No doubt that Western and Chinese language and culture are very different, so it should not be surprising that passwords will also be very different. Here’s an interesting article about some of the language differences.
Password cracking hack software often uses a master password vocabulary file, but usually in a single language. If you know multiple languages and use them in your passwords it will be even harder for hackers to crack your sites.
Friend David is in China, struggling with the washing machine. Here’s some help! Many of these words are not commonly used and are specific to washing and clothing.
These entries are from the “Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary”, 3ed, 2004 from Commercial Press and Oxford University Press, for David
为 (為)Wei4: pp520 (介词, preposition) 1. [indicating the object of one’s act of service]: ~ 人民服务 ~ ren2min2fu2wu4, serve the people, 2. [indicating an objective]: ~ 方便起见 ~ fang1bian4 qi3jian4 for the sake of convenience. see also wei2
Infrequently there comes an essay from a high level Chinese government official that somewhat departs from the Chinese Communist Party line of thought. Authors of these essays must be very careful as such articles could, now or in the future, be used to investigate and or incarcerate. A fine balance is always required. This 2017.07.21 article by Luo Jianbo, the head of the China policy centre at the Central Party School, walks this fine line, and with eloquent writing. I hope that this essay will not be taken in the wrong way and result in his removal, or worse.
Learning English is complex. The nuances of the different types of English are very interesting.
div: (n), Actually originates from prison slang in the UK. A job often given to the lowest inmates was to put cardboard dividers into boxes. Someone given this job was a ‘divider’ or a ‘div’. Now used as an insult to those who display stupidity.
Google Translate error: My nephew and the prostitute came, should really be My nephew and niece came. GT substituted 侄女, zhinu or niece, for 妓女, jinu or prostitute.
I love Google translate, as it helps me translate new words. I do not rely on it for most words or comprehension. Usually it is pretty good, but at times it really misses even the rough meaning. In this rare case, Google Translate changed the meaning to something completely bizarre. My niece is not a prostitute, Mr Google. She would smack you hard if she could find you.
Computer and Smartphone Security in Repressive Countries | 电脑和手机安全手册在压迫国家
Links and copies are AGAIN online. I’ll post when I receive an update. Vietnamese has been added 现在可以下载。要是文章要改变,我有最新版的时一会给你下载。 Updated 2018 June 17
These security documents for computers and smartphones are useful if: 这个关于电脑和手机安全手册是好用的要是:
your country can confiscate, investigate and interrogate your devices at will。
你国家可以随意没收,调查和询问您的电脑和手机
your country can force or coerce you to give up your passwords
你的国家可以强制或胁迫你放弃你的密码
These documents are not mine but belong to practicaldigitalprotection.com, a project of Safeguard Defeners. I am only safeguarding and promoting the documents for those who need them. Having read these documents I believe they are important enough to the world to keep a safe copy. I do not know the names of the owners of these documents, nor do I want to know, for their and my safety. If and when these documents are changed, I will replace them with their updated versions.
With our very large Chinese community here in Toronto, Canada, we have some pretty large Chinese grocery stores. Frankly I am surprised that there are so few Chinese to English translation mistakes. Here is one, from a local Chinese store flyer for Hong Tai Supermarket.
Fresh Butter Free Running Chicken 新鲜U-级黄油走地鸡 from our local Chinese grocery store Hong Tai.
Speaking Chinese and English, it is what I do. As my mother tongue is English and I live in Toronto, Canada, it was natural for me to post in English and use Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and other English biased search engines. I also have the ability to speak and write in Chinese, so I often do bilingual posts just for fun. As I regularly monitor my raw access server log, I can see that Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Baidu, Sogou, 360, Yandex and other search engines regularly index my content. I wondered how well they index my posts, and if there are any hints and tips that might make getting my content indexed better.
Maps, I do like. Not only are they pretty, they are pretty useful, especially if you are unfamiliar with the area. Map and compass in hand, you can walk at your leisure and not get lost, or at least be able to get help from the locals when you do. But which maps are the best for China? I thought I’d do a map slugfest, comparing Google (line and satellite), 360, Sougou and Baidu. I chose 150 meters of Shandong, Changdao on Jiefang (Liberation) Road as an example.