Comments for China Outsider http://www.chinaoutsider.com Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:26:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 Comment on What if… by Anonymous http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2010/02/11/what-if/comment-page-1/#comment-561 Anonymous Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:26:42 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=73#comment-561 Or more likely, VPN publicized, VPN downloaded, VPN downloaded by censors, reverse-engineered and blocked in a very short time period (a day would be likely). If the censors know about it, they can engineer against it (most VPNs for example, have specific addresses that they dial into to establish the connection - those can blocked easily). A game-changing software program *might* be possible, but it might look more like a P2P network than a VPN (P2P networks often try to obfuscate their connections so their users are harder to track). However, the Chinese keepers of the firewall are talented, and my guess is that most software wouldn't last long if it got too much publicity. And what about Internet access? My experience in China is limited but at least in Beijing you needed an identity card to use an Internet cafe...not exactly conducive to anonymity... A much bigger issue than technology is the human element: convincing Chinese internet users that 1.) what they are accessing is far more valuable than the domestic version and 2.) they won't be caught. Most young people know that there alternatives available (and ones that I have used myself in China), but feel that what they gain isn't worth the risk. They're not willing to potentially jeopardize their future for a few foreign sites... All this said, however, the only permanent way to end the cat-and-mouse game is to have China drop censorship policies. Otherwise, it will always be an arms race... Or more likely, VPN publicized, VPN downloaded, VPN downloaded by censors, reverse-engineered and blocked in a very short time period (a day would be likely). If the censors know about it, they can engineer against it (most VPNs for example, have specific addresses that they dial into to establish the connection – those can blocked easily). A game-changing software program *might* be possible, but it might look more like a P2P network than a VPN (P2P networks often try to obfuscate their connections so their users are harder to track). However, the Chinese keepers of the firewall are talented, and my guess is that most software wouldn’t last long if it got too much publicity. And what about Internet access? My experience in China is limited but at least in Beijing you needed an identity card to use an Internet cafe…not exactly conducive to anonymity…

A much bigger issue than technology is the human element: convincing Chinese internet users that 1.) what they are accessing is far more valuable than the domestic version and 2.) they won’t be caught. Most young people know that there alternatives available (and ones that I have used myself in China), but feel that what they gain isn’t worth the risk. They’re not willing to potentially jeopardize their future for a few foreign sites…

All this said, however, the only permanent way to end the cat-and-mouse game is to have China drop censorship policies. Otherwise, it will always be an arms race…

]]> Comment on What if… by Hans Rippel http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2010/02/11/what-if/comment-page-1/#comment-557 Hans Rippel Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:32:33 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=73#comment-557 It would be interesting to see what both sides in a powerplay like that would come up with. Bandwidth doesn't cost Google much and they could even get ad revenue and actually make profit with their free VPN. But I don't see them being this hostile anytime soon, especially as long as they still think they can make some business in China. It would be interesting to see what both sides in a powerplay like that would come up with. Bandwidth doesn’t cost Google much and they could even get ad revenue and actually make profit with their free VPN. But I don’t see them being this hostile anytime soon, especially as long as they still think they can make some business in China.

]]> Comment on China’s Preference for Sons Contributing to the Economic Bubble in the US? by derekpm http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2009/06/19/chinas-preference-for-sons-contributing-to-the-economic-bubble-in-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-20 derekpm Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:06:58 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=44#comment-20 Rather interesting. Has few times re-read for this purpose to remember. Thanks for interesting article. Waiting for trackback Rather interesting. Has few times re-read for this purpose to remember. Thanks for interesting article. Waiting for trackback

]]> Comment on The Gao Kao 高考 : A Creeping Giant by Thomas Rippel http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2009/06/03/the-gao-kao-%e9%ab%98%e8%80%83-a-creeping-giant/comment-page-1/#comment-11 Thomas Rippel Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:02:32 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=19#comment-11 Thanks for the great comment! I agree that it would seem like the government's priority right now is not to push creativity. But having gone to the University of Melbourne, you wonder how creative they are as well. Most people in my major were completely disinterested in most of the subjects and just did it for the sake of getting a degree. The times where only people who want to go to university out of genuine interest are long gone. Now, if you don't at least have a bachelor, you have little chances in the professional world, and this has created a degraded learning environment everywhere. Let's face it, most courses would be better off if a majority of the students would not take the course. I think in Switzerland it is still more like the "good ol days" where only the 15% who are genuinely interested to go to university get the Matura (high school diplooma) Thanks for the great comment!
I agree that it would seem like the government’s priority right now is not to push creativity. But having gone to the University of Melbourne, you wonder how creative they are as well. Most people in my major were completely disinterested in most of the subjects and just did it for the sake of getting a degree.
The times where only people who want to go to university out of genuine interest are long gone. Now, if you don’t at least have a bachelor, you have little chances in the professional world, and this has created a degraded learning environment everywhere. Let’s face it, most courses would be better off if a majority of the students would not take the course.
I think in Switzerland it is still more like the “good ol days” where only the 15% who are genuinely interested to go to university get the Matura (high school diplooma)

