| Author | Message | ||
     Swordsman |
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2 277297&page=1 My wife just sent this to me, ties in with Buellgirlie's trip to China conversation. ~SM | ||
| Imonabuss |
Scary stuff. The barbarians are always close to the gate. | ||
| Buellgirlie |
definitely scary.... however, you *always* have to do your own research and create your own safety net. china can be brutal and can eat you up. its not all mystical and exotic, unfortunately. its a country full of 1.3 billion repressed people who are now clawing their way into prosperity, technology, freedom, and opportunity their parents/grandparents never could have dreamed of. as far as teaching english, getting paid $600-1000 a month may sound low to most americans, but remember the average ANNUAL salary in china is ~$1100. unless you're teaching in a major city -- which it doesn't sound like in the article, you should theoretically be able to live well and save up some money on that salary. that is, if you're truly willing to embrace local culture and immerse yourself in the experience. your experience is what you make of it, and sometimes life lessons cost more than planned. i'm off to china! D | ||
| Court |
You'll have a great time and learn much. I've had the chance, via a fellow Buell owner, to learn more about China than the mYoptic view provided by the US media. China, within the next 10 years, will be the #1 super power and as the collective energy of it's population become more focused we're going to see a reshuffling of the world economic order. I'll be eager to hear your reports.h | ||
| Buellshyter |
China, within the next 10 years, will be the #1 super power and as the collective energy of it's population become more focused we're going to see a reshuffling of the world economic order. And just who do you think will make that reality come true - us !!! It's the 1930's all over again. It borders on insanity to have spent trillions of dollars fighting communism only to reward it by shifting your wealth to a system that shares no values with your own. The Chinese government can build all the architectural wonders it wants to show how modern it is, the fact remains that underneath it's just as rotten as it's always been. The People's Liberation Army and the government are one in the same. The only reason there has been a limited embrace of capitalism is because it serves the purposes of the military. China only need to look to it's neighbor, Russia, as an example of the failure of communism. However, China saw the handwriting on the wall and embraced limited capitalism before it too imploded. China seeks to utilize the revenues generated by it's newfound economic might to increase it's military might. Why do you think China is spending massive amounts of Renminbi on modernizing it's military and building a blue-water Navy. It's not for defensive purposes. One can only hope that the mistakes of the 1930's with Japan are not revisited with respect to China. I concur with Court that it will be a completely different world in the not too distant future and I believe most Americans are clueless about it's consequences. | ||
| Ducxl |
China, within the next 10 years, will be the #1 super power and as the collective energy of it's population become more focused we're going to see a reshuffling of the world economic order. They're a Communist society,they'll take care of their own.And F.....orget the rest of the world...unless it's to their benefit.People here speak of taking down communist governments.I wonder how we'll react to China taking down our brand of government?? Would we like another country meddling with our government?? Oh...wait...They already are...along with Israel.Communism baby! it's the next "new world order! China IS NO FRIEND OF CAPITALISM.THEY'LL TAKE IT DOWN. | ||
| Paw |
China already has the ground army to over power us. If they really wanted to start World War III. All they would have to do is send a cargo ship to every port we have filled with soldiers and equipment. I do not think out national guard could stop them. That is the scariest thing right now. With all the importing China does to America, think about how many ships they send here every week. With out a doubt they could do it. Lets just hope there are enough of us civilians with guns and enough ammunition to help the armed forces hold them off. They could do the modern day trojan horse. I have faith that our government is watching their every move and we can stop it before it could ever happen. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I have friends in Beijing right now... and I can assure you that is not the case. They are kicking out the aged and infirm now to make Beijing "pretty" for the upcoming olympics. Where do they go? Anywhere but here... | ||
| Court |
>>>I believe most Americans are clueless about it's consequences. I'd agree. We're stuck in the "duck and cover" days of the Civil Defense and drills in 3rd grade class rooms. We've been taught that if it involves "technology or talent". . well, America is the first and last word. That all worked fairly well when news and information travelled slower. It's a new world. I suspect that the Chinese have a keen enough grasp of the way the world works to know that war pales in comparison to trade. Why would you want to "conquer" the same folks who are making your system work? I doubt there is a computer in Bejing that is not running software from Bill Gates or Steve Jobs and the school I go to has a HUGE enrollment of Chinese. America is where you go for the finest education in the world. Trade is changing and we, as Americans. are not without some superior resources. Our future is bright but it no longer will include making televisions and t-shirts. Just a thought . . . If you want to see how well war works, you don't have to read past the first page to see how fruitless an exercise it is. America took everything it had to a country where folks were riding goats and the slope is steeper now than when we arrived. Fighting for countries works about as well as it did for Kevin Wagner in high school . . he finishes his sentence next year. | ||
