China expands Trimeth Labs (legal drug Increases Persuasiveness 35%!)

I was shocked to learn that my adopted home of Xiamen is China's leading player in its proliferation of a nefarious drug that, though still legal in Western nations, has been proven to increase the masses' susceptibility to persuasion by up to 35%.  Xiamen is literally the epicenter of this Chinese narcotic epidemic, with more Chinese mind control Trimeth Labs per capita than any other Chinese city.

This powerful drug is called 1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthin, or Trimeth for short, and Xiamen has more Trimeth labs per capita than any other Chinese city in part because of our historical heritage as a 19th century International Settlement and center of the opium trade, which brought with it Western virtues and vices alike.


Research in the West has conclusively proven that Trimeth does increase one's persuasive ability (or one's susceptibility, should one naively imbibe prior to a war of wits. The good news is that a Trimeth trafficker can rely upon the drug's diabolic influence only if their argument is sound in the first place. Use of Trimeth on unwary victims is futile, in theory at least, when attacking with shaky or fallacious arguments.

By the way--you probably know 1, 3, 7 trimethylxanthin by its common, caffeine, which is trafficked with brazen openness in Xiamen Trimeth Labs under the cover of coffee shops with such innocuous names as McDonalds, Starbucks and KFC.

3 EZ Steps to Improve YOUR Persuasive Up To 35%? 
1st, make sure you have a sound argument.
2nd, administer a generous dose of 1, 3, 7 trimethylxanthin, aka caffeine, at least 45 minutes in advance (it takes this long to take effect upon the victim).
3rd, Go for it, because you've got the edge!

And how about 49 more ways to be more persuasive? My scoop on Xiamen's nefarious role in Trimeth Trafficking began while I was preparing for a Xiamen University School of Management class, and my review ng of the fascinating book, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive, by Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini. Though less than 300 pages, 50 Ways is a great compilation of practical ways for anyone to increase their persuasive prowess. Amazon has both the paperback version of 50 Ways and a Kindle version, both for less than $10 (you don't need a Kindle device; just download the free Kindle software and view the books on your phone or computer, as I do).


And Enjoy Amoy! with Dr. Bill's Amazon eBooks!

"Discover Xiamen" $2.99

"Fujian Adventure" $1.99

www.amoymagic.com
Bill Brown
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com

StrongVPN no Longer so Strong--but have 1 10X faster!

Update!

 Sorry--I've withdrawn the recommendation I made in the blog entry below for StrongVPN.  StrongVPN has also been excruciatingly slow. So now we're on AstrillVPN! It is amazing--2 devices for the price of 1 at StrongVPN, and I've compared them side by side. When StrongVPN is downloading at 30 or 40 kbs, Astrill VPN is at 300 or 400 kbs! And with Astrill, I've not yet had to manually change servers, and they have proprietary security tech no others have.

Better yet--Astrill VPN is confident enough to offer a free 7-day trial (I can see why StrongVPN, GoTrusted, SwissVPN and the others do not give the free trial!).
I hope you'll find Astrill VPN as useful as we have. Happy surfing!

Dr. Bill

Original post:
Though I love living here, one frustration is accessing online material that I really need for my work.  I don't mind them blocking Facebook or Twitter. I don't use either one. But I really need my Gmail account and Google Docs, which are sometimes blocked and sometimes not.

Thanks to StrongVPN, I can access anything I need, and the new interface/console is easier than anything I've ever used (and I've used half a dozen or more). Best of all, the online service is excellent. On the rare occasion I've had an issue, the team of professionals has helped me work it out via online chats.

I regret that I must use a VPN, and I don't encourage using one for unethical purposes--but if, like me, you simply have to have a fast, uninterrupted connection for your daily work, StrongVPN is the way to go!

Enjoy Amoy!

Dr. Bill

Amazon eBooks

"Discover Xiamen" $2.99

"Fujian Adventure" $1.99

www.amoymagic.com

Mail postal letters / snailmail from your computer!

Hello from Amoy!

Mail is much better in China today than it was 20 years ago, when it would take a month or two to get a reply to a letter--if we ever did get the reply. Censors often ripped out the letter, then stuck it back in the envelope without sealing it, and the letter would fall out and we'd end up with an empty envelope (stamped in Chinese red, "Missent from Manila).

Or sometimes they'd seal it with rice glue, but probably use a house-painting brush to do it and the entire envelope would be so stuck to the letter that even an archaeologist could not open it.

