IT Buoy

From China REal Time Report : While Twitter remains generally blocked in China, that hasn’t stopped tech-savvy Chinese from putting the microblog platform to creative uses. Associated Press The Twitter Web site, which has become the center of speculations about its possible ad platform This week, influential blogger Lian Yue started publishing a novel on Twitter, believed to be the first time a Chinese-language novel is released on the popular service. The novel, entitled “ 2020 ,” revolves around a character named Mao Zhiyong, described as a pale, overweight middle-aged man, and it will be written in regular installments through the year 2020. In Wednesday’s chapter, the protagonist Mao became a father to twin boys and was promoted to head of the Communist Party propaganda department in the city where he lives. The author announced plans to start the Twitter novel on his blog late last year. “It will only be available on Twitter,” he wrote. “If you are interested, try getting a Twitter account.” Even though Twitter– like other foreign social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook– is currently blocked in mainland China, Internet users can find their way around the restrictions by using proxy servers or third-party applications. Lian Yue is the pen name of Zhong Xiaoyong, a writer and social critic based in the east China city of Xiamen

It’s been two months since Google threatened to end its business in China . Thus far, nothing has changed . Speaking with reporters in Abu Dhabi, Eric Schmidt promises something will happen “soon” though. Read the rest of this story

Microsoft last week used a court order in an attempt to block a network of computers controlled by hackers, a move whose effectiveness was questioned by some security experts. Security professionals said Tuesday that they worked together with law enforcement to shut down another such network and that there is no chance that this one will come back. The researchers, speaking to reporters at the RSA conference in San Francisco in advance of a formal announcement, said they noticed last May a string of computers that seemed to be controlled by a single group—a “botnet” in cyber-security parlance. The perpetrators managed to slip malicious computer code onto about 13 million computers and stole information like Web site logins, banking credentials, and credit-card data. Working with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Spain, researchers traced the botnet to more than 60 Web addresses that the criminals used to control the computer network. In December they shut off these sites, which in essence cut off the network’s head.

Tech Today gathers all the biggest technology news of the morning’s Wall Street Journal into one place for your reading pleasure. Video Takes on China’s Web Policies: The latest battle over Internet freedom in China is playing out in an online movie that pits an armored blue beast and his band of antiauthoritarian rogues against a sinister force called Harmony that seeks to clean up the Web. Google Buys Ask-Your-Friends Site: Google has acquired Aardvark, a free question-and-answer Web service, highlighting its interest in social networking. Terms weren’t disclosed. Motorola Sets Plan to Split in Two: Motorola said it would split into two publicly traded companies by the first quarter of next year as it looks to reinvigorate its disparate businesses. Both parts will use the Motorola brand.

Word broke today that Google will announce something of a Twitter-killer tomorrow. But unless the thing plays well with Facebook and Twitter, we don’t give it much of a chance. Truth is, Google hasn’t ever been very good at launching new consumer products. Gmail is big, but it’s no Yahoo Mail. They love Orkut in Brazil, but Orkut’s user base is dwarfed by Facebook’s 400 million monthly active users. Google Wave? Hah! But here’s the thing: Google does have a backup plan for this.