Something new happened in mid-2006 – five out of the top ten websites listed by Alexa (based on traffic for the previous three months) were Asian. Four of those were Chinese.

The Recruit.net search engine can find jobs for coders in China, analysts in Australia, and system administrators in Singapore.

Asian developers are steadily adopting Java EE 5, according to the first volume of Evans Data Corp’s APAC Development Survey. .NET is also doing well in the Asian market, with a heavy majority of developers using it in addition other products.

A nonprofit organization trying to prevent the fragmentation of Linux is picking up its activities in Asia. The Free Standards Group (FSG) is standardizing the handling of Chinese characters, and working with the Chinese government to establish the Chinese Linux certification laboratory.

Bill Gates says that governments trying to censor information on the Internet are wasting their time.

The Chinese National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) put in an unsolicited $18.5 billion bid for Unocal, challenging Chevron’s April move to acquire the oil company. Neither is a done deal and this marks China’s continued assertion into corporate hardball.

Former European Union trade commissioner Pascal Lamy is leading the race to head the World Trade Organization.

MSNBC.com has launched a special earthquake eyewitness weblog written by readers that bolsters its coverage of the massive quake that struck Indonesia today with on-the-ground reports.

China has ordered its banks to take further action to stop loan fraud and embezzlement.

Automaker John DeLorean, maker of the infamous DeLorean automobile, has passed away this weekend at the age of 80. He died at New Jersey hospital while recovering from the effects of a recent stroke.

Qwest Communications has increased its offer for MCI to $8.5 billion in an attempt to outbid Verizon.

OPEC has agreed to boost production in an effort to restrain higher prices that threaten the world’s economy.

AstraZeneca led the FTSE 100 index after it’s anti-cholesterol drug Crestor recieved FDA approval.

AXA Asia Pacific is expanding to India possibly looking for a joint venture with a bank as the company’s profits have fallen.

Launched yesterday – Broadcasters-Tsunamihelp, a new wiki-based portal that aims to ensure there is coordination between broadcasters and non-governmental organizations …

If U.S. crude prices fall below $40 a barrel, OPEC will consider lowering formal output limits.

UK blogger Andy Budd has come up with an outstanding initiative to focus the support of bloggers in a very tangible way on the Asia earthquake/tsunamis disaster.

This morning, I was reading Evelyn Rodriguez’ latest posts in Crossroads Dispatches following her safe return home.

Apple is the most prominent company I’ve seen so far in its open and very public support for the earthquake and tsunamis disasters in Asia last Sunday.

Reviewing my various RSS feeds, I’m literally taken aback by the sheer volume of commentaries about the Asia earthquake/tsunamis disaster by bloggers.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer warned Asian governments that they could face patent lawsuits for using the open source Linux operating system.