Comments for Insomniac's Dream http://blog.danegardner.com Thoughts and randomness of a geek Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:17:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 Comment on Shanghai: Whore of the Orient by cristi http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/shanghai-whore-of-the-orient/#comment-129 cristi Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:47:18 +0000 http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/shanghai-whore-of-the-orient#comment-129 Ah, the scam. Smells a lot like Kuala Lumpur. That city is ridiculous with 'oh, you're from Kentucky - my sister is going there for school...could you talk to my mom to alleviate her fears of...' and then you are hijacked elsewhere and parted with thousands of dollars. Of course, the worst collateral damage with scams is that it keeps you on the defensive (okay, me) 24-7 which makes it tough to let your guard down long enough to truly enjoy the people and the culture. Ah, the scam. Smells a lot like Kuala Lumpur. That city is ridiculous with ‘oh, you’re from Kentucky - my sister is going there for school…could you talk to my mom to alleviate her fears of…’ and then you are hijacked elsewhere and parted with thousands of dollars. Of course, the worst collateral damage with scams is that it keeps you on the defensive (okay, me) 24-7 which makes it tough to let your guard down long enough to truly enjoy the people and the culture.

]]> Comment on Don’t travel in China, but by all means tour it. by cristi http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/dont-travel-in-china-but-by-all-means-tour-it/#comment-128 cristi Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:33:03 +0000 http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/dont-travel-in-china-but-by-all-means-tour-it#comment-128 Bummer about China. Don't venture over to India anytime soon. I was certainly pissed off on the same string there...but then again, at least in China men weren't pleasuring themselves in your presence. Count your blessings ;) Bummer about China. Don’t venture over to India anytime soon. I was certainly pissed off on the same string there…but then again, at least in China men weren’t pleasuring themselves in your presence. Count your blessings ;)

]]> Comment on Shanghai: Whore of the Orient by Insomniac’s Dream » Don’t travel in China, but by all means tour it. http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/shanghai-whore-of-the-orient/#comment-127 Insomniac’s Dream » Don’t travel in China, but by all means tour it. Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:01:54 +0000 http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/shanghai-whore-of-the-orient#comment-127 [...] Which brings me to the vast majority of English speakers that I encountered. Nearly all were rip-off artists trying to pry me from my money. They will take any opportunity to steal from you, or overcharge you, or shortchange you. I’ve already blogged about the ‘art students’ or ‘Chinese English-student tourists’ who swindle unsuspecting travelers, but I haven’t mentioned the Scott that told me how someone sliced through his backpack while he slept on a bus and stole over 3500 yuan ($500USD). Or how on more than one occasion someone would demand 10 yuan ($1.25USD) for a bottled water, when the going rate is between one and two yuan. Or how, also on more than one occasion, my change for a purchased item would include a five jiao (10 jiao = 1 yuan, but would probably go unnoticed by most tourists) bill instead of a five yuan… or even several — which pissed me off enough to bring the police back to talk with her. [...] [...] Which brings me to the vast majority of English speakers that I encountered. Nearly all were rip-off artists trying to pry me from my money. They will take any opportunity to steal from you, or overcharge you, or shortchange you. I’ve already blogged about the ‘art students’ or ‘Chinese English-student tourists’ who swindle unsuspecting travelers, but I haven’t mentioned the Scott that told me how someone sliced through his backpack while he slept on a bus and stole over 3500 yuan ($500USD). Or how on more than one occasion someone would demand 10 yuan ($1.25USD) for a bottled water, when the going rate is between one and two yuan. Or how, also on more than one occasion, my change for a purchased item would include a five jiao (10 jiao = 1 yuan, but would probably go unnoticed by most tourists) bill instead of a five yuan… or even several — which pissed me off enough to bring the police back to talk with her. [...]

]]> Comment on Pictures from Shanghai by Bill http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/pictures-from-shanghai/#comment-126 Bill Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:40:40 +0000 http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/pictures-from-shanghai#comment-126 What is that, a joke? I think you need a priest in your German, American, and a Mexican shot... What is that, a joke? I think you need a priest in your German, American, and a Mexican shot…

]]> Comment on Shanghai: Whore of the Orient by Dane http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/shanghai-whore-of-the-orient/#comment-125 Dane Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:11:42 +0000 http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/shanghai-whore-of-the-orient#comment-125 Only one and it was while I was on my way to the airport to leave Shanghai... but he didn't know enough; he probably thought I was bluffing; he only knew a few phrases. Only one and it was while I was on my way to the airport to leave Shanghai… but he didn’t know enough; he probably thought I was bluffing; he only knew a few phrases.

]]> Comment on Shanghai: Whore of the Orient by Bill http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/shanghai-whore-of-the-orient/#comment-124 Bill Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:30:41 +0000 http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/08/shanghai-whore-of-the-orient#comment-124 Haha! Using your Spanish to confuse the tourist trap! One of the many benefits of growing up in Southern California. Have you met any Chinese that know Spanish enough to come after you in that language? Haha! Using your Spanish to confuse the tourist trap! One of the many benefits of growing up in Southern California.

Have you met any Chinese that know Spanish enough to come after you in that language?

]]> Comment on Figured out my slow blog issue by Insomniac’s Dream » Fixed a Few Blog Issues http://blog.danegardner.com/2006/10/figured-out-my-slow-blog-issue/#comment-123 Insomniac’s Dream » Fixed a Few Blog Issues Wed, 13 Jun 2007 08:44:09 +0000 http://blog.danegardner.com/2006/10/figured-out-my-slow-blog-issue#comment-123 [...] I’ve been having problems with my CoppermineSC plugin slowing this site to a crawl — page requests would take up to 15 seconds! I’ve since gone through the plugin and stripped out everything I don’t use, and streamlined a few of the database queries. Things are running much more smoothly now that I’ve dropped over 50% of the code base! [...] [...] I’ve been having problems with my CoppermineSC plugin slowing this site to a crawl — page requests would take up to 15 seconds! I’ve since gone through the plugin and stripped out everything I don’t use, and streamlined a few of the database queries. Things are running much more smoothly now that I’ve dropped over 50% of the code base! [...]

]]> Comment on Huntington Beach Lightning by Dane http://blog.danegardner.com/2006/07/huntington-beach-lightning/#comment-122 Dane Sun, 13 May 2007 00:04:50 +0000 http://www.danegardner.net/blog/?p=144#comment-122 Yeah... was kinda sad to hear that they actually lost a home this time. Luckily it was only one! Just found a summer project: I need to get my albums working again. =/ Yeah… was kinda sad to hear that they actually lost a home this time. Luckily it was only one!

Just found a summer project: I need to get my albums working again. =/

]]> Comment on Huntington Beach Lightning by Bill http://blog.danegardner.com/2006/07/huntington-beach-lightning/#comment-121 Bill Fri, 11 May 2007 04:07:53 +0000 http://www.danegardner.net/blog/?p=144#comment-121 So.... history seems to repeat itself just 10 months later, right? And much much worse. So…. history seems to repeat itself just 10 months later, right? And much much worse.

]]> Comment on Gaaaah… by Dane http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/02/gaaaah/#comment-119 Dane Fri, 16 Feb 2007 08:58:01 +0000 http://blog.danegardner.com/2007/02/gaaaah#comment-119 The next time I get the time away from school to make it up there will probably be for Spring Break next month... The next time I get the time away from school to make it up there will probably be for Spring Break next month…

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