World Wide Web and Beijing
Since Sunday 7th I've been in Beijing. I like the city, which is absurdly big and has insane traffic on its wide streets, and some miserable dwellings and beings on the narrow ones (not to mention the new monstrous sky-scrapers - in all I really prefer the narrow hutongs, which also have a homely feel, old people sitting and kids playing and a mix of bars and shops and police stations and whatnots within reach) - but also unique atmosphere and incredible choice of good things to eat, besides being kind of friendly and easy to approach.
I'm here for a conference, which is nice since it gives one some fixed point beyond the aimless loitering - since I refuse to stress myself as a tourist about stuff to "see". I'm also here with a colleague, who is good traveling company. Besides our aim is to get to know people and "network"...
But one funny thing is bugging me, sort of. The hotel has a cable connection to internets in the room, and a free wifi in the lobby. But I cannot get to Facebook, or Youtube, nor could I watch my anime online, from a not so official page. Haven't tried any torrents to see if they would work. Lj seems to be accessible, likewise e.g. Diagon Alley - so not all social media is banned. But it very much seems to me that Chinese internet is NOT world wide and free - in fact, is this a ginormous intranet for one billion people and their guests? Oh yes - Twitter isn't loading either. We just bought flight tickets from Beijing to Shanghai, I'm mailing and posting and reading the news etc alright, so for several important functions internets work quite reliably. And in fact, nobody NEEDS the social media, it is just fun, an extra - but indeed, it is something people also manage themselves, for their own ends, outside buying and selling and working. I think I don't like this fenced new commons at all, and this makes me doubly not want to have any European (or other) legislation that would allow such fencing and limitations.
ETA: addition and correction: no, not just social media. I'm trying to brush up my paper here, and wanted to check some references which of course I do not carry with me - but cannot access the material I KNOW is free and legally to be had online. Pft.
I'm here for a conference, which is nice since it gives one some fixed point beyond the aimless loitering - since I refuse to stress myself as a tourist about stuff to "see". I'm also here with a colleague, who is good traveling company. Besides our aim is to get to know people and "network"...
But one funny thing is bugging me, sort of. The hotel has a cable connection to internets in the room, and a free wifi in the lobby. But I cannot get to Facebook, or Youtube, nor could I watch my anime online, from a not so official page. Haven't tried any torrents to see if they would work. Lj seems to be accessible, likewise e.g. Diagon Alley - so not all social media is banned. But it very much seems to me that Chinese internet is NOT world wide and free - in fact, is this a ginormous intranet for one billion people and their guests? Oh yes - Twitter isn't loading either. We just bought flight tickets from Beijing to Shanghai, I'm mailing and posting and reading the news etc alright, so for several important functions internets work quite reliably. And in fact, nobody NEEDS the social media, it is just fun, an extra - but indeed, it is something people also manage themselves, for their own ends, outside buying and selling and working. I think I don't like this fenced new commons at all, and this makes me doubly not want to have any European (or other) legislation that would allow such fencing and limitations.
ETA: addition and correction: no, not just social media. I'm trying to brush up my paper here, and wanted to check some references which of course I do not carry with me - but cannot access the material I KNOW is free and legally to be had online. Pft.