Bryan Crosby Dot Ca » internet

Wolfram|Alpha

Bryan — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:44:10 +0000

It’s not new, and I wouldn’t say it is as good at tangling one up within the depths of the internet as Wikipedia …and it probably isn’t quite there yet on the technology side…but Wolfram|Alpha is pretty neat.

Wolfram Alpha (often stylized as Wolfram|Alpha ) is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research. It is an online service that answers factual queries directly by computing the answer from structured data, rather than providing a list of documents or web pages that might contain the answer as a search engine would. It was announced in March 2009 by Stephen Wolfram, and was released to the public on May 15, 2009. ^[1] It was voted the greatest computer innovation of the year by Popular Science.

For example, I might be curious to see how long I will live.

It also has a pretty nifty nutrition calculator. Spam + one apple + vegemite will yield the following nutrition.

* full disclosure – I don’t eat Spam…or vegemite but have been known to consume apples.

Technorati Tags: internet, wikipedia, wolframalpha

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Google Hong Kong

Bryan — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:49:43 +0000

www.google.cn is toast…

Welcome to www.google.hk

I had thought for awhile that Google might pull something like this and try to keep their presence by bouncing off their uncensored .hk domain. I’m curious to see what happens next. Will www.google.com be blocked outright on the Mainland? (it was intermittently blocked in the past) and what will that mean for the .hk domain? Will internet controls be extended into Hong Kong because of a Google transfer?

* update – it’s official

So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk , where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Users in Hong Kong will continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese service, also from Google.com.hk . Due to the increased load on our Hong Kong servers and the complicated nature of these changes, users may see some slowdown in service or find some products temporarily inaccessible as we switch everything over.

Google also has a real-time tool highlighting the status of all of their services in China. As of 21 March 2010:

Probably worth another look in a week or two.

Like I’ve said before , I think that Google services an essential tool if one wants to be part of the global conversation. Right now, it looks like .hk is maintaining that tool for the Mainland…but it could very well just suffer the same fate as .com or .cn.

At the risk of sounding sensationalist sensationalist to say, the Great Fire Wall is looking more like the 21st century equivalent of the Iron Curtain.

Technorati Tags: censorship, china, google, hong kong, internet

Google Bomb – They’ve finally had it…

Bryan — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:00:11 +0000

I can’t get enough. I’ve only been watching China for about 7 years (not too long) but I’ve never come across a shaking story like this.

Google is annoyed…pissed is probably an more appropriate description.

Some of my thoughts.

While their human rights dimension is probably smoke-screen whipped up for Western fans, Google is making a move that all companies would balk at…standing up to the CCP.

At the time we made clear that "we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China." These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China

How I read it.

Google: “Enough is enough. Stop hacking our stuff”.

Regardless of the absence of altruism, I appreciate the back-bone, especially when the past few years have seen substantial increases ( Green Dam , Olympic censorship, Facebook, Youtube, IMDB and Twitter) in the strength of government internet controls. Some one big needed to thrown the gauntlet down.

Still, doubt remains whether Google will follow through and pull the plug. However, they appear fairly adamant in their statement that the status quo is unacceptable. If they do, it’s big…huge.

Google Search, including all of their increasingly essential peripherals (Map, Scholar, Documents, Gmail, Calendar and anything else they have up their sleeve) will not be easily accessible in any form in a country with approximately 350 million internet users and growing. I feel awful for my friends (both local and expat) on the Mainland . The Mainland internet world is already incredibly restrictive and isolating sphere to live within and the absence of any form of Googling would create quite a incompatible internet experience. While there will always be ‘alternatives’ Google is becoming, or has already become (like it, or not) an essential cannot-do-without part of the internet.

If China wishes to continue on their road to global leadership, then it has to participate in the global conversation. Unfortunately for China, that international conversation means using Google. Without it, one may see development of a parallel internet community, increasingly cut off from the rest of the world in both in terms of internal accessibility (what one can accesses and use while in China) and external accessibility (what one can access about China from outside the Mainland). James Fallows calls it yet another move toward a Chinese version of a “Bush-Cheney” era. It fits with a “you are either with us, or against us” mentality that seems to be brewing harder (especially with continued economic confidence in regards to that country’s performance during the recession). I also wonder what this will do to China’s ambitions to become a world leader in IT. As an IT professional on shanghaiexpat.com forums lamented “Why do I continue working in this country?”

Interesting story and I’m keen to see it unfold further.

Photos from Google headquarters in Beijing.

Technorati Tags: censorship, china, google, hacking, intellectual property, internet

The Canadian Pavilion – Expo 2010

Bryan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:06:37 +0000

I was expecting Douglas Fir, Cedar, stone, lots and lots of glass and a totem pole thrown in somewhere, which are usually the to-go-to materials for anything Canadian designed for an international audience.

Very un-Canadian…which is probably why I kind of like it :-)

I’m not sure what they are trying to do with this. Information on the official site in regards to influences and design goals are sketchy although there is a mention of Cirque de Soleil was the designer and it is about a 45 million dollar investment.

The theme: The Living City: inclusive, sustainable, creative (I think they brought Richard Florida on board for that one). I quite like the nod toward Canadian rural areas in the more detailed discussion of the ‘sustainability’. The more I’m digging into my research topic, the more I’m realizing (I suppose I’ve always known it) how marginalized and ignored (economically, politically and especially culturally) Canadian rural areas are.

