Tokyo F.A.T
I received word from James via an email forwarded from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. They visited him on Friday and report that he is in good health and eager to get back home. He was arrested 5 days ago in Beijing for “upsetting public order” and is now serving 10 days for suspicion of activities in regards to his affiliation with the organization Students for a Free Tibet. He has not been formally charged through the judicial system and should not be subject to further judicial proceedings. According to the authorities he will be released Aug. 30th and allowed to depart China. The Embassy stated that it continues to advocate on his behalf at the highest levels and monitors his case around the clock.
UPDATE
James Powderly and 7 other US citizens detained in China have been released and are on their way to the US. They should arrive in Los Angeles around 6 PM Pacific time. Thanks to Senator Clinton, Representative Velazquez, Senator Lautenberg, and Ambassador Randt for advocating for James and his early release. Also big ups to all of our friends that have sent supportive messages and helped in contacting elected officials. Stay tuned for more info from James about his stay at Chong Wen Detention House.
All proceeds will go towards getting James hella drunk when he gets back.
The Acer Aspire One ZG5 is currently one of the hotter new items in the Hong Kong electronics market. It is a small (9.75″ x 6.75″) and cheap (3,400 HK$ or $436 USD) laptop running from a 1.6GHz Atom N270, 1gb ram, and an 8gb solid state hd. Out of the box it comes with a Linpus Linux opperating system (which looks like this). I found the OS to be functional but lacking a lot of what I love about Ubuntu, so I installed Ubuntu 8.04. The Aspire has no optical drive so you need to connect an external CD drive containing the boot CD. Ubuntu installs very easily on this device, the only problem I had was getting the the wireless to work for which I needed to follow these easy 5 steps.
Mine was purchased from Centrafield in the Golden Computer Arcade (one of the largest electronics markets in HK). To get to the market take the MTR to the Sham Shui Po stop, exit out of the D escalator, and look for this sign.
More photos here.
Huge love to my overly generous Chinese brother Neo for the gift.
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