Gibberish from WiredGeek

I'm cool

Jacob Redding — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:53:50 +0000

Although the earthquake hit the country of China Beijing is far away from the epicenter moreover I was in Hong Kong at the time. It was reported that people in Hong Kong could feel the aftershocks but I didn't feel anything.

In short, I'm cool. I thank you all for your kind letters of support and checking to ensure my safety. I (We) are cool.

Coming down off the great wall

Jacob Redding — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:38:00 +0000

After a long, hard day of climbing the Great Wall you really don't want to climb back down. Fortunately Chinese people are incredibly smart. They setup an "Inertia Ropeway" which allows you to get down from the Great Wall with the greatest of ease.

Simatai Great wall

Jacob Redding — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:34:49 +0000

I've been attending a small private Chinese language school here in Beijing in an attempt to improve my Mandarin language skills; which are currently at the baby talk level. The school took a trip out to the Simatai section of the great wall. Previously I had only visited badaling so it was nice to see a different part of the wall, especially one that is less touristy.

Shanghai!

Jacob Redding — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:28:27 +0000

Its Shanghai!

Going to Shanghai

Jacob Redding — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:27:35 +0000

A few weeks ago Diana and I headed down to Shanghai. We flew down instead of taking the train and we took the "back way" to the Beijing airport. Normal Taxi fare to the airport from city center is around 75RMB, an express bus from Dongzimen is around 30RMB but if you take the public bus it is 4 mao or 4/10 of a RMB (currently the equivalent of 5 US cents). The cheapest route to the airport!

Beijing Pollution

Jacob Redding — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:16:54 +0000

I shot this video several weeks ago and after I shot it the air cleared up for a few days and then got worse again. The last two days the SEPA index has been over 100. Fortunately today the rains and wind came to wash and blow away all of the pollution! yay!

Westerners and quick justice

Jacob Redding — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:12:00 +0000

Quick justice Chinese style!

Jacob + Raincity Studios = Drupal China love

Jacob Redding — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:29:01 +0000

I'm happy to announce that I have joined the great intercontinental team of Raincity Studios. Raincity has a great team in Vancouver and Shanghai as well as awesome folks scattered throughout the world. Since moving to China last year I have been looking for a way to get more involved in the local Chinese Drupal scene and to do my little part to help it grow. Additionally when I became a board member of the Drupal Association I made a pledge to do whatever I could to help encourage the growth of Drupal-related events around the world.

I'm excited that my work with Raincity Studios will allow me to do exactly this!

My job at RaincityStudios will not only focus on China but also on the rest of the world. In China I've been fortunate to meet some great folks at the Beijing user group as well as the Shanghai user groups and I'm excited to meet new Drupal folks down in Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong and ???. In North America I've met great folks in Boston, NYC, San Francisco, LA, Colorado and many other places. The great folks in Europe, whom are currently putting on Drupalcon Hungary are awesome as well are the folks in Australia.

In addition to working with the community I will also be providing internal and external Drupal training. I'm very excited to get back to my training roots as it was as a Microsoft, yes that's right Microsoft, trainer that I really became the geek that I am today. I love training and watching others learn it is a wonderfully gratifying experience.

My new position will have me based out of Beijing, China with frequent trips to Shanghai. I'm looking forward to meeting all of my new coworkers as well as the new folks in the Chinese Drupal community!

Shanghai Drupal user meetup

Jacob Redding — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:30:04 +0000

I was fortunate enough to be in Shanghai for their Drupal user meetup. It was great to meet all of them and see the projects that they are working on. Shanghai has a good number of Drupal developers and some of them have worked on some really cool projects. For me the highlight of the entire meetup was when one of the guys introduced himself as "ian" and just in case you didn't know how to pronounce it, it is "Ian" of Deb-ian.

Yes! There are super Chinese geeks! I love this place!

Track the group at groups.drupal.org/Shanghai, they are growing quickly.

Political Olympics

Jacob Redding — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:01:41 +0000

Every time I write a political entry I start it off with a disclaimer that I don't write political pieces. I guess I just need to come to grips that I do write political pieces.

I have been biting my lip, tongue, cheek, hog-tied my hands, and locked myself in darkened closet in an attempt to not write this entry but my stubborn self combined with a sincere love for talking forced me to write it.