| Buellshyter |
Court, the problem with your assumption, as I see it, is that you're coming at it from a western perspective. Americans live fairly comfortable lives and our government leaders are still accountable to the people to some degree. We have separation of powers, etc. As President Bush said, "Democratic governments don't attack one another". The Chinese government is monolithic. All branches of government serve the purposes of the party. The military is not separate from the civilian leadership. Nixon reached out to China in the 70's with the same goals and hopes that prompted Bush to invade Iraq. Nixon sought to change China from within utilizing the virus of capitalism. Bush chose the sword in an effort to radically reshape the Middle East. I believe both were misguided and highly risky but only time will tell. I suppose Nixon's China experiment could eventually succeed but it could just as easily backfire leaving the world with a super economic military expansionist power. Like I mentioned in my previous post, China isn't spending mad money on it's military and stealing secrets for purely defensive purposes. China makes no apologies nor tries to hide the fact that they want Taiwan back even if it means going to war. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Points to ponder, not my own: http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sdc/hr_facts.html http://web.amnesty.org/report2005/chn-summary-eng http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_P eople's_Republic_of_China | ||
| Buellgirlie |
i'd answer.........but all those links are blocked from shanghai where i'm sitting now. surprise, surprise  each culture has developed in its own time, learning many of the same lessons about labor, the environment, and what trade-offs people are willing to make to make a living. the fellows held up as the pillars of society, business, and philanthropy such as carnegie, rockefeller, etc. were "guilty" of many of the same behaviors that americans like to point fingers at to the chinese. china's growth is being exponentially accelerated by technology and the global economy. the world is flatter and more transparent than ever before in history too. btw - i'm a lifelong republican (leaning toward libertarian), and HUGE fan of free markets and capitalism. D | ||
| Reepicheep |
Can you VPN into your home corporate network? If so, then the "evil" parts of the internet should suddenly re-appear. That will likely be industrial grade encryption for data in transit as well, which I can't recommend highly enough for where you are. The VPN (or even just HTTPS/SSL) encryption will hold so long as you can protect your laptop origination point for the data. Don't install "local" software or let anyone local get physical access to the machine. Leaving it in a Hotel or office for any length of time runs a decent chance of somebody messing with it. Pulling your drive and securing that somewhere might be easier then trying to secure the whole laptop, and would stop anything short of a dedicated professional attack. Bootleg local software is infested with worms and back doors. Don't go near it and keep your anti virus software up to date. | ||
| Court |
Bill: I LOVE reading your posts on computer stuff. . . it always reminds me, simultaneously, of how stupid and exposed I am! If I were to vote for one person to send after Agent 007 (before his car company got sold this morning) you'd be the one! Court | ||
| Oldog |
Dora I would be cautious about any attempt to circumvent any Government blocks where you are. I also agree with what you are saying, the steel industry here is a prime example of capitolist abuses by the wealthy owners in the 18th century I LOVE reading your posts on computer stuff. . . it always reminds me, simultaneously, of how stupid and exposed I am! Me too .. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I only posted the two circumventions that pretty much mirror fairly normal usage scenarios. I saved the really good circumventions that would be much more obvious  For VPN, someone that controls the infrastructure would see a fat encrypted tunnel going to the corporate site, and thats it. They have no idea what passes in the middle. While that is clearly a circumvention of their controls, it is also the normal usage scenario for just about all business travellers. So they would not be able to tell the difference between circumvention and just normal course business. SSL is a little weaker, in that they can tell the domain of each site you visit, but thats it. Unless they compromise your desktop machine or the server you are connecting with, they pretty much cant tell anything about what you are actually transferring between the two. People don't think about SSL / HTTPS being so strong because it is so easy and widespread, but SSL 3.0 (The default for most modern browsers) is an incredibly sophisticated and strong encryption implementation. It uses some math magic to do things you would not think would be possible. Two parties that have never met can have a conversation completely captured by a third party, and the third party would have a nearly impossible task to intercept it. | ||
| Buellshyter |
I also agree with what you are saying, the steel industry here is a prime example of capitolist abuses by the wealthy owners in the 18th century I think the point is more about the government. If the government is corrupt and not "of the people and for the people" then things will never change. Say what you will about our own government, we do have the right to criticize and vote | ||
| Oldog |