Wooden Crate for Silk Tie? There were also endless rules. Anything but actual letters had to be mailed from China in either a wooden box, nailed shut after it was inspected (so you had to carry your own hammer and nails) or a cloth bag sewn shut after inspection. A friend mailed a silk tie back to the U.S and was forced to send it in a heavy wooden crate (to protect the silk tie, as the post office did not want to risk it being damaged, though I've no idea why, as they never took responsibility).

Today, mail from China is fast, efficient--and Chinese postal offices are open long hours, 7 days a week! They still have some strange rules, but overall, Chinese mail is much better, and reliable. But I've found something better: mailing letters through the U.S. postal service (USPS) right here from China!

After trial and much error, searching the internet for online mail services, I finally found www.mailaletter.com, which is a great online mail service based in Seattle.

I did test other services, always looking for better and cheaper, but always came back to www.mailaletter.com, as other services, even in my small test mailing, messed up the mailing addresses, or put the wrong letter in the wrong envelope. But www.mailaletter.com is rapid and reliable. I simply upload my letter (Word file, PDF, Text--about anything) to their site and within 24 hours they mail out from Seattle a high quality COLOR letter to anywhere in the world (for as low as 1.52 USD).

It is as cheap as sending it from China, once you factor in the cost of color printing here. More importantly, it's faster, reliable and secure--and I don't have to bother with printing the letter, sealing it in an envelope and affixing postage.

And in case you're wondering--No, I'm not a partner with them (or anything else I recommend, though this blog does make a small income from the Ads). I just appreciate the professional, quality service, and think you will too.

Enjoy Amoy!

 Dr Bill

Amazon eBooks

"Discover Xiamen" $2.99

"Fujian Adventure" $1.99

www.amoymagic.comBill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com

Solved: Active Directory is Unavailable Printer Problem

Hi from Amoy!

Have you tried to install (or use) a printer and got the message "Active Directory is Unavailable?"  My wife did, and searching online forums and even Microsoft's website was no help. I read a dozen forums, where dozens of people begged for help with the exact same issue, but in the end I did not see one good solution. But after much trial and error, I finally figured out a simple solution to this problem. I will first explain why the problem happened, and then how to fix it.

When I first connected the HP printer (one from China, as I live here in Xiamen) to a new laptop, Windows automatically searched for drivers and installed it--but it would not work. Although it did show up under Devices and Printers, I could not select it to be the default printer, and Word and Acrobat could not find the new printer.  On some forums, people suggested to uninstall and reinstall Word or Acrobat, but many tried that and it did not work. Some suggested printing a document with Notepad (saying it would find the printer, and after printing once, it would be fine with other programs; it didn't work for me).

I downloaded the printer drivers from Hewlett Packard to reinstall everything myself--but when I connected the printer cable and turned on the printer, the computer would not recognize it, so I could not click "Next," but got the message Active Directory is Unavailable."

Finally--I uninstalled the printer (assuming Windows had messed up the automatic install), and then ran the HP printer setup program--and it worked like a charm!

This may not work for you, but in the end, it seemed the only logical explanation--that the automatic printer installation somehow triggered the active directory is unavailable message. So give it a try:

1 Uninstall the problem printer.
2.Download the latest printer drivers and reinstall the printer.

I cannot emphasize enough that, if you face an issue, you search online for the latest device drivers!

Warning! Download printer drivers directly from the company that made the printer, not from the hundreds of sites that pop up in a search, giving you free device drivers. These sites invariably want you to sign up, or download a download program, and many even have corrupted or infected drivers. Unfortunately, if you search for a specific driver, these sites will show up long before HP or Epson or Canon!

So go to the company site--HP, Epson, Canon--and from their site, search for the driver. Every reputable printer company has downloadable printer drivers, and often entire software packages that include printer diagnostics and other useful programs.

 Enjoy Amoy!

Dr. Bill

Amazon eBooks

"Discover Xiamen" $2.99

"Fujian Adventure" $1.99



Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com

Yonanas! Frozen fruit into creamy ice cream--no sugar, dairy, eggs (EZ! 2 to 3 min.)

Going Bananas Over Yonanas!

When we first came to Xiamen in 1988, it was hard to believe that Chinese had invented ice cream. The only brand we had was "White Snow" ice cream (better than "Yellow Snow", I guess). It was not smooth and creamy but icy, almost gritty, only came in vanilla, and was only sold in the summer. Virtually every shop in Xiamen stopped selling it the same day in September, parroting the same explanation, as if they'd learned it from Mao's Little Red Ice Cream Book: "Can't eat ice cream in winter. Too cold."

