Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Is Google learning how to read the wind in China?

Back in 2006, when Google was just getting into China for the first time, The New York Times published an inside look at the complicated process Google was required to follow in order to make sure it was censoring its search engine in line with Chinese law. The problem is that there is no real stated law as to what’s banned and what’s allowed; instead, sensitive topics would get hashed out in meetings with government officials termed “wind-blowing meetings,” as in, the answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Perhaps Google has learned how to take a hint. It announced Friday that the Chinese government has renewed its Internet Content Provider license, earning it another year of business in China but only after it agreed to make changes to the way it redirects users to its Hong Kong Web site, where Web search can be unfiltered under China’s “one country, two systems” approach to Hong Kong.

Google’s first solution to its China problem–which kicked off in January when Google declared that it no longer intended to censor search results in China–was to simply move Chinese-language search to Hong Kong in March. At the time, it admitted that it didn’t know whether or not this would actually work, with Google co-founder Sergey Brin citing a “lack of clarity” around what exactly Google was allowed to do and what it wasn’t.

Last week, Google showed signs that it has figured out how to read the Chinese government’s wishes. When it became clear to Google that the government didn’t like its method of automatically redirecting Google.cn users to Hong Kong, it changed course, requiring them to actively click through to a special version of the Google.com.hk site while on Google.cn.

Sure, that was actually the only thing they could do on Google.cn, dominated by one gigantic hyperlink to the new site, but the requirement that Google.cn visitors make a decision to click over–rather than having that decision made for them–was apparently enough to mollify the government.

With the launch of the iPhone 4 just two weeks away, potential consumers are wondering if AT&T’s wireless network is up to the task of handling what is expected to be another record-breaking launch for the latest version of the popular iPhone.

The company says it’s ready. But AT&T keeps giving its critics–and its own customers–reasons to doubt that it’s on top of its game. On Tuesday, the AT&T and Apple Web sites were overwhelmed by customers trying to pre-order the new iPhone 4. Customers saw error messages when accessing the Web sites and experienced long delays while trying to create or update their AT&T accounts.

Pre-ordering snafus aside, AT&T says that it’s been upgrading its network to keep up with demand from current iPhone subscribers and to support a flood of new customers. It has also armed itself with new data plans that cap usage at 2 gigabytes per month to help curb heavy data usage.

In many ways, AT&T has been a victim of its own success. The iPhone, which is built for accessing the Net, has been hugely popular, attracting scores of new customers with each device upgrade. It’s helped the company add millions of new customers every year since it was first introduced in 2007. But the iPhone has also created a tsunami of mobile data on the AT&T network, which has resulted in poor service for many iPhone customers throughout the country, especially in densely populated cities, such as New York City and San Francisco.

While no one doubts that AT&T is making good on its promises to upgrade its network and keep up with demand, the fact remains that it’s fighting an uphill battle as growth in data usage outpaces its network expansion. In other words, building out its network is more like adding sandbags in a storm rather than constructing a dam. It’s more about keeping up than changing the dynamics.

“The success of the iPhone has been a double edged sword for AT&T,” said Charles Golvin, a research analyst with Forrester Research. “Because iPhone users consume more data than any other smartphone customers, AT&T has been constantly learning how to manage heavy data usage on a cellular network. ”

There’s no question that the iPhone is still the hottest smartphone on the market. Tuesday’s pre-order meltdown is a good indication that demand is high for the fourth-generation iPhone. And looking at figures from previous iPhone launches, it’s expected that sales of the new phone will be strong.

“I am currently a Verizon customer on a month-to-month (contract) waiting to see if they get the iPhone contract,” he said. “AT&T doesn’t make it attractive to switch. So after waiting long enough, I will now get the Droid Incredible.”

There’s a “Wizard of Oz” joke to be made here: The city of Topeka, Kansas has unofficially changed its name to “Google” in an attempt to get on the Mountain View tech giant’s radar as a test bed for new fiber-optic technology that would bring it Internet connections at top speed.

The Topeka Capital-Journal wrote that Mayor Bill Bunten signed a proclamation Monday that designates the town as “Google” for the duration of March, in an attempt to make it a more palatable choice for a test market than some of the other cities in the running–like Grand Rapids, Mich., and Baton Rouge, La. It’s not intended to be as permanent as the Oregon town that actually renamed itself Half.com in exchange for some cash, free stuff, and mockery.

The town can’t legally change its name if it intends to change it back, and then there’s the fact that Google owns all sorts of intellectual property pertaining to its brand name. But the Capital-Journal says that there is technically no legal barrier to the issuance of a proclamation gently encouraging people to refer to Topeka as “Google.” You know, it’s sort of like when you’re a little kid and you wish your name were cooler so you start telling everyone to call you by a new one of your choice, and the blitheness of childhood prevents you from noticing the smirks that ensue every time you politely ask an adult to start referring to you as “Jethro Skywalker.”

And in Topeka, there is precedent. As the Capital-Journal explains:

“(A local TV station manager) told the council Monday about how Mayor Joan Wagnon in August 1998 issued a proclamation temporarily changing Topeka’s name to “ToPikachu” in recognition of the nationwide kickoff here of the ‘Pokemon’ media franchise, which features a fictional species of creatures named ‘Pikachu.’”

Um, wow?

As for what the local media really thinks, let’s just make note of the fact that the Capital-Journal listed an Associated Press version of the story explaining the Google proclamation under its “Strange” category, alongside “Florida man allegedly calls 911 200 times” and “Ohio police officers get drunk on purpose.”

But hey, if this campaign actually gets the city a super-fast Internet connection, I’ll stop laughing.

Web professionals have to be both flexible and creative to meet the needs of each client — and these characteristics often transcend the design and development process. Each of us has a unique approach to our work. The particular mindset and methods by which each of us turns a mental image into a delightful and usable website is worthy of investigation.

In this article, we’ll discuss three approaches taken by many Web designers and developers. While a creative individual usually falls into more than one of the three categories, each of us is still likely more heavily weighted towards one. These approaches might help determine what paths someone is best suited for and might shed light on how they achieve their goals. So, without further ado, we introduce you to the artist, the scientist and the philosopher.

[Offtopic: by the way, did you know that there is a Smashing eBook Series? Book #2 is Successful Freelancing for Web Designers, 260 pages for just $9,90.]he sum of our qualifications.