Bryan Crosby Dot Ca » blog

Blog Futures

Bryan — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:17:30 +0000

This blog is on life support, and I am not entirely clear on what direction I plan on taking it. Social media is certainly a more efficient method with which to share items, thoughts and comments to a wide range of friends, family and associates. On a macro level, it’s been argued by some that blogs are dead, supplanted by faster, leaner and meaner services. On a micro level, I am finding I have l less scribble about than I did when I started this blog eight years ago, and less inclination to share. I have a lot of entries from my time as an undergrad (sadly, lost in a crash), my time abroad, and my time at grad school, but it becomes a different ball game when a good chunk of my activities are government-related. On a personal level, while I’m new to the Peace, I’m not new to Northern BC and posting things about an area I am intimately familiar with is not nearly as fun as writing about new experiences. I certainly miss those China and travel posts.

The design is also quite old (at least four years, by my reckoning) and I haven’t kept up with the latest plugins and other ‘must have’ WP add-ons. WP even has a new social-media platform called BuddyPress . It really could use a refresh to work in new formats and aesthetics (not that this site was ever an example of cutting edge design and style).

Maintaining an up-to-date WP foundation has also become increasingly less convenient since my host decided to permanently place their servers in safe-mode. With each WP release (and they seem to have new releases every month) I must manually insert the relevant files via FTP. Hardly difficult, but monotonous and annoying procedure nonetheless. It was an automatic process when not blocked by safe-mode. I’ve considered moving companies, but a complete migration can also become a big project very quickly.

So that is the latest regarding this popsicle stand. Maybe I’ll drag it out of its coma.

Technorati Tags: blogs, future, wordpress

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2010

Bryan — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:34:12 +0000

Seven years of website fun! I suppose I could have waited until a 10 year operational anniversary, but…I needed a good topic for the first post of the year.

Connected with descendents of my Great Uncle’s Typhoon squadron

Was provided information regarding a memorial cairn created for my Great-Uncle in France.
Acquired a long-term internet stalker.
Acquired several good friends through the website.
Routinely receive hits from individuals interested in the Nanjing sex industry…probably because of this post .
Became a whiz with WordPress and other blog related software.
410 posts – over 600 pages @ 12pt. font of scribbling (as of 2008 given that WordPress no longer exports in .txt format so I can’t read as a word document) – 921 comments – about 24,000 hits – 3343 individual photos.

I spent this weekend cleaning up my gallery. I had noticed some time ago that numerous albums were missing from the gallery, including most of my Southeast Asia, Nanjing, Slovenia, Croatia, some from Tibet and a couple of other random images. I’ve addressed that issue and added photos from this summers escapades in Shanghai and Nanjing. I might even add some more Canadian content (although the ole’ Pentax is still down and out…a resolution is to fix that bad-boy). Most of those have already been posted on the main page at some point over the past six months, but they are now archived back in the gallery. The India stuff will be in there eventually, although the trend is that I’m usually a year tagging and documenting my photos.

I’m writing this from a nice perch on the 4th floor of Stauffer Library over looking Queen’s. I’ve vowed to spend less time in my office at SURP this year in a bid for more productivity (as much as I love the socializing, I would like to get this Master’s report done somewhat on time). Stauffer is kind of a undergrad hang out, but the 4th floor has nice views and could be a choice location (but I’ll steer clear during the craziness of exams).

Crappy mobile phone image (Queen’s from Stauffer Library)

I’m clear headed and ready to dive into my final semester (hopefully) as a student. I’ve got a bike that tears up the snow, a new backpack that eats mud for breakfast and a thermos full of coffee. Just need some new sunglasses.

Technorati Tags: 2010, blog, grad school, Kingston, life, new years, pentax, photography, surp

Windows Live Writer

Bryan — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:05:08 +0000

Windows Live Writer can no longer connect with my blog, at least from Leh, where I am now (something to do with using a satellite connection? Probably not, but the writer worked fine in Delhi). I use WLW because it is good offline blog publisher with stellar photo integration options. Internet, being satellite, is expensive in Kashmir, thus I don’t like to spend too much time on it. Currently experimenting with WLW replacements so I can easily insert images at low net bar costs. Until then…posts are more interesting with images.

