This isn't really related to the post at all, but it got your attention, didn't it?
2011 has been an interesting year. And, although I didn’t join the Penn Olson team until this summer, I’ve had plenty of time to write about some interesting stuff. From all of the posts I’ve written this year, here are my favorites (what can I say, I love myself…):
Live TV Stream Offers Glimpse into North Korea
All credit due to North Korea Tech for finding and publicizing this link to a live stream of North Korean state TV, which I watched in fascination for a few hours while writing this story. It turned out to be especially significant when Kim Jong-il died just a week or so later, and I’ve chosen to include it here because it’s a fascinating window into a country that we very rarely get the chance to write about.
Sina and Tencent Weibo are Like Countries
This was my first infographic, and it’s not the most amazing thing you’ll ever see, but I spent a lot of time on it. Plus, I really like that robot.
The Lingerie Boutique Experience Online: An Interview with Dong Lu
This was perhaps my favorite interview of the year. This is not so much because anything particularly crazy was said, but because Dong Lu is a well-spoken guy who is excited about his business, and I came away impressed enough to recommend the site to my wife. Plus, browsing La Miu to find the images that accompany this article was fun.
Evernote Session – Disrupt Liveblog
I picked this because it was my favorite session at Disrupt, but really all of our posts from that event were great, and many of them — like this one, which like all of the liveblogs was actually set up and posted by Rick Martin — were a real team effort. Liveblogging anything wouldn’t have been possible without everyone pitching in, and I think we did an awesome job.
Thoughts on Innovation and What’s Really Cool in Tech Startups
My biggest frustration with the tech industry is that it has a tendency to portray itself as the revolutionary savior of the world. In actuality, most tech startups aren’t trying to save the world, they’re just trying to earn someone a whole bunch of money. Not all of them, though. Forgoing mass profits to actually help some people out with your tech startup? Now that’s cool.
Why the eedoo iSec Costs Too Much, is Screwed
I’ve been expressing skepticism about this Lenovo-backed game console basically since I first heard of it, and I can’t help but feel like the repeated delays in its release prove my cynicism was well-grounded. I’m looking forward to getting to try the thing if it ever comes out, but right now, it looks like we’ll have to wait for next year’s year-in-review post to see how that goes.
Is Ganji a haven for illegal bird traffickers?
Nothing special about this story, but I think that headline is pretty hilarious.
A Review of Sina Weibo’s Weicity
I’ve always wanted to be paid to review games, or to be paid to write really scathing reviews of things, and Sina Weibo’s addition of social games to their platform finally granted my wish. I’ve reviewed a bunch of them, but this was the first one and the one that disappointed me the most. I think I thrashed it well.
For Chinese Net Startups, Winter is Coming
In watching the unmitigated disaster that has been China’s group buy market this year, I’ve gotten an opportunity to do some fun stuff. This early post allowed me to make repeated references to Game of Thrones, which I enjoy. Since then, I’ve done all kinds of stories about group buy sites as the “winter” comes and the bottom starts to fall out. Among the images I’ve chosen to accompany these posts: the grim reaper (twice), a graveyard, the Titanic sinking, and a throne made of skulls. Yeah, things aren’t going well.
The Wenzhou Crash and Future of Weibo
The high speed rail accident in Wenzhou may have been China’s most significant news item this year, and it has had serious implications for Sina Weibo and other microblogging services, too. Looking back at this post from July with the knowledge that as of today, all of China’s major microblogging services require real-name registration, it seems I didn’t overestimate the significance at all.
Hey, while you’re here, check out our other year in review posts!