Ordinary Gweilo

It's not big and it's not clever, it's just a Brit in Hong Kong writing (mainly) about Hong Kong

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Month: Feb 2007

  • Back to normal (finally)

    What exactly is the point of OFTA (the Office of the Telecommunications Authority)? Today, they have confirmed that Internet acccess is back to normal in Hong Kong, more than 7 weeks after cables were severed during the earthquake in Taiwan.  You might think that they would have been monitoring the service from the major ISPs to see what…

  • Ear, this is a bit fishy

    I was watching the news on Cable TV last night, and they had a strange story about a woman who had gone shopping for fish maw in China but been sold a rabbit’s ear instead.  They even had a rabbit ear expert confirming that it was indeed a rabbit ear – by putting a pencil…

  • Not flat, but not packed

    Today’s SCMP (subscription required) reports Oasis are now applying for permission to fly to Vancouver (their 3rd destination after London and Oakland).  Apparently Chicago is another destination they are considering. I am still not convinced that Oasis is a budget airline, and I have argued before that what gives them a real edge is having…

  • Playing fair

    Steve Jobs has suggested that record companies should drop DRM (Digital Rights Management) and simply sell downloaded music in an unprotected form.  This would allow users of iPods to download from anywhere, and also users of other MP3 players to buy from the iTunes store (which still hasn’t launched in Hong Kong). I am using…

  • A green Bush?

    I was recently listening to John Micklethwait the new(ish) editor of The Economist on the New Year’s Day edition of Start the Week.  He made the rather startling prediction that 2007 would be the year the George Bush would ‘go green’.  His argument was that some of his natural supporters, including neocons, evangelical Christians, big…

  • Small change

    According to Saturday’s SCMP (subscription required), shops are now reluctant to accept small change because the banks charge them so much for depositing coins.  If you try to pay with 10 cent or 20 cent coins they will not be happy.  A South China Morning Post reporter who tried to pay for a HK$2.50 steamed…

  • No more Googlebombs

    I periodically get emails from people who are amused to find that if you type "miserable failure" into Google, the first result is a link to the White House.  And they say satire is dead… Well, now Google have put a stop to this little game, as they explain here. Can’t argue with the logic…

  • Expensive fakes

    From the BBC: Counterfeiting is costing the global economy more than $100bn (£51bn) every year and putting human health and safety at risk, a UN agency has said. The World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) told a conference that China was the worst offender in the trade of counterfeit goods. I’d love to know how they…