Name of your website?Adrift in a Sea of Phlegm
Your name?
Keir
Your Location (city, etc)
Beijing
Please give us a short summary of your website?
An eclectic mix of current events and eccentric news with particular focus placed on China's continuing human rights and environmental crises.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
What started out as simply a way to keep in touch with family back home became a sort of crusade to alert a world that awarded the Olympics to a country that continues to torture, occupy Tibet, threaten democratic Taiwan, attack human rights activists, use a ludicrous and completely corrupt legal system, gaols more journalists than any other on earth, uses a gulag system for mass "Re-education Through Labour" and blocks any site that might warn its people about the next SARS or bird flu outbreak (including my own).
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
My students had introduced me to the idea about six years ago, and I had originally thought of it as a way to share photos and keep friends abroad updated with what was going on here.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Living in China, it's impossible to last five minutes without hearing someone clear his throat, or to cycle past a bus stop without the threat of inadvertently getting spat on.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
It's blocked in the host country, for one. I was inspired by William Shirer who spent most of the Third Reich living in the heart of evil to report the truth back home.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My eventual goal is simply to expand to a proper independent site where I'm not constrained by MSN. Currently am working on another site, www.tracesofevil.blogspot.com which is devoted to what's left of Hitler's Germany which is used for my class.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Success is not a consideration in this; it's simply a hobby.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would set up an independent website, liaise with other groups, and provide more multimedia to offer accessible, reliable and timely news.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Demand from what?
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
MSn is quite primitive compared to blogger, but both are banned in China; I have to keep using illegal proxies to simply log in.
What has been your biggest challenge?
The Chinese regime's Great Firewall.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
I'm not selling anything, so I'm not focussed on promotion.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
The focus has moved away from myself and my interests to a running commentary on the changes going on in China.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
It's six years old and will continue until I find a reliable replacement to live.spaces which allows me to transfer what I've so far managed to set up.
What is your website address?
Adrift in a Sea of Phlegm
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