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While most of the world happily enjoys the Internet’s free services such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Google, in China these are either inaccessible or might become so in the following months.

And, as shown by Google’s recent squabble with the Chinese government, it can be very hard to operate in the world’s most populous country. But Twitter’s Jack Dorsey has faith that Twitter will be able to operate in China, although it’s currently blocked by the government.

At a New York panel discussion on social media and digital activism, Chinese activist Ai Weiwei asked Dorsey whether they can promise availability of Twitter in China. Dorsey said: “I would say yes. It’s just a matter of time”. Weiwei called this answer “very philosophical”; knowing that a giant like Google has trouble securing their presence in China, a cautious answer like this by a much smaller Twitter instills little confidence.

Weiwei also pointed out a very interesting fact that westerners probably don’t think about: Twitter is a very different tool in Chinese and in English. “At 140 words, in Chinese, you can really write a novel. You can discuss most profound ideas really to democracy, freedom, poetry,” he said. Unfortunately, it seems that this fact didn’t escape Chinese censors, which have been blocking Twitter for nearly a year now.

Tags: china, social media, twitter

Tired of waiting for Verizon and dissatisfied with a series of recent buggy leaks, the fine folks at XDA Developers were determined to trade their Cupcake-laden Droid Eris for a more toothsome Eclair on their own terms. Yesterday evening, it seems they finally achieved their goal, though not without a caveat or three. If you're still running the stock Android 1.5, it's a simple matter of dropping a ZIP file onto your SD card and restarting your phone; if not, you're completely out of luck. Rooters warn that the hack won't work on phones that have already been flashed to that aforementioned Eris 2.1 leak, and that they haven't yet figured out a way to restore any non-1.5 phones back to factory default. If hacking isn't your daily bread, proceed with caution -- Sense UI may be fancy and all, but chaining your phone forevermore to an unsupported OS just ain't worth it. See what an Eris Eclair looks like after the break.

Continue reading Droid Eris rooted to 2.1, but look before you leap

Droid Eris rooted to 2.1, but look before you leap originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Mobile OS  |  xda-developers  | Email this | Comments

Dropped a stack of change on a premium Wacom drawing tablet, only to find yourself with Cintiq envy? Got an old laptop handy? If so, odds are good that you've occasionally (or persistently, for that matter) thought about hacking together an LCD tablet of your very own. Problem is, the mods we've seen require some serious shop time -- building a custom enclosure isn't for the lighthearted, you know? But if you're in possession of a sizable Wacom Intuos and roughly $220 of post-tax cheddar, TabletMod.com has a purpose-built, laser-cut acrylic enclosure with your name on it. You'll still need an LCD controller kit and CCFL extenders, and there's still a chance you'll be paying more for the whole kit and caboodle than if you just got a low-end $1,000 Cintiq 12WX to begin with -- but if you've already got half the parts lying around (or you're just dying to scratch another DIY itch), this project might be worth your while. Cheapskates like us, however, will continue to wait for the Bamboo variety, though you can certainly dabble in the source link if you're scouting some instructional videos.

Homegrown Wacom Cintiq LCD tablet comes to life through prefab DIY enclosure originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack A Day  |  Ponoko, TabletMod.com  | Email this | Comments

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