Asian Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Hongkong share the five fastest climbing national economies rankings with Israel, The Economist reports. I find it amazing that both Taiwan and Israel (and maybe Singapore), facing complicated economical and political difficulties in their region with some of their neighbors, are able to keep demonstrating incredible growth and are high on the top economies rankings, especially when considering their size, number of citizens and lack of natural resources.

Translated to Hebrew by Globes, then back to English by IsraelNationalNews, here’s a summary :

Globes: Israel Among Top Five Growing Markets

Israel has risen 12 places in an international listing to become the world …

How different are the Asian cultures? can people really tell them apart? It was always a bit hard for me to pinpoint the differences between Asian cultures, being the ignorant westerner that I am, and with the Asian globalization and the mixing process of the Asian cultures it’s becoming even more difficult to tell the different country styles apart. In Taiwan, strong Chinese, Korean and Japanese influences were apparent in both fashion, architecture and food, and from what I’ve seen at the big cities in other Asian countries this Asian multi-culture blend is very common. 
In "The meaning of being Asian", a surprisingly popular post, I summarized with "You can’t tell them apart not because they’re all the same, but because …

One of my Chinese language teachers is an Israeli woman who got her Chinese education in Taiwan. The special thing about the way she likes to teach is that she finds Chinese jokes that are suitable for our very limited level and brings those to class so that we can practice with them. Aside from this being a great way to learn Chinese, I also find those jokes to be a great way to get a small taste of Chinese culture and thought, even if those don’t fully represent everyone. 
To give an example, here’s a joke in Chinese, which was taken from a Taiwanese Bulletin Board System (BBS) :

美國人、法國人、中國人PART 1一個美國人，一個法國人還有一個中國人走在大沙漠中,走著走著看到一個瓶子,打開瓶塞後跳出來一個人,那個人說:「我是神仙,我能滿足你們每個人三個願望!」美國人第一個搶著說:「我第一個願望是要很多的錢。」神仙說:"這個簡單,滿足你!說說第二個願望吧."美國人說:我：還要很多的錢!"神仙滿足他的願望後,美國人又說了他的第三個願望:"把我弄回家 "神仙說:"沒問題."於是美國人帶著很多的錢回了美國.神仙又問法國人.法國人說:"我要美女!"神仙給了他美女.法國人又說:我還要美女!"神仙也滿足了他,給了他美女.法國人最後說:"把我送回法國."神仙把法國人送回國後，問中國人要甚麼，中國人說:「先來瓶二鍋頭吧！」神仙給了他.問他第二個願望是甚麼，中國人說:「再來一瓶二鍋頭!」神仙問他第三個願望是甚麼，中國人說:「我很想法國人和美國人的,你把他們都弄回來吧！」PART 2法國人和美國人氣得不得了,但是沒辦法,三個人只好繼續走,走著走著又看見一個瓶子,打開塞子後又跳出來一個人,那個人說:"我是剛才那個神仙的徒弟,法力沒他高強,所以只能滿足你們每個人兩個願望."法國人和美國人合計合計認為先讓中國人說比較好,免得一會兒又被他弄回來. 於是中國人說:"那就先來瓶二鍋頭吧."神仙滿足了他的願望.法國人和美國人叫中國人趕快把第二個願望說出來，中國人喝完二鍋頭後對神仙說:"行了,沒事了,你走吧"part3美國人和法國人很生氣地跟著中國人繼續走，走著走著又看到一個瓶子，打開瓶塞後又跳出來一個人，那個人說:"我是那個神仙的徒弟的徒弟,我只能滿足你們每個人一個願望"美國人搶著說:"我再也不想見到那個中國人了."神仙說:"好的."，然後轉頭問法國人：“你的呢？＂法國人說:"我也不想見到那個中國人了."神仙說:"好的."，然後轉頭問中國人：“你的呢？“中國人說：“他們說的都不算“Part4…

On the front page of the Israeli TheMarker is Shay Agasi on the developing IT in China and India and its influence on IT focused countries like Israel. Shay Agasi (38), an Israeli who’s leading the SAP group and was voted one of the 100 most influential people in IT by TIME magazine, has a few thoughts and predictions on the IT changes resulting from the new economies in India and China, with “Shay Agasi : the millions of new engineers in India and China threaten the Israeli Hi-tech” (published on 21dec) : In an exclusive interview for TheMarker the most senior Israeli in IT says : Israel should focus on alternative energy technologies. The discussion over the threat from India …

What is China 2007 going to be like? Do you have any predictions about what’s going to happen in China or in regards to China on 2007? 
 
I’m very curious about the China English/Expat bloggers opinions on this issue. Following "ProBlogger’s Group Writing Project - Reviews and Predictions" I thought I should ask the few China bloggers and China interested readers reading this blog to comment or trackback with their predictions for China 2007. It could be about anything - society, politics, expat life, chinese studies, as long as it’s China related.
 
Not being much of a expert about China, I will try and write down some of my thoughts and predictions based on the very new and limited view that I …

Are you studying Chinese? Are you translating between English and Chinese? software can make your life a whole lot easier. Being frustrated with seeing my fellow Chinese language students getting lost in old-style dictionaries and unsuccessfully guessing stroke order and pronounciation I invited those interested to a short presentation last week at the Hebrew University where I showed a few commercial and free tools I know that I thought might help Chinese students and translators.
 
Here’s a summary of the applications that I reviewed in the presentation, including links and small screenshots. There are a lot more, but I believe this includes the best of the tools available. I’d be happy to get comments about the software that you’re using and your recommendation.
 
Commercial tools

Wenlin…