Circumvent Vietnam Facebook Block

Having trouble getting on Facebook again in Vietnam?

Try Hotspot Shield: http://www.hotspotshield.com

You'll have to download the program, install, then double-click (load) it each time before you try to get on www.facebook.com. Basically it throws up a "shield" allowing you to get around the block. It works by cloaking your DNS or some such.

It will throw up a few advertisements while you use it (a small price to pay). To get rid of those, simply disconnect when you are done with Facebook. You do this by right-clicking on the little Hotspot Shield icon in the bottom right corner of you desktop (Windows).

Additionally, you may want to consider using the facebook app (plugin) Selective Tweets, if you use Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/selectivetwitter
With this easy add-on, all you do on Twitter is add the #fb hashtag, which allows you to selectively post your tweets to your Facebook status update without actually logging into Facebook.

Hope this helps... for a while.

Is There Something on My Chinn? Not for long...

I was going to post this on Bobby Chinn's Facebook page to enter his contest but since the Vietnam block on Facebook is preventing me from uploading photos to said page, I'll just post it here for fun. If you want to enter the contest, find instructions here: http://bit.ly/hoguYD. Winners get free signed copies of his latest book.

Above is a tarantula I consumed on my way from Phnom Penh to Ratanakiri. It was very chewy. A bit like chewing oil paper towels, or one of those green kitchen sink scrubber cloths. It just tasted like the spicy chili oil it was fried in. Couldn't really tell the head from the thorax from the legs. No squishy guts--but also no taste of crab like they tell you on TV.

Bear Bile is not a Magic Medicine

Bear Bile is Not a Magic Medicine. Above is a new PSA from ENV, an organization which I support, trying to discourage people from using the substance. This video is in Vietnamese Language.

Warning to Freelancers About AsiaLife HCMC Magazine

It is with great regret that I have to write this warning. I have however, exhausted every reasonable avenue of getting AsiaLife to pay for materials which they have previously commissioned, approved and published. I am henceforth recommending that freelance writers and photographers avoid working with AsiaLife HCMC Magazine.

I wrote two stories for AsiaLife earlier this year—one about Rwandan Mountain Gorillas and the other about Cham archaeological discoveries in Binh Thuan Province. The mountain gorillas story was re-published (I learned later), in the Cambodia publication as well.

After several months of requesting payment, it began to appear that there may never have been an intention by AsiaLife HCMC to pay for the stories, from the beginning. It was only when I informed the publisher that I would make my complain public that AsiaLife relented and paid for my text, though with further delay. I was not the only writer in this situation at the time--and it is for this reason that a public complaint is particularly necessary.

Unfortunately however, AsiaLife has refused to pay for the photos (despite already promising to do so) that they published with my story on Cham ruins. The reason, I believe, is purely due to stubborn pride and laziness.

What AsiaLife is doing is both illegal and a threat to the livelihood of Vietnam-based writers and photographers. I do not make this complaint lightly. If they had merely told me that payment would be late and asked me to work with them, I would have been willing to negotiate a payment plan. Refusal to pay for copyrighted material that has already been published is however, inexcusable.

Please note that I do not blame the editors at AsiaLife; past or present. They don’t hold the purse strings, and in fact, they have gone beyond the call of duty to try to get me and other freelancers paid for our work. The decision to steal copyrighted work has been made by the owner(s) of the company.