Open Thread #87

by Robert Koehler on February 14, 2009

Another weekend, another Open Thread

{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }

1 kpmsprtd February 14, 2009 at 12:15 pm: 1st
2 dogbertt February 14, 2009 at 12:56 pm: First to say, Robert, instead of doing yet another site redesign (yes, it does look nice), why don’t you take the time to optimize your site for mobile devices?
3 WangKon936 February 14, 2009 at 1:01 pm: New layout? Me likey. However, the comments don’t have numbers on it, which makes referring to specific comments a little harder.
4 WangKon936 February 14, 2009 at 1:05 pm: North Koreans learning that the streets of Seoul are not necessarily paved in gold…

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/11/asia/seoul.php
5 Linkd February 14, 2009 at 3:14 pm: I liked the Korean news links that used to be at the bottom left. I’d even give them better positioning than Geek Stuff, Korean Media and ‘other’.
6 Seth Gecko February 14, 2009 at 8:08 pm: Yes, WangKon936, the numbers beside the posts were useful. Hope they return.

I like the new layout, though, especially the return of the author’s name at the top of each blogger post.
7 robert neff February 14, 2009 at 8:42 pm: I like the new layout but share some of the other posters’ concerns. I also don’t like the link color – I liked them better when they were more visible.
8 hoju_saram February 14, 2009 at 9:34 pm: Nice clean theme, i like the rotating banner! Also looks like you’ve killed the unflattering blue border around your photos. Just out of curiosity; are you using arial or verdana for your body font? seems to have changed.
9 seouldout February 14, 2009 at 10:24 pm: What happened to the garish t-shirt ad that dominated the site?!

Those were some nifty t-shirts. I’m with stupid. In Korean! Ha! Ha-ha! Utterly remarkable. Those words a wisdom shall be missed. *wipes tear from eye*
10 Robert Koehler February 14, 2009 at 11:17 pm: Well, that depends. Now, you can respond to specific comments just like this!
11 Robert Koehler February 14, 2009 at 11:19 pm: Well, I’m still working on it.
12 Robert Koehler February 14, 2009 at 11:20 pm: The current font is Tahoma, but expect that to change to either Georgia or Helvetica before I’m done.
13 Robert Koehler February 14, 2009 at 11:22 pm: Like I told WangKon above, now you can reply to specific comments by hitting “Reply” on that comment, like I did with yours. Pretty neat, no?
14 R. Elgin February 15, 2009 at 12:22 am: Robert, I love this theme. It’s great!
15 Sonagi February 15, 2009 at 12:30 am: Embedded comments, yeah!

Just don’t change your gravatar, Robert. It’s much more distinctive than the tricolor taegeuk or whatever you were using before.
16 Bipolar Mindscrew February 15, 2009 at 1:14 am: Just curious to see if comments get nested or what…? I love the new theme!
17 WangKon936 February 15, 2009 at 1:53 am: Ah, I see the reply button. Cool.
18 hardyandtiny February 15, 2009 at 2:10 am: nice layout.

http://www.mirukim.com
19 CactusMcHarris February 15, 2009 at 3:23 am: I like Helvetica, just because of the image of a Viking maiden that it brings up
20 CactusMcHarris February 15, 2009 at 3:26 am: Oh and Robert….nice layout. I dig the changes.
21 R. Elgin February 15, 2009 at 6:21 am: Oh yeah, if you run a Windows machine, you *should* be using OpenDNS instead of whatever your bs Korean ISP sets up. Open DNS can help prevent trojan infection and other security problems from occurring (it’s the least you can do if you must use Windows).

Go here to learn how to configure your machine: http://www.opendns.com/

and just follow their easy directions.
22 sewing February 15, 2009 at 11:04 am: Vocabulary lesson of the day: a tricolour taegeuk is a samtaegeuk.

I dunno about these nesting comments, but I don’t comment enough to really have a say in it.
23 Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) February 15, 2009 at 4:35 pm: Finally, R. Elgin the liberal and I are in agreement — OpenDNS offers superior DNS service for the Internet, and protects your Windows machine from the more notorious Trojan-cramming sites. It should also be noted that Mac OS X also protects you from all that virus/spyware nonsense as well. But if you won’t Buy a Mac this is a sensible enough security measure, and far more likely to help you than anything from Symantec.
24 Pyotr February 15, 2009 at 6:19 pm: While for a little extra security on OS X, you can add GlimmerBlocker (glimmerblocker.org), which can block/white-list scripting, add site enhancements (such as a download button to YouTube), and does keyword expansions.

For more pleasant Flash-free browsing there’s also the still-under-development Clicktoflash (http://nslog.com/2009/01/23/clicktoflash_for_safari) which doesn’t allow Flash to run until it’s clicked. Also has whitelist.
25 Linkd February 15, 2009 at 7:18 pm: Foreigners flee Dubai rather than go to debtor’s prison.

And it looks like GM has a knife to the throat of the Treasury, saying “Another $5 bil or I go bankrupt this quarter.” *Sigh* Whaddayagonnado?

