It's odd to read this right now. I just realised today that I can access Google news and the BBC Web site. I have been living in China for 8 months and this is the first time that Google news has been accessible. At least the first time that I have noticed. Blogspot and other Blog sites are still unavailable and the Taiwanese Google News site didn't come up, but I was pretty happy to see BBC and Google News... I thought it was getting better.
I am living in China right now. As I understand it the male population continues to grow and the female population declines. Couple that with the fact that most Chinese people have very few employment opportunities other then joining the military.
My wife and I live close to a university and the first few weeks of the school year were filled with chanting and shouting. All of the new students are dressed up in fatigues and marched around chanting slogans. I found it very hard to listen to.
I love China, but sometimes the future seem dismal.
If you really want to get banned put your content "advocating a free and democratic China" in Chinese and English. The Chinese censors are a lot quicker to ban content that they think their people will be able to read.
I am in China right now. Just happened to do a Google search on "How China filters the Internet" that lead to this. Slashdot is not blocked. Neither is the parent article. BBC and Google News are the only two sites that I frequently try and reach that are blocked (people are always sending links to articles). There may be more. Sites are often unreachable, but my ADSL connection is often slower then a 14k modem and when I am surfing news stories I rarely go back and check a link that timed out earlier.
It depends largely on where you end up. The west coast has a reputation for being laid back. Toronto is the hub and seems quite a bit more formal. I am always shocked by how over dressed IT people from Toronto seem. Here in Vancouver I work for a financial institution and almost everyone dresses casually. I imagine that that Quebec and the Maritimes also have quite casual corporate environments, especially when compared to the US.
I think you will find Canadians more reserved in corporate life or outside of it.
> infinitely much easier on your feet, knees and back.
If the bike is set up properly and you start gradually it is easier. A lot of riding on a bike that doesn't fit you will not only cause discomfort, but could do permanent damage to your knees.
> you can spend much more power, and you have more flexibility in choosing a suitable > power level
It is much easier to hit target heart rate zones and get to higher heart rates while running.
I do quite a bit of cycling and running, most of it with a heart rate monitor on. My easy run heart rate is 145bpm, my easy cycling heart rate is 130bpm. Even if I slow my running down my heart rate won't drop much, but if I am cycling and I coast a little my heart rate will quickly drop down out of any sort of exercise zone.
I do tempo and interval running and cycling workouts. The idea of a tempo workout is to keep your heart rate up near race pace (lactate threshold) for a fairly long period of time (20 minutes to 2 hours depending on the type of race I am training for). Getting in to and staying in the right heart rate zone is much easier running then it is cycling. Muscular endurance is a huge limiter in maintaining a high heart rate while cycling.
> you can cover a larger area so it's less boring
I rarely get tired of hitting the running trails, something about the level of effort and pace that things go by makes trails I saw a few days ago seem like trails I haven't run in some time. Maybe it's just easier to let your mind wander, something I wouldn't do on a bike.
If you are riding for exercise finding large, safe, cycling routes can be quite difficult.
> more flexibility in duration. Biking 8 hours a day is no problem for an untrained person, but running is.
Running for 8 hours is pretty hard, but how many people can really ride for 8 hours. I can be on and off my bike all day, but if I am riding for exercise I rarely ride for more then 6 hours and 6 hours is a long tiring ride.
> a modern bike is way more interesting technically than running shoes.
Not just more interesting, they are works of fine craftsmanship. I can sit and stare at my Cervelo P3 for... a lot more time then I'll spend admiring some running shoes.
The ability to download music has definitely had an impact on the amount of CDs I purchase. Downloading is just too damn convenient, frequently I hear or read about an artist and I download some of the music right away, this may or may not lead to a sale, it has definitely stopped me from buying just because I heard some good things.
I end up with a lot of "one hit wonder" mp3s, instead of a lot of CDs that have one song that I like. I don't think the quality of music has changed. I am just not buying as much crap.
