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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Chinese Moving To East Harlem


Chinese Moving to East Harlem in a Quiet Shift From Downtown - NY Times

30% more Asian's in NY since the last Census. 10% of NYC is Asian in the 2000 Census, with about half of those Chinese. By 2008 this rose to 11.8% per Wikipedia

By 2010 it was 13% Asian for NYC. You need to this web site, download an Excel File, and do a quick formula to calculate it. It has information on the changes in each of the different neighborhoods.
http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/plurality/

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Chinese Language Day at Zoo

What a great way to Learn Chinese! Songs and Games were used teaching tools.

Minnesota Zoo helps students learn about animals in other languages - Twin Cities Press

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Feds vs. Chinatown Bus. Company - Who's winning?


The company has been told to not operate their bus fleet, so they got buses from a charter company. Very entrepreneurial.

Cheap Bus Fare Lures Riders Despite Company’s Troubles - NY Times

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Attack on US Politician's ethnic Chinese Wife

Troubling. What is worse is Elaine Chao was born in Taiwan! And some idiots are attacking her husband through her, since she is ethnic Chinese.

Racist “progressives” attack Mitch McConnell’s wife - Daily Caller

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Title IX for Boys?

Good article to read, especially if you have a son in public schools.:
Title IX for our boys - USA Today

This was a new idea for me:
The problem for public schools, instead, is that the alternatives are getting better.

Being a teacher is hard, especialy in a public school with the huge amount of laws and rules, that are just out of control. Common sense, unfortunately is not that common in the public school system. I have noticed the loss of Male teachers in K-5, and with the threat of false allegations of Sexual Harrassment and worse for Male teachers, it's a lot safer to teach at Middle and High School levels. Unfortunately this hurts boys who don't get a Male figure in K-5.

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Monday, February 25, 2013

China's Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor's Legacy

I remember first seeing these when I was in Elementary School. If your in the San Franscisco area, you must go to the Asian Art Museum.

http://www.asianart.org/exhibitions_index/terracotta-warriors

 

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Why Hollywood Studios Need to Learn Chinese

The argument in this article is lots of Western backed movies are doing well in China. Another reason I have heard is China is where the growth is in Movies, where other markets are no growing. Another reason is the Chinese government is giving support to build an indigineious Chinese movie industry. They see Hollywood as being a key part of American soft power, and would like to duplicate it.

What I see as a risk, is US studios being swayed by Chinese influence, such as happened with Red Dawn. The Chinese government has, and will hold grudges against any movie studio that is negative in any way towards China. In Red Dawn, the Chinese invaders miraculously became North Koreans. The next Iron Man is going to be partially filmed in China.

Why Hollywood Studios Need to Learn Chinese - The Wrap

And another view, but misses some key points.
China Can Be a Gold Mine for Hollywood, But... The Wrap

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Why do more Women than Men go to College?

Great ideas for parents.

'The Rise of Women'
February 21, 2013 - 3:00am

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Whitehouse response to Chinese Hacking

It appears the 60 page report on Chinese Hacking by Mandiant  has  had an impact. The Whitehouse has announced they will retaliate against hacking. Details have not come out yet on how this will be done. It seems to be a mixture of passports and some financial sanctions.

Chinese cyberspies have hacked most Washington institutions, experts say - Washington Post


White House targets cybertheft as worries about China mount - CS Monitor

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Bahooka, The Craziest Most Wonderful Tiki Restaurant In L.A. To Close

Wow, this is such a cool restaurant for looks. It's located in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley, and it's closing. It sold in 1 day for $3.3 Million. The new only just wants the building and the liquor license, the amazing decor will be gone. Last day is March 10. There is a $5 off coupon on their website.

Bahooka, The Craziest Most Wonderful Tiki Restaurant In L.A. To Close - LA Magazine

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Cyber-assault HQ: how US is under attack from this office in Shanghai

I am amazed that a company tracked down to an address in Shanghai, unit 61398 that supposedly has done a huge amount of hacking against non Chinese targets. Unit 61398 is only 1 of about 20 such organizations in China I did not use the term Western, since other countries such as India, Vietnam, Japan, and Taiwan are also routine targets of hacking. A security ca

References:

Chinese military unit behind 'prolific and sustained hacking' - The Guardian
Security firm says Unit 61398 has stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organisations in US, UK and Canada

Cyber-assault HQ: how US is under attack from this office in Shanghai - The Independent
Online security firm traces breaches to building occupied by Chinese military

Chinese PLA soldiers 'mastermind cyber-espionage Cold War' - The Register
NYT-hired security biz claims scores of US corps hacked by state-sponsored crew

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College Essays - Another viewpoint

If your child is doing the dreaded College Essay, you understand this article way too well. I still have vivid memories of my daughter's essays. The essays are a necessary evil, and if you understand the real goal, of making your child stand out, you are far ahead of thers. The key is figuring out what matters, and what would sound cliche. There are so many cliche essays. Cliche Essasys such as the travel essay, where your life was changed by visiting XYZ country, the Dead Cat Essay, and the music is your life essay. Your essay is like a resume, it will be quickly scanned for a person looking for reasons to turn you down, and if its good, then read slower. The person reviewing it usually has a huge stack of essays, and it becomes a process of elimination.

