Welcome to China. Since we cannot sh**t everyone who speaks of Ti*et or the Ti*n*nm*n m*ss*cr*, we have taken the liberty to clean the Internet for you! Proudly known as the Great Firewall of China, net nannies in China have helped BLOCKED sites that may contain misinformation. In the past few years, we have banned, and sometimes gave intermittent access, to blogspot.com, wordpress.com, livejournal.com, multiply.com, squarespace.com, and many other blogging platforms. From March 2009, YouTube has joined that list. Just this afternoon, Twitter has been added to the strength of the Great Firewall. We hope you are pleased to find the Internet in China to be free from, well, popular English community sites, which we believe are dangerous and inaccurate message spreaders. 

Afterall, what proves innocence better than the silencing of voices?

China blocks Twitter service ahead of anniversary

Tue Jun 2, 2009 7:35am EDT

 

By Lucy Hornby

BEIJING (Reuters) - Access to the popular social networking service Twitter and email service Hotmail was blocked across mainland China late on Tuesday afternoon, two days before the twentieth anniversary of a bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square.

Indignant users filled chatrooms with protest, after access to Twitter was denied shortly after 5:00 pm (0900 GMT) on Tuesday.

“The whole Twitter community in China has been exploding with it,” said Beijing-based technology commentator Kaiser Kuo.

“It’s just part of life here. If anything surprises me, it’s that it took them so long.”

Thursday is the twentieth anniversary of June 4, 1989, when tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square before dawn to quell weeks of protest by students and workers. China has never released a death toll from the crackdown on what it classes as a “counter-revolutionary” conspiracy.

Other Internet users reported not being able to access Windows Live, a service offered by Microsoft Corp. which also owns Hotmail, and also Flickr, an online photo sharing service owned by Yahoo.

“This is so frustrating. Now I feel China is exactly the same as Iran,” said a financial professional and avid Twitter user in Shanghai, referring to Iran’s May ban of popular social networking site Facebook.

Twitter is an Internet-based text message service that allows users to post updates — called “tweets” — of no more than 140 characters.

Users in Beijing reported accessing the service without difficulty earlier on Tuesday, and even successfully searching potentially sensitive words such as “Tiananmen.”

While professional and urban Chinese often use foreign Internet tools, including Twitter, Hotmail and Facebook, the vast majority of Chinese use similar domestic services that are carefully monitored for any sign of content deemed subversive.

Access to video-sharing site YouTube, owned by Google was blocked in China in March, after overseas Tibetan groups posted graphic footage of China’s crackdown on protests by Tibetans in 2008.

 

(Additional reporting by George Chen in Hong Kong; Editing by David Fox)

Article source: Reuters
More on Guardian.co.uk

Something happened about a month back between myself and a close friend, at a certain cafe in Shanghai at about midnight, which left me in complete ire. Instead of talking about it that very night and allowing the wound to fester thereafter, I’ve taken the liberty to let the anger wane with time, and place what happened that night in a different perspective.

With this overdue post, many irate thoughts have since dissipated. Which I hope allows my position to be one of objectivity.

As some of you know, my relationship with MissY has a definite expiration date. What was supposed to be this July upon graduation has since been shifted to an unknown date sometime next year. The end is inevitable and we knew it from the beginning, but here we are, happily together. Many cannot understand why we even fought hard for this, given a self-destructive ex on one side and a suicidal depressed “roommate” on the other. But we have emerged from some ugly past determined to be happy while we can, together preferably. Yes I’m digressing but essentially, what I’m trying to say is that nobody can be certain how long you and your partner can stay together, but you can be sure you want to stick it out with someone who makes you happy, so why not allow that happiness to stay in your life for as long as possible? In fact, the knowledge of an impending deadline has made us all the more glad we have the now. Would you have chosen to not have begun at all, and never get a taste of this bliss?

So anyway, this close friend of ours, being very concerned for my well-being, said to me one month ago: “Why don’t you go back to being normal? …live life like a common person…It is the proven right way…it is human’s duty to pass on generations…think about how you will hurt your parents’ feelings…you will feel more secure in the common path…”

If any of my friends reading this agree with her, please don’t ever, EVER, say such things to me. I withheld expletives and possibly a mental breakdown then, but I’m not sure if I can bear another stab like that. She cut me deep.

