<![CDATA[Comments on: John and John Talk Cheese]]> two Johns in the studio today. John P., your friendly neighborhood ChinesePod host, and John B., your favorite marketing guy, are here to preview the week's lessons and to discuss some changes to the website. Let us know what you're thinking by commenting below or emailing us at: support@chinesepod.com.]]> 2010-07-24 18:00:00 <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> Hey John B, good to hear you. Any insights on what these new iPhone apps are going to be? Will they depend on wifi access? I'd particularly like ones that would be useful while travelling around China and not dependant on connecting to a wifi network.

]]> Hey John B, good to hear you. Any insights on what these new iPhone apps are going to be? Will they depend on wifi access? I'd particularly like ones that would be useful while travelling around China and not dependant on connecting to a wifi network.

]]> <![CDATA[By: johnb]]> Unfortunately, they'll have to depend on network access to some degree (there's no way we can package the entire site into an app, at least not until they come out with a several terabyte iPhone :)), but the new apps will cache as much content as they can locally after you've downloaded it, so it should be possible to prepare for an extended network-free trip by downloading what you want to listen to onto the device beforehand.

]]> Unfortunately, they'll have to depend on network access to some degree (there's no way we can package the entire site into an app, at least not until they come out with a several terabyte iPhone :)), but the new apps will cache as much content as they can locally after you've downloaded it, so it should be possible to prepare for an extended network-free trip by downloading what you want to listen to onto the device beforehand.

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> thanks johnb. Sorry, I'm not too tech savvy and I don't know what the situation in China is [but would like to know regarding wifi vs what we call here 3G] but I guess what I had in mind is that when I"m out and about here it's not easy to get access to wifi, but very easy to get access all around town to 3G ...I can access all sorts of stuff from the internet over 3G. Any thoughts about 3G ?

]]> thanks johnb. Sorry, I'm not too tech savvy and I don't know what the situation in China is [but would like to know regarding wifi vs what we call here 3G] but I guess what I had in mind is that when I"m out and about here it's not easy to get access to wifi, but very easy to get access all around town to 3G ...I can access all sorts of stuff from the internet over 3G. Any thoughts about 3G ?

]]> <![CDATA[By: johnb]]> As long as you have a GSM phone (which all iPhones are) you're fine. When you get here you'll just need to get a prepaid China Unicom 3G SIM card and pop it in (China Mobile uses TD-SCDMA, so you have to go with Unicom). There are no totally unlimited data packages, but the rates aren't terrible, especially compared with the US and Europe. 3G coverage is solid in the cities, not sure about the countryside (2.5G GPRS/EDGE service is available pretty much everywhere, even in rural areas).

If you're going to mostly be in big cities, you might want to look at purchasing a China Mobile WiFi account. I've never bought one myself, but most big cities are more or less blanketed with WiFi hotspots that can be accessed if you have an account. 3G is still probably more convenient, though.

]]> As long as you have a GSM phone (which all iPhones are) you're fine. When you get here you'll just need to get a prepaid China Unicom 3G SIM card and pop it in (China Mobile uses TD-SCDMA, so you have to go with Unicom). There are no totally unlimited data packages, but the rates aren't terrible, especially compared with the US and Europe. 3G coverage is solid in the cities, not sure about the countryside (2.5G GPRS/EDGE service is available pretty much everywhere, even in rural areas).

If you're going to mostly be in big cities, you might want to look at purchasing a China Mobile WiFi account. I've never bought one myself, but most big cities are more or less blanketed with WiFi hotspots that can be accessed if you have an account. 3G is still probably more convenient, though.

]]> <![CDATA[By: thinkabroad]]> Thanks for the recent iPhone app update for OS4.  Now I can get back to studying with my phone.  Looking forward to updates on technical innovations at CPod.  Great work team!

]]> Thanks for the recent iPhone app update for OS4.  Now I can get back to studying with my phone.  Looking forward to updates on technical innovations at CPod.  Great work team!

]]> <![CDATA[By: chebom]]> Diddo......but Im still having some issues downloading content onto the app.

