Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors • Hacker News Board

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#21

Post by layoutIfNeeded » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 9:43 PM UTC

baybal2 wrote: post #5

baybal2 wrote: post #3

I remember getting bluetooth spam in Chinese malls like 10 years ago. Used to be near impossible to walk around with bluetooth on, then the popularity of Android and Iphone (both of which don't support obex or obex ftp) quickly drove popularity of spam devices to nil

I knew a Panasonic guy who worked in Shenzhen. He worked on their Android phones. I recall he was complaining how Google was vehemently opposed to any kind of "mainlining" IrDA support in Android. He says that Google was ok to support a semistandard API for IrDA just for the Japanese market under agreement that Panasonic would not market such phones outside Japan. Panasonic laobans scratched their heads for a minute,…

And why did Google oppose it?

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#22

Post by z2 » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 9:46 PM UTC

burkaman wrote: post #14

Taniwha wrote: post #7

Um, Hong Kong is OUTSIDE the Chinese firewall (for now) More likely they are doing this to preserve anonymity

This is about protesters subverting the purpose of the firewall, not a technical loophole. Tourists from mainland China might not know about the protests, because of the firewall. Protestors are using AirDrop to directly deliver photos and information to the tourists, which is probably much more effective than physical posters that people can ignore or rip down.

Question--could a directional wifi antenna be used (plus amplification) to AirDrop things from HK across the border into Shenzhen?

On that note, I stayed at an international hotel chain on the Shenzhen side's border that had terribly slow but unfiltered internet. Google.com auto-redirected to Google.hk. I always wondered if they used a VPN or maintained a covert internet beam from across the river...

EDIT: Derp--another comment already posted this question.

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#23

Post by philplckthun » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 9:53 PM UTC

dang wrote: post #13

olalonde wrote: post #8

Seems like a click bait article, there's no China firewall in Hong Kong and plenty of free Wifi spots.

Ok, we've taken the firewall out of the title above.

FWIW the “Great Firewall of China” is indeed the technical implementation of itself, but he also become synonymous with government censorship in China in general.

Just because mainland citizens leave the country does not mean that they leave behind the lasting influence of that censorship, especially since the most-used apps from China, like WeChat remain filtered and censored, so I think the title is quite a fair summary and not just click bait.

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#24

Post by dang » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 10:04 PM UTC

lukewrites wrote: post #20

dang wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, we've taken the firewall out of the title above.

"Hong Kong's protesters use AirDrop" seems a drastic redaction. It would be helpful to know _what_ they're using AirDrop for. How about "Hong Kong's protesters use AirDrop to spread their message to Mainland tourists"? "Hong Kong's protesters use AirDrop to inform tourists why they protest"?

Ok, we've added an extra phrase from the main text that conveys this.

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#25

Post by r3drock » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 10:05 PM UTC

wyc wrote: post #2

is there any open source alternative to firechat ( https://www.opengarden.com/firechat/ ), which seems to now require internet account creation prior to use? something imbued with cryptography that communicates purely via local peer discovery/hopping such as wifi/bluetooth/optical signaling, etc.

There is briar.

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#26

Post by dylz » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 10:09 PM UTC

z2 wrote: post #22

burkaman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is about protesters subverting the purpose of the firewall, not a technical loophole. Tourists from mainland China might not know about the protests, because of the firewall. Protestors are using AirDrop to directly deliver photos and information to the tourists, which is probably much more effective than physical posters that people can ignore or rip down.

Question--could a directional wifi antenna be used (plus amplification) to AirDrop things from HK across the border into Shenzhen? On that note, I stayed at an international hotel chain on the Shenzhen side's border that had terribly slow but unfiltered internet. Google.com auto-redirected to Google.hk. I always wondered if they used a VPN or maintained a covert internet beam from across the river... EDIT: Derp--anot…

If it's an international chain they likely have VPN set up at the edge, and have licences allowing their VPN connection filed with the party

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#27

Post by mjlee » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 10:13 PM UTC

umvi wrote: post #6

freedomben wrote: post #4

Worth mentioning in case anyone in HongKong or China needs it: Streisand can help you set up a VPN to avoid censoring[1] https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand

Isn't naming an anti censorship tool "streisand" similar to naming an anti-facism tool "hitler"?

One unsuccessfully attempted to keep photos of their house private.

The other successfully orchestrated the murder of millions of people and brought about a war that engulfed most of the world with knock on effects for years to follow.

I don't think it's that similar.

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#28

Post by tvbusy » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 10:14 PM UTC

Taniwha wrote: post #7

Um, Hong Kong is OUTSIDE the Chinese firewall (for now) More likely they are doing this to preserve anonymity

Visitors from mainland China still mostly use popular apps that is censored no matter they are inside or outside the mainland, like WeChat.

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#29

Post by mikeash » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 10:22 PM UTC

freedomben wrote: post #4

Worth mentioning in case anyone in HongKong or China needs it: Streisand can help you set up a VPN to avoid censoring[1] https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand

Does it actually work from China? Their VPN blocking has gotten really good lately.

Re: Hong Kong’s protesters use AirDrop to spread information to mainland visitors

#30

Post by burtonator » Tue, Jul 09, 2019, 10:32 PM UTC

This is fascinating. I actually started writing a scifi novel about zombies that had something similar called ripple. The state wasn't talking about the outbreak but the videos spread through ripple and people were freaked out.