General Info

[Joinem]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2...tter/22235707/

Be careful out there!

[SE Asia Joe]

In the past whilst in China, I had always pulled up the following link from which I can choose from literally hundreds of FREE proxy servers:

http://www.proxy4free.com/list/webproxy1.html

Is this and other free proxy server lists still accessible in China now?

SEAJ.

[Sky Ryder]

Read a bit more about the story. Apparently most problems have been with iPhones and iPads. If true, I wonder what is next? Is this just a trial for blocking all VPN transmission?

Ikksman.

I have 4 different VPNs, with a variety of PPTP, L2 TP and an open protocol. The last week or so the have all been blocked by China Telecom, and then the last few days all but one were blocked by China Unicom wireless service. When I contacted my USA Based VPN service provider, they basically said that it was an all out operation to block VPN usuage, (except for those used by banks, etc) the likes they had never seen before. Also I have noticed that at least on the ISP provider to my home, all foreign based web sites are for the most part almost unaccessible. I was able to confirm the China based sites are still working pretty well. Taobao, Youku, etc. , but if it originates off shore, I wish you the best of luck.

It appears my VPN provider has found at least a short term solution, we will see. I agree this is to let everyone know that with little effort and no warning, they can pretty much such the off shore web down.

[Kbj2010]

The 'mighty' CCP is all about money, they will never block ALL VPN traffic as foreign enterprises require it to do business. End of story.

How savvy you are Mike921 - you are right, business VPNs are not impacted. At least for my part I thought this discussion was only about the private VPNs that individuals (not companies) use. Many (most) of those are now blocked.

[Mike921]

I don't think it's a trial, I think it's a shot across the bow, that tells troublemakers "we can block whatever we want to, whenever we want to, on our terms". But I would not be surprised to see them blocking all VPN transmissions. When that happens, Hello, Hong Kong or Singapore; here I come.

I've noticed that early in the morning, say around 5:00 am, I am pretty consistently able to get full gmail access off of my iPhone, which I've never installed a VPN on. Later in the day, no.

The 'mighty' CCP is all about money, they will never block ALL VPN traffic as foreign enterprises require it to do business. End of story.

[Kbj2010]

There are reports circulating that the latest update to the Great Firewall of China is blocking VPN traffic (by recognising the protocols used by VPN providers).

I suspect the story is a bit of a beat up, as some other products also use the same protocols (L2TP, PPTP, SSTP).

My VPN service is working fine (as of 5 minutes ago).

Anyone having VPN problems?

Ikksman.

Many of us awoke earlier this month to learn that the Great Firewall of China had blocked access to all things Google (even to Gmail). While direct access to the Google site and to the HTML Gmail page had been blocked in most parts of China for several years, those that had set up IMAP or POP3 access were still able to get access most of the time. That ended earlier this month. At the same time, many VPNs found that it was now impossible to connect rendering them useless. At least on Windows based systems. A few days later I found it was impossible to get Gmail using my iPad or iPhone. So it looked like the blockage was complete. So I was forced to switch to a new email address (as I am sure many others living here had to do).

After a few days I found that the VPN I used on my computer (free one. Which had never been blocked before) got partial access and informed me it needed to upgrade the software. And the new version, while slower, connects now every time. I also noticed that the free VPN I had been using on my iPhone and iPad (when I wanted to use Google Maps usually) had also upgraded and I was once again able to connect. Without a significant loss in speed. Should anyone wish to know the particulars about these free VPNs, send me a PM and those that have been around for some time will be given the information (as I do not wish LE to block these free VPNs).

[Lao Ma]

Read a bit more about the story. Apparently most problems have been with iPhones and iPads. If true, I wonder what is next? Is this just a trial for blocking all VPN transmission?

Ikksman.

I don't think it's a trial, I think it's a shot across the bow, that tells troublemakers "we can block whatever we want to, whenever we want to, on our terms". But I would not be surprised to see them blocking all VPN transmissions. When that happens, Hello, Hong Kong or Singapore; here I come.

I've noticed that early in the morning, say around 5:00 am, I am pretty consistently able to get full gmail access off of my iPhone, which I've never installed a VPN on. Later in the day, no.

[Ikksman]

Mine works fine on my MacBook, but not my iPhone. When I login, I get a general "dear client" message saying the product no longer works in China, but that they are working on it. But again, I have no problems.

Read a bit more about the story. Apparently most problems have been with iPhones and iPads. If true, I wonder what is next? Is this just a trial for blocking all VPN transmission?

Ikksman.

[Waldeck2]

No problems. Name by PM only and experienced.

[Lao Ma]

There are reports circulating that the latest update to the Great Firewall of China is blocking VPN traffic (by recognising the protocols used by VPN providers).

I suspect the story is a bit of a beat up, as some other products also use the same protocols (L2TP, PPTP, SSTP).

My VPN service is working fine (as of 5 minutes ago).

Anyone having VPN problems?

Ikksman.

Mine works fine on my MacBook, but not my iPhone. When I login, I get a general "dear client" message saying the product no longer works in China, but that they are working on it. But again, I have no problems.

[Ikksman]

There are reports circulating that the latest update to the Great Firewall of China is blocking VPN traffic (by recognising the protocols used by VPN providers).

I suspect the story is a bit of a beat up, as some other products also use the same protocols (L2TP, PPTP, SSTP).

My VPN service is working fine (as of 5 minutes ago).

Anyone having VPN problems?

Ikksman.

[FreebieFan]

Caught!

I know that many of us have a regular GF as well as mongering on the side. To be successful in these ventures, you need to either spend a lot of money on hotel rooms or carefully clean all traces of the casual GFs from your apartment.

I thought that I was pretty good at this, emptying the rubbish bins, checking for hair (even in the sink drains), washing all cutlery and glasses, changing the bed linen, clearing SMS messages etc, etc. I even have separate Wechat accounts on different phones.

Anyway I got caught. GF was playing with my phone and said to me "When were you at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel?" WTF. How did she know this? I looked at my phone and saw that she was checking my wi-fi settings. I had connected to the hotel wi-fi when using my 'normal' phone, and the wi-fi name showed in the settings.

So you must be careful, even when using hotels for mongering! ISG PI forums often have threads discussing other risks of discovery (FB etc), but AFAIK, this risk has never been recognised before.

Ikksman
^{"No need to expose fools. They expose themselves!"}

I noticed another new possible expose, for the intrepid female sleuth and that is to open all the hidden pics folder.

Assuming you use something like quickpic to sort all your pics theres a hidden folder.

In it, are the pics of all the girls you have chatted to, but maybe deleted as a contact.

The pics are still there, as well as their avatars etc.

Once had one of those girls who knew all the tricks about finding stuff out about guys.

Second time I found her fiddling with my phone she was shown the door. An app like cleanmaster will clean up all this junk.

These are things they should be teaching in school!

[Ikksman]

I was going to download the app but then read the reviews, which say it does not do what is advertised, just makes the eyes smaller, etc.

Thanks,

I am not surprised. As I mentioned, I could not understand how imaging technologies could achieve this!

Ikks.

[Kaywhy]

Many of us who use sites like ChinaLoveCupid find that the majority of SYTs post photoshopped pictures.

Apparently there is a Japanese iOS app that restores photos to their pre-photoshopped state. I have a fair knowledge of imaging technologies, but have no understanding of how this app works.

I don't have an iPhone, but would be very interested for some members to download and test the app and report here.

http://www.thenanfang.com/blog/popul...ly-underneath/

Ikks

I was going to download the app but then read the reviews, which say it does not do what is advertised, just makes the eyes smaller, etc.

[Ikksman]

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