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(Wall Street Journal) Interesting China's censorship of Google is so extensive, it even bans the word "carrot." Because, really, with all the interesting stuff filtered out, what do you need such good eyesight for anyway?   (online.wsj.com) divider line 69
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4999 clicks; posted to Main » on 31 Mar 2010 at 8:08 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



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2010-03-31 04:08:25 PM
On one level, access to some overseas sites, such as YouTube and Facebook, is blocked completely. Other sites are filtered with software that can interrupt access when it spots forbidden keywords. Users get a message saying their connections were "reset," or "timed-out." After a few minutes, they can access the sites again. The filtering is often implemented by government-owned Internet service providers at the local level, so blocks often don't happen simultaneously or uniformly. The filtering pattern can seem random. Sometimes one sensitive search term alone won't trigger the interruptions, but a string of such keywords will.

If they've got ISPs to filter at the local level, they've got it pretty well controlled, I'd imagine.
 
2010-03-31 04:28:24 PM
In one of the more obscure dialects spoken in China, "carrot" actually means "someone so brain-damaged that they actually think Carrot-Top is hilarious."
 
2010-03-31 04:30:49 PM
www.jetwolf.com
 
2010-03-31 04:36:28 PM
Barbigazi [TotalFark]

Thanks to you, sir, for catching that. :-)

/subby
 
2010-03-31 04:42:34 PM
MuadDib: Barbigazi [TotalFark]

Thanks to you, sir, for catching that. :-)

/subby


You brought a smile to my dead heart.
 
2010-03-31 04:51:18 PM
Barbigazi: MuadDib: Barbigazi [TotalFark]

Thanks to you, sir, for catching that. :-)

/subby

You brought a smile to my dead heart.



I live to serve.
 
2010-03-31 05:04:56 PM
Chinese has a lot of homonymes or homophones or whatever.

for example, "grass mud horse" (an alpaca or llama) also could mean "fark your mother"
 
2010-03-31 05:25:30 PM
Why don't they just narrow it down and list the non-evil things China does?
 
2010-03-31 05:43:47 PM
Barbigazi: www.jetwolf.com

win.
 
2010-03-31 05:52:58 PM
Maybe that's why they're all so squinty all the time
 
2010-03-31 06:13:04 PM
For example, a search on Google.com.hk of the Chinese word for "carrot" causes an error message and temporary disruption of access to Google-apparently because one of its three characters is the same as the surname of Hu Jintao, China's top leader

OK, look. If your culture is so farked up that you won't allow your people to do a Google search for YOUR COUNTRY'S LEADER, you really, really need another revolution.
 
2010-03-31 07:03:59 PM
That's because the Chinese only use the stick.
 
2010-03-31 08:10:35 PM
Does anyone not understand why poor eyesight is a plus?

EVERYONE BECOMES SQUINTY-EYED!
 
2010-03-31 08:11:53 PM
how about "pickle" or "luckycharms"?

/twice
 
2010-03-31 08:13:31 PM
The mind boggles
 
2010-03-31 08:16:16 PM
1. A skin care regimen. C'mon guys, healthy complexions aren't just for metrosexuals!

Aaaand, we have a big FAIL right out of the gate.
 
2010-03-31 08:16:56 PM
Cao ni ma de bi
 
2010-03-31 08:16:58 PM
Actually, they're doing a service to their citizens. This way, they'll never be accidentally exposed to Carrot Top.

/Shudder
 
2010-03-31 08:17:56 PM
Dammit, wrong thread.

/Fail for me
 
2010-03-31 08:20:48 PM
Subby: China's censorship of Google is so extensive, it even bans the word "carrot." Because, really, with all the interesting stuff filtered out, what do you need such good eyesight for anyway?

There's a joke to be made there about squinty eyes and Asians but I'm not going to make it.
 
2010-03-31 08:21:23 PM
Came for the Buffy, leaving very satisfied.

/I've got a theory
 
2010-03-31 08:23:15 PM
...Or maybe midgets?
 
2010-03-31 08:26:22 PM
Step 1: Buy a pallet of these
www.thetoyzone.com
Step 2: Print sexy pics on the inside and repackage

Step 3: Plofit
 
2010-03-31 08:30:49 PM
Xenomech: 1. A skin care regimen. C'mon guys, healthy complexions aren't just for metrosexuals!
Aaaand, we have a big FAIL right out of the gate.


Yep.
 
2010-03-31 08:31:56 PM
img38.imageshack.us
 
2010-03-31 08:37:09 PM
They just don't want the bunnies on the internet, that's all.

icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com

/droppin' it like it's hot
 
2010-03-31 08:38:31 PM
i113.photobucket.com
 
2010-03-31 08:38:55 PM
dahmers love zombie: OK, look. If your culture is so farked up that you won't allow your people to do a Google search for YOUR COUNTRY'S LEADER, you really, really need another revolution.

Possibly related to imperial China's use of "taboo names" where the use of the characters of the name of the current emperor is taboo during his reign. Leads to awkward substitutions and useful in dating certain texts.
 
2010-03-31 08:41:01 PM
Xenomech 2010-03-31 08:31:56 PM

I almost hurt myself trying to stifle my LOL at work.
 
2010-03-31 08:41:03 PM
I tried searching for "carrot" in Chinese on google.cn just for the hell of it, and found this interesting article when I hit the ol' "I'm feeling lucky" button (note: this is Google's translation of the article:

"Core Tip: Why carrots to become Google's search hot word? Fact which has a more profound meaning. In order to enable users to understand, hot news network conducted a survey.

