TLDR: Some people have been throwing around “China,” but it seems also quite possible that Jia is from somewhere in Eastern Europe pretending to be from China. In addition, Lasse Collin and Hans Jansen are from the same EET time zone.
These are my notes on time stamps/zones. There are a few interesting bits that I haven't fully fleshed out.
Here is the data on Jia’s time zone and the number of times he was recorded in that time zone:
3: + 0200 (in winter: February and November)
6: +0300 (in summer: in Jun, Jul, early October)
440: +0800
1. The +800 is likely CST. China (or Indonesia or Philippines), given that Australia does daylight savings time and almost no one lives in Siberia and the Gobi dessert.
2. The +0200/+0300, if we are assuming that this is one location, is likely on EET (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey). This is because we see a switch from +300 in the winter (past the last weekend of October) and +200 in the summer (past the last Sunday in March).
Incidentally, this seems to be the same time zone as Lasse Collin and Hans Jansen…
Observation 2: Time zone inconsistencies
Let’s analyze the few times where Jia was recorded in a non +800 time zone. Here, we notice that there are some situations where Jia switches between +800 and +300/+200 in a seemingly implausible time. Indicating that perhaps he is not actually in +800 CST time, as his profile would like us to believe.
Jia Tan Tue, 27 Jun 2023 23:38:32 +0800 —> 23:38 + 8 = 7:30 (+ 1)
Jia Tan Tue, 27 Jun 2023 17:27:09 +0300 —> 17:27 + 3 = 20:30
—> about a 9 hour difference, but flight from China to anywhere in Eastern Europe is at a min 10 hours
Jia Tan Thu, 5 May 2022 20:53:42 +0800
Jia Tan Sat, 19 Nov 2022 23:18:04 +0800
Jia Tan Mon, 7 Nov 2022 16:24:14 +0200
Jia Tan Sun, 23 Oct 2022 21:01:08 +0800
Jia Tan Thu, 6 Oct 2022 21:53:09 +0300 —> 21:53 + 3 = 1:00 (+1)
Jia Tan Thu, 6 Oct 2022 17:00:38 +0800 —> 17:00 + 8 = 1:00 (+1)
Jia Tan Wed, 5 Oct 2022 23:54:12 +0800
Jia Tan Wed, 5 Oct 2022 20:57:16 +0800
—> again, given the flight time, this is even more impossible
Jia Tan Fri, 2 Sep 2022 20:18:55 +0800
Jia Tan Thu, 8 Sep 2022 15:07:00 +0300
Jia Tan Mon, 25 Jul 2022 18:30:05 +0300
Jia Tan Mon, 25 Jul 2022 18:20:01 +0300
Jia Tan Fri, 1 Jul 2022 21:19:26 +0800
Jia Tan Thu, 16 Jun 2022 17:32:19 +0300
Jia Tan Mon, 13 Jun 2022 20:27:03 +0800
—> the ordering of these time stamps, and the switching back and forth looks strange.
Jia Tan Thu, 15 Feb 2024 22:26:43 +0800
Jia Tan Thu, 15 Feb 2024 01:53:40 +0800
Jia Tan Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:09:10 +0200
Jia Tan Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:09:10 +0200
Jia Tan Tue, 13 Feb 2024 22:38:58 +0800
—> this travel time is possible, but the duration of stay is unlikely
Observation 3: Strange record of time stamps
It seems that from the commits, often the time stamps are out of order. I am not sure what would cause this other than some tampering.
Observation 4: Bank holiday inconsistencies
We notice that Jia’s work schedule and holidays seem to align much better with an Eastern European than a Chinese person.
- Working on 2023, 29 September: Mid Autumn Festival
- Working on 2023, 05 April: Tomb Sweeping Day
- Working on 2023, 26, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27 Jan: Lunar New Year
Eastern European holidays:
- Never working on Dec 25: Christmas (for many EET countries)
- Never working Dec 31 or Jan 1: New Years
Observation 5: No weekend work —> salary job?
