.
5. iGoogle Theme Surprises in the Wee Hours
iGoogle skins are practically chocolate-coated with so many Easter Eggs to be found within. A wide selection of the themes — which tart up your browser bar with pictures that change throughout the day — have a secret that’s revealed at 3:14 AM PST every single day.
Selecting the “beach” theme will mean the Loch Ness Monster makes a mysterious appearance for one minute every day at that time. UFOs will hover over the skyline in “City Scape” and the Yokai, from Japanese folklore, show up in “Tea House”.
Meanwhile, a cartoon monster makes a brief appearance in “Spring Scape,” pi appears in the sky in “Sweet Dreams,” and the Northern Lights put on a show in both “Winter Scape” and “Holiday Village.” Still more include a snow tiger in “Aja Tiger,” pumpkins in “Autumn,” a galleon sailing along in “Hong Kong,” and a spider in “JR.”
It’s almost certainly no coincidence that “3.14″ are the first three digits of pi. It’s the kind of witty play on numbers the Google staffers seem to love and, let’s face it — so do we!
More Google resources from Mashable:
– 5 Ways to Use Google Wave for Business
– Google Wave: A Complete Guide
– Google Buzz: 5 Opportunities for Small Businesses
– Google Buzz: What is it Good For?
– 5 Impressive Real-Life Google Wave Use Cases
Tags: easter eggs, Google, google reader, google search, iGoogle
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5 Must-See Google Easter Eggs
Catholic Hospitals Rally Behind Obama’s Health Care Bill
The chief executive of the Catholic Health Association, Carol Keehan, wrote on the group’s Web site that although the legislation isn’t perfect, it represents a “major first step” toward covering all Americans and would make “great improvements” for millions of people.
Woman, 92, Charged With Murdering Husband, 98
A 92-year-old woman has been charged with murdering her 98-year-old husband in Sydney, Australia.
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Woman, 92, Charged With Murdering Husband, 98
Utah GOP Leader Resigns After $150G Nude Hot-Tubbing Payoff
Utah’s House majority leader resigned from the Legislature Saturday, two days after his confession about sitting nude in a hot tub with a teenage girl 25 years ago stunned this conservative state.
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Utah GOP Leader Resigns After $150G Nude Hot-Tubbing Payoff
Microsoft Workers Hide iPhones While at Work
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Microsoft Workers Hide iPhones While at Work
Pete Cashmore Talks Foursquare, iPad, and Location on Bloomberg [VIDEO]
If you had to pick the one buzzword that’s dominating social media chatter today, it would have to be location. Just over a year ago, Foursquare burst onto the scene at the SXSW conference in Austin, TX. Since then, it’s only grown dramatically.
The result has been a battle for domination in the geolocation space. While many still think Foursquare could be the next Twitter, rivals such as Gowalla are giving the mobile startup some heat, and big players such as Facebook and Twitter are launching location features or are about to launch them.
Our own Pete Cashmore sat down with Bloomberg’s Cris Valerio to discuss the location trend, the battle brewing between Foursquare and Gowalla at this year’s SXSW, the gold mine that is location-based advertising, the iPad, and even a little bit about the future of Mashable.
It’s quite a fascinating video — if you do watch it, let us know what you think of the location trend (and Pete’s on-air performance) in the comments.
Reviews: Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, Mashable, Twitter
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Pete Cashmore Talks Foursquare, iPad, and Location on Bloomberg [VIDEO]
Iraqi vote counting continues
CNN’s Arwa Damon reports on a slow vote count in Iraq’s national elections.
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Iraqi vote counting continues
Taliban claims Kandahar attacks
The Taliban has said it was behind a series of suicide attacks in the Southern Afghan city of Kandahar, describing it as a message to NATO commanders…
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Taliban claims Kandahar attacks