Hot News Network on March 26 why the carrot to be the Google search hot word? Fact which has a more profound meaning. In order to enable users to understand, hot news network conducted a survey. Today, Google turned the fastest heat up key words in the list, carrot and radish ranks first as friends popular search keywords. The two become hot search terms, and that is because the Pinyin input method homophone reasons. Users had to search the carrot and radish, the result of the carrot and the carrot found. Why do they search the carrot? This is a surprise for some friends, which in the end Why? Why all of a sudden users of carrot and radish interested in? Hot Network reporter conducted a survey turned out to be advise officials of Tianjin, a teacher in a time of demolition of a metaphor. Tianjin primary school teachers Zhang Xiling Ninghe home for refusing to demolition of buildings were closed, the county party secretary Liu Guang Bao Education to do her job, said: "In China, you say no demolition, sure you removed. I remark on this This is why we Niubi in the world. "Liu Guang Bao has used" carrot "and" stick "as a ratio, he believes that demolition of persuasion to persuade, if delivery does not eat the last of the carrots, sticks on the down . Bureau of Education for the cattle were quotations, words become the focus of attention users. The officials did too Niubi, and say such words, and the former officials on the same language does not really startles ah! Hope that the officials can reflect on what a good insight about serving the people!"

To me it sounds like China's internet-faring citizens heard that the government censored words like "carrot" because it shared characters with Hu Jintao, so they decided to try it for themselves. Then, the government, which hadn't filtered Google's hot word search list, saw what was happening. They proceeded to invent this little parable as to why so many people were searching for this word in order to mask the real motives of the everyman who wanted to test the extremes to which their own government was limiting their access to information.

That or I'm just an idiot.

/most likely an idiot
 
2010-03-31 08:45:49 PM
If you filter out the interesting stuff your vision actually improves. You can also stop shaving your palms.
 
2010-03-31 08:51:14 PM
www.onlygoodmovies.com
Knows the dangers of carrots
 
2010-03-31 08:52:14 PM
meep
 
2010-03-31 08:55:32 PM
 
2010-03-31 08:55:47 PM
i187.photobucket.com
 
2010-03-31 08:59:54 PM
Alleyoop: meep

[USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST]
 
2010-03-31 09:00:10 PM
Alleyoop: meep

Oh no you di'n't.
 
gm
2010-03-31 09:00:12 PM
Oh the Great Firewall of China, how fun you are.

You know with such tight restrictions on the internet, it's amazing that there's nothing that they can do about all of the farking scans/worm/brute force traffic coming from their country to my network. I've been contemplating blocking the entire country, but I just know some of our clients would take issue with this.

It's almost as if the people that run the Great Firewall have something to gain or are in cahoots with someone with something to gain, as to the reason why they refuse to stop the botnets/espionage.
 
2010-03-31 09:03:42 PM
gm: It's almost as if the people that run the Great Firewall have something to gain or are in cahoots with someone with something to gain, as to the reason why they refuse to stop the botnets/espionage.

Gee, ya think?

/carrot
 
2010-03-31 09:07:20 PM
Concurrently, the military banned long hair on males; mini-skirts; Sophocles; Tolstoy; Euripedes; smashing glasses after drinking toasts; labor strikes; Aristophanes; Ionesco; Sartre; Albee; Pinter; freedom of the press; sociology; Beckett; Dostoyevsky; modern music; popular music; the new mathematics; and the letter "Z", which in ancient Greek means "He is alive."

/if it's obscure you've been deprived of great cinema
 
2010-03-31 09:12:13 PM
The way they were describing it reminded me of the "glitch in the matrix" scene in the first movie. It makes sense for reasons I don't need to go into.

Xenomech: 1. A skin care regimen. C'mon guys, healthy complexions aren't just for metrosexuals!
Aaaand, we have a big FAIL right out of the gate.


You want the thread down one, sir. This is the China/Google thread.
 
2010-03-31 09:17:32 PM
i512.photobucket.com

/ There is, you will agree, a certain je ne c'est quoi, something very special about a firm, young carrot.
 
2010-03-31 09:22:22 PM
And over in the Chinese vassal state, Australia:

Link (new window)
 
2010-03-31 09:33:55 PM
Cold Confetti of Paradise: I tried searching for "carrot" in Chinese on google.cn just for the

/most likely an idiot


Well, probably not an idiot, but the article is likely about controversial urban reconstruction in Tian Jin, and info about the controversy could be searched for using keywords "carrot-and-stick," which were apparently the methods used to convince people to give up their houses in the hutongs and go live in high rises as these traditional neighborhoods were razed

.
 
2010-03-31 09:44:31 PM
@ macadamnut My favorite farking movie!

In your honor, I fire up the Camberwell Carrot.
scienceblogs.com
 
2010-03-31 09:48:58 PM
And from today:

Link (new window)
 
2010-03-31 09:57:24 PM
To Barbigazi:

farm4.static.flickr.com
 
2010-03-31 09:58:42 PM
Bunnies, it must be bunnies.


/Or maybe midgets
//Sharing that show with my daughter right now so I'm getting a kick...
///Just started 7th season
////Tara...Anya...*Sob*
 
2010-03-31 10:28:32 PM
Interestingly, quite a few "friendly" countries censor the Internet almost as strongly as China does, like South Korea. They at least tell you they are censoring. But it is really strange as an adult to not be allowed to access information.

// even if said information is porn ...
 
2010-03-31 11:10:50 PM
Mugato: Why don't they just narrow it down and list the non-evil things China does?

Then they wouldn't have an Internet at all.
 
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