I argued with her point by point, and I believe my English that night was one of my most fluent occasions. I don’t think I need to repeat that conversation with her here, but I know our friendship, if it can still exist, will never be the same again. 

I was appalled. I thought that after 3 years of solid friendship and all the things I told her in confidence meant she understood perfectly well. Obviously from what she said she hadn’t, and may never will, though I hope to change that. I could have heard those words from some acquaintance, someone I don’t care so much about, and I wouldn’t flinch an inch; but to hear it all spilling out from her mouth? I really thought she knew better than to spout such homophobic and bigoted critique. 

There is simply no “proven right way” of living, loving, or anything. There probably isn’t a “right thing to do” either. We are all captives of what we have created with our own minds and misconstrued judgements, and if you do use your brain you would know better than to trust them. Sometimes categories/classifications that carry negative connotations make us prone to shunning it, not wanting to be associated with it in any way whatsoever for fear of the social eyes staring at you, pointing fingers and whispering. But if you would stand back and take a look, categories/classifications only serve to exclude, divide and subjugate. They are but human creations. Which means they are (extremely) fallible. So why do you want to let them rule your life?

I received the following text message from my class representative:

“通知：周四没来拍照的同学请发一张个人生活照到＊＊＊＊＊，最好是风景照，照相馆的人会负责PS上去”

(Notice: Those who didn’t join us for photo-taking on Thursday, please send a casual photo of yourself to *****. An ideal picture would be one with scenery as background, as the photography studio staff will be responsible for using photoshop to place you in the faculty group shot.)

The powers of photoshop.

Or the Chinese power of enforcing everyone’s “presence” in an important group photo?

I said yes!

Will most probably start full-time employment in July. 

So I’m now a junior editor at an internet firm. My first job sounds great!

I do wonder if I took it on too early though. Hovering on the line between school and work hasn’t been all nerve-calming. The worst sacrifice has been my freedom to travel, taken away from me, through my own accord of chaining myself to employment. I haven’t stepped out of Shanghai since I came back for this semester in February. Boo.

To be politically correct, I look forward to an exciting and fulfilling time at the workplace!

To be honest, my advice to myself is quit thinking about the money and focus on the skills you’ll acquire, experience and exposure you’ll gain, and everything else money can never provide! Bah.

I believe content in this blog has been dwindling. That’s another trade off.

Starting to miss home actually. I would have demanded friends to give me first job gifts like wrist rests, a usb keyboard cleaner, and any miscellaneous desk and computer related gadgets.Or throw a celebratory party. Maybe receive red packets from parents. Ah well. My parents aren’t coming for my graduation, by the way. So there’s no red packet to receive, but plenty of my money to be taken away. There’s chinese taxes, rent, utility bills, grocery bills, parents’ allowance. MissY and I have started looking around for suitable apartments to live in come July, but they have either been too expensive, or just too…sad to live in.

Suddenly I feel the weight of what everyone terms as adulthood. Very bitter taste indeed.

Not a good day at work today. 

Disclosed things I wasn’t supposed to, which put the boss in an awkward position, which of course didn’t forbade well for my prepared negotiation speech.

Oh well. Will sleep over it.

Just wanted to share how MissY cooled us down from a stressful day at work with her sliced cucumbers. Probably not an uncommon method but I’d like to think of it as her knack for exhibiting her Koreanness at the right time.

I’ve been offered a full-time position with the company I’ve been working for in the past 2 months. It’s been on my mind the entire weekend, including my sleeping hours. 

Spent 2 hours on the phone on a long distance call with my mom, who went on in circles about my work, the salary, house rental, negotiation, and so on (with my dad in the background adding his 2 cents worth too). I asked her for advice on whether I should negotiate my salary, and she went on and on about money and the sums for rental, food, and other necessities. It’s no surprise where I got my calculative genes from.

I think she was pleased that I asked her for advice on this, as we haven’t moved our conversation beyond how cold or hot it is in Shanghai, and what food I ate for lunch/dinner (depending on the time of the day she called). Despite my obliging tone, I’m glad I spoke to her (and dad) about this whole issue, as they never fail to force harsh reality down my throat and bring me down from my complacence and arrogance. My brother, too, in a separate conversation, has surprisingly brought my attention to the importance of work ethics and good manners. 

