Blogs » Society » GitHub Blocked In China Thanks To The Railway Ministry’s Crappy Ticketing Site

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• GitHub Blocked In China Thanks To The Railway Ministry’s Crappy Ticketing Site
• Another Zoo Incident In China: Man Bites Ostrich To Death
• naked Sens8tion
• Outback: Aussie-style Bites in Shanghai
• The dance of sounds – solitude and aesthetic pleasure
• Now It’s Gilbert Arenas’s Turn To Hit A Game-Winning Shot
• Baidu Autofill Reinforces Stereotype That Americans Love Sluts
• China’s Economy: Anecdotes Are Sometimes The Best Antidote.
• Beijing needs a green roof revolution
• Twit T-who? Miss Wu trademark denied in Taiwan
• Tianjin Coach Gary Gaspard Had To Be Physically Restrained After Sunday’s CBA Debacle
• Suspect in Weibo murder case arrested in Longhua
• Sweet or salty eggs debate reignites age old north south divide
• How Many Chengguan Does It Take To Beat Up One Shop Owner?
• Steve Aoki @ Club G Plus
• Popasuda @ Dada | Jan. 19
• Caterpillar discovers fraud in Chinese subsidiary, shares drop 1.5%
• Presented By:
• Three of Shanghai's Best Hot Chocolates
• Diaoyu dispute needs 'rules of the game', according to Japan

GitHub Blocked In China Thanks To The Railway Ministry’s Crappy Ticketing Site Posted: 22 Jan 2013 08:44 PM PST Image via Charlie Custer/Tech in Asia The Golden Shield Project (aka Great Firewall of China) has decided GitHub no longer conforms with Chinese notions of harmony, as first noticed Monday by GreatFire.org and reported on The Next Web. The block comes on the heels of the Ministry of Railways's unsuccessful attempt to convince Chinese browser-makers to stop providing a plugin that helps users purchase train tickets off MOR's website. A bit of background before we go any further: GitHub acts as a platform for software developers to share, revise, and track changes to code. This means that people who make those cool apps and websites we use every day use GitHub as a means to communicate with other developers, share their work, and generally make their products (and, thus, our lives) better1. According GitHub's representative, China ranks fourth in traffic to the site, while Beijing is the sixth-ranked city. There's no regional breakdown, but the service does have 3 million registered users. Also, this isn't the first time that GitHub has been censored. Last year, users were unable to download a new version of Node.js2, as its version number shared the same date as the 1989 Tian'anmen protests. As I mentioned above, much of the speculation as to causes surrounds the recent showdown over browser plugins between the Ministry of Railways and software companies, most notably Kingsoft (金山) and Qihoo 360. This does seem to make the most sense, as one of the plugins makes reference to javascript code that is hosted on GitHub. Block GitHub, stop the plugin. The plugins themselves don't use any APIs, as MOR's ticketing site, 12306.cn, doesn't actually have any APIs that I know of. Instead, they work by automatically refreshing the page until the desired ticket/trip becomes available for purchase. Imagine the Flash hitting refresh hundreds, if not thousands, of times every second. As you can imagine, this would put increasing pressure on already overloaded (read: incapable) servers dealing with the largest annual migration in the world. As my good friend and former podcast co-host Charlie Custer points out on Tech in Asia (he's responsible for the image above), the problems with overloaded servers and the plugins that overload them could all be solved very easily: make the website better. When the site first debuted, it was plagued with server-side issues and confusing interface… after the ministry spent $52 million. To give them credit, they did make some upgrades last September… that cost an extra $53 million (330 million RMB). The moral of this story: if you can't solve a problem by throwing money at it, make sure that unauthorized third-parties are unable to make things better, either. ~ 1 This is, of course, a contentious philosophical issue. If you want to hear my thoughts, buy me a beer and you'll get an earful. 2 Software used to write Internet applications that can flexibly handle higher and lower numbers of users depending on traffic. It's usually used on web servers. John Artman has been China watching and covering tech since 2010. Follow him @KnowsNothing.

