The End

I realize it's been a few weeks since I returned from Beijing, but I thought it fitting to post one last blog.  A lot of folks have been asking me, "Hey, what was the best part?!?"  One might think it was the grandeur of the Olympics or the incomparable architecture and culture of Beijing.  While many of those things were quite amazing and unforgettable, I would have to say my favorite part of working at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was... 

the people

People from every continent and every walk of life, coming together to accomplish a solitary goal.  It's a beautiful thing!  

Cheers and Good Luck to all my newfound friends.  See you in 2010!

The Business End

"So, what would you say... you do here?"

During the past 10 extremely busy days, I've been working to bring the Olympics from Beijing to your couch at home.  Since the actual process is long and complicated, I'll break it down in very simple terms:

1. video of the events (track and field, swimming, archery, etc) is shot at the venues (National Stadium, Aquatics Center, etc..) and sent to the CDT (where I work.)
   
2. the video is then sent within the IBC to all the Rights-Holding Broadcasters (NBC, BBC, etc.)
   
3. the RHBs package all the video with commentary and commercials, etc and send it to the satellite farm directly outside the IBC.
   
4. the complete programs are then uplinked to various satellites hovering in earth's orbit.
   
5. the video is then transmitted from the satellites to all the RHBs in their local countries and then distributed to local TV stations and then to your house (in a nutshell.)
   

viola!!! 

(my apologies to all the broadcast folks reading this...  I'm trying to explain it as simply as possible here :)

so, seeing as I've been here for nearly a month, I suppose it's fitting that I finally show you some pictures of where I'm spending the majority of my time.   The CDT.  CDT stands for Contribution, Distribution & Transmission (it's in the middle of the IBC.. I know, too many acronyms)...  anyone that actually wants me to explain any of this in further detail can see me after class.

away we go!:

in front of the DX (distribution)  monitors.  a bunch of small TV screens?  nope..  what you're looking at here are six 103-INCH flat-screen monitors!!!  I have outlined one in yellow to show the actual size and scale.  It takes at least 4 grown men to lift one of these bad boys...  imagine having one at home!

in front of the "smaller" monitors.  there are 36 of these in the room, each displaying 12-16 feeds at once.

at my desk.  I'm happy about all the green lines on the network monitoring screen (left).  green=good!

another shot of the 103" monsters.  top middle is displaying the opening ceremony.

Here I am posing quite geekishly in front of some of our Nimbra 680 nodes.  This is the gear responsible for safely transporting the video signal from the stadiums to the CDT, all via fiber optics.  My team and I are responsible for maintaining the health of the network, which consists of about 150 of these finely-tuned, mean, lean, Swedish-engineered machines.  A shout out to all my good friends at Net Insight, the company responsible for manufacturing these magnificent beasts.

well, that's all for now.  time for bed!

I'll try to keep the updates coming!

One Day Left!

A little more than 24 hours until the big day.  In case you didn't already know,the number 8 is considered extremely lucky in China.  So 8/8/2008 at 8:08:08pm is the perfect day and time in which to hold the opening ceremonies.  I happen to be one of the lucky ones working during that time as well.  yay!  

A little background (from Wikipedia):

Eight

• The word for "eight" (八，捌) in Chinese (Pinyin: bā) sounds similar to the word which means "prosper" or "wealth" (发 - short for "发财", Pinyin: fā). In regional dialects the words for "eight" and "fortune" are also similar, eg Cantonese "baat" and "faat".
  
• There is also a resemblance between two digits, "88", and the shuang xi ('double joy'), a popular decorative design composed of two stylized characters 喜 (xi, 'joy', 'happiness').
  
• Telephone number 8888-8888 was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China.
  
• The Summer Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to open on 8/8/08 at 8:08:08 p.m.
  
• A man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license plate reading A88888 for 1.12 million yuan.
  
• Dragon Fish Industry in Singapore, a breeder of rare Asian Arowanas (which are "lucky fish" themselves, and, being a rare species, are required to be microchipped), makes sure to use numbers with plenty of eights in their microchip tag numbers, and appears to reserve particularly numbers especially rich in eights and sixes (e.g. 702088880006688) for particularly valuable specimens.
  

and so forth and so on...

So, before all the excitement and mayhem, I decided to take one last peaceful walk out on the Olympic Green two nights ago.  I was working midnight to 7am so it was the perfect time for me to go out, enjoy the calm and relatively cool atmosphere, and snap a bunch of pictures.

Here are a bunch of shots from that night.  I must say to was quite a surreal experience and I'm really glad I was able to get out of the office for a little while to explore the empty and alien world of the nighttime Beijing Oylmpic Green.

