I was more prepared with a proxy/VPN software during my first trip to China. However, I was careless this time, and went unprepared. During my visit in 2014, I had a VPN/proxy configured to take care of the great China firewall. Just because I wanted to make sure I was still connected to Facebook. Following my Facebook deactivate, this time I was under the impression that this is not needed anymore. I was wrong! A long list of other web sites and services have been blocked in China, in addition to Facebook.
Interestingly, Google (search), Gmail (in basic HTML mode), Skype web beta, and duckduckgo worked with a simple proxy service (such as Eduroam). However, they did not work without them. Still ShareLatex, Skype application, Yahoo search, Amazon AWS, Wikipedia, and Meetup worked even without a proxy.
In addition to Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox (the web site as well as the application), Google+, Blogger, YouTube, and Google Docs did not work at all. It was interesting that, from a foreigners perspective, a list of useful sites were blocked. Yahoo search was not blocked, while even duckduckgo was blocked (unless used with a proxy). Probably duckduckgo is a bigger threat than Yahoo?
P.S: Lately I found Shadowsocks. I am yet to test it.
The fire from the sky still falls Diablo III has not yet launched
When trying to install the game you get this error message: "The fire from the sky still falls. Diablo III has not yet launched." and a screen that looks like this:
If youre wondering what this error means, because youre trying to install the public beta opening this weekend, it means that you have downloaded the retail version of the game, and the version available for play this weekend is for beta clients only, not with retail clients (which is a slightly different install).
You should be able to access the Diablo 3 beta download from Blizzards page here https://us.battle.net/account/download/index.xml
Note that you need a battle.net account to use it. You can sign up for a free account through this site too.
UPDATE #1 (24/04/2012) : As the public BETA weekend is now over, you will not be able to access the game unless you have been invited to do so with a BETA key.
UPDATE #2 (11/05/2012): Blizzard have announce on their blog that:
We will be unlocking the games installer at 17:01 CEST on May 14. This will allow you to begin installing the game, troubleshoot any issues you run into, download and install the launch day 1.0.1 patch, and be ready to play as soon as the servers come online.
So this error after this date will no longer be a problem.
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The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection Absolutely Everything Completely Free from EA
When I first read about this from EA, that is, the possibility of getting absolutely every single expansion and "Stuff" add-ons completely free, I thought there must be some mistake... A little bit of reading at the EA website and I inferred from the phrasing that it was initially going to be offered as a free upgrade to current owners of The Sims 2 (Digital/Download or Disc-based versions); but I did a little more reading about it today and it seems that EA may be planning on putting it "in everyones game list" eventually... [in my opinion] most likely to arouse just-a-little-more interest in The Sims franchise for the upcoming "The Sims 4" release (now available for pre-order, slated to be released in September 2014).
Therefore, now feeling fully-okay-mostly safe from the dark shadows of releasing something that wasnt meant to be distributed, I share with you the Product Code that will allow you to be the proud owner of "The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection", which includes all of the below:
The Sims 2
The Sims 2: University Expansion
The Sims 2: Nightlife Expansion
The Sims 2: Open for Business Expansion
The Sims 2: Pets Expansion
The Sims 2: Seasons Expansion
The Sims 2: Bon Voyage Expansion
The Sims 2: FreeTime Expansion
The Sims 2: Apartment Life Expansion
The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff
The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff
The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff
The Sims 2: Celebration! Stuff
The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff
The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff
The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff
The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff
The Sims 2: Mansion & Garden Stuff
Wow, thanks EA!
Note: this package release may be time-limited and EA has stated that they will no longer be updating The Sims 2 or its expansions, although they can still be contacted if you are having technical problems running the game
Here are the steps to redeem the free Activation/Product Code:
If you dont already have it installed on your system, download and install the Origin game client from EA [it is similar to Steam and other game management interfaces] from http://origin.com/download
Create an Origin account if you dont already have one at https://connect.origin.com/create and log into the Origin client
In the pull-down menus at the top of the Origin interface, click on "Origin" and then "Redeem Product Code..."
