Posts by Simon Grigg
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
In Korea it's bloody fast but the main use as far as I could ever tell was to have websites with so many pop ups, bells and whistles that you couldn't find what you were looking for and for playing Starcraft online in PC rooms.
Yes but as the rest of the world treks ahead the amount of bandwidth needed so that folks can stay averagely connected is going to increase dramatically in the near future.
A little bit like RAM and Hard Disc space.
-
Thanks Chris. I was wasn't making any attempt to be definitive in any way which is why I simply cast my thoughts as observations. It was not what I expected and I truly want to know more. I left Hong Kong with a bunch of reading in my carry-on bag.
Fortunately Air Asia is ridiculously reasonable from Jakarta to Guangzhou and, I think, Shanghai.
-
This seems to be taking the don't-be-too-hard-on-China line just a little too far into apologist-for-tyranny territory.
Really Neil? As I read through the threads I found that both sides were presenting their arguments fairly well and I learned things I didn't know. I think that quoting a few selected out of context lines from a fairly robust forum discussion (by some, on this topic, seemingly better informed folks than most I encounter) that looks like this is a less than honest summary.
And what it has to do with the left or right, I'm not sure.
-
One final thing, I'm fairly badly informed on Tibet although I'm making an effort not to be. This thread, from a year back on PBS, if you can wade your way through it, makes for an interesting discourse.
-
And Public Address came through loud and clear!
-
The same Wikipedia story actually carries a lot more information though
During the APEC summit in Shanghai during 2001, normally-blocked media sources such as CNN, NBC, and the Washington Post suddenly became accessible. Since 2001, the content controls have been further relaxed on a permanent basis, and all three of the sites previously mentioned are now accessible from mainland China. In fact, most foreign news organizations' web sites are accessible, though a small number (including the Chinese-language service of BBC News) continue to be blocked.
Mainland China agencies frequently issue regulations about the Internet, but these are often not enforced or are ignored
And I suspect that the BBC China service is now also unblocked as the guy I mentioned in my blog with the image of Helen Clark on his phone had it from the BBC China news which he watches on said device daily.
What I couldn't access though were RSS feeds although aggregators like Netvibes worked perfectly.
-
Incidently the Google I use is by default .co.nz and that came up as per usual when I did a search in China
-
Did they function the same? I'm wondering (for example) what you would have found if you searched for etc.
There seemed to be little restriction on most of them. And yes I searched Tiananmen Square and got a raft of sites as per normal.
…or “Olympic torch relay”
Yep...and it was covered on on state TV at length although I had no idea exactly what they were saying.
And, as an aside, the net was blisteringly fast.
-
I'll go to China one day (if they don't sniff me out and ban me) but I'm unconvinced that the tiki tour gives you a real view of a country.
I agree, but at least it gives one some sort of perception as to what it may or may not be and my observation is that in it's simplest terms that without seeing any of it, you simply have no idea as to what it is or isn't. That is especially true of China which is gobsmakking in it's enormity. I travel a hell of a lot and I'm wary of making wide ranging 'I've been there' statements but quite clearly what I saw of China did not match the Western perception. In parts of the country it may well.
For example those "banned in China' web badges are a nonsense. I was able to access pretty much every website I wanted with the exception of external blogs..and that was from public places.
I also have good Hong Kong Chinese friends who deal daily with mainland China and visit there weekly including time in what they refer to as the hinterland. Some of the answers to the questions I was asking myself were answered by them.
I'd also note that Patten's book, which I've read, was written a decade ago, and that, truly, is a lifetime ago in China.
-
I read the Simon Grigg article. What do the Chinese put in the water? They seem to seduce so many people who go there into thinking that it's a fully wonderful place whose people are wonderfully happy with progress and don't need any of that nasty democracy stuff.
No, I noted my reservations, and I defy anyone to spend anytime in the place and not be seduced and awed. China defines awe.
But I also have problems with pronunciations made from afar. It's easy to be self righteous from a distance and whilst I don't claim to be any expert on the Chinese psyche clearly, from personal observation, the the day to day reality of oppressed masses might play well in the west but its simply not accurate.
Incidentally at a local level, officials are elected, and those that go to the higher levels of power are elected by those elected at a lower level, albeit in a rather controlled way of course, but I witnessed extensive political discourse whilst there and i would argue that the internal divisions within the dominant party are often wider than found in many Westminster styled democracies.
What is very evident is that there is a very strong resentment towards foreign 'direction', or activists, which, given the past 150 years, is not really surprising.