Harry Chen Thinks Aloud

To many people a democratic China sounds like a oxymoron. A recent New York Times article discusses democracy in China. Before I go on with my comments, here is a summary of the article.

China’s elite talks democracy

A pro-democracy article is recently published in a state-run news media. To some, this is a sign that the Communist party is ready to move forward with democracy reforms. The New York Times interviewed few analysts and China top officials on this news. The conclusion is that the Communist government is “talking” democracy, and any major democracy reforms are unlikely.

Democratic China

I wonder whether or not it is remotely possible for China to be democratic? If yes, how should we go about doing it? To answer these questions, we must first understand: (1) what’s democracy? (2) what does it mean for China to be democratic?

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Following YouTube, new user-generated content services are re-writing the rules of news production. With the advent of camera phones, online photo sharing and video blogging, news companies such as CNN and Reuters are seeking latest news-worthy information from bloggers and Flickr users.

CNN’s I-Report program allows Web users to submit news and photos as they happen in front of their eyes. The program is running pretty well, I think. Every morning CNN Headline news plays amazing photos sent by people around the world. I love it.

Reuters’s You Witness News (beta) is a new program, similar to CNN’s I-Report, created in alliance with Yahoo!. An advantage of this program over I-Report is that it’s seamlessly integrated with Flickr and with the backing of Yahoo!. So far, people are positive about this program.

There are few important implications associated with these new programs. One, user-generated news contents are likely to be more personal as oppose as to bureaucratic. Second, it may encourage young people, especially those who with camera-phones and video blogs, to pay more attentions to events that happen in their surrounding environment. Third, while user-generated contents may not be as objective and truthful as those produced professionally, but they bring new voices and perspectives into the discussion.

The New York Times runs an article that talks about the current US housing slump. It argues that people who don’t already own a house should continue to rent. I disagree.

Before presenting my arguments, let me summarize the key points in the article. First, the author predicts that the US housing price will continue to fall in the next few years. Second, it’s not really beneficial for people to own a house because there are extra expenses associated with the home ownership, e.g., property taxes and mortgage interests. Third, using paid mortgage interests as tax deduction can’t completely eliminate the actual borrowing cost.

This is what I agree with the author. The US economy is currently in a housing slump phase. People should think twice about buying for real estate investment purposes. Unless you are real estate professionals, it’s unlikely that you can make quick profits from buying and selling houses in this market. In addition, people should never borrow more than they can afford just for the sake to increase their tax deduction.

However, I disagree that renting is a sensible choice for everyone.

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Centiare is running a Wiki Content, Markup and Design contest. Centiare is an online Wiki application built on the Semantic MediaWiki. Winners will receive cash prizes.

1. FIRST PRIZE = no less than $200
2. SECOND PRIZE = no less than $50
3. HONORABLE MENTIONS = At least two awards of $25

The rule is very basic –create Wiki pages of a legal entity. This includes yourself, your company, your hometown, your favorite band etc.

Entries will be judged based on five 4-point grades. This includes (1) Quality of Content, (2) Use of Wiki markup, (3) Style and Beauty, (4) Monetization and (5) Overall reader experience.

Monetization is interesting. It’s a measurement of how well does a Wiki page incorporates ways to make money — e.g., Google AdSense ads, Amazon Associates link and other marketing info.

• Application deadline: June 16, 2007
• Submission deadline: June 30, 2007