Another Zoo Incident In China: Man Bites Ostrich To Death Posted: 22 Jan 2013 06:35 PM PST Mental health issues are no laughing matter, and neither is biting a large flightless bird to death. What to call this then? At a zoo in Guangdong province on Saturday, a man bit and killed a live ostrich in front of elders and children, then laid on the dead bird and made gun motions with his finger at the police. The man, 27-year-old Li, was found with a suicide note in his pocket addressed to his mother and girlfriend. He slit his wrists but apparently not very deep, considering cops cuffed him and dragged him up by his arms. The Nanfang notes, "Whether this was a genuine attempted suicide or a cry for help, I think we can all agree: the man needs help." Yes. The bizarreries of the human race. Guy attacks an ostrich as part of elaborate suicide attempt, ultimately fails (The Nanfang via Shenzhen TV)

naked Sens8tion Posted: 22 Jan 2013 05:17 PM PST Date: Jan 22nd 2013 3:16p.m. Contributed by: cityweekend_sh Book from Jan 23-30 to get up to 50% off your stay at naked Stables

Outback: Aussie-style Bites in Shanghai Posted: 22 Jan 2013 04:48 PM PST Date: Jan 22nd 2013 5:57p.m. Contributed by: geofferson

The dance of sounds – solitude and aesthetic pleasure Posted: 22 Jan 2013 05:16 PM PST This is the 1510 Digest, a weekly roundup of recent essays and articles published on the Chinese web, with links to translations on the Marco Polo Project. China has experienced tremendous economic growth over the last thirty years, with massive impact on many people's everyday life and environment. How does this change affect individuals' perception of their surrounding, and their possibilities for intimate pleasure? This week's selection will give us insight into the way various city dwellers relate to their environment, and their sources of sensual pleasure and intimate satisfaction. Liu Shisan's 'The dance of sound' describes the aesthetic exhilaration she gets from her sense of hearing; Ran Lan's 'Aesthetics of slowness' draws on the memories of years spent in Guilin to develop a broader reflection on 'slow life'; Li Yinhe's 'Praise of solitude' identifies the state of the solitary individual as one of potential happiness and freedom. The dance of sounds By Liu Shisan, 18 December 2012 In this essay, Liu Shisan describes how she temporarily lost hearing in her right ear, and the subsequent exhilaration she received at fully experiencing the sounds of city life. She constructs a modernist patchwork of urban scenes experienced as soundscapes: eating wonton in a road-side café, vibrations on a crowded bus, or the stories brought up by the passing of trucks at night outside her open window. This reflection on sound leads Liu Shisan to more personal memories. After changing her mobile phone, she couldn't recognised her father's voice, and experienced a sudden sense of estrangement. And this experience of vocal alienation became a crucial moment in her relation to family. The piece finishes with a lyrical meditation on 'the first sound'. Liu Shisan's evokes her own sharp memory of eating an apple for the first time, and compares that first sound of biting into the fruit with a Godly act of naming the world, a primeval encounter with the thing itself. Marco Polo translation: http://marcopoloproject.org/online/声音的舞蹈-the-dance-of-sound-english/ Original link: 声音的舞蹈 The Aesthetics of slowness By Lan Ran, 12 December 2012 The first part of this piece evokes the pleasures experienced by Lan Ran in scenic Guilin, where he could enjoy a peaceful, rhythmic existence after years in the fast-pace of a coastal city of Guangdong. The second part offers a broader reflection on the pace of life and the joy of living slowly. A poem by Tang dynasty poet Li Shanyin on a man listening to the rainfall at night, and thinking of his absent wife, inspires a reflection on the massive changes brought about by technology. In this age of mobile phones and high-speed train, can we still miss an absent beloved? But this speed and efficiency, argues Lan Ran, has also weakened our own sense of memory – more fleeting impressions pass over us, but nothing stays. He mentions movements around the world – mostly Europe – promoting slowness as a value: the slow food and slow pace movements, and the slow city of Orvieto in Italy. Slowness, he concludes, may be the wealth of Gods – and the magic mountain where ten thousand years are but an hour may be within our reach: by slowing down enough, we can regain a sense of plenitude, and the rich depth of memory that slowness brings with it. Marco Polo translation: The aesthetics of slowness Original link: 慢的美学 Part 1 and 慢的美学（2） In praise of solitude By Li Yinhe, 08 December 2012 Solitude is our most natural state, say Li Yinhe, but we flee from it in the crowd. The crowd is like a skin around us, reducing our sensitivity to the world. But that sharp perception of the world brought by solitude can be beautiful and happy, for one with a strong enough heart; 'eating and sleeping alone can be happy'. More than that, says Li Yinhe, solitude is the only truly free state, where one does not have to sacrifice or lie for family, friendship or love. Li Yinhe defines individual freedom as the possibility to follow one's heart truly, and so she concludes: 'in the name of freedom, I praise solitude'. Li Yinhe pursues a similar line of thought in 'Friends and love' and 'philosophy and family life', also published on the Marco Polo Project. Marco Polo translation: In praise of solitude Original link: 赞美孤独 All articles in this digest and a large range of other Chinese readings are accessible at Marcopoloproject.org. Some are available in English, French and Spanish translation. (You can join the project if you'd like to help with translations.) Danwei is an affiliate of the Australian Centre on China in the World at The Australian National University. This posting is a result of one project that is part of that on-going collaboration. The China Story, China Heritage Quarterly and East Asian History are publications of the Australian Centre on China in the World.

