{"article":{"__typename":"BlogArticle","id":"BlogArticle:7972","isTnfCompatible":true,"datePublished":"2008-03-18T06:28:19Z","title":"First sandstorm of the season","slug":"first-sandstorm-of-the-season","wordCount":36,"layout":"standard","isFreelance":false,"isPython3":true,"preview":null,"watsonInfo":{"topCategory":{"full":"/sports/olympics","one":"sports","two":"olympics","three":null,"four":null,"__typename":"WatsonTopCategory"},"categories":["/sports/olympics","/style and fashion/footwear/boots","/news"],"__typename":"WatsonInfo","keywords":["opening ceremony","Beijing","window","Olympics","fall","sandstorms"]},"grapeshot":{"segments":["gs_event_olympics","pos_alcohol","pos_chasemarriott","pos_citibank","pos_creditcard","pos_disasters","pos_diseases","pos_disney_fxfargo","pos_ey","pos_facebook_safety","pos_hermes","pos_ibm","pos_mobkoi","pos_septembereleven","an_bankofamerica_negative","an_facebook_safe","an_fidelity_safe","an_jpmc_safe","an_ms_safe","an_volvo_safe","ap_alfaromeo_safe","ap_bankofamerica_safe","ap_citi_banking_safe","ap_citi_hurricanes","ap_citi_injury","ap_citi_naacp_safe","ap_citi_sex_safe","ap_citi_transportation_safe","ap_facebook_infeed_safe","ap_facebook_safe","ap_fidelity_safe","ap_gwp","ap_jpmc_safe","ap_ms_safe","ap_netflix_israeli_safe","ap_texas_shooting_safe","ap_volvo_safe","general_safe_gv","gs_sport","gs_sport_misc","gs_sport_athletics"],"__typename":"Grapeshot"},"editorialProject":null,"seoTitle":"First sandstorm of the season","shareTitle":"First sandstorm of the season","dek":"","shareDek":"","url":"https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2008/03/first-sandstorm-of-the-season/7972/","fbiaUrl":"https://www.theatlantic.com/facebook-instant/article/7972/","canonicalUrl":"https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2008/03/first-sandstorm-of-the-season/7972/","hasMeter":true,"dateModified":"2008-07-11T19:13:16Z","syndication":"ALL","shareImage2x1":null,"shareImageSmall":null,"primaryChannel":{"displayName":"Technology","__typename":"Channel","slug":"technology"},"authors":[{"displayName":"James Fallows","socialMedia":[{"platform":"TWITTER","url":"https://twitter.com/jamesfallows","__typename":"SocialMedia"}],"__typename":"Author","id":"Author:316","url":"https://www.theatlantic.com/author/james-fallows/","biography":{"default":"James Fallows is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and author of the newsletter Breaking the News. He was chief White House speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter, and is a co-founder, with his wife, Deborah Fallows, of the Our Towns Civic Foundation.","__typename":"Biography"}}],"channels":[{"slug":"technology","__typename":"Channel"}],"primaryCategory":{"__typename":"Channel","displayName":"Technology","url":"https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/","slug":"technology"},"reviews":[],"secondaryByline":"","shareImage1x1":null,"shareImage16x9":null,"shareImage4x3":null,"shareImageDefault":null,"shareImageSquareDefault":null,"shareImageLeadArt":null,"shareText":null,"content":[{"__typename":"ArticleLegacyHtml","tagName":"P","idAttr":"","className":"","style":"","innerHtml":"Out our window, Beijing, 10:30am March 18, 2008.

\"http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r96/jfallows/IMG_5288.jpg\"

143 days until the opening ceremony of the Olympics, but the sandstorms will have ended by then.

Out the same window, on a nice day last fall:

\"http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r96/jfallows/IMG_4315.jpg\"

"}],"categories":[{"slug":"china","__typename":"Category"},{"slug":"environment","__typename":"Category"},{"slug":"olympics","__typename":"Category"}],"advertisingInfo":{"disableHouseAd":false,"__typename":"AdvertisingInfo"},"leadArt":null,"embeds":[],"editorsNote":null}}

Sections

The Print Edition