Finally, congratulations to The Korean for AAK!’s sparkling performance in the Korean blog awards.
26 Seth Gecko February 15, 2009 at 8:51 pm: This part of your linked article sounds like Korea (in re: Minerva)

“Instead of moving toward greater transparency, the emirates seem to be moving in the other direction. A new draft media law would make it a crime to damage the country’s reputation or economy, punishable by fines of up to 1 million dirhams (about $272,000). Some say it is already having a chilling effect on reporting about the crisis.”
27 Robert Koehler February 15, 2009 at 8:58 pm: Still playing with the nested comments. Not sure how to style these things.
28 abcdefg February 15, 2009 at 11:34 pm: Aleksey Igudesman & Hyung-ki Joo in A Little Nightmare Music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jiu0RNizU8
29 Sonagi February 16, 2009 at 1:10 am: View seven pages of the world’s most disgusting and unhealthy food concoctions here.
30 CactusMcHarris February 16, 2009 at 7:05 am: I would like to think that natto is in that list, Songagi. I gave it a fair chance (I remember consciously eating it at least three times, all to please my hosts) but that’s got to be one of the nastier things, but not as bad as a baloot.
31 CactusMcHarris February 16, 2009 at 7:10 am: Well, OK, I was wrong – it’s all Western.

Anyway, can someone tell me of some truly disgusting foods of Korea?

For me, silkworm grubs were no big deal after a few beers, but I don’t remember anything that was truly offensive.
32 CactusMcHarris February 16, 2009 at 7:11 am: Yep, all truly disgusting, too – thank God I’m not tempted, either.
33 eujin February 16, 2009 at 2:58 pm: For those of you who don’t follow soccer, but do follow politics, there’s an increasing chance that North Korea might qualify for the 2010 World Cup. We’re currently half way through the qualifying tournament and North Korea are sitting in one of the automatic qualification places (ROK in the other) a point ahead of Iran. There are still four matches left to play, including Iran in Pyongyang. The last time the Axis-of-Evil derby was played in Pyongyang there was quite a kerfuffle and Iran won 2-0.

There’s also a half-decent chance that North Korea might end up playing New Zealand for the last spot at the World Cup if things don’t work out against Iran.
34 bumfromkorea February 16, 2009 at 3:15 pm: Well, the list is “disgusting” in the sense that finishing one off will give you enough calories to last you a year or two. Ironically, natto, as I understand it, is one of the healthiest thing you can eat on this planet.

As for the list… basically, anything off of this place’s menu would qualify, I imagine. I ate there once for a friend’s birthday… I ate nothing but kimchi, brown rice, and 동치미 for next 10 days straight.
35 dry February 17, 2009 at 6:13 am: What in the good Lord’s name is this ‘soccer’ that you speak of?
36 Sonagi February 17, 2009 at 7:06 am: To qualify, a food must not only be disgusting but also unhealthy.
37 CactusMcHarris February 17, 2009 at 8:31 am: It’s futbol to the non-NFL, right?

Thanks for the update, Eujin. Any of those matches likely to take place in Vancouver, BC or nearby?
38 WangKon936 February 18, 2009 at 1:35 am: This sorta sucks:

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2901189
39 JW February 18, 2009 at 1:38 am: Hey, how the heck do I add a profile pic. This is too hard and I don’t want to remain a gray non-entity forever
40 JW February 18, 2009 at 1:46 am: How the heck did Michelle Wie lose AGAIN? She must hold the record for 2nd place finishes per tourneys entered.

Will it pour once she gets going?
41 JW February 18, 2009 at 5:18 am: Larry Summers…

He said he had been reading up on the Great Depression, adding that “the thing I worry about most is making sure we do as much as we can as soon as we can” to avoid another one.

This is pretty scary.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/us/politics/17summers.html?pagewanted=2&ref=politics
42 Mizar5 February 18, 2009 at 6:10 am: “How the heck did Michelle Wie lose AGAIN?”

And why the hell does it matter. Americans are judged not by their ethnic background, but by their performance.
43 JW February 18, 2009 at 6:14 am: Mizar, I want your job. I can do it better. I KNOW it.
44 Mizar5 February 18, 2009 at 6:19 am: That’s your problem, JW. You demand special treatment. You give honest Asian Americans a bad name.
45 Wedge February 18, 2009 at 3:52 pm: Do you people know that Korea is set to have the first robotically themed amusement park? I knew you did: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200902/200902130022.html

What could possibly go wrong?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itchy_&_Scratchy_Land
46 Linkd February 18, 2009 at 4:06 pm: What could go wrong is that it will never happen.

Have you heard of Hallyuwood? click here for artist’s depiction, which is all you’ll ever see.

The article refers to the ground-breaking ceremony. It remains a field of broken ground, without a bulldozer or hardhat to be seen anywhere.

Something that Korean reporters could do that would be really cool is follow up on their stories. Here’s another one: Government audits of 44 chaebol?? Results to be made public on Feb 10, you say? Whatever happened to that…

Announcements from government ministries. Pfah!
47 emiminja February 18, 2009 at 9:56 pm: don’t post here much, but had to laugh at the idiocy of the korean police.

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/117_39805.html

“They were delivered in briefcases with tracking chips secretly attached but these failed as the suspect disposed of the bags when releasing the woman. “