Now It’s Gilbert Arenas’s Turn To Hit A Game-Winning Shot Posted: 22 Jan 2013 11:30 AM PST Less than a week after Tracy McGrady drilled a game-winner on the road against Liaoning, this season's other big import from the NBA, Gilbert Arenas, showed everyone he has some clutch bones in him as well. With the clock winding down and the Shanghai Sharks down 94-93 in Nanjing, on the home court of the Jiangsu Dragons, Arenas made his move, which you can watch in the video above. As described by Shark Fin Hoops: Knowing that Arenas would undoubtably have the last play of the game, Jiangsu then attempted to double-team him on the perimeter after the restart. As Meng Da came across to force the Sharks' player onto his left hand side, the plan was presumably for Yi Li to come right up the middle and get a hand up in Arenas' face so as to make the shot harder. Instead, Yi seemed to try to take a charge and was duly dumped on his backside by the stronger American who was already driving to the basket as the Jiangsu player came towards him. With an open look at the basket from the edge of the paint, Arenas was money and the game was done. The Sharks had got lucky at the best possible time and Yi, who had started the game with a cocksure breakaway dunk was left to walk off the court with egg very much on his face. Arenas scored 25 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. Game highlights: Interview: Jiangsu Dragons 94 – Shanghai Sharks 95: Arenas' Snatches Victory For Sharks (Shark Fin Hoops)

Baidu Autofill Reinforces Stereotype That Americans Love Sluts Posted: 22 Jan 2013 09:34 AM PST Surely you're aware of the Google autofill / autocomplete meme? For instance, someone types the words "i accidentally" into a Google search bar as part of a longer phrase, but Google presumes you're too lazy to finish your five-word sentence, so it helpfully offers a pulldown list of possible searches such as "i accidentally the whole bottle" and "i accidentally slept with my mom," etc. It turns out Baidu has this feature as well. And if you tried to type "American consulate," this is what happens: That's all very normal and not newsworthy. Whoa, that escalated fast. If you honed your search a bit by adding one more letter, Baidu quickly pinpoints the exact thought in your head, in essence unzipping your pants for you: I went ahead and pressed enter after letting autofill complete my search query. American Cocksucking Sluts is apparently an adult film released in 2011 starring Brooklyn Lee, Juelz Ventura, and Gracie Glam. It received a 7.4/10 rating on IMDB, out of eight votes. The other links on the first page were disappointing. Let's just say there was nothing with which we could add to our list. Damn you, Baidu! Your search filter wins again. (H/T @uuao)