The most common working days for Jia was Tue (86), Wed (85), Thu (89), and Fri (79). If we adjust his time zone to be EET, then that means he is usually working 9 am to 6 pm. This makes much more sense than someone working at midnight and 1 am on a Tuesday night.
These times also line up well with Hans Jansen and Lasse Collin.
I think it is more likely that Jia does this as part of his work… somewhere in Eastern Europe. Likely working with, or in fact being one and the same as, Hans Jansen and Lasse Collin.
You say yourself that the time data could be tampered. It's trivial to change commit dates in git. So this analysis means nothing by itself, unfortunately.
I wouldn't say that. This guy seems to have tried hard to appear Chinese (and possibly tampered the time stamps this way) – but based on that analysis, it seems plausible they did a bad job and were actually based out of Eastern Europe.
I asked ChatGPT 4 based on Jia's Github avatar image:
The timezones that ChatGPT thinks the avatar comes from aligns with +2 and +3, see what how it ranked and at the end the description of Jia's avatar:
---
Rank, Score, Country, City, Timezone, Criteria
1, 10, Saudi Arabia, Mecca, AST (UTC+3), Heartland of Islam, deeply rooted calligraphic traditions.
2, 9.5, Iran, Tehran, IRST (UTC+3:30), Integral Persian calligraphy with a distinct style and history.
3, 9, Turkey, Istanbul, TRT (UTC+3), Historical significance of Ottoman calligraphy, actively preserved.
4, 8.5, Egypt, Cairo, EET (UTC+2), Home to Al-Azhar University, with calligraphy in the curriculum.
5, 8, Morocco, Marrakech, WET (UTC+0), Calligraphy integrated into architecture and crafts.
6, 7.5, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, GST (UTC+4), Promotes Islamic arts through festivals and museums.
7, 7, Syria, Damascus, EET (UTC+2), Historical center of Arabic calligraphy, despite recent conflicts.
8, 6.5, Pakistan, Islamabad, PKT (UTC+5), Rich tradition, hosts several institutions and events dedicated to calligraphy.
9, 6, Indonesia, Jakarta, WIB (UTC+7), Largest Muslim-majority country with calligraphy in art and monuments.
10, 5.5, Spain, Cordoba, CET (UTC+1), Legacy of Islamic culture and appreciation for calligraphy, particularly in Andalusia.
--
GPT4: This image appears to be a stylized representation of the letter 'J' within an intricate border, possibly inspired by the art style of Islamic calligraphy. The ornate background is typical of arabesque patterns, which are characteristic of Islamic art and consist of repeating geometric forms that often echo the shapes of plants, flowers, and sometimes calligraphic writing. The letter 'J' stands out in a vibrant yellow, contrasting with the dark green of the surrounding design.
Interesting :). However, I think that EET is the only time zone that works. (This is mostly because is seems that the area follows DST, which most non western countries in the worlf do not).
This 2011 addition to the XZ Utils Wikipedia page is interesting because a) why is this relevant, b) who is Mike Kezner since he's not mentioned on the Tukaani project page (https://tukaani.org/about.html) under "Historical acknowledgments".
Arch Linux played an important role in making this compression software trusted and depended upon. Perhaps not a coincidence, but at the very least, such a big project should more carefully consider the software they distribute and rely on, whether it's worth the risk.
These are my notes on time stamps/zones. There are a few interesting bits that I haven't fully fleshed out.
The following analysis was conducted on JiaT75’s (https://github.com/JiaT75?tab=overview&from=2021-12-01&to=20...) commits to the XZ repository, and their time stamps.
Observation 1: Time zone basic analysis
Here is the data on Jia’s time zone and the number of times he was recorded in that time zone:
3: + 0200 (in winter: February and November)
6: +0300 (in summer: in Jun, Jul, early October)
440: +0800
1. The +800 is likely CST. China (or Indonesia or Philippines), given that Australia does daylight savings time and almost no one lives in Siberia and the Gobi dessert.