]]> Comment on US Human Rights Hypocrisy – Exhibit Numero Uno: Nancy Pelosi by carine neier http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2009/06/06/us-human-rights-hypocrisy-exhibit-numero-uno-nancy-pelosi/comment-page-1/#comment-10 carine neier Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:30:00 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=28#comment-10 I think most chinese i know would be really happy to read your article. there's certainly some kind of an overfocus on china's bad everything in our medias, and it's triggering a pretty negative reaction in chinese people, because it's felt like agressivity and a denial of their value. they take it very personally. it's actually turning them against the west, as they feel we don't recognise any of their achievements and we're plotting against them. why we "don't like china" is actually quite misunderstood, in my opinion... the personal freedom concept that we grow up and live with that makes us reject their system isn't known much to them. it's like a "fear of big brother" syndrom, that makes us reject many things that they live with everyday. we're thinking "how can they accept that!?"... (and sometimes they'd answer "what do you mean?") the thing is, we grew up in a different place with a different education in which we were taught that some things were absolutely necessary to a normal life and we look at china with this in mind. but they don't have all those expectations... it takes some time to understand. but i think i've learned a lot by staying here and making friends with many students. looks like there really isn't an absolute answer to everything after all... I think most chinese i know would be really happy to read your article.
there’s certainly some kind of an overfocus on china’s bad everything in our medias, and it’s triggering a pretty negative reaction in chinese people, because it’s felt like agressivity and a denial of their value. they take it very personally.
it’s actually turning them against the west, as they feel we don’t recognise any of their achievements and we’re plotting against them.

why we “don’t like china” is actually quite misunderstood, in my opinion…
the personal freedom concept that we grow up and live with that makes us reject their system isn’t known much to them.
it’s like a “fear of big brother” syndrom, that makes us reject many things that they live with everyday. we’re thinking “how can they accept that!?”… (and sometimes they’d answer “what do you mean?”)
the thing is, we grew up in a different place with a different education in which we were taught that some things were absolutely necessary to a normal life and we look at china with this in mind. but they don’t have all those expectations…
it takes some time to understand. but i think i’ve learned a lot by staying here and making friends with many students. looks like there really isn’t an absolute answer to everything after all…

]]> Comment on The Gao Kao 高考 : A Creeping Giant by carine neier http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2009/06/03/the-gao-kao-%e9%ab%98%e8%80%83-a-creeping-giant/comment-page-1/#comment-9 carine neier Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:08:32 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=19#comment-9 hey, i liked your articles, i hope you'll put more in the future, i'll keep an eye on them. (yeah, i think maybe we should start by speaking in english, as i haven't spoken german in a long time and so we can get to know each other better now, as potential future roommates =) ) i think the scariest thing about this system is that chinese universities are very hard to get in, but very easy to get out of once you've passed gaokao... so gaokao is not just a test that doesn't make much sense that then allows you to go on to getting a challenging education that will require you to develop academic and creative skills... most people who get into university (i'm not talking about the top ones, but i can tell you about minzudaxue) can graduate. gaokao is pretty much the only hard test you'll experience. that's probably why college students have a hard time finding jobs... the diploma doesn't have much value in itself. and why many students spend so much time taking exams outside school (like toefl, economics tests and so on depending on the subject)... sure, some students spend a lot of time studying things they're interested in on their own, but still, most people do not like (or even hate) their major, and are only taking all those classes to fill in their schedule and get the credits. I've been taking history classes here for a semester, well, some just come with their english exercices, or listen to music with their ipod, sleep, chat, read the papers, prepare homework for other classes, and so on and so on. i know it's hard to improve the quality of the education in such a huge country in a short time, but it's not by selecting people who tested well in english rather than the passionate biology student for biology master programmes that it's gonna get better... the last point is a little different, though, it comes from the will of the gvt to encourage english learning (some people say that india's advantage now is that they speak english and so they need to catch up with it, which is creating an amazing imbalance with other languages, maybe not so productive after all, kind of reminds me of "everybody makes steel, cause that's what makes an economy advanced"), but maybe it all comes down to the same problems....... they don't want creativity. hard to produce Einsteins in such conditions. hey,

i liked your articles, i hope you’ll put more in the future, i’ll keep an eye on them. (yeah, i think maybe we should start by speaking in english, as i haven’t spoken german in a long time and so we can get to know each other better now, as potential future roommates =) )
i think the scariest thing about this system is that chinese universities are very hard to get in, but very easy to get out of once you’ve passed gaokao…
so gaokao is not just a test that doesn’t make much sense that then allows you to go on to getting a challenging education that will require you to develop academic and creative skills…
most people who get into university (i’m not talking about the top ones, but i can tell you about minzudaxue) can graduate. gaokao is pretty much the only hard test you’ll experience.
that’s probably why college students have a hard time finding jobs… the diploma doesn’t have much value in itself.
and why many students spend so much time taking exams outside school (like toefl, economics tests and so on depending on the subject)…
sure, some students spend a lot of time studying things they’re interested in on their own, but still, most people do not like (or even hate) their major, and are only taking all those classes to fill in their schedule and get the credits.
I’ve been taking history classes here for a semester, well, some just come with their english exercices, or listen to music with their ipod, sleep, chat, read the papers, prepare homework for other classes, and so on and so on.
i know it’s hard to improve the quality of the education in such a huge country in a short time, but it’s not by selecting people who tested well in english rather than the passionate biology student for biology master programmes that it’s gonna get better…

