Norway wasn’t lacking for Internet connections, but I wasn’t exactly eager to spend time glued to a computer screen. As a result, my welcome-home present was a Google Reader crowded with new and interesting posts. A few of the highlights:
- The recent uptick in Chinese web censorship: Rebecca Mackinnon offers a comprehensive roundup of “The Month The Censors Stopped Taking Their Medication,” from the June 4 anniversary to the brouhaha over the Green Dam censorship software. If last week’s problems with Google/Gmail recur, I will be very sad next fall.
- Google’s new City Tours: Google Labs just launched CityTours, a preliminary declaration of war on the travel guidebook industry. Enter a city (or even a neighborhood) into the search box, and the application will generate an itinerary for you. It even organizes the stops to minimize travel time. This is an amazing application for the smartphone-enabled traveler, more so if you could download the maps and itinerary to use offline. (So far, it doesn’t offer itineraries for any Chinese destinations. I imagine that will change.) (h/t WorldHum)
- The “honeymoon” wears off: Audrey Scott’s encounter with culture shock in El Salvador will be familiar to any longterm traveler or expat. No matter how much one loves traveling, the “honeymoon period” that follows arrival in a new place eventually wears off.
- Camel rides in Xinjiang: This Far West China post on camel rides in the Taklamakan Desert got me excited for my trip to Xinjiang in August. The photo of sand dunes is breathtaking.
- Terrifying: An under-construction apartment building in Shanghai toppled over like a domino.
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