Saturday, 8 August 2009
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Every fruit has its day. Except for papaya, which is greedy.
Some other odd fruit-related celebrations in the U.S. include, apparently, Eat a Red Apple Day (December 1st) [specific], Poisoned Blackberries Day (September 29th) [I don't know what you would do to celebrate this], and the International Banana Festival (September 21st). Grapefruits and peaches each get their own month (February and August, respectively), and according to this list, papaya gets two months (June and September). I don't even like papaya.
That weirdness led me to wondering if there was a National Mango Day celebrated anywhere, as it is the king of fruits and all. There is, by the way. In Mali. BBC photos and interesting back story here.
Not to be outdone, though, Rubicon announced a whole Mango Week in the UK (25th-31st May this year, so we'll have to wait until next year now). I'm not sure that something being promoted by a private company with vested interest is as valid as an acknowledged national day, but I don't think anyone can complain about a week of mango. Except this one guy I met who came from a place where they grow turpentine mangos. Apparently when ripe, these things smell (and taste) like a combination of, well, turpentine and mangos. He wasn't a fan.
As for me, I'm going to buy a mango on the way home. It will cost slightly more than 2.5 US cents (apparently a good price in Mali), but I think I'll deal with it.
Image: Elite Banana on my pillow.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
A journey of self-discovery (or finding my own ways to get around the Great Firewall)
[Not that anyone who is having troubles with it can read this blog, but never mind.]
Disclaimer: This post is in no way intended to be political. It merely outlines my personal discoveries resulting from frustration from being cut off from the outside world.
1. One little letter
I was doing my general post-arrival work things - checking my email, starting up WinAmp, glancing at Google Reader, etc - this morning, and was having a lot more trouble with Reader than I usually do. I've been getting used to not being able to see the feeds for the sites that are blocked by the Firewall (Blogger, WordPress, Facebook, etc) - though Reader used to be able to solve these problems - but today it was slow to load, kept booting me out, and every time I clicked on a feed, it would come up with the encouraging message:
Anyway, a quick search for news about the status of Reader in China turned up this post at China Herald, which had a comment from Web Analytics in China, with a very tiny but apparently effective tip. Use 'https' instead of 'http' in the URL. According to the tipster, this works 6 out of 10 times for GMail and Google Reader. According to me, it works 1 out of 1 times, and lets me read the feeds that were blocked without that one little ess. That's right. I feel like I'm back in the world, without having to get around the blockades in an active way.
2. One little browser
Desperation kind of set in several weeks ago when I realised that maybe the blocks weren't temporary and wouldn't be lifted after certain major anniversaries. I was playing around on my Nokia N96, trying to get access to various websites and such. I had four browsers on it, that I was using in various capacities. My least favourite one being the crappy default one, and the others being Opera Mini, Opera, and the newly-released Skyfire. I actually had a preference for Opera at the time (and a 30 day trial of the full browser that I was trying to take advantage of), but because of lack of access to essential sites (mostly Facebook, if I must be honest), I gave Skyfire another go.
It became apparent that I was able to see everything that had been blocked, including full access to Facebook, Blogger, and even YouTube. How, you may ask? Well, it turns out that Skyfire has its own dedicated servers that process all the data and optimise it for mobile phone use, essentially providing a free VPN service just for using their browser (which could use a few tweaks, but generally works really well). So if your mobile phone can use it, download it now!
3. A couple of little web/mobile services
After I'd awkwardly managed to set things up through Facebook and Blogger on my mobile, I started using Ping.fm from my PCs, and Shozu from my mobile. Ping.fm can be used to update statuses, micro-blogs, and blogs for 40 different web services, including Twitter, Facebook, and WordPress, through web, IM, SMS, email, and a bunch of other inputs. It's fast, customisable, and very handy for anyone managing more than one or two different services. If you also sign up for Pinglater.fm, you can schedule future posts as well. Shozu provides a quick way to upload or email photos directly from a mobile phone, and can also update a number of social media sites (including Flickr, Blogger, Facebook), and can send status updates and blogs as well as captioned and titled photos. Shozu also keeps you up to date with a limited range of feeds from various sites (e.g. friends' photo uploads and status updates). For Blogger, I submit posts via email, but I've been doing that for a long time, so it doesn't seem like a new thing to me.
4. A few VPN/proxy services
These are my least favourite methods at the moment, mostly because the speed and quality of the internet available to me at home and work is extremely unreliable, and VPNs tend to slow it down even more. I've used a couple of random proxy sites (e.g. youtubeproxy.org, sneakme.net), which work as a quick access solution, but are unreliable and drive me crazy with annoying advertisements. I had the paid VPN service WiTopia recommended to me by a few people, so I thought I'd try it. So far it's been patchy, and some services I can use better without it on, so it's frustratingly gratifying at best. I'm coming up to the end of my trial month, and that might be the end of it for me. There are a few other services out there that I may try and report back on.
In summary
1. For RSS and Atom feeds to keep up with blogs and the like: Use https://www.google.com/reader/
2. For mobile browsing (for compatible mobile phones): Use Skyfire.
3. For quick status and blog updates using a variety of inputs, use Ping.fm for now, and Pinglater.fm for later.
4. For status, blog, and photo updates using your mobile phone, use Shozu.
5. For blogging, many services have an email-to-blog option where emails get posted directly to your blog. Disabling comment moderation is risky, but lets those comments get online when you can't moderate them directly.
