Aug 11 Notes:

Hey guys, the following photos were taken at the opening ceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympics Games. I was sitting in Sector H, Tier 3, Aisle 534 of the National Stadium (the Bird's Nest), and the blue screen was on the right position above my head, more than 10 meters away. You can check the Exif info of each photo to see the shooting time.

In the begining I didn't recognize it as a blue screen because it rotated to a 90º angle and was somewhat far. It stayed there from the middle of the ceremony process to the end, lasting more than one hour since I noticed it. Even now I'm wondering why those on-the-scene operators didn't handle the crashed computer and left the blue screen displayed for such a long time.

More interesting is that when the man (Li Ning) who finally lit the main torch got down from the air, he passed by this blue screen! Maybe someone near my position (Sector H, Tier 3) had shot a picture which contains the torch, the Li Ning and the blue screen at the same time. So ask your friends to check his/her photos taken at the ceremony :)

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...

9日更新（点击可看大图）：

Windows Blue Screen on the Olympics Opening Ceremony of Beijing 2008

10日更新：没想到这么多人关注。又从一堆照片中翻出来一张，就是照片上沿的那块蓝色，不过里边的字看不清了，可以跟上面两张对照着看。其实从开幕式刚开始没多久，我就注意到顶棚有这么一块蓝色；不过因为是横过来的，所以没发觉是蓝屏；后来坐在我右边的一位老兄提醒了一下，我才反应过来，这时开幕式都快结束了。

点击可以放大。

11日补充：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 find something, see the notes.  It seems that the blue screen last at least about 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 recognize it as a BS until nealy 23:40pm, which is the time I shot the photos posted 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(thanks to the original photographer, you are such a great nerd :-)), Pic.2 is taken 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 red arrow points to Sweden's national flag, next to the Swiss. And the green 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 it could be software or hardware errors, even not a mistake with Windows but 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 through email 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 native language, I just try to express clearly what I think. In short, these photos 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 openning ceremony. You can use some software to see the EXIF info of the photos, to check the shooting times and other original information. For example, one photo contains both the BSOD and the players standing in the center of the Bird’s Nest, and it’s taken at Aug.8 23:50:47. I only resized them and printed some signs (at first even no signs) before putting them on my blog.

I’m not the author of the perfect one that contains both Li Ning and the BSoD. But I believe it’s also definitely real, because I’ve compared it with photos I shot. It’s said the BSOD can also be found on NBC’s DVD. 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’t recognized it or published it.

- What’s your interpretation? Human mistake?

I don’t know the exact version of Windows used in the ceremony and how they control the devices. I guess it could be software or hardware errors, even not a mistake with Windows but something wrong with third-party devices or drivers. It’s not a BSoD screen saver because I’ve compared them :-) I only wonder why it stayed there for a long time, but I think these experienced IT guys on the scene had their own reasons for that.

Anyway, in my view its impact to the ceremony is minor. It’s difficult to see and 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 but funny.