Technorati Tags: blog, india, leh, travel

An evening with Wikipedia and Answers.com: The road from Rome to the size-acceptance movement

Bryan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:33:33 +0000

It all began with HBO’s Rome and a further interest in two of the main characters, Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus . The series is historical, but what about these two characters? That’s all I wanted to know. A quick 2 minute detour from media player onto the internet.

Sure, no problem. Turns out both Titus and Lucius are characterizations of the only two common Centurions mentioned in the works of Julius Caesar .

It just went on from there…

From Titus I wandered into an entry about the legion . This led to time spent reading about the Roman Army , the Roman Navy , Roman infantry tactics and Roman fortifications . It get’s a little convoluted, but a branch Firefox tab originated somewhere between the Julius Caesar and the legion brought me to Caesar Augustus (apparently the greatest Roman emperor) and then a big historical time leap to Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus . Marcus Aurelius (yes, the one in Gladiator) is considered to be the last of the “ Five Good Emperors ”. Also with Aurelius is where the road becomes a bit more clear with a tab opening into the interesting concept of Pax Romana . Pax Romana has links to ideas regarding Pax Americana , Pax Europaea and Pax Praetoriana . Pax Britannica is in there as well as many others.

That pushed into thoughts regarding the rise of China. Is there a Pax China ? That is when gears switched from answers.com to Wikipedia. Nope, no Pax China, but there is Pax Sinica (a much better term). At the bottom of that entry are more delicious links to the Chinese century and China as an emerging power . The term Chinese Century is considered to be a neologism . A neologism is a “is a newly coined word that may be in the process of entering common use, but has not yet been accepted into mainstream language. Neologisms are often directly attributable to a specific person, publication, period, or event“

… and there is a big damn list of neologisms.

I jumped into the following links due to neologism:

Chindia took me on a tangent to Sino-Indian war of 1962 (very interesting), Chimerica (which has yet to be defined), and portmanteau , which is a blend of two or more words.

But it was saddlebacking that brought me closer to the end. Saddlebacking is actually a link to Savage Love , which is an entry for the syndicated sex-advice column (it appears on the Onion’s AV. Club website). In this entry there is a reference to the phenomenon of recapturing offensive words, more formally known as reclaiming . The final example of a reclaimed word on that page is fat , by the size-acceptance movement .

That is when I realized the bizarre route I just took. All I wanted to know was if two television characters were based on real individuals…

Rome to size-acceptance in three hours.

Technorati Tags: answers.com, evenings, fun-facts, procrastination, roman empire, rome, size-acceptance, wasting time, wikipedia

Some websites

2009

Bryan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:01:34 +0000

First 2009 post and 308th post since 2004 when I started this blog. Actually, I began blogging in 2003 at http://www.bryancrosby.ca (without the “-”) but lost that domain, and the 100 or so associated entries because of an amatuerish mistake regarding hosting payments…make sure credit card information is up-to-date or one might find their hosting privlidges revoked, all content removed and their domain name up on the block for outside party purchase.

So about five years of silly scribbles + one internet stalker = my blogging experience up to present day.

James Fallows (The Atlantic’s China correspondent) has a new book out entitled Postcards from Tomorrow Square documenting his two years in China. I’ve been following Fallows since he first arrived in Shanghai in 2006 and was immediately hooked on his blog. China pundits, folks making claims of building ‘east-west bridges’ and China related books are a dime-a-dozen these days and even as recently as 2004 the English-language Chinese blogosphere wasn’t nearly as developed as it is now, nor were there nearly as many print publications floating around the market. I always felt thought that Fallows, eventhough he didn’t have the Chinese street-credentials (language fluency, 10+ years in country, local wife etc….) like many other Mainland commentators, he wrote some of the best articles I’ve ever read regarding China, especially on CCP Public Relations with the international community. I suspect that most of the book is a pasting of his Atlantic articles and blog posts, (seems to be the trend recently) but at 10 dollars, I might have to make a trip down to the local Chapters to pick up a copy (I have a suspicion that this book will make it into the local library…or even campus library).