The Olympics are a political platform.

That's it. Nearly everyday there is a press release from Beijing as well as numerous blog entries, twits, etc. that call for people to not "politicize" the games or that question why people are "politicizing" the games. I don't understand why people have confused the Olympics with a sporting event.

The Olympics is an amazing event that does what few other events in the world can do; gather people from around the world to watch a sporting event. Yes, I just contradicted myself. The Olympics is a sporting event for two full weeks but the 7 years before those two weeks its a full on political event.

This entry doesn't state an opinion on the recent events in t-i-bet, xinjiang, Taiwan, Beijing pollution problems, food supply, human rights, animal rights, or any other dispute that China is currently in with, what seems to be, the rest of the world. I will make my argument that the Olympics is a political event as quickly and succinctly as possible.

First the quick history.
Moscow, Melbourne, and Germany (do I need to link to this) were all protested and boycotted.
but, of course, those were all exceptional cases.
but what about....
Atlanta, Georgia (USA) was protested against
Salt Lake city, Utah (USA) was protested against

I could probably list protests and/or boycotts of every single Olympic event if I spent more than 2 minutes on a google search but I digress.

That would leave us with the current Olympics and here is my "evidence" that this Olympics has always been a political event.

#1: The Olympics committee has consistently maintained that the Olympics are a "force for good" in opening up the country.

That sounds like one heck of a non-sporting and heavy political statement to me.

#2: I'm in Beijing and I am watching the Chinese news, reading their papers and witnessing the massive billboards around the city. More often than not they are advertising the country's strength and its development and how it is "coming out to the world".
These statements are not about sports, they are political statements.

#3: Having traveled to China over the past several years and seeing first hand the dramatic changes brought to Beijing and throughout China because of the Olympics makes it extremely hard for me to believe that its only about sports.
If it were only about sports.
Why were the coal plants moved out of town?
Why are plants being shut down to reduce airbone pollutants?
Why can I see people cleaning the city's rivers everyday? They are not being used for the sports.

#4: The IOC calls out China

The list could get rather large but the summary is that the Olympics are being used to help China become a developed country and to start playing nice with the rest of the world. This particular Olympics will only be a sporting event for two weeks but for the next 120 days it is highly political and will only become increasingly so.

Of course this does beg the question. Why are we at such strong odds. What we have right now is two things
1) The world saying China is wrong
2) China saying the world is wrong

Now that I live in China and I've had wonderful opportunities to speak to people directly about the situation(s) as well as to read the local news, see the local press releases, etc. etc. I would say that I truly believe that China is sincere in their words.

but... the rest of the world won't believe it until they can see it for themselves.

Freedom of Speech and information is a basic human right and must be protected. If China wants to prove to the world that what they are doing is right and just they simply need to allow the cameras, reporters, journalists, and tourists in and unrestricted.

Giving Blood

Jacob Redding — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 07:25:10 +0000

The picture is of my new "little red book" (he he) which I received after I gave blood at the expat show. My blood type is one of those nifty types that can be used in a lot of people and its clean so I try to give whenever I can.

Expat Show

Jacob Redding — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 06:45:48 +0000

For no good reason we subjected ourselves to the expat show in Beijing. I wouldn't say it was horrible but I wouldn't say it was mind blowing either. It was what it was, a show for expats. I'd go again next year if they have free stuff, its free to get into to, and its convenient to get to.

Cupping

Jacob Redding — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 14:09:20 +0000

Cupping is a form of Chinese medicine believed to relief a myriad of ailments. Lately I haven't been feeling well and I've been meaning to go to a local Chinese medicine business situated just down the street. Putting two and two together and mixing in a bit of masochism for good measure I went and tried Cupping.

Zhong Guan zun 中关村

Jacob Redding — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 14:07:55 +0000

Two weeks ago Diana and I headed to Zhong Guan Cun, the major computer area, in Beijing to pick up a new keyboard/mouse combo to alleviate my inevitable descent into carpal tunnel. I attempted to capture the immenseness of the place but failed miserably at achieving my goal. I figured I'd post it anyway.

Ride to class with me

Jacob Redding — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:21:16 +0000

This morning I thought I'd film a short bit of my ride to class. When the weather is good it is a nice ride.