the last point is a little different, though, it comes from the will of the gvt to encourage english learning (some people say that india’s advantage now is that they speak english and so they need to catch up with it, which is creating an amazing imbalance with other languages, maybe not so productive after all, kind of reminds me of “everybody makes steel, cause that’s what makes an economy advanced”), but maybe it all comes down to the same problems…….
they don’t want creativity.
hard to produce Einsteins in such conditions.

]]> Comment on China’s Lack of Creativity: Maybe Expressing their Emotions Could Help! by Neo Zhang http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2009/05/28/chinas-lack-of-creativity-maybe-expressing-their-emotions-could-help/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Neo Zhang Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:20:16 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=13#comment-6 Lack of creativity is actually the aftermath of speaking blockade.look at youtube and twitter.its the upgraded tricks doing on them.people dont have the right to talk the truth and their true feelings.they feel like no one would care.I wrote a lot when I blogging in 2008,but no body gives a shit.and day by day,you will be tired of self-playing.its not ppl they dont express,its the atmophere and circumstances they are in is a heartless son of a bitch.and this is bascially formed by the goverment.and the worse thing is,the atmosphere effects everyone and no one wanna change this fact.imagine that no one gives comments on ur articles and no one discuss these isusses with you,what will you do next?i believe we can change this situation by trying to care more about what other ppl experienced and what other ppls thinking.and thats what we are lack of.chinese are usually not friendly actually,we are cold.we care too much about ourselves and ingore others.thats the biggest block of communication,expressing.i belive,if one dosent share opinions with others,he or she cannot be creative in even his or her own field. You are right,expressing our emotions could help.but im just worrying about the HOW.how to make this chenged.how to get ppl feel safe and comfortable to express. Lack of creativity is actually the aftermath of speaking blockade.look at youtube and twitter.its the upgraded tricks doing on them.people dont have the right to talk the truth and their true feelings.they feel like no one would care.I wrote a lot when I blogging in 2008,but no body gives a shit.and day by day,you will be tired of self-playing.its not ppl they dont express,its the atmophere and circumstances they are in is a heartless son of a bitch.and this is bascially formed by the goverment.and the worse thing is,the atmosphere effects everyone and no one wanna change this fact.imagine that no one gives comments on ur articles and no one discuss these isusses with you,what will you do next?i believe we can change this situation by trying to care more about what other ppl experienced and what other ppls thinking.and thats what we are lack of.chinese are usually not friendly actually,we are cold.we care too much about ourselves and ingore others.thats the biggest block of communication,expressing.i belive,if one dosent share opinions with others,he or she cannot be creative in even his or her own field.
You are right,expressing our emotions could help.but im just worrying about the HOW.how to make this chenged.how to get ppl feel safe and comfortable to express.

]]> Comment on The Gao Kao 高考 : A Creeping Giant by Neo Zhang http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2009/06/03/the-gao-kao-%e9%ab%98%e8%80%83-a-creeping-giant/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Neo Zhang Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:40:11 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=19#comment-5 the truth is cruel.it still can be cheated.not on a massive scale but i have some live instances.it seems to be the best way to avoid Guanxism but from things i experienced i wud say its crap.well,maybe i happened to be the one whos unlucky on this.actually,i hope the system being kept before Guanxism dies out.but it has to be devoloped into something else otherwise it wont make any difference. the truth is cruel.it still can be cheated.not on a massive scale but i have some live instances.it seems to be the best way to avoid Guanxism but from things i experienced i wud say its crap.well,maybe i happened to be the one whos unlucky on this.actually,i hope the system being kept before Guanxism dies out.but it has to be devoloped into something else otherwise it wont make any difference.

]]> Comment on China’s Lack of Creativity: Maybe Expressing their Emotions Could Help! by Joker http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2009/05/28/chinas-lack-of-creativity-maybe-expressing-their-emotions-could-help/comment-page-1/#comment-3 Joker Sat, 30 May 2009 10:05:44 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=13#comment-3 Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day! Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!

]]> Comment on China’s Lack of Creativity: Maybe Expressing their Emotions Could Help! by My Amazing Weight Loss Story http://www.chinaoutsider.com/2009/05/28/chinas-lack-of-creativity-maybe-expressing-their-emotions-could-help/comment-page-1/#comment-2 My Amazing Weight Loss Story Fri, 29 May 2009 04:12:35 +0000 http://www.chinaoutsider.com/?p=13#comment-2 Thanks for writing, I really enjoyed your newest post. I think you should post more frequently, you evidently have natural ability for blogging! Thanks for writing, I really enjoyed your newest post. I think you should post more frequently, you evidently have natural ability for blogging!

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