Enjoy: 

first, some shots of the Water Cube in all it's LED encrusted glory.  

a video:

now, a couple pictures I altered for maximum desktop background usage.  (for those non-savvy folks, left-click on the image to open the high resolution version, then right click on the image once it loads and select "set as desktop background")

the water cube:

the national stadium:

these "mini nests" line all the pathways to the stadium.  ain't they cute?!?

most of the Olympic Green is covered with these color-changing lighted footpaths.  very alien, indeed!

not a UFO coming to abduct me, just a cluster of lights.

That's all for now.  As promised, I will provide plenty of pictures of the IBC in a few days.  I was just waiting until all the feeds are up so you're not just looking at a bunch of blank screens.  how considerate am I?

until then...

The Great Wall!

Most of us working in the CDT have only one day off out of our 5 weeks here.  However, instead of spending that one day resting or doing some sort of light shopping, we decided to embark on a monstrous 11 kilometer journey atop the Great Wall of China - Jinshanling style!

The Jingshanling section of the Great Wall is unlike the more popular and tourist-filled section of Badaling as it is much less restored, making it a fair bit more treacherous.  It was definitely quite a challenge for me... possibly one of the most challenging physical tests of my entire life.  Definitely an unforgettable experience had by all.

This section of the Wall is in a pretty remote location and is surrounded by some pretty steep hills, so getting there by automobile is not an option.  It's almost as if it was built to keep people from ever reaching or crossing it...  strange.  Fortunately, some time within the 500 years since the wall was finished, someone invented the cable car.

we made it!

  

below is one of the "guides" (aka water, t-shirt, and other miscellaneous trinket salesmen.)  this fine gentleman scales the Wall every single day whist chain-smoking hand rolled cigarettes.  he is over 70 years old.  

amazing.

speaking of amazing, here are some of the views from the Wall.

So, by now you get the picture.  Here's the drill: First, you climb an amazingly steep series of steps and rocks until you reach a tower.  You then take a small rest in the shade of said tower whilst you drink water and listen to a sales pitch by one of your "guides."  After a few minutes, you get tired of said sales pitch and you continue your journey up to the next tower.  Sometimes it is even a steeper climb than the last, sometimes it is a sharp descent down a slope of uneven and crumbled rocks and steps.  Rarely is it an even and level surface.

We traversed 33 towers.  It took us 5 hours.  Near the end my legs were twitching and felt like jelly.  I had to stop every few steps to take a break.

Good times!!!

Here are a couple of nice people we met along the way.  The first is a brave man with a heart of gold.  Moments before this photo he was sitting up on that very precariously crumbled wall.  the sign says "Danger!  Keep Away" (click to enlarge)

This little girl was completely delighted by our presence.  She wouldn't stop taking pictures of us with her camera phone.  So, I decided to take a picture with her :)

So, you might be wondering by now:  "If they had to take a cable car to get all the way up there..  well, how did they get down?"  The answer is simple!  Two words: Zip Line!  

aka "The Flying Fox"

p.s. I cannot take all the credit for most of these fine photos.  May I present to you one mister Antonios Antoniou.  He lugged a heavy Canon SLR and and a gigantic zoom lens for the entire trek.  You sir are my hero.

Thanks, Tony!

Once we we're all safe and sound at the bottom of the hill.  this nice gentleman came and picked us up in his cozy little boat.

After our much needed lunch, I enjoy a much deserved treat :)

Viennetta-on-a-stick!  Who knew such a marvelous delight even existed?!?  I'm sure I will never see one again.

Full.  Exhausted.  Sleepy.

the ride home:

Well that's all for now.  I hope you enjoyed the memories from our little trip to the Great Wall.  I'll leave you with one last group shot:

huí tóu jiàn!

(see you later!)

-Sean

Ni Hao from the Olympic Green!

Ni Hao (hello!)

As I near the end of my first week in Beijing, I thought it would be about time for me to present my first round of pictures.  I hope you enjoy them!

A couple of days ago, I was able to sneak out of the IBC (International Broadcast Center) to tour a few of the wonderful venues here on the Beijing Olympic Green.  The first stop was the Ling Long Pagoda, an amazing structure with an even more amazing view.  This incredible feat of engineering will host the main RHBs (Right's Holding Broadcasters) during the games.

check out the view!

in two weeks this space will be filled with hundreds if thousands of people!

the IBC a.k.a. "My Office"

a bridge painted to resemble water.  clever.

The National Aquatics Center a.k.a. the "Water Cube"

The National Stadium a.k.a. the "Bird's Nest"

Luke and the Cube:

Cube n' Nest

this one is for your desktop background (click for high-res)

Here is the Pangu Plaza, a quite impressive 7-star hotel right next to the green:

I am having a wonderful time here in Beijing, I wish you all could join me!  I miss you all, please feel free to drop me an email or post some comments on the blog.  Yesterday I went on a 10k hike atop the Great Wall... I'll post pictures soon!

Until then, enjoy this panoramic shot that I stitched together.