2022 Winter Olympics

[Duque de Bragança]

They could always bring a non-smartphone mobile phone. 

[Darth Wagtaros]

Almost like we should stay out of China...

I don't understand people that go to places like Russia or China these days.  You know that you're going to be under heavy surveillance while there, and more likely than not you're going to leak enough information about yourself while there that you're probably never going to be informationally secure anywhere for the rest of your life.  Sure, maybe you're not that interesting to their secrete services, but you never truly know what they do and don't find interesting about people and how many years later they find it interesting, and why leave yourself exposed to hostile unaccountable governments in any case?

Sometimes you need to visit police states for school.

[DGuller]

Almost like we should stay out of China...

I don't understand people that go to places like Russia or China these days.  You know that you're going to be under heavy surveillance while there, and more likely than not you're going to leak enough information about yourself while there that you're probably never going to be informationally secure anywhere for the rest of your life.  Sure, maybe you're not that interesting to their secrete services, but you never truly know what they do and don't find interesting about people and how many years later they find it interesting, and why leave yourself exposed to hostile unaccountable governments in any case?

Sometimes you need to visit police states for school.

Surely there must be some more local options with better commute times?

[garbon]

Apparently athletes are recommended not to take their mobile phones to China as there it will be mandatory for them to install an app specific for the Olympics but probably will be used to spy on and censor them.

This is all so ridiculous.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Apparently athletes are recommended not to take their mobile phones to China as there it will be mandatory for them to install an app specific for the Olympics but probably will be used to spy on and censor them.

This is all so ridiculous.

It has to be just the Chinese throwing their weight around and making a point about their relative power.  get people used to them being in charge.

[garbon]

Apparently athletes are recommended not to take their mobile phones to China as there it will be mandatory for them to install an app specific for the Olympics but probably will be used to spy on and censor them.

This is all so ridiculous.

It has to be just the Chinese throwing their weight around and making a point about their relative power.  get people used to them being in charge.

We should be adults and say thanks but no thanks.

[Tamas]

Apparently athletes are recommended not to take their mobile phones to China as there it will be mandatory for them to install an app specific for the Olympics but probably will be used to spy on and censor them.

This is all so ridiculous.

It has to be just the Chinese throwing their weight around and making a point about their relative power.  get people used to them being in charge.

We should be adults and say thanks but no thanks.

Indeed.

[Jacob]

Just give everyone new phones when they come back.

[Grey Fox]

Just give everyone new phones when they come back.

Nah that's still very dangerous. CBC has the right strategy. Give everyone clean phones for the Games & then have them analyzed. Hopefully we can find something about what the Chinese are doing.

[DGuller]

Just give everyone new phones when they come back.

Tapping someone's smart phone does not limit the snooping to just what's on the smart phone. Everything connected to by that smartphone is potentially compromised.

[crazy canuck]

It is similar to the advice we give to Canadians traveling to the US if they have confidential information on their phones - take a spare that does not contain any confidential data.

[Syt]

The thing I enjoy most about Winter Games is the beautiful venues in charming winter landscapes.

[HVC]

Did Homer make an appearance?

[Syt]

Apparently it's a disused industrial plant that's been turned into a museum.

[Tamas]

I am kind of having my stomach turn of the thought of an Olympics being done in the shadow of the Uighur concentration camps, Hong  Kong, and the general dystopian nightmare of China, but I do enjoy the many reports of irregularities and horrible behaviour by the hosts.

There was the case of the Dutch reported manhandled by Chinese security on the street live on their evening news, plus the various reports of inexplicably wrong covid quarantines for some athletes (I think one Finnish ice hockey player was (might still is) locked up 18 days after his positive test), the bad conditions at the quarantine hotels (like no reliable Internet which is a big deal when they can just without explanation switch you to another facility like it happened to one of the female athletes around the start).

Sport-wise in the 1000m short track speed skating, there is a mini-scandal in Hungary since we thought we won our very first individual winter gold (the previous one(s) were in relay short track speed skating). However, our guy was disqualified because of a tussle with the Chinese athlete just before the finish line, so it became a Chinese gold by committee decision. Having watched the incident, I think it was a reasonably fair decision though, although the Chinese guy was far from innocent himself: the Hungarian guy showed mildly, the Chinese counter-attacked forcefully making the Hungarian guy fall, who then as part of his fall made sure to kick the legs of the Chinese guy.

However, I have just read, the semi finals of this race are a scandal in South Korea, since oddly enough the first two places there went to South Korean athletes until they were both disqualified and their spots given to Chinese ones, one of whom won the gold medal above.