LOGICal eMOTIONs

Sorry China, I’m too good for you…

// November 1st, 2007 // Blog & Tech Items, Brain Dump

Someone on LinkedIn had asked for people in China to test various websites to see if they were being blocked. Remembering that there was a nifty little tool that I had used before, I pointed this individual to The Great Firewall of China website to test sites for himself.

About a year ago I had been to this site, checked the blog URL, and behold, the great people of China could access my ramblings! Wasn’t blocked, so didn’t think much of it… But wait, a year later my glorious blog is (allegedly) blocked in China! How can this be? ME? Blocked? In China?

Surprisingly at first I was a bit excited about the thought of a government declaring me unworthy for their people to read. Granted, it was likely some dude with a bug up his ass, bitter that he couldn’t get Tully’s Coffee in China and therefore all websites mentioning “Tully” were bad – heck, we can’t get it here in Canada – I feel your pain brother. Really, the big question is, WHY?

As usual the brain takes off running…

A while back I saved the Jewish people – do the Chinese hate Jews? I didn’t think they did, but am I now an enemy of China because they secretly hate the Jewish people and all supporters? Maybe they just hate Shabbos goy – or air conditioners! Wait, no, that’s just dumb.

On a serious note though, say LOGICal eMOTIONs is actually, 100%, truly blocked in China… Why? When we begin to look at possible reasons, the list does get a bit crazy and so we’ll look at a few:

Shared Hosting
Currently, Tully.ca is on a shared hosting plan with SiteGround.com, meaning that this blog is on a server somewhere in the US, and the physical box that it currently resides on is also hosting some other websites. The actual server has an IP, and the system points you to the correct folder on that server when you access this site. The thing is that “beside” my site on the server could be an anti-China human rights website that we KNOW China will block, yet if they block on an IP level, I get blocked too.. Fair? No, but really, do you know who else is hosted with you?

The Jewish Issue
Sure, the bit before about “the Chinese government hating the Jewish people” was pretty far fetched, but is it? If we take out “Jewish” and put in anyone else, it’s all entirely possible – put in a nationality vehemently opposed to Communism, or a religious group that the Chinese government views as “dangerous”.. Are you in one of those groups? Are you associated with one? Do you know?

Lost In Translation
How do I know that “Wordless Wednesday” in Mandarin doesn’t mean “People of China, rise up in civil war against your communist oppressors!“? Ok, it likely doesn’t yet are we sure that all (however many blog posts I have) are completely misinterpretation free?

Now this website doesn’t get into politics, religion (where possible), human rights, or really, anything that will spark off a serious ongoing debate where we will never agree, and really, if LE is actually blocked in China it’s probably due to something stupid, or well beyond my control, but what about immediate situations?

If I have a website that has been banned by the Chinese government, COULD this jeopardize any plans to travel to China? They have already determined that the public electronic partial representation of my brain is “NFG” for China, but what about the physical part? Can a banned website owner actually enter China? One would have to think that if government bans a website, and same government knows you are the genius behind it, that perhaps not letting you in the country would also be a good idea. Chances of the .cn government actually keeping track of such information is likely slim to none, however, think about Web 2.0, Google, and the possibilities of technology…

Make you wonder, eh?

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