youtube Posts

Aug032010

Posted By
Ryan

Review: Invisible Browsing VPN (ibVPN)

A little down recently about my regular VPN’s lackluster speed, I started testing out a new service called ibVPN (Invisible Browsing VPN) and am decently happy with the results/ease of use.

The service is strictly PPTP and not SSL, which I suppose is both a pro and a con. From my experience PPTP is faster and easier to setup as services go, but is easier to get blocked.

And blocked I think is exactly what happened with the initial setup I was using with the service. ibVPN allows you to use various different gateways (3 US, 2 UK, 1 DE and 1 NL). I slapped the first US gateway into my settings and tried to connect — no go. Not a great start for my review. Not easily dissuaded, especially when the reward is funny cat videos, I gave the second US gateway a try — worked great.

Oct152009

37Comments

Posted By
Steven

The Great Firewall: longer, higher, meaner

Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and more: all blocked in China

The already unfortunate situation of internet censorship in China – imposed by the so-called Great Firewall – has been slowly getting worse this year, making a mockery of claims that the Olympics would open up China in terms of allowing a greater spread of communication and discussion. This year the Great Firewall has metamorphosed from a paranoid bug into a malignant disease, a raging cancer, blighting creativity, free speech and the flow of ideas.

Just a few months ago I posted here on Lost Laowai about China’s massive web-filtering system, and how it was becoming distinctly anti-social in that it was targeting social-networking and web 2.0 sites, such as Facebook and YouTube, which are characterised by allowing a fast flow of information and ideas.

Bad news: that’s getting worse, and this time there’s no identifiable reason.

Jun212009

16Comments

Posted By
Steven

Is Google Being Evil in China?

The Chinese government notoriously dislikes any organisation, particularly a foreign one, communicating directly to its people – so it’s little wonder that the story of Google in China has been one of jumping through fiery hoops. This week Google has been under attack in China over internet pornography, especially with regards its ‘search suggestions’ drop-down [...]

Mar262009

12Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Traditional media losing the plot

When I was back in college we were expected to read and/or watch several sources of news daily. My Journalism-Print program even had a “Current Events” course requirement in which we would discuss, debate and be tested on – what else? – current events. This was just before the Dawn of Blogs and the coining [...]

Mar052009

3Comments

Posted By
Ryan

YouTube Blocked Ahead of Tibetan Anniversary

It seems some time since I’ve blogged about a major site being blocked in China, but with the National People’s Congress in full-swing and the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising less than a week away – it appears the Net Nanny has quashed access to the world’s largest video sharing site, YouTube. Rick Martin, [...]

Mar252008

NoComments

Posted By
Ryan

YouTube’s Back, with BBC News thrown in too

Now with the troubles in the West mostly harmonized, and Taiwan’s newly-elected president certified as China Friendly, it looks like YouTube has returned to its previous sluggish-but-accessible self. As a freebie, the powers that free also appear to have unblocked BBC News, a site that to the best of my knowledge has been blackballed near [...]