]]> Diddo......but Im still having some issues downloading content onto the app.

]]> <![CDATA[By: xiao_liang]]> How does a cheese-lover survive in cheese-hating China? :)

]]> How does a cheese-lover survive in cheese-hating China? :)

]]> <![CDATA[By: chanelle77]]> Just speaking for myself, but one is: paying way too much for a piece of Brie or Gouda! And flying back from Holland with 10 kg of cheese and make every visitor do the same *wink wink*. I am blessed with a German bakery within 5 min walking distance who sells 5 types of cheese: could be worse :-)

]]> Just speaking for myself, but one is: paying way too much for a piece of Brie or Gouda! And flying back from Holland with 10 kg of cheese and make every visitor do the same *wink wink*. I am blessed with a German bakery within 5 min walking distance who sells 5 types of cheese: could be worse :-)

]]> <![CDATA[By: xiao_liang]]> Hehe! How do they keep it refrigerated from the airport in 40 degree heat?!

]]> Hehe! How do they keep it refrigerated from the airport in 40 degree heat?!

]]> <![CDATA[By: zhenlijiang]]> Good (and very welcome, I think somewhat overdue actually, but anyhow very welcome) idea, to keep us updated on even the little changes to the site. Please do keep it up.

Is it just me? Nobody else is having this problem with News and Features? For several weeks now, the current News and Features refuses to appear on the Conversations page once someone has made a comment. I had to go to the Lessons page to access this one. I've mentioned this in the Tech Problems group weeks ago, but nothing has come of it.

]]> Good (and very welcome, I think somewhat overdue actually, but anyhow very welcome) idea, to keep us updated on even the little changes to the site. Please do keep it up.

Is it just me? Nobody else is having this problem with News and Features? For several weeks now, the current News and Features refuses to appear on the Conversations page once someone has made a comment. I had to go to the Lessons page to access this one. I've mentioned this in the Tech Problems group weeks ago, but nothing has come of it.

]]> <![CDATA[By: chanelle77]]> For the hard Dutch cheeses temp is not such a big problem when sealed or bought in a wheel. I think that humidity is cheese's biggest enemy, not heat :-).

]]> For the hard Dutch cheeses temp is not such a big problem when sealed or bought in a wheel. I think that humidity is cheese's biggest enemy, not heat :-).

]]> <![CDATA[By: martijn819]]> My own most wanted feature for the iPhone app: 

Being able to set "Simplified" or "Traditional" in the settings menu and lock it down. 

At the moment it seems to depend on the Safari connection underlying the app. Which gives me a horrible mixed bag of Simplified and Traditional (my thing) characters in the flashcards. 

]]> My own most wanted feature for the iPhone app: 

Being able to set "Simplified" or "Traditional" in the settings menu and lock it down. 

At the moment it seems to depend on the Safari connection underlying the app. Which gives me a horrible mixed bag of Simplified and Traditional (my thing) characters in the flashcards. 

]]> <![CDATA[By: tiaopidepi]]> Speaking of the iPhone app, is there any progress on a public API? I'm quite interested in making an app for my phone to help me study but I don't want to do it the hard and brittle way if the public API is forthcoming. And I certainly don't think CPod will make a Windows Phone app : )

]]> Speaking of the iPhone app, is there any progress on a public API? I'm quite interested in making an app for my phone to help me study but I don't want to do it the hard and brittle way if the public API is forthcoming. And I certainly don't think CPod will make a Windows Phone app : )

]]> <![CDATA[By: reed1984]]> I love cheese, and I wanna to taste the chinese food...

]]> I love cheese, and I wanna to taste the chinese food...

]]> <![CDATA[By: aimal176]]> I love you jenny and John....

]]> I love you jenny and John....

]]> <![CDATA[By: aimal176]]> I love you jenny and John....

]]> I love you jenny and John....

]]> <![CDATA[By: aimal176]]> i am Aimal (Afghan living in China)  I always listening ChinesePod......Thank you for your helpful lesssons.......

]]> i am Aimal (Afghan living in China)  I always listening ChinesePod......Thank you for your helpful lesssons.......

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