Err. Ok but the original comment from Dora is about folks leveling complaints against the Chinese Govt and that some note worthy Capitalists here in the US were guilty of the same sort of things I agree with this as history bears it out, There is corruption in ALL governments, some less than others. Clinton and the various scandals are one example, In my home ( Wilmington NC ) there was a huge stink over an attempted land grab by some wealthy developers who had ties to the city council, The deal was that a local Assisted living facility / nursing home was woefuly sub standard, and as such should have been closed, The state inspected and fined the operation. Corrections were made and the facility is in compliance with all regulations and standards, The politicos who were trying to close it and get the parcel of land it sets on kept on trying until the state stepped in and put a stop to it,,, for now. Some where I read that the ultimate system is partly communist and partly capitolist, the Russian collapse is a prime example of too much government, anarchy would be the other extreme IMO The Chinese are emerging as a dominant super power, limited and controlled capitolisim is appearently working for them as conditions are improving . There are other forms of abuse that go on, human rights and religous percicution, but the record will as the living standard improves will improve too. I hope that Dora will have no problems there as I understand it Chinese companies pay well for out of the country experts to help them get up to speed. | ||
| Buellshyter |
I sure hope you're not trying to compare the U.S. government to the communist Chinese | ||
| Court |
>>>>>There is corruption in ALL governments Hmmmmmm. . . I'm in New York City. . . you may have to explain. | ||
| Buellgirlie |
reepi - thanks for the tips. i'll check into a VPN when i meet up with folks from the firm in beijing wednesday. i shou;d have a blackberry that's linked into their corporate network then. also, from my cousin's house, i'm on wireless, but its a private network. my cousin's wife does day trading on the stock market which makes me think that the network is secure. all of my US based financial stuff all has SSL/HTTPS at the log-in section. does that sound ok to you reepi? thx D | ||
| Slaughter |
forgive the ignorant questions but: How much of this technology is export restricted? Don't get caught taking software or hardware outta here that ain't allowed out. It's a pain to find out after the fact. (Message edited by slaughter on March 12, 2007) | ||
| Uncbuell |
The only way I would send any sensitive communications over the Internet from inside China is if I had satellite service. China controls all Internet ports of ingress and egress in the country. They have contracted with the vendors that provide the hardware and software that provide Internet service to China, and you can be sure that all traffic is captured and filtered as soon as it hits a Chinese router. I was watching a show on PBS about China a few days ago and the hosts were showing the video of the tank man from Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 to some current Chinese university students. It wasn't a surprise that the present day students had never heard of the Tiananmen Square protests and were actually criticizing the tank man for being stupid enough to stand in front of a tank. | ||
| Reepicheep |
VPN will do great, as will SSL/HTTPS. People listening in can know the name of the place you are connecting, and can block the connection all together if they wish. If negative news stories come out, expect Google and Yahoo to "dissapear" until the news dies down. But nobody can realistically penetrate the encryption without expending staggering amounts of computing resources (to the best of anyones knowledge). (Staggering in this case means something like "all known computers built running in parallel for months at a time". To compromise either, they will have to compromise an end point, or steal it the old fashioned way and bypass the encryption completely some other way. Why buy a supercomputer and run it for a decade when I can pay the maid $20 to put a $15 bug in your hotel room. The wireless connection, if it is the old style (WEP) was flawed from day one. It can be completely compromised by an attacker in between 1 and 4 hours with normal consumer equipment. Newer encryption (WPA) is theoretically better, but I still don't quite trust it. But you can connect through the wireless path. Then you just assume all information is being overheard and use SSL or VPN to make overhearing useless. Most widespread encryption technologies (I.E. SSL) were chosen to be exportable. My current favorite is AES 256, which was developed overseas anyway (UK maybe?), so is free from export restrictions. The latest version of WinZip will do AES256 (though it only encrypts the file contents, not the file names, so don't give your files sensitive names). If you just want to email somebody an encrypted file, winzip is fantastic in terms of bang for the buck. Email them the file, and leave the password on their voice mail. The blackberry safety is generally dependent on how your provider set it up. It talks to a "BES" (Blackberry Enterprise Server), and that BES can demand encryption or let traffic go plain text. If you are talking to a BES your company configured and they require encryption, it is probably fairly safe. If you are talking to an independent BES, you should probably act like you are talking in a crowded restaurant. One disclaimer on the VPN... it only secures you between your laptop and the VPN server you are connecting too. If the owner of that system then sends a non encrypted stream across the public infrastructure (for which they should be fired), you are somewhat exposed again. If they establish another VPN connection to go from their local office back to corporate headquarters though, you should be relatively secure. The most vulnerable point is your laptop, either physical access, or an unpublished virus / zero day exploit. | ||
| Court |
Note to self . . . NEVER piss Bill off. |
