Can I Bumpity-bump??

[Randicus]

You're in China? Are you native to there?

No.

My Chinese neighbors from Shanghai speak Mandrin.

That is probably because the government forced them to learn Mandarin. Their mother tongue is most likely the Wu language (Shanghaiese).

Can't blame them, especially after many showdowns with tanks.

I only know of one. Criticism is usually crushed with police and soldiers. Tanks draw too much international attention.

Do they let the kids watch SpongeBob there?

I hope not.

[andrewrogers]

You're in China? Are you native to there?

No.

My Chinese neighbors from Shanghai speak Mandrin.

That is probably because the government forced them to learn Mandarin. Their mother tongue is most likely the Wu language (Shanghaiese).

Can't blame them, especially after many showdowns with tanks.

I only know of one. Criticism is usually crushed with police and soldiers. Tanks draw too much international attention.

Do they let the kids watch SpongeBob there?

I hope not.

Lol where are you originally from? I would love to learn some form of Chinese at some point. They are rapidly catching up to the US and in some ways surpassing it in terms of the quality of life, well at least in my most valued metric (internet speed). I am also impressed by their use of open source software and their Loongson CPU's. (I want one of those fully-open machines soooo bad!)

How do they deal with criticisms of their government from non-Chinese visitors or citizens dwelling within their borders?

[Randicus]

Lol where are you originally from?

Canada, with a short stint in Australia.

They are rapidly catching up to the US and in some ways surpassing it in terms of the quality of life, well at least in my most valued metric (internet speed).

Internet is excruciatingly slow, unless one pays for a high-speed connection (which is expensive).

I am also impressed by their use of open source software

I am not. Almost all Chinese believe Windows is the only operating system. In eight years, I have yet to meet anyone who uses Linux.

How do they deal with criticisms of their government from non-Chinese visitors or citizens dwelling within their borders?

Criticising the government is a crime. Speaking too much about politics or religion would get a person deported. Or more accurately, the person's visa would not be renewed. I am more concerned with the visa procedures. An unbelievable pain in the ass.

[andrewrogers]

Lol where are you originally from?

Canada, with a short stint in Australia.

They are rapidly catching up to the US and in some ways surpassing it in terms of the quality of life, well at least in my most valued metric (internet speed).

Internet is excruciatingly slow, unless one pays for a high-speed connection (which is expensive).

I am also impressed by their use of open source software

I am not. Almost all Chinese believe Windows is the only operating system. In eight years, I have yet to meet anyone who uses Linux.

How do they deal with criticisms of their government from non-Chinese visitors or citizens dwelling within their borders?

Criticising the government is a crime. Speaking too much about politics or religion would get a person deported. Or more accurately, the person's visa would not be renewed. I am more concerned with the visa procedures. An unbelievable pain in the ass.

Wow. It's amazing how many misconceptions I have, lol.

Have you ever encountered any Loongson machines?

[Randicus]

Have you ever encountered any Loongson machines?

What are they? Computers?
Obviously, if I have run into them, I did not notice. I have had a run-in with a really big centipede though.

[andrewrogers]

Have you ever encountered any Loongson machines?

What are they? Computers?

Loongson (academic name: Godson)[1] is a family of general-purpose MIPS64 CPUs developed at the Institute of Computing Technology (ICT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in the People's Republic of China. The chief architect is Professor Hu Weiwu.

^Lemote Yeeloong 8133 (quad-core MIPS64 13" laptop)^

I have had a run-in with a really big centipede though.

^ I LOL'd ^

How big are we talkin'?

[Randicus]

How big are we talkin'?

When it bit me, the puncture marks from the mandibles were about 1/8th of an inch apart. (And the damn thing was venomous. Burned for half an hour.) It was three or four inches long.

At least there are no spiders here that can klill people. Like in Australia. Those things are big and quite ugly. (And yes, I did see one up close.)