Technorati Tags: 2009, blog, books, china

WordPress 2.7

Bryan — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:08:30 +0000

2.7 is finally out and I’m generally impressed so far. The interface feels a lot like the old MovableType cms that I used back in the day but without all of the usual MT nonesense. I would say this release has a far heavier feel than the previous 2.6 series but in the good way – navigation is more intuitive and nav options through pages and sections is far simpler.

*update – this latest upgrade has appeared to have wrecked havoc with my galleries – the pathways are mangled – I have no idea what is going on…could be a day or two before they are repaired…not that anyone looks at the photos anyways ;-)

Technorati Tags: blog, blogs, cms, interface, movabletype, wordpress

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Getting back into the feeds – Blogs, Beijing, RSS

Bryan — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:36:16 +0000

For the time being I’ve opted against purchasing Internet for my apartment largely because of the expense incurred for just one user and the fact that SURP has a very decent connection and wireless is available all over campus. This means I can’t browse the headlines in the morning or in the evening (unless I’m on campus) so the most efficient way of viewing is to fire up the old RSS feeder. I’ve dabbled with such feeders in the past but I found that given my solid 24/hour net connection in Nanjing (both home and work) I had the opportunity to surf at leisure and enter the individual websites one at a time.

Recently I haven’t had an opportunity to keep up with the comings and
goings in Big Red and I’m just now getting back into the habit of
reading blogs and various other websites pertaining to China. Given
that I’m not longer in that country I’ve also had to update my reading
list to include local Kingston news more Canadian content…possibly
even more urban planning items.

Browsing through Fallows blog I was blown away by how blue Beijing has been lately. It truly is unbelievable and I remain in awe that it actually looks like that and it stands as a great example of the huge impact that automobile emissions have on the air-quality of a city. Factories obviously also play a big role – but the draconian traffic measures implemented up to and during both the Olympics and Paralympics truly highlight the evils of vehicle exhaust. Every time I’ve been to Beijing it has retained the qualities of Fallow’s July 20th photo .

I have yet to find any Kingston or Queen’s related blogs. I know they are there but it continually surprises me how many bloggers and other site owners don’t list their URL on a major search engine (Google, for instance). A site isn’t listed by itself…one needs to actually submit the URL to a webcrawler. Even the WordPress engine hasn’t picked up much of interest.

Technorati Tags: beijing, blogs, canada, china, current events, internet, Kingston, pollution, rss

Notebook Death

Bryan — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:40:36 +0000

My old averatec officially passed away. The monitor no longer functions thus effectively removing my ability to keep a decent journal of my activities. The ability to sit down and type away at when I had the time is one reason I decided to make frequent posts. Tracking down affordable net-bars just isn’t a very good option and hostel internet services are limited to one computer/50 guests.

Currently in Riga and still debating whether or not to go down and east towards the Balkans or West towards “Old Europe”.

Technorati Tags: balkans, blog, europe, internet, notebook computer, riga, travel

New airports in China

Bryan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:39:57 +0000

It would appear that the Chinese government remains confident regarding the price and uninterrupted supply of oil…as well as very bullish about future airline passenger numbers.

China drafted a long-term plan for development of air cargo, which will require the building of 97 new airports, consolidation of smaller airports and upgrading of certain key airports by the year 2020. The entire project will cost the government a massive investment of $64 billion.

Under the plan, 97 feeder-line airports will be built across the country, the main air hubs will be upgraded, and airport clusters will be set up in the northern, eastern, central, southern, southwestern and northwestern parts of the country, according to the new Ministry of Transport.

The ministry, which was formed on March 24, encompasses all the state entities related to road, sea and air traffic. It is evolved from the former Ministry of Communications and the General Administration of the Civil Aviation of China.

By the end of 2006, the Chinese mainland had 147 airports with 45 of them serving both military and civilian traffic.

I’m a huge proponent of infrastructure development as a key engine of economic development but I find it odd that within the current fossil-fuel price environment (some analysts are predict that the possibility of $200/barrel oil in the very near future, is very, very likely) that this massive airport infrastructure program would be pushed ahead.