Nonsense. When we got stuck for 3 weeks in Beijing for Chinese New Year (back then, you needed guanxi to get tickets), we found that Northern Chinese eat ice cream year round--even while ice skating on the frozen lakes! Nowadays, of course, we can get all kinds of ice creams year round (because of global warming, perhaps?)--but we just found the tastiest and healthiest alternative!

Sue spent $3 on a strange gadget, Yonanas, that Dole produced to grind frozen fruit straight into creamy, delicious "ice cream!" No dairy, sugar, eggs--nothing but frozen fruit! I was astonished when I first ate some of it. No wonder we went bananas over Yonanas. We've already bought two more (a new one for us, and one for our son and his wife, and am now ordering two for friends).

Yonanas is only about $50 on Amazon, with free shipping, or get the Yonanas Elite, which is double the power, so is easier to use and will probably last longer. If you, like us, are in China, you can buy them on Taobao, though I have not yet found the Yonanas Elite on Taobao. They are about 220 Yuan.

Nowadays, you never know what you're getting when you eat processed, store bought foods. Just days ago, it was reported that Taiwan companies were using recycled gutter oil--and exporting it to Hong Kong! So Hong Kong stores dumped their Taiwan made mooncakes for Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and are buying them from the Dutch! 

So try something that is for sure healthy and relatively safe (you never know about pesticides, I guess), by making Yonanas part of your daily diet. Just chop fruit into small pieces, freeze overnight, stick them in the Yonanas and in 2 or 3 minutes you have a treat that is so tasty it is hard to believe it is good for you!

Enjoy Amoy!

Dr. Bill

Amazon eBooks

"Discover Xiamen" $2.99

"Fujian Adventure" $1.99

www.amoymagic.com
Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com

Best Smartphone Unidirectional microphone (Shotgun mike for phone!)

Hi from Amoy! ( Xiamen, in China's Fujian Province. Today, we'll see

how to use a Smartphone with a 6$ bluetooth remote, GorillaPod and, importantly, a Smartphone unidirectional microphone (smartphone shotgun mike!) to record video good enough I use it for my weekly FJTV Xingfu Fujian 《幸福福建》 TV series.

Four years ago it took a truck for the gear and film crew. A crew for National Geographic I helped trimmed it down a bit. But today, I can fit everything I need for much of the filming in one hand! It doesn't give you Nat Geo quality, of course, but with planning, it is as good as a $2,000 video camera I used a few years ago. It took some trial-and-error with good and not-so-good products to get this down, so I hope it helps you bypass all that and get straight to recording.

For six months I've hosted the weekly Fujian TV station's "Xingfu Fujian" (幸福福建 -- means roughly Happy Fujian； 海峡卫视电视台), and is produced with cooperation of TV stations in 6 countries. It's all in Chinese, so it has been a great helping in improving my own Chinese.  I've been in China almost 30 years, but tackling Mandarin Chinese is a lifelong project.  And speaking rapid Chinese, even for native Chinese presenters, is a real challenge unless you prepare well.

Much of the content--about history, culture, cuisine, etc.--is from my own books and articles, but some is even new to me--especially the material from our partners in 5 other countries. But the biggest surprise to me was using iPads and phones to film TV!

The professional TV studio felt too sterile, so we opted to film outdoors at Xiamen University, where I've taught MBA since 1988.  The crew was only 2 people--using 2 iPads (one for recording, one as a makeshift teleprompter)! I was astonished at the quality, so when I traveled, I filmed myself for 6 of the episodes using just my android Smartphone (much better than the iPad) and the equipment I'll share below.

I wondered how to easily film myself--and then I saw on Amazon the Kootek Bluetooth Wireless Remote Control for both iOS and Android Smartphones. Only 5.99 with free shipping, it easily installed in seconds--but with default android software, only operated the still camera. But now I can remotely operate video recording as well thanks Video Cam Direct, a free program on Google Play (invented with the App Inventor program from MIT). Video Cam Direct only shows video, so there's no problem about choosing video or photos.