Paul
Slashdot Mirror
It's odd to read this right now. I just realised today that I can access Google news and the BBC Web site. I have been living in China for 8 months and this is the first time that Google news has been accessible. At least the first time that I have noticed. Blogspot and other Blog sites are still unavailable and the Taiwanese Google News site didn't come up, but I was pretty happy to see BBC and Google News... I thought it was getting better.
I am living in China right now. As I understand it the male population continues to grow and the female population declines. Couple that with the fact that most Chinese people have very few employment opportunities other then joining the military. My wife and I live close to a university and the first few weeks of the school year were filled with chanting and shouting. All of the new students are dressed up in fatigues and marched around chanting slogans. I found it very hard to listen to. I love China, but sometimes the future seem dismal.
If you really want to get banned put your content "advocating a free and democratic China" in Chinese and English. The Chinese censors are a lot quicker to ban content that they think their people will be able to read.
It's just him. Gmail POP access has worked well for me. I have been using it in China for the last two months.
I am in China right now. Just happened to do a Google search on "How China filters the Internet" that lead to this. Slashdot is not blocked. Neither is the parent article. BBC and Google News are the only two sites that I frequently try and reach that are blocked (people are always sending links to articles). There may be more. Sites are often unreachable, but my ADSL connection is often slower then a 14k modem and when I am surfing news stories I rarely go back and check a link that timed out earlier.
It depends largely on where you end up. The west coast has a reputation for being laid back. Toronto is the hub and seems quite a bit more formal. I am always shocked by how over dressed IT people from Toronto seem. Here in Vancouver I work for a financial institution and almost everyone dresses casually. I imagine that that Quebec and the Maritimes also have quite casual corporate environments, especially when compared to the US.
I think you will find Canadians more reserved in corporate life or outside of it.
> infinitely much easier on your feet, knees and back.
If the bike is set up properly and you start gradually it is easier. A lot of riding on a bike that doesn't fit you will not only cause discomfort, but could do permanent damage to your knees.
> you can spend much more power, and you have more flexibility in choosing a suitable > power level
It is much easier to hit target heart rate zones and get to higher heart rates while running.
I do quite a bit of cycling and running, most of it with a heart rate monitor on. My easy run heart rate is 145bpm, my easy cycling heart rate is 130bpm. Even if I slow my running down my heart rate won't drop much, but if I am cycling and I coast a little my heart rate will quickly drop down out of any sort of exercise zone.
I do tempo and interval running and cycling workouts. The idea of a tempo workout is to keep your heart rate up near race pace (lactate threshold) for a fairly long period of time (20 minutes to 2 hours depending on the type of race I am training for). Getting in to and staying in the right heart rate zone is much easier running then it is cycling. Muscular endurance is a huge limiter in maintaining a high heart rate while cycling.
> you can cover a larger area so it's less boring
I rarely get tired of hitting the running trails, something about the level of effort and pace that things go by makes trails I saw a few days ago seem like trails I haven't run in some time. Maybe it's just easier to let your mind wander, something I wouldn't do on a bike.
If you are riding for exercise finding large, safe, cycling routes can be quite difficult.
> more flexibility in duration. Biking 8 hours a day is no problem for an untrained person, but running is.
Running for 8 hours is pretty hard, but how many people can really ride for 8 hours. I can be on and off my bike all day, but if I am riding for exercise I rarely ride for more then 6 hours and 6 hours is a long tiring ride.
> a modern bike is way more interesting technically than running shoes.
Not just more interesting, they are works of fine craftsmanship. I can sit and stare at my Cervelo P3 for... a lot more time then I'll spend admiring some running shoes.
Paul
The ability to download music has definitely had an impact on the amount of CDs I purchase. Downloading is just too damn convenient, frequently I hear or read about an artist and I download some of the music right away, this may or may not lead to a sale, it has definitely stopped me from buying just because I heard some good things. I end up with a lot of "one hit wonder" mp3s, instead of a lot of CDs that have one song that I like. I don't think the quality of music has changed. I am just not buying as much crap. Paul