What's Going on in China?

Topic: What's Going on in China? (Read 89537 times)

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #300 – 2018-01-24, 06:23:51

Train table

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #301 – 2018-01-24, 19:34:37

And that point is?

just as well I am a train fan.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #302 – 2018-01-24, 19:52:00

Quote from: jax on 2018-01-24, 06:23:51

Train table

Any idea how the cost of a sleeper compares to the cost of flying?

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #303 – 2018-01-25, 12:26:47

The prices are very similar. Air fare is a bit more variable, cheaper or more expensive, but on average they come out the same (The slow train sleepers are cheaper, but not that much cheaper).

The table impressed me for two reasons. It is a little trite to say that the high-speed rail network in China has grown fast, though obviously it has, and the network is less than a decade old (the first line, Beijing-Tianjin opened August 2008, a week before the Summer Olympics). I was impressed by the extent this network has been established, and the at-a-glance quality of the table.

The 33 cities are the province/division capitals of China (with Shenzhen as a stand-in for neighbouring Hong Kong, and Zhuhai for neighbouring Macau). I was impressed that each cell represents a direct link between the two cities (the fastest link), a total of of 1056 direct links, though some of these are still missing. Europe has an extensive passenger network as well, but with a corridor/hub-and-spoke approach. If e.g. you'd want to go from Amsterdam to Rome, you would change trains twice, in Paris and in Milan.

Not all of these connections are high-speed, only the blue cells are. With the dark blue you would expect to travel at least part of the time at speeds of 300+ km/h, while light blue would be in the 200-250 km/h range. The greens would be regular trains, with the dark greens going at decent speed as long as you don't travel too far.

The chart gives a snapshot at the state of train travel in China. It could improve a little, like grouping the capitals more geographically (e.g. north-east, east, south-east, south-west, west, north-west). As is, the densely populated regions tend to be on the left, the sparsely one on the right. I would also added a progress bar to denote distance. Probably an inverse one. The shortest journey is Beijing to Tianjin, taking all of 31 minutes. The longest is Nanning in the extreme south-east (nearby Hanoi, Vietnam) to Ürümqi in the extreme north-west (by the Taklamakan desert and the Heavenly Mountains), at 59 hours and 6 minutes.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #304 – 2018-01-26, 08:44:37

In China they do things quickly by upping the numbers of workers involved.

https://nos.nl/artikel/2213537-in-china-vervangen-ze-het-spoor-met-1500-man-tegelijk.html

(Coordinating that must be hard…)

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #305 – 2018-01-26, 11:32:31

Quote from: Frenzie on 2018-01-26, 08:44:37

(Coordinating that must be hard…)

Coordinating in China is easy: Just keep adding and replacing people until things begin working.

If the process takes too much time, intimidate some strategic individuals or (simpler) everyone. This works universally of course.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #306 – 2018-01-26, 11:52:03

I suppose you mean the railway track might suffer this fate?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pktM__i-8IQ

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #307 – 2018-01-26, 13:11:18

They try their best and this is what their best occasionally looks like.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #308 – 2018-08-17, 17:33:25

Chrome files discovered in "first homegrown" Chinese web browser

Quote from: https://www.techspot.com/news/76018-chrome-files-discovered-first-homegrown-chinese-web-browser.html

Redcore, which was previously known as AllMobilize Inc., claimed its web browser was the only one to be fully made in China, and that it would break the United States’ “monopoly” on software. It even mentioned the browser’s “independent intellectual property rights.”

However, Chinese users discovered some surprising files in the Redcore browser’s installation directory, including ‘Chrome.exe’ and several image files of the Chrome logo. [...] The option to download the Redcore browser has since been removed from the company’s website.

Kinda like that Russian eink school tablet that came with great promises but turned out to be completely unusable and not Russian technology at all (or maybe Russian technology in the sense that it's unusable) http://en.rusnano.com/press-centre/news/88213

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #309 – 2018-08-18, 06:29:40

Quote

including ‘Chrome.exe’ and several image files of the Chrome logo

You don't need any of that to smell a Chromium-type browser from a mile away, setting aside the ease of spotting a WebKit/Blink type engine. Browsers like K-Meleon and SeaMonkey are significantly more distinct from Firefox than Vivaldi is from Chrome.

