Hey guys, the following photos were taken at the openingceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympics Games. I was sitting in Sector H,Tier 3, Aisle 534 of the National Stadium (the Bird's Nest), and theblue screen was on the right position above my head, more than 10meters away. You can check the Exif info of each photo to see theshooting time.
In the begining I didn't recognize it as a blue screen becauseit rotated to a 90º angle and was somewhat far. It stayed there fromthe middle of the ceremony process to the end, lasting more than onehour since I noticed it. Even now I'm wondering why those on-the-sceneoperators didn't handle the crashed computer and left the blue screendisplayed for such a long time.
More interesting is that when the man (Li Ning) who finallylit the main torch got down from the air, he passed by this bluescreen! Maybe someone near my position (Sector H, Tier 3) had shota picture which contains the torch, the Li Ning and the blue screen atthe same time. So ask your friends to check his/her photos taken at theceremony :)
Aug.12 adds: ooooops, gizmodo.com (where many readers of this blog just come from) has shown the perfect picture that contains both Li Ning and the BSOD :-) I knew it must exist, I knew it! :D
(click the photos to enlarge)
拍摄于H区3层顶棚，2008.8.8，持续了开幕式的一半时间...
（点击可看大图）：
Windows Blue Screen on the Olympics Opening Ceremony of Beijing 2008
李宁点完火炬降下来时，就经过瑞士国旗的左边，而这个蓝屏也就在李宁的左边，可惜我敏感度不高，当时没照下来，要不就成蓝屏照耀火炬了，嘿嘿。谁有兴趣的话，可以在网上征集一下那天在H区3层观看的人拍的照片，看有没有人拍到李宁、火炬、蓝屏同时出现的画面:)
Aug. 12 Add: I just checked the pictures I shot and findsomething, see the notes. It seems that the blue screen last at leastabout 2 hours(from 22:00 pm to 24:00pm).
This is a photo I shot at about 21:00 pm, and there is no blue screen.
And then shot at about 22:00 pm, this photo shows a blue edge,which I think is the blue screen. As I said earlier, I didn't recognizeit as a BS until nealy 23:40pm, which is the time I shot the photosposted earlier in this blog.
BTW, I'm not a Jobs' fan, a Linux geek or a PSer to fake pictures:P And it is reported that the XPe OS used in this ceremony are part of 120 HES Axon Media Servers, so they can't be pirated :P
Aug. 13 add: Below is a combination of pictures that may help better understand the different positions. Pic.1 is part of the perfect photo(thanksto the original photographer, you are such a great nerd :-)), Pic.2 istaken from one of the videos I shot when Li Ning got down from the air,and Pic.3 is part of the picture I posted earlier in this blog. The redarrow points to Sweden's national flag, next to the Swiss. And thegreen arrow is to a flag that directs to top of the BSOD.
Well, that's it. And enjoy the Games :-)
Aug. 14 add: Well, in my view it's nothing but funny. I guess itcould be software or hardware errors, even not a mistake with Windowsbut something wrong with third-party devices or drivers. ...Anyway,give a good laugh and enjoy the Games :-)
Aug.14 add again: Some people asked me a few questions throughemail and I would like to quote my answers here. I'm not a tech geek,so my point of view may be totally wrong; and English is not my nativelanguage, I just try to express clearly what I think. In short, thesephotos are just for fun and related with nothing but tech and nerds :-)
- Many internet users say the photos are fake. Do you confirm you took yours during the opening ceremony?
Well,these photos are definitely real and taken during the openningceremony. You can use some software to see the EXIF info of the photos,to check the shooting times and other original information. Forexample, one photo contains both the BSOD and the players standing inthe center of the Bird’s Nest, and it’s taken at Aug.8 23:50:47. I onlyresized them and printed some signs (at first even no signs) beforeputting them on my blog.
I’mnot the author of the perfect one that contains both Li Ning and theBSoD. But I believe it’s also definitely real, because I’ve compared itwith photos I shot. It’s said the BSOD can also be found on NBC’svideo. I believe many other people who sat near my position (Sector H,Tier 3) on that night also shot such pictures, even though they haven’trecognized it or published it.
- What’s your interpretation? Human mistake?
Idon’t know the exact version of Windows used in the ceremony and howthey control the devices. I guess it could be software or hardwareerrors, even not a mistake with Windows but something wrong withthird-party devices or drivers. It’s not a BSoD screen saver becauseI’ve compared them :-) I only wonder why it stayed there for a longtime, but I think these experienced IT guys on the scene had their ownreasons for that.
Anyway,in my view its impact to the ceremony is minor. It’s difficult to seeand I believe few people on the spot ever noticed it or cared about it.And the beauty of the ceremony was not affected. Maybe it’s nothing butfunny.
奥运开幕式上的蓝屏：是硬件问题还是软件问题呢？这个镜头出现在李宁点火之前。这个小小的瞬间，却让微软和联想感到些许的难堪，鸟巢的灯光和投影显示系统使用了上百台Windows XPEmbedded系统的服务器产品。
这个小小的瞬间，却让微软和联想感到些许的难堪，鸟巢的灯光和投影显示系统使用了上百台WindowsXPEmbedded系统的服务器产品，而联想作为IT赞助商，应该机子硬件是Lenovo的，这个镜头出现在李宁要点火的那个之前，不过无论如何，开幕式的整体是完美的，但盖茨大叔已经退休了，他也不用为这个尴尬来解释了，不过可以想见，苹果迷们会乐一阵子。