For some time now Ken Wong has been producing some really amazing wine label artwork for Vins Gagliardi Allard wines. Previously he used the heroins from Red Cap and Rapunzel. Now a new label has been released: Snow White

For the previous images Ken did, be sure to check out the set I created on flickr

And to purchase the great wine with these cool labels on them, be sure to visit Vins Gagliardi Wines

A friend of mine forwarded me the following list of Commandments for foreigners living in China. For anyone who’s spent time spending on the Mainland these rules will ring true.

Commandment #1
Know what you don’t know – (for many westerners, this is by far the most difficult challenge.). Any similarities between China and “back home” are purely accidental. This is a completely different culture. Do not be fooled by surface similarities or by local people who “seem to get it”. Sources of reliable information are your #1 asset.

Commandment #2
China is still a communist country – and there is absolutely zero chance of that changing any time soon.

Commandment #3
You have to show up to win. You must be physically present and put in the “face time”. There is no “autopilot” in Chinese business. If you feel that you are too busy to learn about China, then you are certainly too busy to be successful here.

Commandment #4
If things worked well here in China, then there would be significantly fewer opportunities for competent westerners. Try not to get too frustrated by the challenges you face.

Commandment #5
Time does not mean money here. Chinese business people do not believe in “opportunity cost”. Even simple negotiations can drag on for a long time. Avoid getting sucked into an endless cycle of meetings that don’t accomplish anything.

Commandment #6
Truth, honesty, good-will and long-term benefit are all culturally-specific concepts. Don’t expect your western standards to carry over here. Win-Win is not standard operating procedure here. Do not fool yourself that your long-term relationship with a local partner means anything.

Commandment #7
Don’t check your brains in at the border. You wouldn’t hand over your company’s money, intellectual property or trademarks to a virtual stranger in Sydney, London or San Francisco and expect to make a windfall. Don’t do it in China. The people that are offering to open doors for you are the same ones that can lock you out. Beware of people who peddle their “powerful friends and great connections”. They can use them to hurt you as well as help you.

Commandment #8
Due Diligence becomes more important when the language and systems are unclear, not less important. Don’t settle for the “least worst” deal or partner. Partners don’t get more honest and relationships don’t improve as the amount of money involved increases.

Commandment #9
China will still be here next year, and in 5 years. Don’t be pressured into signing a contract or making a deal because you are afraid of “missing the boat”. The boat has been here for 4,000+ years.

Commandment #10
Having a sense of humor helps. Having a Plan B helps even more.

For a while now my site’s search result on Google (and in the new Firefox Beta) have been plagued by the nefarious “This site may harm your computer” warning. This message is attached to any website Google or StopBadWare.org believe is hosting malware, badware, or is breaking Google’s terms of use.

My initial (useless) response to this knowledge was indignation. “How could my site be infected? It’s well groomed, fed, and practices safe sex!” Still, I searched the site’s code, did a few updates, changed some passwords, and assured myself the site was clean. I informed Google as such – but my pleas were ignored. Feh.

Next I requested “review” from StopBadWare – and received a note informing me of certain evil residing on “/page/2” of my blog. Sigh. But this bit of information was helpful – more precise than the generic “your site = bad” delivered by Google. With that knowledge in hand, I searched again – this time focusing on the posts and comments contained on that page – not the WordPress code itself.

And voila! I found the evil, and it looks something like this:

That image still contains the actual IP address and web address from the original code. I’d NOT suggest punching those into your browser.

If you too have been hit by the “This site may harm…” message – then here’s how I solved my problem:

1. Send a request for review to stopbadware.org – they should reply with details on where and what to look for.

If you suspect you’ve been hit with the same code I was then:

2. Use the search function of WordPress to look for “wp-stats” or “Traffic Statistics”.

3. Edit the offending post’s code, and remove the chunk related to “Traffic Statistics”.

I hope that while my site was infected it didn’t pass anything along to my readers. I’ll do my best to keep an eye on this stuff from now on.

Doug Perry over at GameTap has posted a nice write-up on the Grimm preview we were giving at GDC:

The mix of story-telling and interactivity in Grimm is bold. McGee is creating a 24-episode series focused on the world’s best-known fairy tales, including Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Pied Piper, Godfather Death, and Pinocchio to name a few. Each episode is 30 minutes, is downloadable, and usually focuses on one fairy tale (though some episodes will comprise two or three shorter stories). Each also opens with the contemporary perspective of the fairy tale, displayed in a puppet show of minimally adorned characters, narrated by “Grimm,” a rough and wonderfully despicable character. It closes with a version that’s closer to the original version of said tale, but with McGee’s touch.

Worth checking out if you’re interested in more details about the content, concepts, and game play coming in Grimm.  Check it out here.