I guess the key verb in the article is ‘earmarked’ as I suppose this indicates that money will be allocated to various projects as seen fit, rather than just a massive funding blitz, but still…the number of new/refurbished airports is quite large. I still feel that outside of the major international terminals in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing, most Chinese airports seem to be underutilized…to my observations at least. Lukou in Nanjing (with the exception of the massive backlog during this winters snowstorm) always seems about a quarter-full every time I fly out and that goes for the other regional hubs that I’ve flown into/out of (Chengdu, Kunming, Xi’an…even Shenzhen didn’t seem too busy).

I suppose the idea is that they are currently underutilized, but they will fill up quickly as more and more people discover the convenience of air-travel. But that is built on the assumption that air-travel will remain affordable for your average Zhang Joe. I mean, that is the big question mark isn’t it? Major airlines around the world are taking big beatings with oil price hikes. China still subsidizes oil imports considerable in a effort to maintain social stability and curb inflation…but in effect creates what one article (can’t cite, forgotton the link) referred to as a bubble country running on $80/barrel insulated against the realities of an $140/barrel world. More cars, more air-travel. But, you don’t need to be a economist to realize that this isn’t the best combo if oil prices do indeed maintain their climb.

David Beers, who wrote the very good Blue Sky Dream (which influenced my decision to enter urban planning -although it really isn’t about that at all) muses and contemplates a world without cheap air transport over at The Walrus :

Could it happen? As the potential ravages of global warming come more solidly into view, jet travel has been fingered as a dangerous emitter of greenhouse gases. And now the price of oil is said by various experts to be headed toward $200 (US) a barrel within the year, maybe five, a sign for many that we’ve entered a new age of fossil fuel scarcity. What if we come to decide jet travel has become too polluting to risk our children’s future? Or just far too expensive to continue flying the kids to Disneyland? And if a million such decisions were to cause the jet age to end, how would we come back to earth? Softly, one would hope. Pleasantly. But maybe, instead, it will be a white-knuckle crash.

Read it all.

Personally, rising oil prices are kicking me in the balls. Shipping a cubic meter of stuff back to Canada is well…lets say I could have a nice month long vacation in Nepal for what I’m about to pay.

On the plus side, even with the price increase of anything running on black dead organic matter, I’m quite happy I’ll be doing my travels now…and not in six months.

Technorati Tags: air-travel, airport infrastructure, china, energy, nanjing, nepal, oil, transportation, travel

Google Search Keywords and Me

Bryan — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:07:53 +0000

I was debating whether or not to share this tidbit of inside information but have since decided that it is now post worthy. This change is probably not only because I find this particular item slightly amusing and maybe even a little pitiful also because I think it highlights how much information can be gathered by webmasters, search engines and anyone else interested in following you around the internet.

I employ sitemeter which records the number of visitors to my site in an effort to determine just how unpopular I am. My hosting plan also includes a more detailed and complete statistical record, but I use sitemeter out of sheer convenience. It is just far easier to login and view the vitals. I operate the basic account offered by this company which, despite being free, provides me with an obscene amount information regarding netizen visits. Visitors to my site will leave their country, city, time, operating system, IP address, ISP name, length of visit, pages visited, browser used and referring website, and keywords (if a search was used to find my site) to list a few.

A few days ago I narcissistically logged in to view my pitiful statistics and was rather surprised to find that I had been apparently googled from Beijing (although not 100% sure because IP was hidden) using the following search terms:

which street in nanjing can i find chinese women looking for sex in nanjing

I’m all about search rank flattery but I was a little embarrassed and surprised that it ranked rather high using the above search words. Using those tags, my site occupies the 20th position (on the second page) and any searcher will be directed to this post (about my midnight travels down Zhujiang Road two weeks ago).

I don’t think I can help out with this query. Sorry. Best I can say is that if you need to use to Google to help you out in snooping this kind of information…here, in Asia…well, you might not be ready for travels in this part of the world.

I am relieved though that the search specified women (men would have been fine to) and not another human noun…

Technorati Tags: google, keyword, nanjing, privacy, searching, sex, site statistics