TomBen’s Web Excursions

2021-12-26 18:10:13 Apple Maps leads explain how the company salvaged the app despite rocky initial launch

As for why people should pick Apple Maps over other options, Dorn shared three reasons, Apple’s dedication to improvement, privacy, and design/ecosystem:

Dorn described the advantages as a three-pronged approach for why Apple Maps should at least be considered as your map of choice. Firstly, Apple is making a large investment into Maps to continue making it better. Privacy is central to it, in that you don’t need to make a separate account and they aren’t tracking your location for data purposes. Third is the design and ecosystem that Maps plays into. The integration with other Apple devices and services is a key aspect of this service. 打开/如何

2021-12-26 17:59:32 Xinjiang Communist Party boss and US sanctions target Chen Quanguo to leave post #陈全国 #马兴瑞

Wu Qiang, a political analyst in Beijing, said Chen’s replacement was likely to have little impact on policies in Xinjiang.

“The replacement cannot be called a response to international pressure,” Wu said. “The pressure does exist, but what Beijing did is the opposite – as Chen might be promoted to a higher level, and the governance model in Xinjiang might be copied elsewhere in the country.”

However, a Beijing-based expert on Xinjiang issues, who declined to be named, said the replacement might indicate the government wanted to add some new elements to its policy in Xinjiang, arguing that “replacement definitely means new thoughts”. 打开/如何

2021-12-26 17:56:15 New York City bans natural gas in new buildings

New buildings in the biggest U.S. city with 8.8 million residents will have to use electricity for heat and cooking, according to the council vote that was streamed on its website.

“The bill to ban the use of gas in new buildings will (help) us to transition to a greener future and (reach) carbon neutrality by the year 2050,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, noting “We are in a climate crisis and must take all necessary steps to fight climate change and protect our city.”

The law would apply to new buildings under seven stories high at the end of 2023 and those over seven stories in 2027. There are exceptions for new buildings used for certain activities, including manufacturing, hospitals, commercial kitchens and laundromats. 打开/如何

2021-12-26 17:54:00 In China, Bragging About Your Wealth Can Get You Censored #炫富

The Chinese authorities have declared war on content deemed to be “flaunting wealth,” amid sweeping calls by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to combat inequality. As Mr. Xi positions himself for a third term, he has cast himself as a man of the people, leading a campaign against entrenched interests.

Douyin, the video platform, said this year that it had closed about 4,000 accounts in two months, including ones that posted videos of people “scattering renminbi.” Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like lifestyle app, announced last month that it had flagged nearly 9,000 wealth-flaunting posts from May to October.

Inequality in China is vast. One percent of Chinese own 31 percent of the country’s wealth, according to Credit Suisse Research Institute. The coronavirus pandemic further exposed disparities, as the rich returned to luxury spending while other Chinese continued to struggle.

But the campaign against wealth flaunting, with its focus on tamping down the trappings of wealth — not the wealth itself — underscores a broader question about how far Mr. Xi’s rhetoric will go. Despite his sweeping power, Mr. Xi has yet to embrace tactics that could prove unpopular with the middle class or elites, many of whom have links to the party. Policies such as property and inheritance taxes have long stalled, and labor rights remain weak. 打开/如何

2021-12-26 17:50:02 Chinese Pressure Fuels an Unlikely Language Revival in Taiwan Aversion to China’s Communist government has pushed many in Taiwan to stop seeing themselves as Chinese. Now, increased pressure from Beijing is helping fuel a movement on the self-ruled island… 打开/如何

2021-12-26 17:30:47 Chinese Christian Posters

Between 1927 and 1951 millions of Christian posters entered the Chinese market. Printed by the thousands onto the cheapest paper, most were used in street preaching and teaching. Others were hung in tearooms and shop windows, or put up with starch and brooms on city gates and local temples. The bright-colored posters briefly attracted attention before they tore, were covered by a more current notice, or dissolved in the rain. These visual messages competed aggressively for the soul of China. The Center for Global Christianity & Mission, funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, is pleased to make hundreds of these rare images digitally accessible and searchable for the first time. 打开/如何

2021-12-26 17:13:29 The Wuhan Lockdown by Guobin Yang - Columbia University Press

A metropolis with a population of about 11 million, Wuhan sits at the crossroads of China. It was here that in the last days of 2019, the first reports of a mysterious new form of pneumonia emerged. Before long, an abrupt and unprecedented lockdown was declared—the first of many such responses to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world.

This book tells the dramatic story of the Wuhan lockdown in the voices of the city’s own people. Using a vast archive of more than 6,000 diaries, the sociologist Guobin Yang vividly depicts how the city coped during the crisis. He analyzes how the state managed—or mismanaged—the lockdown and explores how Wuhan’s residents responded by taking on increasingly active roles.

Yang demonstrates that citizen engagement—whether public action or the civic inaction of staying at home—was essential in the effort to fight the pandemic. The book features compelling stories of citizens and civic groups in their struggle against COVID-19: physicians, patients, volunteers, government officials, feminist organizers, social media commentators, and even aunties loudly swearing at party officials.

These snapshots from the lockdown capture China at a critical moment, revealing the intricacies of politics, citizenship, morality, community, and digital technology. Presenting the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people, The Wuhan Lockdown is an unparalleled account of the first moments of the crisis that would define the age. 打开/如何

2021-12-25 18:17:21 Wish HN: Happy Holidays | Hacker News

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29673736

For a while now, this site has felt to me like one of the last bastions of high-quality discussion on the internet. Many days, it’s the first thing I open in the morning and/or the last at night, and I sure am thankful that amid the firestorm of superficial engagement maximization platforms, there’s at least one site that consistently leaves me feeling more informed, enlightened, and rational. Happy Holidays, HN! 打开/如何

2021-12-25 18:17:07 You are not alone this Christmas | Hacker News

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29682002

Hi, my Christmas is solitary this year, no family or friends. I’m not even having a Christmas dinner. I’m not sad about this, though. It’s just the way it is. What I wanted to say is, if you are in the same situation, you are not alone. So have a virtual hug from me. 打开/如何

2021-12-25 18:16:44 Most advice is pretty bad

I think that lots of advice given is bad
it isn’t practical, it isn’t insightful, and it is often something that is amazingly obvious to the person who is receiving it.

So, what is good advice?

I think good advice has three main components:

It is not obvious

It is actionable

It is based on some true insight 打开/如何