But how to hold the camera? Amazon again to the rescue (I usually resort to Amazon, even if I end up buying elsewhere, because it has the most comprehensive user reviews). After studying the reviews, tossing out those by people obviously selling something and those 1-star bits written by Amazonian trolls (Amazon has as many trolls as social media), I spent 21.69 (free shipping) on a Ravelli 3 pound 61 inch tripod. It is amazingly sturdy and easy to tote--but how to mount the Smartphone? Jobe to the rescue.
Gorilla Tripods are amazing. The 3 bendable legs cling to anything (post, tree branch, bed post), allowing stable filming from any angle. I bought the Joby JM3-01WW Griptight GorillaPod Stand (16.74, free shipping), and the special Smartphone tripod mount even cradles my rather large 5.7 inch phone (or phablet, or whatever the term is; I can't keep up with these phads).  But what about sound?
When Surround Sound is a pain. Smartphone microphones are great, but they are omnidirectional, so they pick up sound in all directions--even distant cars and dogs barking a block away. I tried various external Smartphone omnidirectional and cardioid Smartphone microphones, but they helped very little. And then I found a smartphone Shotgun mike! (unidirectional microphone) for both Apple and Android.

The Ampridge Mighty Mic s Microphone plugs right into your smartphone (see photo at the top) and you can plug your headphones into the microphone to monitor the sound. Point it right at you and much of the background noise disappears--enough that I can produce TV quality recordings on my phone!

And that's all you need, folks, to do TV quality video (well--good enough for some TV!) on your smartphone--and by yourself, using the smartphone bluetooth remote control.

I hope this has helped.And if you're curious about the programs I'm hosting, Click Here to view some of the episodes I have uploaded on YouTube. I think you'll agree that a Smartphone is a good TV Camera!

And learn more about Fujian and Xiamen Island from my eBooks below.

Bill Brown

"Discover Xiamen" $2.99

"Fujian Adventure" $1.99

Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com

Cannot see text at bottom of screen -- FIXED

Hi from Amoy!

Here is an EZ Fast Fix for a common problem that I and many friends have had. Sometimes the text extends  below the bottom of the screen, so you can't click the Buttons. You try to drag the top up so you can click the bottom--but as soon as you let go, it snaps back down again (and the Taskbar covers the buttons) I was surprised to see how many people are searching online forums and querying Adobe and Microsoft support (and often getting nowhere).

Every computer is different, and there can be many causes, but 100% of the time I've faced this, it has been because I, or the person I helped, changed either the screen resolution or enlarged Window's text under Control Panel / Display / Change the Size of all items -- and chosen anything larger than 100%.

If you're my age and need reading glasses, there is good reason for making the text larger. Unfortunately, unlike "reflowing text" in Adobe PDF files (which can make the text larger without moving it off the screen), enlarging text in Windows (any Windows, from XP to Windows 8-Ball), runs the edges off the screen so you can't click buttons to exit, or select, or... No idea why, over the years, they've not developed a way to resolve this.

So if you can't see the bottom of your screen, or Word or Adobe document, change the text size back to 100% and use reading glasses like me--or use Windows "Magnifying" tool to temporarily enlarge parts of the screen, like a magnifying glass.

Here's the steps.

1. Open Control Panel (in Windows 8, go to start by hitting the Windows key (4 small squares, probably to the left of the space bar), or open the right Charm (not that charming) and tap the Windows Start icon (4 blue squares.

2. Open Display.

3. Beneath "Change the size of all items" (on the upper right), click on the circle to the left of "Smaller -- 100%".

4. Finish. Some computers may ask you to log out and back in, or even reboot, but the issue should then be fixed.

5. But experiment. Different computers have different tolerances. With my Asus, I can only use 100%, but my Lenovo allows 115%, which is good enough for me to work without reading glasses.

6. Individual text size? You may note on the Display window, bottom right side, you can "Change only the the text size" if you tick the box for "Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays." You can then choose different size texts for Title Bars, Menus, Message Boxes, Icons, Palette Titles and Tooltips--but this still sometimes causes the problem of text running beyond the borders of the display, or doesn't affect the text at all inside of applications such as Word or Acrobat.

Its an old problem that I hope Microsoft will eventually resolve. Rather like the one we used to have with the tiny print in SMS texts! Those old phones allowed us to choose large text, and then still forced us to use tiny texting fonts. Fortunately, Android now allows us to increase the size of SMS text message fonts.

I hope this has helped (it's certainly worked for me, and for many family and friends I've helped).

And if you have a chance, visit Amoy (historic name for Xiamen, Fujian Province, where I've lived since 1988)!

Au reservoir!

Bill Brown
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com