I was able to find a screenshot here: https://www.jqknews.com/news/57362-Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants_giant_creative_founder_of_red_core_browser_founder_resume_fraud.html

From that page:

Quote

Blink is an engine developed by Google and Opera, and a part of Chromium.

Is it really? Are they just saying that because Opera is Chinese now?

In my experience Intel has made more significant contributions for example.

Interestingly, if you look at the AUTHORS document, all of the Intel contributors are listed as individuals and Opera Software ASA as an organization.

Here's the full list of credited companies:

Quote

   BlackBerry Limited <*@blackberry.com>
    Code Aurora Forum <*@codeaurora.org>
    Comodo CA Limited
    Google Inc. <*@google.com>
    Igalia S.L. <*@igalia.com>
    NVIDIA Corporation <*@nvidia.com>
    Opera Software ASA <*@opera.com>
    The Chromium Authors <*@chromium.org>
    The MathWorks, Inc. <binod.pant@mathworks.com>
    Torchmobile Inc.
    Venture 3 Systems LLC <*@venture3systems.com>
    Yandex LLC <*@yandex-team.ru>
    ARM Holdings <*@arm.com>

I single out Intel because those Intel contributors somehow manage to fix and improve those things that matter the most to me. I'm sure Opera does important work in VR or something.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #310 – 2018-08-18, 09:34:32

AFAIR/AFAIK the Opera team made fairly significant contributions, merging in Opera adaptions to Blink. When Google set up in Oslo Morten and Rune started for Google/Chrome. As I remember it Rune began just days before me in 2000, and Morten just days after. Rune on the CSS parser, I forgot Morten's first project. They became core to the rendering engine in time. In the early days that was Geir and Karl Anders.

Quote from: jax on 2017-10-28, 07:19:27

1. Google is starting a new office in Oslo
2. Several core Opera veterans are quitting

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #311 – 2018-08-18, 12:28:39

Quote

or example, Blink/ Chromium’s way of showing multicolumn layouts was written by Morten from our R&D Department

Ah, excellent! Just the kind of stuff I like to see from Opera. They should publicize it better, or maybe I should glance over their announcements less.

Then again, in 2015 I still read them with more scrutiny. I guess I just forgot and perhaps I've negatively colored my memory with present-day impressions?

In any event, contributions by people from Intel somehow stand out to me. Perhaps the slight oddity of seeing a name like Intel contributing so much to a browser engine has something to do with it, unconsciously making it stand out more, while Opera "of course" contributes.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #312 – 2018-08-18, 14:10:54

Quote from: Frenzie on 2018-08-18, 06:29:40

You don't need any of that to smell a Chromium-type browser from a mile away, setting aside the ease of spotting a WebKit/Blink type engine. Browsers like K-Meleon and SeaMonkey are significantly more distinct from Firefox than Vivaldi is from Chrome.

Sure, Chromium-type browsers are easy to spot. However, when your idea is to call the product your own, as a minimum replace all graphics and rename the main exe. Vivaldi has come pretty far in distinguishing itself.

And, in a bad way, also FF has come very far in distinguishing itself. Seamonkey and Palemoon are still recognisable Mozilla products/forks/derivatives. FF is not.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #313 – 2021-01-21, 20:00:29

The discontinuation of Flash caused some issues.

Quote from: https://hk.appledaily.com/news/20210117/FLXATT4LKVBGVEBRLAECJPTCHM/

The railroad system in Dalian, northern China, collapsed citywide on Tuesday for up to 20 hours after the Adobe Flash programing software stopped running.

[…]

Authorities fixed the issue by installing a pirated version of Flash at 4:30 a.m. the following day.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #314 – 2021-04-27, 03:53:04

I'm quite surprised at how little activity there is in this thread...but (since it's close enough for government work:) did anyone else catch Putin's remarks on Climate Change? Wanna bet Xi says much the same?

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #315 – 2021-04-27, 04:52:28

You of course have some twisted take on it. Come on, spell it out. Don't do half-sentences.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #316 – 2021-04-27, 06:00:01

Please verify poster's (ersi's) familiarity with topic... (waiting; of course he could simply answer the question - I'd guess No.)

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #317 – 2021-04-27, 06:25:08

Here's a little piece of trivia for you about me. Do you know what this is https://djrc.dowjones.com ?

