Newsvine - need an invite?

Okay, newsvine is a hip new community news site that many people are talking about. For the moment you still need an invite to access the site, though that should be changing soon. If you need an invite, just reply to this post with an e-mail address. I've got 19 at the moment.

Ideas that came from the unexpected mystery

You can visit accultured.com. Many people do this every day and they come from all around the world. Some of those people find the website by typing search terms into Google. These search terms are sometimes strange, and can be summed up as ideas that come from the unexpected mystery. Here are a few of my favorites:

viking horses
unused bikes
traditional robot
the biggest gun
starfish robot
room within a room
robot town
people shovelling snow
loading/unloading presents
kids running for xmas presents
australia hungry in the summer

I love these search terms for several reasons. It is not only strange that someone searched for these words, but also that they found the answer on my site. In addition, I don't think the answer for some of these can be found on my site. As far as I know, there is nothing about the "biggest gun" on my site - whatever that means. These ideas must have found me for a reason and I think I should use them to write a story. Stay tuned.

Here's another idea: I will paint blue-jay feathers on my arms and fly to the moon where I will visit the lonely people that live there.

Ya'an Sichuan, at night

sunsun_scene5_051123
Originally uploaded by cindy.wong.

Ya'an is on a river. Apparently they are famous for their fish. Ya'an is close to the Tibetan plateau and gets lots of rain. If you know anything more about Ya'an, Sichuan - please let me know via comment.

China cracking down on journalism... again

The Communist Party leaders have a strange way of celebrating the end of the year," noted the Paris-based Reporters without Borders. "After announcing that Zhao Yan and Ching Cheong are to be tried, the Beijing authorities have decided to kill off one of China's most popular and liberal newspapers.

China ratchets up control on expression | csmonitor.com

technorati tags: china, journalism, freedom, christian science monitor

Best place to put your money

hsbcdirect.com Online Savings

According to my hours of research, HSBC is the best place to put my money right now. They have particular account that is purely web-based. It has an interest rate of 4.25% and you get an extra $25 by entering the promo-code "25pig". I also really dig this concept because HSBC is all around the world.

technorati tags: hsbc, online bank, savings, 4.25

Mt. Mengding

sunsun_mengding1_0511
Originally uploaded by cindy.wong.

Okay mates,
These be rows of tea plants on Mt. Mengding, which is handy to Ya'an in Sichuan. This may be one of the first tea mountains in world. The sign might be new.

Chinese tourists are sometimes insensitive

Just as brash Americans attract glances from Parisian sophisticates, Chinese tourists have acquired a reputation in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia as loud, pushy bumpkins with table manners that leave much to be desired.Even tour operators concede that their Chinese customers can be rude and bossy when they hit the road."They're not very cultured, and they've just started making money, so when they leave their country I'm afraid they act like big shots," says Ren Jingli, a Beijing travel agent who escorts groups to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Chinese tourists: Asia's new 'ugly Americans' | csmonitor.com