China’s Economy: Anecdotes Are Sometimes The Best Antidote. Posted: 22 Jan 2013 08:53 AM PST One of the things I love to ask people wherever I go (and yes, cabdrivers especially) is how's business? How's the economy.  I am constantly asking my clients that as well and most of them (no matter what the country, about which I am asking) are saying "it's okay."  Not great, but not all that bad either.  That includes China. One thing that makes these conversations about China more relevant is that China's economic statistics tend not to be particularly reliable. Some blame Beijing for this.  Others blame the local governments, whose salaries/bonuses/outlays are oftentimes based on how they are doing for their local economies. So shadow figures are often used to track China's economy, with one of the favorites being electricity consumption.  The thinking is that if China is doing well, electricity consumption will be increasing.  I am less of a fan of this measure than many for the following reasons: It may be a decent measure of manufacturing growth/output, but it is not as good at measuring the service sector. Who says the electricity numbers are entirely accurate? They fail to account for changing weather conditions. Thought of all this just now after receiving an email from a Shanghai friend that said the following: Exactly what I've been saying…. The coldest winter in decades accounts for the uptick in electricity and that's why BJ is surrounded by smog from their coal fired power plants. Economy here is weak.  Glad somebody gets it. The email had a link to a blog post, entitled, "Chinese Electricity Conclusions Reexamined," the thrust of which is that China's electricity consumption is way up not because the economy is recovering, but because China is suffering from record cold weather. Makes sense to me.  So I have to ask, how's business in China for you?  How's the economy doing?  Please be as specific as possible.