I’ll be negotiating my remuneration package, despite the number of naysayers, because I know I will never let up if I don’t try now. I’m confident of what I can offer to the company, and I’ve prepared a mini speech for a talk with the boss tomorrow, so just hope for the best. I’ll consider again if he doesn’t change his offer. 

I’m looking forward to being a half-pat in Shanghai! A half-pat is a locally-hired foreigner, kinda like in between a local and an expat. You know, I’m usually a misfit in categories but this may be one where I fit perfectly! 

Read more about half-pats in China, and the salary expectation of expats.

More to come with that. But for now, here’s a really cool CV done by a Chinese graduate, aspiring to work in video production:

This site had a sudden influx of more than 1,000 visitors a day thanks to someone’s link to my blog on a forum. I’ve been taking privacy issues for granted, and have since made some adjustments to certain posts to protect a certain someone. 

As a result, I closed this site for almost a week as I had no time to work on it while rushing a thesis final draft deadline and design layout deadlines at the workplace. 

Deadline for entrance to dreamland is now.

Realized this May 1st holiday was the first time I spent it in Shanghai. Made it a point to go out to look-see, and told myself, never again. Though I probably still will come next national holiday.

My macbook may be the one single possession in my life that saw through a month of research, scouting, and waiting. I’ve read up, compared prices, and waited for the best offer before bringing it home. Impulse buy, this is not.

I was hesitant at first, buying  a macbook in Shanghai. Forum users were skeptical too, most suggesting buying from Hong Kong or getting a friend to bring it over from the States.

I gave Shanghai a chance. There are parallel imports, stolen goods, and imitation goods for almost everything here. Parallel imports may suit our purposes better at times, like for phones, because wifi-enabled China phones do not exist. If you want a wifi-enabled phone, you have to either buy a parallel import (usually) from Hong Kong, or a stolen unlocked phone (that used to belong to some unlucky person). Or get yourself or someone to buy it from out of China. Nevertheless, there are genuine stuff in the storerooms in Shanghai, and my macbook was one of them.

China’s Apple site states the selling price of my unibody macbook to be 10,898RMB. Most electronic marts in Shanghai like Yolo obeys this price, while small shops in Xujiahui’s 太平洋数码场offer slightly lower prices, with the lowest being 9,500RMB for a Hong Kong set, with apparent proper paperwork. Best Buy was the best bet, displaying the macbook for 10,298RMB. But there’s more.

At Best Buy (Shanghai), you can buy a 10,000RMB gift card and get 3% rebate, in 3 working days. So they’ll give me, in 3 working days, an extra 300RMB, making a total of 10,300RMB, slightly more than enough for my macbook, when I only need to pay 10,000RMB. But wait, there’s more.

Labour Day holiday promotions (30 Apr - 4 May) throughout the store. Plenty of package deals, plenty of slashed prices, plenty of vouchers to be collected and lucky draw prizes to be won. And guess what? My macbook is going at a discounted rate of 9,999RMB. That’s almost 1,000RMB less than Apple website’s price! But I’m not done yet!

For every 1,000RMB spent during the Labour Day holiday, one will get a 100RMB voucher (Household appliances get 150RMB!) to use before 4 May, only applicable for regular priced items. But the store is crowded, staff are busy, and… customers  can feign ignorance. MissY and I tried our luck and received 900RMB vouchers to spend, thanks to their oversight. Best Buy Shanghai, your staff are not well-trained, and instead of getting pissed at their lacking in knowledge of the products, we decided to use it to our advantage, hope you don’t mind, though it’s too late. Call me cheapo if you wish/it helps.

If you followed me throughout all my calculations, I received extra 301RMB in my gift card, plus 900RMB in cash vouchers. We lugged home my macbook (9,999RMB), an epson printer + scanner (595RMB), a 320GB Hitachi external HDD (499RMB), and a case logic laptop sleeve (158RMB), paying only an extra 51RMB. That makes it a grand total of 10,050RMB in cost for all that we brought home!

I also have 49 coupons for the lucky draw, plus I’ll be receiving a 100RMB cash voucher for my points accumulation at Best Buy soon.

Now, this is my idea of shopping.