6. For a reliable VPN service, I don't have a recommendation as yet. Please let me know if you have any!
Disclaimer: This post is in no way intended to be political. It merely outlines my personal discoveries resulting from frustration from being cut off from the outside world.
1. One little letter
I was doing my general post-arrival work things - checking my email, starting up WinAmp, glancing at Google Reader, etc - this morning, and was having a lot more trouble with Reader than I usually do. I've been getting used to not being able to see the feeds for the sites that are blocked by the Firewall (Blogger, WordPress, Facebook, etc) - though Reader used to be able to solve these problems - but today it was slow to load, kept booting me out, and every time I clicked on a feed, it would come up with the encouraging message:
Sorry, an unexpected condition has occurred which is preventing Google Reader from fulfilling the request.
Can I refer to China as an 'unexpected condition' now?Anyway, a quick search for news about the status of Reader in China turned up this post at China Herald, which had a comment from Web Analytics in China, with a very tiny but apparently effective tip. Use 'https' instead of 'http' in the URL. According to the tipster, this works 6 out of 10 times for GMail and Google Reader. According to me, it works 1 out of 1 times, and lets me read the feeds that were blocked without that one little ess. That's right. I feel like I'm back in the world, without having to get around the blockades in an active way.
2. One little browser
Desperation kind of set in several weeks ago when I realised that maybe the blocks weren't temporary and wouldn't be lifted after certain major anniversaries. I was playing around on my Nokia N96, trying to get access to various websites and such. I had four browsers on it, that I was using in various capacities. My least favourite one being the crappy default one, and the others being Opera Mini, Opera, and the newly-released Skyfire. I actually had a preference for Opera at the time (and a 30 day trial of the full browser that I was trying to take advantage of), but because of lack of access to essential sites (mostly Facebook, if I must be honest), I gave Skyfire another go.
It became apparent that I was able to see everything that had been blocked, including full access to Facebook, Blogger, and even YouTube. How, you may ask? Well, it turns out that Skyfire has its own dedicated servers that process all the data and optimise it for mobile phone use, essentially providing a free VPN service just for using their browser (which could use a few tweaks, but generally works really well). So if your mobile phone can use it, download it now!
3. A couple of little web/mobile services
After I'd awkwardly managed to set things up through Facebook and Blogger on my mobile, I started using Ping.fm from my PCs, and Shozu from my mobile. Ping.fm can be used to update statuses, micro-blogs, and blogs for 40 different web services, including Twitter, Facebook, and WordPress, through web, IM, SMS, email, and a bunch of other inputs. It's fast, customisable, and very handy for anyone managing more than one or two different services. If you also sign up for Pinglater.fm, you can schedule future posts as well. Shozu provides a quick way to upload or email photos directly from a mobile phone, and can also update a number of social media sites (including Flickr, Blogger, Facebook), and can send status updates and blogs as well as captioned and titled photos. Shozu also keeps you up to date with a limited range of feeds from various sites (e.g. friends' photo uploads and status updates). For Blogger, I submit posts via email, but I've been doing that for a long time, so it doesn't seem like a new thing to me.
4. A few VPN/proxy services
These are my least favourite methods at the moment, mostly because the speed and quality of the internet available to me at home and work is extremely unreliable, and VPNs tend to slow it down even more. I've used a couple of random proxy sites (e.g. youtubeproxy.org, sneakme.net), which work as a quick access solution, but are unreliable and drive me crazy with annoying advertisements. I had the paid VPN service WiTopia recommended to me by a few people, so I thought I'd try it. So far it's been patchy, and some services I can use better without it on, so it's frustratingly gratifying at best. I'm coming up to the end of my trial month, and that might be the end of it for me. There are a few other services out there that I may try and report back on.
In summary
1. For RSS and Atom feeds to keep up with blogs and the like: Use https://www.google.com/reader/
2. For mobile browsing (for compatible mobile phones): Use Skyfire.
3. For quick status and blog updates using a variety of inputs, use Ping.fm for now, and Pinglater.fm for later.
4. For status, blog, and photo updates using your mobile phone, use Shozu.
5. For blogging, many services have an email-to-blog option where emails get posted directly to your blog. Disabling comment moderation is risky, but lets those comments get online when you can't moderate them directly.
6. For a reliable VPN service, I don't have a recommendation as yet. Please let me know if you have any!
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Leaving town at rush hour
I don't know when my requirements for a comfortable subway ride changed to 'as long as nobody is actually touching me', but there we go. Before I got on today I thought how nice it was that there weren't many people on this car, because there was a space about an arm's length wide before everyone climbed aboard. Luxury.
Anyway, I'm on my way to Hangzhou to see the eclipse tomorrow. Then south from there, and away from work for a while. Unsarcastic bliss! I just hope it doesn't storm as much as it's supposed to.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
More balls and mucking around
I really just want to see what happens if I attach MP3s to my emails. It's also kind of related to this post. I had to record this at work today, so you can just imagine me sitting in a recording booth giggling to myself.
Balls. Balls!
Balls. Balls!
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Thanks for rubbing it in, floor
It's depressing to be at the office so late that the lift floor tells me it's Saturday.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Shanghainese crowd pays tribute to MJ
What looks like thousands of people gathered together at People's Square at 5pm to "complete MJ's unfinished dance" for 60 seconds. So much better than going to a creepy Australian funeral director to remember the King of Pop.
I doubt the video will embed properly, so check out this YouKu link to see video proof!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
