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I were surprised first time I heard that they even got an computer network for their people. I would love to see the inside of a North Koreans developers mind,

by hultner 12y ago

I were surprised first time I heard that they even got an computer network for their people. I would love to see the inside of a North Koreans developers mind, do they know about the outside world?

slowmotiony 12y ago
It's probably contractors from China who developed the software.
deleted 12y ago
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dominotw 12y ago
yep most younger ppl(atleast in the cities) grew up on listening to chinese/south korean radio, there is a big underground market for cds and usb drives with all sorts of stuff on them. Access to internet is also not that uncommon among the elite.
deleted 12y ago
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christop 12y ago
Most likely they do. Beyond TV/radio etc, at least grad students get internet access in North Korea, so perhaps developers have some level of access too. See this talk from 31C3 a couple of weeks ago: http://media.ccc.de/browse/congress/2014/31c3_-_6253_-_en_-_saal_2_-_201412292115_-_computer_science_in_the_dprk_-_will_scott.html http://media.ccc.de/browse/congress/2014/31c3_-_6253_-_en_-_...
gambiting 12y ago
Apparently North Korean Universities have access to the real internet, but there is only a dozen or so computers connected to it, and for every computer there is a government official sitting in a room next door seeing what the person using the computer is seeing....and probably taking notes. So researchers can visit any sites they like...but as soon as you start reading something anti-NK you are very likely to get arrested.
- kabouseng 12y ago
  Sorry but I have to ask, where do you get this from? Have you personally experienced this or are you simply repeating the party line? Not to be negative or discredit you, but you use word like "apparently" "probably" and "very likely" which is immediate indicators of hearsay or fear mongering. Not that I have any idea what NK is like, never been there. But I do live in a country that suffers from huge misconceptions about the conditions here, hearsay and fear mongering. The entitlement to judge other absolutely astounds me sometimes, not to be applied to you yourself off course.
  - runlevel1 12y ago
    Will Scott, an American grad student who recently taught CS at Pyongyang University, described it as such in this talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuxlLLeKZZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuxlLLeKZZ8 It's pretty interesting.
    - kabouseng 12y ago
      Thank you that was interesting. Had the OP shared a link such as this I would probably not have responded, and I didn't quite get the following vibe from the talk: "and for every computer there is a government official sitting in a room next door seeing what the person using the computer is seeing....and probably taking notes."
  - gambiting 12y ago
    Well, I consider BBC to be the most reliable source of news there is, and they went to a NK university and experienced this themselves: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25945931 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25945931 As for "personal experience": I come from a country which used to be communist, and when you wanted to make a telephone call, you had to go to a nearest post office, ask for access to the telephone, and first they would connect you with an agent who would listen in to what you were saying, and only then you would get connected to where you needed to call. Everyone knew about this surveillance. I have absolutely no reason to suspect that NK doesn't do the same thing.

by hultner 12y ago

I were surprised first time I heard that they even got an computer network for their people. I would love to see the inside of a North Koreans developers mind, do they know about the outside world?

slowmotiony 12y ago

It's probably contractors from China who developed the software.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

dominotw 12y ago

yep most younger ppl(atleast in the cities) grew up on listening to chinese/south korean radio, there is a big underground market for cds and usb drives with all sorts of stuff on them. Access to internet is also not that uncommon among the elite.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

christop 12y ago

Most likely they do. Beyond TV/radio etc, at least grad students get internet access in North Korea, so perhaps developers have some level of access too. See this talk from 31C3 a couple of weeks ago: http://media.ccc.de/browse/congress/2014/31c3_-_6253_-_en_-_saal_2_-_201412292115_-_computer_science_in_the_dprk_-_will_scott.html http://media.ccc.de/browse/congress/2014/31c3_-_6253_-_en_-_...

gambiting 12y ago

Apparently North Korean Universities have access to the real internet, but there is only a dozen or so computers connected to it, and for every computer there is a government official sitting in a room next door seeing what the person using the computer is seeing....and probably taking notes. So researchers can visit any sites they like...but as soon as you start reading something anti-NK you are very likely to get arrested.

kabouseng 12y ago
Sorry but I have to ask, where do you get this from? Have you personally experienced this or are you simply repeating the party line? Not to be negative or discredit you, but you use word like "apparently" "probably" and "very likely" which is immediate indicators of hearsay or fear mongering. Not that I have any idea what NK is like, never been there. But I do live in a country that suffers from huge misconceptions about the conditions here, hearsay and fear mongering. The entitlement to judge other absolutely astounds me sometimes, not to be applied to you yourself off course.
- runlevel1 12y ago
  Will Scott, an American grad student who recently taught CS at Pyongyang University, described it as such in this talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuxlLLeKZZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuxlLLeKZZ8 It's pretty interesting.
  - kabouseng 12y ago
    Thank you that was interesting. Had the OP shared a link such as this I would probably not have responded, and I didn't quite get the following vibe from the talk: "and for every computer there is a government official sitting in a room next door seeing what the person using the computer is seeing....and probably taking notes."
- gambiting 12y ago
  Well, I consider BBC to be the most reliable source of news there is, and they went to a NK university and experienced this themselves: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25945931 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25945931 As for "personal experience": I come from a country which used to be communist, and when you wanted to make a telephone call, you had to go to a nearest post office, ask for access to the telephone, and first they would connect you with an agent who would listen in to what you were saying, and only then you would get connected to where you needed to call. Everyone knew about this surveillance. I have absolutely no reason to suspect that NK doesn't do the same thing.