Beijing needs a green roof revolution Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:19 AM PST Beijing has 90 million square metres of potential green roof space, which could provide food, reduce air pollution and cool the city during hot summers. Beijing's population has grown rapidly over the last 20 years and with construction under way on hundreds of kilometres of subway, a second huge airport and a high speed rail network, it is likely to continue to do so. Population growth has been accompanied by income and automobile growth, which together have lead urban expansion to the 4th, 5th and now 6th ring road and beyond. This growth has benefited the urban population but also created environmental problems, impacting health and quality of life. Air pollution is Beijing's best known environmental problem, but the prevalence of roads, parking, rooftops and other impervious surfaces present challenges, which are often overlooked. Impervious surfaces efficiently move water into the storm-water system, which then get overloaded during large rain events causing flooding. The urban heat island effect is another problem as buildings, roads and walkways absorb heat while the natural cooling of vegetation is absent. The peak temperature difference between the vegetated areas of Beijing and it's dense urban areas can be as high as 6.5°C which increases electricity use and discomfort of residents. Recent studies found that the urban heat in Beijing increases rainfall during large storm events making flooding more severe. The heat also increases the amount of energy needed for air conditioning and makes non-motorised transit less attractive, which leads to more air pollution from power generation and vehicle emissions. As Beijing's urban areas continue to grow, solutions are needed to reduce air pollution and flooding while cooling the urban area. Greening Beijing's rooftops Green roofs – roofs covered with plant vegetation – first gained popularity in Germany and have since been spreading around the world. They help cities reduce storm water runoff, cool the urban environment, absorb air pollution, insulate buildings and increase biodiversity. With enough green roof adoption, Beijing could realise positive impacts on the environment and improved quality of life. My research on the topic found that in Beijing there is around 93 million square metres of roof space suitable for cost effective green roof adoption. If the cheapest and most basic forms of green roofs covered the suitable roof space, the urban environment would be substantially improved. Under this scenario air particle pollution could be reduced by as much as 880,000 kilograms every year, equivalent to taking 730,000 cars off the road. The roofs could reduce storm water by 3.5 million cubic metres during large rain events, equivalent to filling the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square with two metres of water or 1,400 Olympic swimming pools. In addition the average summer temperature in Beijing would be reduced by 0.32°C, with greater reductions during peak hours. Finally over half of the green roof area would see a significant increase in insulation leading to lower energy use for heating and cooling. The environmental improvements would lead to other benefits improving quality of life. As an example, a cooler city would need less air conditioning, have a lower probability of major floods and a more pleasant urban environment. When pollution is reduced, people are more willing to walk and bike, keep their windows open at night for cooling and take their kids outside. Green roofs can serve as micro-parks or urban farms and have been shown positively to affect people looking down upon them from other buildings. Greening all the suitable roofs would require an estimated capital investment of 29 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion) at the current price, plus the yearly maintenance costs. This could drop with economies of scale and technological advances but still represents a considerable investment. In addition the water required for vegetation could be minimised by using native grasses, advanced sprinkler systems and grey water. The financial cost and water use would in most cases be greatly outweighed when the direct and indirect benefits to the city are considered. While it is not realistic to cover all suitable roof area in Beijing, pursuing practical projects and ensuring that much of the new construction includes green roofs would have a large impact on the urban environment.   Beijing's subsidised green roofs Beijing's government has been using subsidies to create green roofs since the lead up to the 2008 Olympic games, adding, on average, more than 100,000 square metres of green roofs a year since 2005. This effort has included a recent focus on the Chang'an Avenue east-west road that runs north of Tiananmen Square in the city centre and has seen more than 120,000 square metres of green roofs completed in the last few years. This offers a foundation for implementating a much wider roof greening effort to help address the cities environmental challenges. As the capital city, Beijing has tens of millions of metres of government building roofs when the Central, Municipal, District and University levels are taken into account. If the government covered only the government buildings that are poorly insulated, it would add millions of square metres of green roofs with a relatively short pay back from reduced heating and cooling costs. This represents the easiest and most promising option for quick adoption of green roofs with all the benefits going to the government and citizens they serve. Non high-rise commercial space and public housing also offer a considerable amount of green roof potential. Much of the restaurant and retail commercial space in Beijing has large roof areas, which are poorly insulated. Finding ways to incentivise the owners, who often do not pay for the heating and cooling of the space, to install green roofs would benefit building tenants and the greater population. Municipal public housing and work unit housing located throughout the city are usually poorly insulated and house lower to middle-income families that would greatly benefit from the environmental effects of green roof construction. Because of the complex ownership arrangements and limited means, projects in this sector would require direct government funding and serve as a social benefits transfer in the form of lower energy costs. The use of green roofs in new construction is an even more promising opportunity with many buildings in the Central Business District already adopting green roofs. The government could develop building codes that require or incentivise new commercial developments to include green roofs, which are cheaper when included in new construction. Green roofs help to bring the natural environment back into the city without replacing human functions. The benefits far outweigh the costs and the position of Beijing as the capital city offers an opportunity for rapid, wide scale adoption, serving as an example for the rest of China while improving the lives of it's residents.

Twit T-who? Miss Wu trademark denied in Taiwan Posted: 22 Jan 2013 03:00 AM PST The headlines on all of Taiwan's newsstands today are for Taiwanese Canadian designer Jason Wu whose request to register the trademark Miss Wu was turned down by a Taiwanese court on Monday. Miss Wu is not his namesake brand that shot to fame in 2009 thanks to America's first lady, but his new line for Nordstrom that debuted on Monday. [ more › ]

