Raoul's China Saloon (V5.0) Beta
The Bar Room => The BS-Wrestling Pit => Topic started by: Slim Pickens on January 22, 2010, 06:31:34 PM
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This article about students cheating in the Xiamen International Marathon amused me...
...the cheats were not professional athletes but students. Most had times under two hours 34 minutes, which is the minimum standard required for high school students to get extra credits for China's highly competitive college entrance examinations.
Race organisers found video footage that revealed some runners had carried the time-recording microchips of others so that one runner would register two or more results on passing the finish line. Others made their way around at least some of the course in vehicles, while some hired imposters.
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Organisers have been praised for their diligence in catching the cheaters. They have also been instructed to prepare a second, easier course for these students to run, because they are students after all, and everyone deserves a second chance.
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2:34 for college students? That's rough, far too stringent. No wonder they cheat, I would too
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2:34 for college students? That's rough, far too stringent. No wonder they cheat, I would too
The results give an idea of how tough it is to break 2:34
"Ethiopia's Baysa Atsede clinched the women's title at the 2010 Xiamen International Marathon in 2 hours 28 minutes and 53 seconds here on Saturday. China's Sun Juan came second in 2:34:12, followed by compatriot Jin Lingling in 2:36:00"
Presumably this is the first year anyone has cheated in this marathon uuuuuuuuuu
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Post deleted by the author?
I was recently hanging around on another forum (connected with something completely different to the Saloon), and there the moderators stalk the boards, canes in hand, looking for knuckles to rap and posts to delete. The covering contributors stay so on topic that the twentieth post in a thread is virtually indestinguishible from the first. Made me sore nostalgic for the relaxed vibe of the Saloon. OK, every now and again somebody comes flying head-first out of the window or shoots out a gas lamp, but hey, it's just high spirits and a little too much sippin'-liquor. So Slim, what was your original post? Do tell. And if leads to a shoot out in main street, well, I'm sure you're a quick draw.
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An international marathon race in, umm, I think it was Shangers (BICBW). Students were encouraged to participate, and any student running under a certain time (2:34, which is a pretty high standard) got some kind of school bonus. I think they were given an automatic pass in their subject or something of the kind. Anyway, several students were caught cheating.
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Post deleted by the author?
The post is back in order to maintain some form of back catalogue.
So Slim, what was your original post? Do tell. And if leads to a shoot out in main street, well, I'm sure you're a quick draw.
No shoot outs needed.
I just prefer to delete my old posts after a while. I can understand why this may seem strange to some, but I don't like leaving a paper trail. Deleting my posts creates the illusion that I have some control about what information is out there about Slim Pickens.
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Although of course, real techies can go back in time, using different programs and recover whatever they want to out there.
Nothing really disappears anymore....
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I just prefer to delete my old posts after a while.
I sure am one of those who have trouble understanding why you would want to do this.
It is a bit like Einstein deleting E = mc2, leaving only his notes behind for others to guess at the conclusion.
Or the boy who picked up the football and went home leaving his mates without a game.
Or, in our case, we are left wondering what the hell we are responding to.
On the other hand, I guess it makes it easier for Admin to keep us on topic when there is no longer a topic
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I don't really understand it, either. And it plays hell with continuing or understanding a conversation.
But, whatever floats yer boat, I guess... mmmmmmmmmm
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Post deleted by the author?
So Slim, what was your original post? Do tell. And if leads to a shoot out in main street, well, I'm sure you're a quick draw..
No shoot outs needed.
I just prefer to delete my old posts after a while. I can understand why this may seem strange to some, but I don't like leaving a paper trail. Deleting my posts creates the illusion that I have some control about what information is out there about Slim Pickens.
But if I do this, the paper trail remains.
But don't worry, I'd never do that bfbfbfbfbf
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Raises an interesting point. Should we be concerned about leaving a trail on the internet? Personally, I don't see a problem. If you want anonymity on the internet you can have it - sign up for forums etc using easy-come-easy-go email accounts, and never give any personal details. But lots of people give links to their personal websites/blogs, and make no attempt to hide who they are in "real life". I'm in the latter category. I'm not even close to being sexy enough to attract stalkers, and I'm not a crook, so I really have no need for concealment. And I'm not the proprietor of a forum where forthright opinions about employers etc. are expressed - another good reason for keeping the mask up.
But maybe they really are out to get us, and are watching every move we make. The trouble with believing that is that the next stage is spending your days crouched beneath the kitchen table wearing a colander on your head to stop the government stealing your thoughts. Better, really, to just let the government steal your thoughts, and get on with living your life. My thoughts aren't that interesting anyway.
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I work on the 'no point' theory.
No point in deleting stuff, because 'THEY' (cue twilight Zone music) have all the essentials anyway.
No point because I'm pretty honest and not doing/writing stuff that needs that much hiding.
No point because using anything on the internet (banking, buying from Amazon, eBay, Taobao, searching via Google or any other engine etc) leaves a cyber trail, plus provides information for storage across a huge range of data collections processes anyway.
No point because, as noted previously, real techies can recover anything they want to.
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I've been posting online in various places since about '99, and back then it was like a different separate world. You could be anyone or say anything. Nowadays the Internet is so mainstream you have to be a bit more careful what you say and do.
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No point in deleting stuff, because 'THEY' (cue twilight Zone music) have all the essentials anyway.
THEY being Google of course! ahahahahah
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It seems he deleted it before Google had a chance to cache the page.
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While this thread has, unsurprisingly, wandered off to a discussion on the implications of "unposting" there still seems to be some interest in the contents of the original post.
It was an article similar to this one.
Dozens Cheat In Xiamen, China Marathon: Runners Used Cars, Race Chips To Fool Officials
Dozens of runners competing in a marathon in Xiamen, China cheated, according to race officials.
Nearly a third of the race's top 100 finishers (50,000 competed), used more than athletic prowess to earn their times.
According to The Guardian, many young people cheated so that they could increase their scores on the gaokao, a test that determines placement in China's university system. The newspaper explains how the "runners" cheated:
Some competitors jumped into vehicles part way through the route, Chinese media reported, while others gave their time-recording microchips to faster runners. Numbers 8,892 and 8,897 both recorded good times - but only thanks to number 8,900, who carried their sensors across the finish line.
Jiefang Daily, the Shanghai Communist party newspaper, said organisers caught the cheats when they scanned video footage. The paper said most of those involved had apologised...
The Huffington Post
01.21.10