It shows all the major political and business dudes in the world, sanctioned entities of all types, their connections with each other, families, media and court records. Both Putin and Xi are there. I have access there and I use it daily. You don't.

Jax knows better about stuff in China in particular. I only care to know as much as I need for my job.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #318 – 2021-04-27, 11:26:27

Quote from: OakdaleFTL on 2021-04-27, 03:53:04

I'm quite surprised at how little activity there is in this thread...but (since it's close enough for government work:) did anyone else catch Putin's remarks on Climate Change? Wanna bet Xi says much the same?

Putin has made a lot of remarks on the subject over the years. Which in particular?

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #319 – 2021-04-27, 15:30:22

Oakdale probably means Putin's latest statements on the topic. But Putin's latest statements were in no way special, so no idea what the point is or the connection to Xi or anything.

We can call it Oakdale's Gaslight. It's him at his best.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #320 – 2021-04-27, 18:53:35

Quote

At a climate summit in Washington last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin, on top of pledging to "significantly" reduce the country's emissions in the next three decades, called for a global reduction of methane.
"The fate of our entire planet, the development prospects of each country, the well-being and quality of life of people largely depend on these efforts," Putin ssid.
from Report: Cutting methane crucial (by Hiroko Tabuchi, NYT writer;re-published in San Francisco Chronicle, April 26, 2021, p.A7)

But, I guess, the summit was ho-hummed by most...

Quote

China’s Xi Jinping, the first national leader to speak at Thursday’s summit, reiterated the nation’s pledge to “strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.” On coal consumption, Xi said China might “phase it down” during its 15th Five Year Plan, which runs from 2025 through 2030. The Chinese leader also said his country, which is responsible for nearly a third of the world’s emissions, would strictly control coal power projects in the years ahead.
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised only to “significantly” reduce emissions by 2050 and noted that his country takes seriously its international commitments. He mentioned both the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris accord — climate agreements that the United States once walked away from.
Still, most countries on Thursday wholeheartedly welcomed the U.S.'s return to the world stage, saying American leadership is critical to reach the collective goal of limiting Earth’s warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial levels, and if possible to stay closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Failure to hit those targets, scientists have warned, will result in a cascade of costly and devastating effects.
(WaPo story)

Quote

While Biden’s climate summit was intended to help persuade other nations to embrace the bigger, bolder goals envisioned under the Paris accord, whether that succeeds or fails will become clearer only over time. A moment of truth will come this November in Glasgow, where nations are expected to arrive with detailed new blueprints for how they intend to do their part.
(also from the WaPo story)

Might our "man on the ground" be given temporary privileges, to keep us informed?

But there's exciting news: Russia and China are going to jointly build a lunar scientific research station! On the moon's surface, or perhaps in orbit... No time-line given.
Somewhat related: NASA tasks SpaceX to take Americans back to the moon.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #321 – 2021-04-28, 04:12:48

While I don't think "Gaslight" is my word of choice, I wouldn't accuse @OakdaleFTL of excessive clarity. Much of the time I think nobody, including the author, knows the drift of his…elliptical…comments. I assume they refer to foreign politics, with forays into climate and space politics.

All politics is local, and they hardly come more local than with China. Politicians, aka leaders, cater to themselves, to their power base, and to the territory they are administrating. Xi, Putin and Biden no exception.

I think this is a fair general assessment, of the "snow always melt" kind: After Xi: Future Scenarios for Leadership Succession in Post-XI Jinping Era

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfeytbHBPFM

Speaking of succession, kingmaker Jiang Zemin is still around, at the age of 94. So is Kissinger, 97. Deng died at the relative young age of 92 (curious how these threads have circled longevity lately). So Xi (67), Putin (68), and Biden (78) still have some time to go. Question is how lithe they are going to be. So far I would give top marks to the US and Biden. Not bad for an old democracy and an old president.

I have previously mused about the Chinese pattern of underreacting, then overreacting ("underreacting" is not a word in the US vocabulary), but they do error-correct and do so pretty well. Haven't seen much of that lately, but these are trying times.

But of course, given that this is the China thread, it's all about Putin. The Chinese-Russian partnership is one of convenience, primarily Chinese convenience. China is strong where Russia is weak, and while China is rising, Russia is in relative decline. As said about their aerospace partnership, a decade ago the question in Russia would have been what they would need China for, a decade from now the question in China will be what they will need Russia for. Since we're into space symbolism: If little Zhurong gets rolling next month, China will have succeeded with that the Soviet Union and Russia have consistently failed.

