Gady was also on this week’s Sinica Podcast talking about this special report, which I also strongly recommend: Gady Epstein on The Internet (in China)

Special report: China and the internet

China’s internet: A giant cage
The internet was expected to help democratise China. Instead, it has enabled the authoritarian state to get a firmer grip, says Gady Epstein. But for how long?

The machinery of control: Cat and mouse
How China makes sure its internet abides by the rules

Microblogs: Small beginnings
Microblogs are a potentially powerful force for change, but they have to tread carefully

The Great Firewall: The art of concealment
Chinese screening of online material from abroad is becoming ever more sophisticated

E-commerce: Ours, all ours
A wealth of internet businesses with Chinese characteristics

Cyber-hacking: Masters of the cyber-universe
China’s state-sponsored hackers are ubiquitous—and totally unabashed

Internet controls in other countries: To each their own
China’s model for controlling the internet is being adopted elsewhere

Assessing the effects: A curse disguised as a blessing?
The internet may be delaying the radical changes China needs

Shutting down the internet: Thou shalt not kill
Turning off the entire internet is a nuclear option best not exercised

This looks to be Japan’s first social benefit investment vehicle, focused on supporting non-profits in Japan.

This is great news for Japan’s non-profit sector, which both needs support as well as the funding that such an organization could provide.

Fascinating look at “yellow fever” by documentary film-maker, Debbie Lum, who is an Asian female herself (married to a non-Asian, she admits.) The part of me that is Japanese-American certainly has seen a lot of non-Asian Americans who are unusually fascinated with Asians of the opposite sex.

However, traveling a lot across Asia for many years, what I see is that people all over the world are fascinated by the ‘other’, by the ‘exotic’. This is not limited to West vs. East. It happens in Asia between Asians. And because almost everyone in Asia is Asian, the structures (Caucasian/Asian) set up by the documentary don’t fit in Asia.

I think it’s really valuable that this documentary was made (I haven’t even seen it yet!) because I think it will generate discussion about our fascination for the ‘other.’

Abuse my privacy and I’ll delete my account. Not only that, I will also promote leaving that service to everyone in my network and social circle. The fact that I’m promoting my deletion of my own Instagram account on Facebook itself is icing on the cake.

Treat your users as you would want to be treated.

How China Steals Our Secrets

Clarke basically laments the state of US cyber security (who uses this “cyber” word besides the US govt.?) in regards to the incessant hacking of US businesses by Chinese hackers. Clarke believes that giving the Department of Homeland Security the ability to:

“inspect what enters and exits the United States in cyberspace.
…
And under the Intelligence Act, the president could issue a finding that would authorize agencies to scan Internet traffic outside the United States and seize sensitive files stolen from within our borders. “

If this proposal is not basically an identical copy of what the Chinese government has set up in with their Great Firewall of China, I don’t know what it is.

US businesses need to take responsibility for securing their own servers, documents and networks. That they have not done so to date is their own fault.

The proposal to give the US government the right/ability to scan/filter the Internet is not only like trying to filter the entire ocean to catch a few fish (i.e. the wrong way to do it), it’s also asking the government to provide Internet security for US commercial businesses (which they should do on their own, not on the US taxpayer’s dime.)

A future that Richard Clarke wants for the US is a mirror image of what China has created today with the Internet in China. That he does not see the irony in this vision is probably the most troubling aspect of his op-ed as well as his “special adviser to the president for cybersecurity” role.

The US government needs experts who understand the Internet in roles like these, not people like Clarke, who clearly do not understand how the Internet works. And US businesses need to take their network security seriously. Focus on securing your networks, not just next quarter’s profit margins, and you’ll see less successful hacking.

Our dear family friend, from before I was born, Eiko Ishioka, passed this weekend.

For those of you who don’t know of Eiko Ishioka, she was (and probably will be for a long, long time) the only person to have won a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award as well as two Tony nominations. She was a visionary artist who worked in graphic design, stage design, costume design, and many other formats.

Eiko was also of that era of Japanese artists who were internationally recognized when few were. That she was also female made her even more rare among Japanese artists.

Although we will miss her, we all can have the pleasure of seeing her work, whether it’s Miles Davis’ album cover from “Tutu”, her movies with Tarsem Singh (“The Cell”, “The Fall”), Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, Cirque du Soleil’s “Varekai”, Bjork’s music video for “Cocoon”, or the new “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

For those of you who want to study Eiko’s work, I strongly suggest tracking down two books she produced, “Eiko by Eiko” (1983) and “Eiko on Stage” (2000).

One of my favorite pieces Eiko did was the art design for a huge poster for the release of Apocalypse Now in Japan. It’s now very valuable and hard-to-find.

My condolences to her husband Nico and the Ishioka family.

Eiko Ishioka, Multifaceted Designer and Oscar Winner, Dies at 73

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The Beat Broker – Cosmic Kind Buds Winter Mix | Cosmic Disco.