• Bargaining. And remember, this is for almost everything, lest you continue the very prevalent racial stereotype that laowai (directly translated: old outsiders) are here primarily to get fleeced. If you're planning on interacting with Chinese people at all, get used to that and the feeling that you got fleeced anyway, no matter how hard a bargain you drove. I recommend trying your hand at the return counter of failing retailers to get an accurate simulation of what you'll be doing in China.

• Censorship. You're not going to be able to surf the web the way you want to surf the web. Though there now is a Firefox plugin that'll help you deal with that. You too can now feel the power of the Great Firewall and wonder things like “Okay, what did the BBC say to anger the CCP this time around?”

•The Air Quality. You've probably heard that story about former President Ronald Reagan, where after he recovered from that assassination attempt and was released from the hospital, he remarked that he wanted to go back to L.A., where he could “see the air [he's] breathing?” If he was talking about Beijing, it would be more like “feel the air I'm breathing tearing up my nose like I just snorted a factory's worth of particulate matter.” No, it's not as catchy. Yeah, it's about as true. In fact, it's so true that I'm going to tell you not to get used to the air quality here—it's not worth the cancer. When you get to your destination in China, get any number of these air purifiers ASAP. (Flickr Credit: Kevin Dooley)

• The Sea of People. Remember how the Bird's Nest stadium seated something like 90,000 people during the Olympics Opening Ceremony and you maybe thought something like “Haha, that's more than the populations of some countries!”? China's full of statistics like that that you'll encounter first hand.

For instance, did you know that the Shanghai subway transports more than the entire population of San Francisco every morning during rush hour? Crazy, right? That's China! Luckily, Black Friday is coming up, and being in a Best Buy that morning will give you a feel for being one in a crowd of millions. (Flickr credit: Marc van der Chijs)

• Sad Cellular Options. While jailbroken iPhones are all the rage here in China, we probably won't be seeing the iPhone 3G anytime soon, thanks to China Mobile's desire for full control and the country's lack of a real 3G network. In fact, compared to our East Asian neighbors, we have the most terrible choice of cellphones ever. China seems more willing to focus on churning out iPhone fakes and gimmicks (like this hilarious but useless spaceship cellphone) than developing its own useful, well-designed tech. Oh well, at least the PRC's got an incredibly extensive network – I can use my mobile in subways and in the mountains without ever having to ask “Can you hear me now?”

• Dealing With Rabid Nationalists Raised On The Propaganda Machine. One of the most important things to learn (especially as a diplomat) will be how to smile, nod politely, and present actual facts without being insulting when you're confronted with a Chinese person with a really, really distorted world view. Try to remember that they live in a world where information is one-sided and tightly controlled, the internet police is active on every student message board and the nationalism scapegoat is constantly used. To tell the truth, with all the telecom spying and appeals to voting like a "real American," we're perhaps not too far off from that world ourselves. [University of Florida via Dvice]

The camera works by translating hand and body motions into an avatar's movements in Second Life. Tip a bit forward and the avatar will walk, tip faster and the avatar will run, tip too fast and you'll fall down (presumably). The included demo also shows the camera translating various movements into jumping, flying and landing "gracefully."

Low-priced 3D cameras, such as the Zcam, will not only make playing Second Life more immersive than other peripherals out there , it'll also completely rethink human-computer interactions, Kapor said.

Well, we'll see about that. All I know is, if years from now I'm suddenly standing in a Los Angeles parking lot half naked and swinging away at things with my katana thanks to a particularly crazy bar fight in a virtual reality world - I'll know who to blame. [New York Times]

3Dconnexion 3D Mice Coming To Second Life

Linden Lab's support of the SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse brings new levels of direct control and immersion to the Second Life Grid platform

NEW YORK - April 3, 2008 - Today at the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo, 3Dconnexion, a Logitech company, announced that its 3D mouse product line will be supported by the Second Life Grid , the platform behind the popular online 3D virtual world created by Linden Lab . 3Dconnexion's 3D mice - including the award-winning SpaceNavigator - will be supported by Second Life beginning in mid-April, offering Second Life residents better control and coordination with 3D objects.