2. The +0200/+0300, if we are assuming that this is one location, is likely on EET (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey). This is because we see a switch from +300 in the winter (past the last weekend of October) and +200 in the summer (past the last Sunday in March).
Incidentally, this seems to be the same time zone as Lasse Collin and Hans Jansen…
Observation 2: Time zone inconsistencies
Let’s analyze the few times where Jia was recorded in a non +800 time zone. Here, we notice that there are some situations where Jia switches between +800 and +300/+200 in a seemingly implausible time. Indicating that perhaps he is not actually in +800 CST time, as his profile would like us to believe.
Jia Tan Tue, 27 Jun 2023 23:38:32 +0800 —> 23:38 + 8 = 7:30 (+ 1) Jia Tan Tue, 27 Jun 2023 17:27:09 +0300 —> 17:27 + 3 = 20:30 —> about a 9 hour difference, but flight from China to anywhere in Eastern Europe is at a min 10 hours
Jia Tan Thu, 5 May 2022 20:53:42 +0800
Jia Tan Sat, 19 Nov 2022 23:18:04 +0800
Jia Tan Mon, 7 Nov 2022 16:24:14 +0200
Jia Tan Sun, 23 Oct 2022 21:01:08 +0800
Jia Tan Thu, 6 Oct 2022 21:53:09 +0300 —> 21:53 + 3 = 1:00 (+1)
Jia Tan Thu, 6 Oct 2022 17:00:38 +0800 —> 17:00 + 8 = 1:00 (+1)
Jia Tan Wed, 5 Oct 2022 23:54:12 +0800
Jia Tan Wed, 5 Oct 2022 20:57:16 +0800
—> again, given the flight time, this is even more impossible
Jia Tan Fri, 2 Sep 2022 20:18:55 +0800
Jia Tan Thu, 8 Sep 2022 15:07:00 +0300
Jia Tan Mon, 25 Jul 2022 18:30:05 +0300
Jia Tan Mon, 25 Jul 2022 18:20:01 +0300
Jia Tan Fri, 1 Jul 2022 21:19:26 +0800
Jia Tan Thu, 16 Jun 2022 17:32:19 +0300
Jia Tan Mon, 13 Jun 2022 20:27:03 +0800
—> the ordering of these time stamps, and the switching back and forth looks strange.
Jia Tan Thu, 15 Feb 2024 22:26:43 +0800
Jia Tan Thu, 15 Feb 2024 01:53:40 +0800
Jia Tan Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:09:10 +0200
Jia Tan Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:09:10 +0200
Jia Tan Tue, 13 Feb 2024 22:38:58 +0800
—> this travel time is possible, but the duration of stay is unlikely
Observation 3: Strange record of time stamps It seems that from the commits, often the time stamps are out of order. I am not sure what would cause this other than some tampering.
Observation 4: Bank holiday inconsistencies
We notice that Jia’s work schedule and holidays seem to align much better with an Eastern European than a Chinese person.
Disclaimer: I am not an expert in Chinese holidays, so this very well could be inaccurate. I am referencing this list of bak holidays:(https://www.bankofchina.co.id/en-id/service/information/late...)
Chinese bank holidays (just looking at 2023):
- Working on 2023, 29 September: Mid Autumn Festival
- Working on 2023, 05 April: Tomb Sweeping Day
- Working on 2023, 26, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27 Jan: Lunar New Year
Eastern European holidays:
- Never working on Dec 25: Christmas (for many EET countries)
- Never working Dec 31 or Jan 1: New Years
Observation 5: No weekend work —> salary job?
The most common working days for Jia was Tue (86), Wed (85), Thu (89), and Fri (79). If we adjust his time zone to be EET, then that means he is usually working 9 am to 6 pm. This makes much more sense than someone working at midnight and 1 am on a Tuesday night.
These times also line up well with Hans Jansen and Lasse Collin.
I think it is more likely that Jia does this as part of his work… somewhere in Eastern Europe. Likely working with, or in fact being one and the same as, Hans Jansen and Lasse Collin.