Yesterday in a blog post, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof called for a boycott of Bing, because of the way it handles Chinese characters searches outside of China when searching for politically sensitive (to China) material.

Today in a blog post on the Search Blog, Adam Sohn responds, by first pointing out that some searches in Chinese do provide “very balanced web results”.  Mr. Sohn goes on to say:

We recognize that we can continue to improve our relevancy and comprehensiveness in these web results and we will.

In addition, today’s investigations uncovered the fact that our image search is not functioning properly for queries entered using Simplified Chinese characters outside of the PRC. We have identified the bug and are at work on the fix. We expect to have this done before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Bing’s intent for these types of queries is to provide relevant and comprehensive results for our customers.

In the NY Times blog post, Kristof points out that Bing is certainly not alone in having issues dealing with links to sensitive Chinese information:

(This is an issue with Google as well, but to a much lesser extent. Google censors results on its search engine used within China, google.cn, but offers mostly uncensored results using simplified Chinese characters on its worldwide browser, google.com. However, some searches on google.com, such as images for Falun Gong, are also censored.)

It seems to us that the problem here is not so much with Bing, as it is with the oppressive nature of the Chinese government’s relationship with the internet.  Why not call for a boycott of China until these issues are resolved?  The Chinese government maintains a long list of blocked websites, including Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, and until recently, even the New York Times.  The problems with Bing searches are occurring largely due to having to maintain separate functionality inside and outside of China.  Yes, Bing looks like it missed something in image searches, and they’re working to fix it.  But the much larger issue of the Chinese government’s relationship with the internet is the elephant in the room here.  Why isn’t Nicholas Kristof calling for a boycott of China?  Not as much Techmeme juice, perhaps?

For everyone who wants to get the most out of Windows Live: The Windows Live Essentials and Services Book.

This book by MVP Brad Jones and Marcus Schmidt is a full-color, step-by-step guide for using Microsoft's new Windows Live Essentials series of free applications.

Step-by-step instructions show you how to use not only these applications, but also associated Windows Live on-line services. As an example, you'll learn just how easy it is to create panoramic pictures in seconds or how to create movies from pictures in just a few minutes. Then you'll get the inside scoop on how to communicate and share using Messenger, SkyDrive, Spaces, and Groups.

With this book, you'll quickly be on your way to accessing these useful applications in an effort to making your life easier.

• Learn how to get Live Essentials Applications free and install them on your computer
• Chat with Live Messenger, keep in touch with Live Mail, and set up and create your own blog with Live Writer
• Get creative with Photo Gallery and Movie Maker, which let you manage and enhance your photos and turn them into movies
• Socialize with the help of Live Spaces
• Organize appointments and special days with Live Calendar
• Use SkyDrive to store files and documents online for easy access from anywhere
• Explore additional apps and services such as Live Contacts, Live Groups, Bing Maps, Bing Search, and more

You can purchase the book at amazon.com.

Bing Maps China has updated their site with tons of new data and some new features:

• Yellow Pages – Over 8 million yellow page listings are now searching from Bing Maps China.
• Business Photos – Hundreds of thousands of business front photos are now available as a part of our YP listings results.
• Transit – Bing Maps China has had transit information for a while now; however, the site now hosts hundreds of transit lines around China
• Road Data Refresh – Updated the entire country with new road network data inclusive of over 4 million road segments
• Traffic – Higher fidelity, wider coverage traffic flow information for more roads around the country
• Performance Enhancements – Route and transit calculation times cut by over 50%
• Signposts (Directions) – visual improvements for driving directions
• Signposts (Highway Exits) - visual improvements for highway exit signs
• Signposts (Border Crossing) - visual improvements for border crossing signs

The Bing Maps China API SDK has also been updated.