While traditional mice control motion on a two-dimensional plane, 3Dconnexion's 3D mice allow effortless movement and control within a 3D environment. On the Second Life Grid platform, this means that actions such as moving, flying and designing are more intuitive. While designing, users can simultaneously pan, zoom and rotate without stopping to select commands.

"Being able to move freely within and around the environment is a crucial component of the Second Life world experience," said Joe Miller, vice president, platform and product development, Linden Lab. "3Dconnexion's 3D mice have the capability to increase the immersion and improve the overall experience of our Residents and we're always open to such developments."

"3Dconnexion's 3D mice make the Second Life world experience even richer because avatars can now move in a more intuitive and fluid manner - movement no longer needs to be predicated on keyboard commands," said Dieter Neujahr, president of 3Dconnexion. "Beyond supporting a more immersive virtual experience, 3Dconnexion's 3D mice bring professional 3D design capabilities into the hands of Second Life Residents who enjoy creating their surrounding world, as well as to groups using the Second Life Grid platform as a collaborative tool for education and business training."

Advanced navigational capabilities offered by 3Dconnexion 3D mice include:

* Fluid avatar control: Residents can effortlessly control their avatars by gently lifting, pressing and turning the 3D mouse control cap.

* Easy access to camera views: With a twist of the control cap, residents can navigate the camera view and enjoy fluid and highly intuitive control while in flycam mode.

* Quick-switch between flycam mode and avatar motion: The pre-configured buttons on the 3D mice give residents a streamlined navigation experience with the ability to easily transfer between flycam mode and avatar motion - without stopping to select keyboard commands. In addition, the Second Life interface includes default navigation settings for 3Dconnexion 3D mice, allowing people to adjust the speed and settings according to their preferences.

* Control of 3D objects in build mode: While working in build mode, users can pan, zoom and rotate 3D objects to view designs from multiple angles. The 3D mice's pre-configured buttons can be used to change the view to camera mode, providing advanced control of 3D objects and enabling a fluid design process.

3Dconnexion provides advanced and affordable 3D mice that are supported by more than 120 of today's most popular 3D applications, including Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended and Acrobat 3D, Autodesk Inventor , AutoCAD , 3ds Max , and Maya , Blender, CATIA, Google Earth and SketchUp , Microsoft Virtual Earth , NX , Pro/ENGINEER , SolidWorks , and many other CAD, DCC, AEC, and GIS applications. For a complete list of applications supported by 3Dconnexion, visit www.3dconnexion.com/solutions/cad/all_sup_app.php.

Pricing and Availability

Beginning in mid-April, the Second Life Grid platform will support 3Dconnexion's product line on Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista , and Macintosh OS X 10.4.6. SpaceNavigator Personal Edition (MSRP $59), SpaceNavigator Standard Edition (MSRP $99), SpaceTraveler (MSRP $199), SpaceExplorer (MSRP $299), and SpacePilot (MSRP $399) are available from major online resellers including Amazon, Apple.com, Buy.com, CDW, Dell, and PC Mall, as well as directly at www.3Dconnexion.com.

About 3Dconnexion, a Logitech Company
3Dconnexion, a wholly owned subsidiary of Logitech (SWX: LOGN) (Nasdaq: LOGI), is the leading provider of 3D mice for 3D design and visualization. 3Dconnexion devices support today's most popular and powerful 3D applications by offering users a more intuitive and natural way to interact with computer-generated 3D content. 3Dconnexion's award-winning 3D mice serve a wide variety of industries and are used by 3D designers, animators and artists worldwide. 3Dconnexion is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with European headquarters in Seefeld, Germany and offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.3Dconnexion.com.