As you can plainly see, the “big finale” has been delayed by a day. So in the meantime, I would like to share a bit more about QQ. It’s … Odd, to say the least.

1:02 – Not willing to declare defeat just yet, I dutifully trudge back to the website, hoping against hope that I get something other than a “busy signal.”
1:03 – It worked! I cannot believe that it worked! Now I get to log into the service using my brand new … ID number. ID number? What is this, ICQ?
1:03 – After I log in, I am greeted by a Windows Live Today-like pop up window called QQ Today. The content was pretty close in style to Windows Live Today, only with the “hip trends” of Shanghai replacing the likes of New York City and Los Angeles. Everything seems normal enough, until I am greeted by one of the single most bizarre and surreal images that I have ever seen — Chairman Mao wearing the stage makeup of Kiss’ Gene Simmons. I find myself staring blankly at the image, absolutely convinced that the next image I see will feature the bearded trio of Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, and Vladimir Lenin dressed as ZZ Top. This is definitely different than MSN.
1:05 – I am brought out of my Mao-derived stupor by a User Account Control warning box. According to the message, a program featuring several Mandarin characters (aka the QQ instant messenger) wants to make a few changes to my computer. That’s enough to make anyone nervous, let alone a safety conscious guy like me. After a few seconds of research, however, I find that there is truly nothing to the message and let the program do its thing.
1:10 – Since I don’t have any friends yet, I find myself clicking aimlessly around QQ’s familiar, MSN-like interface. One of the first places that I find is my profile screen. On the top of the screen sits a link that asks if I want to “bind my email” to my user ID. Within seconds, my user ID and my email address were one in the same. On the left hand side of the window sits a row of grayed out icons, all following under the heading of “Owned Services.” Apparently, I could “own” up to seven: QQ Mail, QQ Show Red Diamond VIP, webcam privileges, Mobile QQ (for standard mobile devices), QQ 3G (for “high-end” devices), QQ WAP (for “legacy” devices), and QQ Alumni. Unfortunately, only the mail service and the webcam setup are in English. The rest are still in Simplified Chinese. It’s a pity … I really wanted to join the QQ Show Red Diamond VIP Club.

…And there you have it. Be sure to tune in Monday for the real finale. We promise. Until then, have a great weekend.