Tianjin Coach Gary Gaspard Had To Be Physically Restrained After Sunday’s CBA Debacle Posted: 22 Jan 2013 03:15 AM PST What words do we have left for Sunday's colossal wreck of a basketball scrum between Qingdao and Tianjin, in which the two teams were whistled for a combined 89 fouls (an average of one and a half fouls per minute), shot 119 combined free throws, and each had three players foul out? I wrote that it was "how bad basketball can look when entrusted to the wrong people." NiuBBall's Jon Pastuszek called it an "abomination," "nightmare" and "pathetic." Andrew Crawford of Shark Fin Hoops tweeted, "In Chinese basketball, the biggest problem remains the standard of refereeing." It was a sad day indeed for fans of the CBA. But none of us were as mad as Gary Gaspard, Tianjin's "assistant" coach who often acts as the de facto head coach on the sidelines. (He was the one most adamant about pulling his players off the court to protest a call late in the fourth quarter.) If you believe the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, glance upon this picture of Gaspard in the moments just after the game, which Qingdao won 140-138 in double overtime: That is a death stare. And it's coming from a man that by all accounts is a wise and sensible person. In an earlier interview with Tianjin Plus, he revealed that he has seven children and two grandchildren, and is "really blessed." He also teaches the Princeton offense, which is pretty great: All sport is 90% mental and 10% physical. What I try to do, in the offense, is teach the Princeton, and the Princeton is reading your defender. I don't like to call them plays, per se. I like to let guys react off their defender and react off their offensive men. That's the way I try to use their mental (ability) and we use it every single day in practice. We also have an offensive concept called Menthus and what I basically do is attack more on offense without play. But… death stare: We're not sure who the player is ushering him off, but he deserves more playing time. O Sports has several more pictures of the coach here. We feel your pain, Mr. Gaspard. Again, here are the more embarrassing refereeing moments from Sunday's scrap. Skip ahead to the 9:13 mark to see the worst call of the game, a phantom foul that sent Qingdao's Chris Daniels to the line for two game-clinching free throws with 4.5 seconds remaining.

Suspect in Weibo murder case arrested in Longhua Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:00 AM PST Police have arrested the murderer of Lai Zengyuting, the 16 year old high school student who may have revealed her whereabouts by posting personal information on Weibo. [ more › ]

Sweet or salty eggs debate reignites age old north south divide Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:00 AM PST It is a truth universally acknowledged that southern China has a sweet tooth and the north takes life with a pinch of salt, but the age old dichotomy between north and south has been emphasised once again in a fierce Weibo debate over some poached eggs. [ more › ]

How Many Chengguan Does It Take To Beat Up One Shop Owner? Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:15 AM PST Earlier this month in Hainan province, this group beating. What happened? "Chengguan beating people, I tell ya," cries Ms. Gao, a shop owner. "A gang of chengguan came and beat us." Not knowing any other things about this… eh, we believe it. Chengguan — i.e. urban management officers — eventually left the scene, around the time the civilians called the real cops. The man who was gang-beaten was sent to the hospital.

Steve Aoki @ Club G Plus Posted: 22 Jan 2013 01:00 AM PST Date: Jan 22nd 2013 5:02p.m. Contributed by: cityweekend_sh

Popasuda @ Dada | Jan. 19 Posted: 22 Jan 2013 12:50 AM PST Date: Jan 22nd 2013 4:41p.m. Contributed by: cityweekend_sh

Caterpillar discovers fraud in Chinese subsidiary, shares drop 1.5% Posted: 22 Jan 2013 01:00 AM PST Caterpillar Inc shares fell 1.5 percent after news broke that the machinery manufacturer discovered "deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct" in one of its Chinese subsidiary companies acquired last June. The fraud destroyed the value of the deal in question and halved Caterpillar's expected earnings for the last quarter of 2012. [ more › ]

Presented By: Posted: 22 Jan 2013 01:00 AM PST

Three of Shanghai's Best Hot Chocolates Posted: 22 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST Date: Jan 21st 2013 4:48p.m. Contributed by: tristamarie

Diaoyu dispute needs 'rules of the game', according to Japan Posted: 22 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST An adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that Japan and China need "rules of the game" concerning the Diaoyu Islands, possibly confusing the potential trigger of WW3 with a Command & Conquer marathon he played over the weekend. [ more › ]

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