I don’t think we have the best design, but it’s not the worst either. The Scandinavians (no surprises there!) I think have the better designs. Check them out here.

Chinese internet continues to drive me insane…the constant Google nuking, the tortoise speeds, blockages, inconsistent connections issues to academic databases…list goes on.

I just can’t get over how terrible the connection is at Fudan…there is really no excuse for this university to have such awful internet.

Technorati Tags: canada pavilion, china, expo 2010, internet, shanghai, urban planning

Internet Overlords

Bryan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:30:55 +0000

Facebook is now blocked in China.

You know sometimes when I walk the streets of Shanghai I think “wow, amazing…really, truly amazing…maybe we have a leader here”.

Then they go pull stuff like this…..

and I think…”no…not even close”

Technorati Tags: china, facebook, internet

Wikipedia and the Mumbai Attack

Bryan — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:09:44 +0000

I am continually surprised with how quickly information appears on wikipedia. Indian special forces units have cleared out the last remaining resistance in the Taj Hotel earlier this morning and there is apparently still concern that there might be more terrorists still hidden in the hotel. Needless to say, the event in ongoing even as I write. Despite that, Wikipedia has rather large entry on the entire incident , complete with links to a rough bio on the leader of one of the special forces units killed in the assault on the hotel.

Obviously, it is important to remain skeptical of Wikipedia, especially ‘on-the-bounce’ entries, especially this one as most of the information is cited from equally on-the-bounce media reports. Still, I am amazed at the speed and size of the user generated content.

Technorati Tags: internet, mumbai attacks, terrorism, wikipedia

Balkans

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

Twitter me this

Bryan — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:54:14 +0000

This post most likely provides ample evidence that I was not swallowed by the earth or buried in rubble. Unfortunately, many other people have.

Tens of thousands of people across southwest China remained buried beneath rubble on Tuesday as rescue workers struggled to reach areas cut off by a powerful earthquake that has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands of others injured or homeless.

By late evening Tuesday, the official death toll had exceeded 12,000, according to state media, quoting provincial officials, making it China’s deadliest natural disaster in three decades. Officials said they thought the death toll could still climb dramatically higher.

Another tragedy to add to an already troubled year.

Nanjing did receive some waves…some of which were noticed by those residing/working in taller structures. I continued my day, completely ignorant…just like all of the earthquakes I have apparently experienced. Being the vibration-impaired person that I am I was therefore was unable to quickly produce my blackberry/PDA/phone or current mobile device of choice and send a tweet, or possibly retweet someone else proclaiming/reconfirming to the world that “YES, I FELT IT!”. But I sure feel like I’m the only person in China who didn’t.

I wouldn’t come close to calling myself tech-savy or much of a tech hipster, but I do feel that I am tech-aware. I own several mobile devices, run this web 2.0 capable blog, utilize RSS feeds and have been know to lurk around Facebook from time to time. If I had co-workers, I would probably find an excuse to own a Treo. I had even heard of Twitter back when it was still a geek thing – but I fell asleep at the wheel on this one, big time…probably somewhere in between the moment I initially read about Twitter and the Burma cyclone and the recent Sichuan earthquake. Some time during that period Twitter completed an insurrection within the web 2.0 community, took on the mainstream media, chewed on Facebook, inflated web self-narcissism to unseen levels and earned its very own verb.

People are calling it the micro-blog…or even going as far as calling it the new blog. Journalism on the run from any mobile platform. Apparently Twitter and its equivalents are responsible for considerable amounts of information flow in, around and out of areas affected by the earthquake as well as the cyclone. Another layer of democratic and freedom-of-information has just been slapped on the internet cake and I feel like I’m missing out.

So the question is…do I sign up? Drink the “Twitter Kool-Aid” as I’ve read it being referred to as? Do I even have enough hip colleagues and friends who use this service to make it worthwhile? Is it really that good? I’m I a dork? Mmmmm…Kool-Aid…..

I’m slightly skeptical regarding micro-posts as I never bought into the Facebook status feed – I played with it a little, throwing the odd update here and there and lurked around, but the novelty wore thin quickly and I am generally unimpressed by single sentence status updates. I’m truly sorry and with all respect, but the fact that you are ‘feeling groovy’ is essentially meaningless to me…I need more…blogs are good…more blogs and less micro-management! While a Facebook profile has become somewhat of a necessity these days (one was set up for my Grad program as an orientation platform) and it was (admittedly) a guilty-pleasure adding lost acquaintances, I’ve relegated Facebook to a secondary role as a blogpost advertisement vehicle for this website (via Wordbook ) and as a contact form.

…sort of a moot discussion…while writing this post I created a new account at Twitter. I am presently following…a total of zero people…and currently have…zero people following me.

Technorati Tags: earthquakes, facebook, internet, nanjing, twitter

Maps

Bryan — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 03:00:02 +0000

Saturday night in Nanjing: Walking back along Shanghai Lu with a bag of Skyways in one hand and a bag of DVD’s in the other. In borrowing words from a co-worker “How stereotypically foreign”.

Definitely the coolest maps on the internet, or world.

For example: Fuel Use Increase between 1980 and 2001

Patience one the Xian Photos….

Technorati Tags: internet, nanjing, photos

New airports in China