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dean_a_jones
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 1151
Location: Wuhan, China
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 Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Cyberkada wrote: |
| Bring a VPN.... The Internet that the rest of the world uses doesn't exist here without one. |
Pretty dramatic stuff. I don't have a VPN, and very rarely even use a proxy to get to what I want online. Not that many sites are blocked (blogger tends to be the one I most often use a web based proxy to access). The big exception is the stuff everyone talks about such Facebook, twitter, youtube. Generally speaking, at least for what I look at online, very little seems blocked.
I would consider one if torrent sites stopped working. |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 4946
Location: Blabbing
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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| dean_a_jones wrote: |
| Cyberkada wrote: |
| Bring a VPN.... The Internet that the rest of the world uses doesn't exist here without one. |
Pretty dramatic stuff. |
nothing dramatic about it. Internet being blocked is definitely in the Top Ten list of foreigner's complaints here. Not only major sites, but minor ones too that seem so irrelevant. case in point: the computer game I have been playing for 10 years has suddenly stopped working (blocked) in China. |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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| It was pretty dramatic, esp. given that there's an easy solution at hand. |
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dean_a_jones
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 1151
Location: Wuhan, China
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
| dean_a_jones wrote: |
| Cyberkada wrote: |
| Bring a VPN.... The Internet that the rest of the world uses doesn't exist here without one. |
Pretty dramatic stuff. |
nothing dramatic about it. Internet being blocked is definitely in the Top Ten list of foreigner's complaints here. Not only major sites, but minor ones too that seem so irrelevant. case in point: the computer game I have been playing for 10 years has suddenly stopped working (blocked) in China. |
It is overly dramatic, it gives the wrong impression of how bad things are here. They are bad, and annoying, but not that bad. Sure, there are examples of things that don't work beyond the obvious I mentioned. And it is highly annoying when something does stop working that you use.
But the idea that coming to China means you pretty much lose access to the internet beyond Chinese pages is the kind of thing I would expect to hear from someone who hasn't been here before and thinks it is a police state (or someone who runs a company selling VPNs). I don't actually think Cyberkada is either of these, I think it is just a bit of hyperbole, but people read this stuff and believe it, so wanted to balance things out a bit.
By all means OP, if you want an internet experience that replicates that you get in the west, get a VPN. But if you choose not to, you will be able to use the internet here. If you rely on or love a particular service, website etc. it is pretty easy to find out if you can reach it here. |
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Cyberkada
Joined: 04 Dec 2011
Posts: 306
Location: Xi'an, China
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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Without a VPN:
NO Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, (most) Google services, text and photo blogs/ forums such as blogspot, DropBox. legal download sites, IMDB and real, uncensored news (UK newspapers).
Also download Skype from the US and use it and never update it here (unless on a VPN. Or you will end up using the monitored CCP TOM version.
Get yourself a VPN or prepare for to use poorly-done Chinese ripoffs and censored results. |
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dean_a_jones
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 1151
Location: Wuhan, China
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Cyberkada wrote: |
Without a VPN:
NO Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, (most) Google services, text and photo blogs/ forums such as blogspot, DropBox. legal download sites, IMDB and real, uncensored news (UK newspapers). |
Correct on first three. Don't know what Vimeo is. Gmail works, some blogs do, some don't. Legal download sites perhaps not, illegal ones are generally fine (and I acknowledge that Cyberkada has mentioned before he does not use these). iTunes (at least the podcasts and iTunesU) in terms of legal free downloads works. IMDB doesn't (does with free proxy, as do blogs).
UK news sites certainly work--I read the Guardian, Independent and BBC on a daily basis. US sites like the Washington Post, NYT, LA Times, NPR etc. also work. Magazines also work, like The Economist, Mother Jones, Prospect, Atlantic, Politico, Slate, The New Yorker. The idea that basic news sites do not work here is plain wrong (or at least is not true where I am). With the rare exception of a one or two day block (i.e. the nobel peace prize a few years ago) they function normally for me.
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| Also download Skype from the US and use it and never update it here (unless on a VPN. Or you will end up using the monitored CCP TOM version. |
Not a bad idea, though you can get the US/UK version on download here as well from certain places. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry OP I didn't mean to squelch your obvious enthusiasm.
Great starters but sooner or later you're going to have to grapple with the large classes (as you note) and substandard or not fit for purpose texts.
Also, you have to teach the whole class, not just the eager, hang on every word, handful at the front.
Best |
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creeper1
Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 481
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan
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| Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:33 pm Post subject: Consequences |
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Facebook I can do without but youtube? No way I use it for so much.
What are the consequences for being caught on a blocked site? |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:13 am Post subject: |
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| There is no getting caught. Just enjoy whatever it is you're doing. |
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Mike E
Joined: 06 Oct 2011
Posts: 132
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:26 am Post subject: |
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For non-computer-nerds,
Anybody got an easy explanation of VPNs and how to start one? |
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steve b
Joined: 31 May 2011
Posts: 293
Location: China
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| I can send you a link to a paid one which is extremely reliable if you like. And I am not a PC geek. |
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Mike E
Joined: 06 Oct 2011
Posts: 132
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:32 am Post subject: |
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Sure.
Does the fact that it is paid mean that it they are supplying the second computer, and I wouldn't have to do it through someone else I know in the US? |
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steve b
Joined: 31 May 2011
Posts: 293
Location: China
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:37 am Post subject: |
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| They have servers all over the world and you pick whichever one suits and change it at will If you want US telly connect there, French connect there etc. I will PM you. |
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Mike E
Joined: 06 Oct 2011
Posts: 132
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:43 am Post subject: |
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| Do the authorities ever try to stop VPN use? |
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steve b
Joined: 31 May 2011
Posts: 293
Location: China
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| Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| They do, but see the PM. |
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