The climate calculus is different in Russia. Putin and clan believe they can win on climate, and they certainly have a good grasp on fossil profits. China is hedging. Former energy baron, and previously sitting in the Standing Committee, Zhou Yongkang, is ousted. Still there is enough of that stuff to grease palms. But Energy is the first name of Security. China is ready to do the switch, just not yet. Leaving Biden. The US fossil lobby is extremely powerful, but battered. I see no sign Biden will try to go up against them, but he might encircle. If he does and succeeds, power will shift globally. Particularly to the detriment of Russia, Arab states, Iran and Venezuela.

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #322 – 2021-04-28, 05:24:37

Quote from: jax on 2021-04-27, 20:12:48

While I don't think "Gaslight" is my word of choice, I wouldn't accuse @OakdaleFTL of excessive clarity. Much of the time I think nobody, including the author, knows the drift of his...elliptical...comments. I assume they refer to foreign politics, with forays into climate and space politics.

:) I presume (and assume) a conversational tone... Perhaps it is an artifact of my earlier life, before the internet's seeming explosion of the means of communication. (You know: Letters, telephony that was expensive -and thus metered, personal interactions which required sometimes crossing vast distances (and, in a similar way, personalities who'd accost each other, usually without rancor or anger from remembered or imagined previous encounters; a willingness to talk -if you will.) I like words and word-play; but I'm -especially compared with most others here- a mono-glot. So it's not surprising that my posts are hard to understand: Indeed, I'm writing mostly for myself...
But you'all are a fairly forgiving lot, and I like "conversing" with you. Mind a little poem? :)

Quote

I always wonder when I see that lone
dark shape winging by going north or south,
what is it? Scout or straggler...
without a flock
behind or ahead, it's hard to say. No? (dej ღ © 2021)

When there's something I'd like to talk about, I'm not above (beneath?) hi-jacking a thread that has promise; isn't that how conversation goes, everywhere? I expect the same from others; it has happened, and the switch to a different topic has often enough been worthwhile.
What we do here is more like telegraphy than monologue or debate: Sometimes the wires sing!

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #323 – 2021-04-28, 06:02:00

Quote from: jax on 2021-04-27, 20:12:48

The US fossil lobby is extremely powerful, but battered. I see no sign Biden will try to go up against them, but he might encircle. If he does and succeeds, power will shift globally. Particularly to the detriment of Russia, Arab states, Iran and Venezuela.

I appreciate your insights into Russia and China, jax; but I've a quibble or two:
While I agree Biden will not really "fight" what others call Big Oil, he will do his utmost to destroy a fairly large swath of our middle class with his "meddling"...: Halting the pipeline between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico; encouraging state governors like California's Gavin Newsom to advance the fight against economic sanity by adopting any damn-fool method to virtue-signal Our (his) commitment to Climate ~~Nirvana~~ Utopia; facilitating -if not out-right forcing- local schools to adopt absurd and contradictory credos, at the behest of -- teachers unions? (Like Parkinson noted ages ago: Organizations eventually discard their purported purpose in favor of increase and aggrandizement... Our teachers unions seem little interested in teaching future citizens; voters and activists are what are needed! More union members...) If Biden succeeds -and he stands a better chance than did Obama- I don't see such leading to a redoubtable U.S. energy sector; quite the opposite:

Quote from: jax on 2021-04-27, 20:12:48

power will shift globally. Particularly to the ~~detriment of~~ [easing of competition to] Russia, Arab states, Iran and Venezuela.

You will admit that oil-rich failed or failing states -in the Liberal sense of yore- will benefit from a U.S. precluded from attaining energy independence?

Re: What's Going on in China?

Reply #324 – 2021-04-28, 06:50:00

And I still worry about Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong... See:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-legislation-on-china-to-be-delayed-lawmakers-say_3792977.html
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/processors/us-takes-strategic-step-to-onshore-electronics-manufacturing

(You may read that Trump vetoed the FY21 Defense spending bill... And his veto was overridden. Two points: 1) Overriding that veto was a gimme; but certain points needed to be made. Which points? 2) Sen. Warner explains it all!)