The article / editorial has a different slant on college essays.

College Essays Make Kids Stupid and Selfish - Bloomberg

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Monday, February 18, 2013

China becomes World's Largest Smart Phone Market

Amazing. China is currently the second largest region for Apple, they plan to expand that more. The smart phone market is Apple and Android.

China to Hit 246 Million iOS and Android Devices in February, Becoming World's Largest Market - MacRumors.

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The Bag Men of Chinatown

Fakes in Chinatown are a fact of life. It's amazing how the vendors have changed how they do business.

The Bag Men of Chinatown - NY Times Blog

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China’s Great Firewall Burns Its Economy

Great point that the Great Firewall, or what ever you call it is a huge negative for business. It reduces the speed of using the web, with China now being 94th in average speed. And with more and more Internet services going to the cloud, this is a negative for business. It is helping Chinese businesses compete against foreign businesses, but this may not be the best for the overall Chinese economy. It is making China into an economic island.


China’s Great Firewall Burns Its Economy - Via Media

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San Francisco Chinatown Restaurant Pays Back Wages To Underpaid Workers

Ouch, $525,000. And the owner has a Telegraph Hill home. The minmum wage in San Franscisco is now $10.55 an hour, at the time it was $9.92. And the owner actually paid!

Much of the wages were paid in cash.

SF restaurant pays back wages, fines - SF Chronicle

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GPA can be contagious among high school students, study finds

It seems like common sense that a high GPA can be contagious.

The question is why? The article does not cover that.

Some guesses:
  • Studying in groups
  • Amount of time spent studying
  • Focus on studying / effort spent studying
  • Peer pressure
The headache as a parent, is how do you teach your kids to do great in school. To teach them the skills so they can be at the top academically, without causing burn out.

GPA can be contagious among high school students, study finds - LA Times

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Best Chinese restaurants in the U.S.

And no mention of any in the San Gabriel Valley in the Yahoo Article? It is true that there are 3X as many Chinese restaurants in the US as there are McDonalds. The headache is many of them are not very good. The source, Travel & Leisure has more. I wonder where they got their ratings from? My guess is Zagat. They seem to be going after the nicer restaurants with A+ service, and not focusing as much on the food. My priority is food, price, and service.

They mention Din Tai Fung that has a location in Arcadia - San Gabriel Valley.

Sea Habour in Rosemead I have not been too. It used to be a Farrel's Ice Cream Parlour, and I still feel kinda guilty for accidently pouring chocalate syrup from a birth day party over the person next to me from my Sunday. The waitress told me to hold it with one hand, and that was a bad decision :-)

Chung King in San Gabriel.

References:

Best Chinese restaurants in the U.S. - Yahoo Travel

Original article, but you need to go through 27 pages.
Travel & Leisure Best Chinese Restaurants in the US

Some cute books:

The Ugly Vegetables by Graced Lin
The Ugly Vegetables by Graced Lin
Our Price: $6.95

A little girl wonders why she and her Mom are growing plants in their garden that are so different from their neighbors'. Recipe for Ugly Vegetable Soup included!
 
Fortune Cookie Fortunes by Grace Lin
Fortune Cookie Fortunes by Grace Lin
Our Price: $6.99

After a young Chinese American girl opens fortune cookies with her family, she notices that the fortunes seem to come true, in a story which includes brief notes on the history of the fortune cookie.
 
Dim Sum For Everyone! by Grace Lin
Dim Sum For Everyone! by Grace Lin
Our Price: $6.99

Just right for young children, Dim Sum for Everyone! celebrates a cultural custom and a universal favorite activity--eating!  Great book!
Fortune Cookie Chronicles - Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer Lee
Our Price: $24.99
Sale Price: $17.49
You save $7.50!

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles  is for anyone who has ever wondered who is General Tsao and why are we eating his chicken; why Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas; and who really invented the fortune cookie.
Cooking with Kids - Exploring Chinese Food, Culture, and Language
Cooking with Kids - Celebrating Chinese New Year, DVD for kids!
Our Price: $19.95

  • Cook a special Chinese meal surprise for your family this Chinese New Year! 
  • A cooking feature for kids, by kids
  • A fun way to learn Mandarin Chinese tones, words, and phrases.For ages 8-12



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