In the white box [field] under Product Code, enter this: I-LOVE-THE-SIMS [hyphens may not be needed]
You should then see a message that the activation was successful and you are the newest owner of [oops, I forgot what year Im in, I mean a temporally licensed user of] The Sims 2, along with all possible Expansion Packs and Add-Ons
Select the game in your My Games list in the Origin Client and install it by clicking the Download button that pops up [and if youre like me, click OK to the Insufficient Disk Space message]
Thats it!
Enjoy playing The Sims 2 once again, experiencing all that this version could possibly offer.
The Fair Point from Devin Nunes That Trump Critics Don t Want to Acknowledge
Rep Devin Nunes, Intelligence Committee Chairman One-On-One with Jake Tapper.
The Point Devin Nunes Is Making That Trump Critics Refuse To Acknowledge
Its perfectly fair to ask whether the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee should be traveling to the White House to brief the president when the FBI Director just announced that there is an ongoing investigation into whether there was any collusion between the presidents campaign and a foreign government in the past year.
But everybodys whacking Rep. Devin Nunes around like a piata right now, and its easy to forget hes raising a perfectly valid concern.
On January 12, the Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote:
According to a senior U.S. government official, Flynn phoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times on Dec. 29, the day the Obama administration announced the expulsion of 35 Russian officials as well as other measures in retaliation for the hacking. What did Flynn say, and did it undercut the U.S. sanctions? The Logan Act (though never enforced) bars U.S. citizens from correspondence intending to influence a foreign government about disputes with the United States. Was its spirit violated? The Trump campaign didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a leak of classified information. Michael Flynn was not, as far as we know, a target of any U.S. government surveillance. He was one of the figures whose conversations was incidentally recorded, presumably as part of the regular monitoring of Kislyak.
People within the U.S. government are not supposed to take the information that is incidentally recorded and then run to David Ignatius because they dont like the American citizen who was recorded. Thats not the purpose of our domestic counterintelligence operations. Even if Flynn had violated the Logan Act which, as we all know, no one has never been prosecuted for violating there are legitimate avenues for dealing with that, namely going to law enforcement and a prosecutor.
(Invoking the Logan Act in this circumstance is particularly nonsensical, because the interpretation Ignatius floats would criminalize just about any discussion between a presidential candidate, a president-elect or his team and any representative of a foreign government on any matter of importance. If you ask a foreign official if his country would make a concession on Issue X in exchange for a U.S. concession on Issue Y, BOOM! Call out the SWAT teams, weve got a Logan Act violation!)
There are a lot of reasons to not like Michael Flynn, but that doesnt change the fact that somebody broke the law and leaked classified information in an effort to get him in trouble. That is wrong and that is illegal, and nunes is right to point out were going down a dangerous road when information collected by U.S. intelligence agencies about American citizens starts getting strategically leaked for partisan purposes.
Heres what Democrats and their friends in the media are too shortsighted to recognize: any skullduggery they excuse now will be used against them in the future. Anything that the Obama administration did during the transition can be done by figures in the Trump administration against future Democratic candidates.
Just about any serious presidential campaign and any presidential transition is going to speak with someone under U.S. government surveillance at some time. It seems reasonable to think that every ambassador and representative of a foreign government, but particularly those of Russia, China, and any other not-always-friendly country, is monitored 24-7 or as close to that as possible. Executives at foreign and international companies, scholars, retired officials anyone connected to a foreign government is probably a potential source of intelligence and a potential target of surveillance.
The default setting for most of the media right now is, well, the eavesdropping on Trumps transition team was incidental; no harm, no foul. But leaking of even incidental eavesdropping is harmful and is a foul. Nunes has a right to be angry, and to remind us that this strategic illegal leaking should bother us as well.
The next thing from Cellar Door Games is Full Metal Furies
Hm. Steam and Xbox seem to be the only platforms. One less game to worry about yayyy. (Cellar Door Games are the folks who made the excellent Rogue Legacy.)
