Second Update: It’s been fixed.
Update: LiC has apparently blamed this on a technical glitch. I don’t know enough about technology to comment; I guess the aggregator can actually “bounce” individual blogs from being picked up. It’s happened before, in the case of Gweilo Diaries and See lai, both of which carry photos of scantily clad ladies. I found it amazing that now, when it happens for the third time, the site in question, danwei, is featuring a post with lots of photos of — you guessed it — scantily clad ladies!
No one has praised Living in China more than I, and I contribute to it whenever I can. But little episodes like this get my conspiracy-theory sensors activated. Looking at the three times this has now happened, I just have to wonder: is it just pure coincidence? Apparently, at least according to those in the know, it is.
As Brian points out, the Living in China aggregator seems to be acting up again, leaving off a bunch of danwei’s most recent posts, which are damned good.
Maybe Jeremy requested they be left off — I don’t know. But if it was a decision by the LiC board of directors, I hope they reconsider. They already have the disclaimer above the aggregated posts, and if they think the Chinese government is going to freak out over stuff that is already being printed in their media anyway — well, it just seems kind of silly.
Whatever you do, don’t miss danwei’s latest.
1
By Jeremy
Apparently danwei has not been censored: Living in China contacted me. Apparently some there is a technical glitch caused by some character in one of the posts.
March 6, 2004 @ 2:20 pm | Comment
2
By Brian R. Ruckle
Michael just left a message at my site and said Danwei’s feed wasn’t removed. Jeremy didn’t have it removed because I sent an e-mail to him yesterday and he responded. I wrote one of the guys at Living in China yesterday and I didn’t hear a thing and as I write this his posts still aren’t appearing. I waited over 24 hours before posting about this hoping it would be resolved beforehand. Maybe I should have sent more e-mails or waited a bit longer before posting but if Living in the Planet is pursing world domination then are they are going to have to work out some of these kinks and problems sometime.
March 6, 2004 @ 2:28 pm | Comment
3
By Shanghai Slim
You waited *over 24 hours*? Wow. Do you think Living in China is a large corporation with a dedicated 24/7 IT staff or something?
LiC is run by some great expats who dedicate a lot of their FREE time to it. However, they do have day (and evening) jobs and I believe the period you are talking about spans a Friday night. Perhaps they weren’t spending every spare moment hunched over their pcs.
I’m sure they’ll try to do better, but I don’t think we can hold them to quite to the same standards as a commercial news site.
(Disclaimer: I know a couple of them personally)
March 6, 2004 @ 3:11 pm | Comment
4
By Brian R. Ruckle
Brad wrote on my site that “The LiC aggregator is having a technical difficulty that’s only affecting a couple of feeds. I’m working with the authors and with the program to solve this as soon as possible.”
I’ve updated my entry with this new information. I was going to write about it yesterday but I decided to wait a day. I’m just doing my part as a member of the Living in China community and sometimes that means raising a fuss about things I disagree with. Thankfully here, my concerns appear to have been unfounded.
End of story.
March 6, 2004 @ 3:45 pm | Comment
5
By Brad
It’s fixed now.
March 6, 2004 @ 4:36 pm | Comment
6
By Ben S
Poor LiC. Damned if they do. Damned if they don’t.
March 6, 2004 @ 5:45 pm | Comment
7
By Brad
“LiC has apparently blamed this on a technical glitch. I don’t know enough about technology to comment”
Then don’t. I wrote the aggregator script, and just spent my Saturday afternoon writing a workaround for Danwei. I know enough about the technology to be considered an authoritative source of information. If I say it was a technical problem, then that’s exactly what it was.
“according to those in the know”
If you’d like to get in the know, just request admin/editor access. As I said before, this is not an exclusive club.
March 6, 2004 @ 6:02 pm | Comment
8
By Brad
By the way, it now appears that TypePad is censoring Danwei’s blog. They claim that their servers are down for maintenance, but this is a mighty big coincidence.
March 6, 2004 @ 6:05 pm | Comment
9
By Phil
Yep, that’s just how I feel! If you don’t mind, however, can I turn this onto a rant on China’s forex system?
I’m actually the editor of LiC and am currently writing from a friend’s computer since my own is broken. I apologise to everyone involved in LiC but this is one of the main reasons why it’s running slowly at the moment – though I’ve been invited to use another admin member’s computer at any time it’s obviously a lot less convenient.
Since it was my birthday this week I now have enough money to buy a new one. However, I’ve just returned from Super Brand Mall in Pudong where I found the perfect replacement at a great price in an authorised dealer’s outlet. Imagine my frustration when my UK visa card with a $3000 limit did not work on their visa terminal. Nyarrgh… China strikes again.
I’m very sorry guys, and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support. LiC service will be resumed as quickly as I can effect major international monetary exchange reforms.
March 6, 2004 @ 6:06 pm | Comment
10
By Phil
I mean I feel ‘damned if we do and damned if we don’t’.
Brad, chill mate, you’re doing a brilliant job.
March 6, 2004 @ 6:10 pm | Comment
11
By Brian R. Ruckle
“Poor LiC. Damned if they do. Damned if they don’t.”
Yeah, it seems like that but it comes natural when so many people are involved. I think everyone involved does appreciate the work Brad, Phil, Michael and the others are doing at LiC. I’m really excited to see how Living in the Planet is expanding into other areas. It’s a wonderful project and I’m proud to be a part of it. Living in Australia, Living in Europe. I hope they are just as successful as Living in China has been.
One of the administrators wrote me:
“Next time you notice a problem on the LiC site, please send email to
admin@livinginchina.com — this will reach all of the administrators, any of
whom could’ve confirmed that this was not a case of censorship.”
I wrote one person and it wasn’t the admin site. Like Richard, with the last episode clearly in mind I was a bit suspicious. Advice taken.
March 6, 2004 @ 6:46 pm | Comment
12
By Adam Morris
This reminds me of the joke with the doctor and the patient:
PATIENT: My arm hurts when I do this. [shifts arm to unnatural position]
DOCTOR: Well don’t do that!
So, Richard, in as light a tone I con possibly convey:
But little episodes like this get my conspiracy-theory sensors activated
Well don’t activate them!
March 6, 2004 @ 8:13 pm | Comment
13
By richard
Adam, sensor activation is not voluntary. It just happens.
Phil, happy birthday and keep up the good work. LiC has made my world a better place, despite the conspiracies. I’m sure it’s done the same for many others.
Brad, keep up the good work, as well. Note that I never comment on the technology. Just the coincidence. And this was a remarkable coincidence, don’t you think?
March 6, 2004 @ 11:03 pm | Comment
14
By Ron
Yesterday I screwed up when I forgot to put “Girlie” category in one of the “Girlie” posts.
I immediately sent an email to Phil (above).
Later when I checked LIC, the girlie post was not there but my other posts (posted later) did appear on LIC.
I don’t think LIC is censoring anymore.
Ironically though, all the pictures in my “Girlie” post were nude pictures.
That is all I can say.
BTW, I doubt Typepad would be censoring anyone. I have put nude pictures and Typepad has never bothered with it. We pay Typepad and if they want to be ridiculous with what we do on our sites I think it is time to move over to some other host.
My bandwidth problems (exceeding every month above 10 Gigabytes) already remind me that soon I will have to move out of Typepad.
In any case, thanks Richard and everyone else.
Cheers!
March 9, 2004 @ 12:01 pm | Comment