Hello.
I've been in North America working for the last few weeks and I can't tell you what a dream it is not having to worry about internet filters and restrictions. Living in China, I often have to use a proxy to evade the firewall. This needs to be used on a daily basis to update my website and blog, and it can be an exhausting process as the proxies are never very stable.
Being in Toronto, and North America in general, I can't believe how bliss it is just being able to access my blog and various websites. It's quick and easy, and the funny thing is that Canadians, and American's, don't look corrupted by internet content. So is the benevolent filtering really helpful? Or is China just making the problem much bigger than it is so that they can save a few thousand "net nanny" jobs at the Propaganda Bureau?
Making jobs is important in this day and age, but the "net nanny" society that currently exists in China wreaks of the Cultural Revolution era when children ratted out their parents and neighbors for "capitalist behavior". I wish we could all just grow up a bit. Yes, there are lots of bad things on the internet; and there are lots of good things as well. Make it free, get parents to do there job and get the government to back off.
Some days it can be exhausting living in the day to day mess that is China. Luckily, I have my proxy. I just need to find a way to upload pictures to clients faster and I'll be well on my way to a fully functioning photographer; instead of one trapped behind a fire wall that makes updating his Facebook "status" a 30 minute painful ordeal.
I promise, that's the last bitch session about the internet in China.
--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
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Friday, July 24, 2009
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as another photog/creative (canadian) trying to survive within the GFW, i highly recommend getting a personal VPN, which progresses things nearly back to normal. i opted for witopia which cost 60 usd (~ 400 rmb) but there are also free options.. hotspot shield et al. best money i've spent here in a long while.
ReplyDeletedon't get me started on the ridiculous state of internet censorship in china either, but i think you actually nailed part of the dilemma when you said, 'let the parents do their job'. generally speaking, they don't and in some ways this one-child world of princes and princesses consequently necessitates the 'guidance' of the CPC. the wrong guidance, granted, but one that will be difficult if not impossible to change. depressing ain't it?
Marc,
ReplyDeleteIt's depressing and exhausting. I use Witopia as well, found their advert on Shanghaiist, and it works well enough but I still finder surfing using their VPN sluggish. Ryan.