Cold as hell out there — be sure to take care.
Open Thread #136
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{ 106 comments… read them below or add one }
First!!!
First!! (late usually open threads starts at 10am ??)
Life is so interesting – my former boss (name redacted) was arrested along with 5 school principals for corruption –
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2916295
(serves him right for not giving me medical insurance)
and on top of that – GOOD and scary news for me
I was finally accepted and employed by S.M.O.E this week – so my job hunting has finished.
I will now begin my new career as a S.M.O.E. employee as of 1st March, 2010.
But the scary thing is.. will they fire me before I start teaching with them – when they discover that I never had medical insurance – and they try to give me NHIC medical insurance – and find out that they have to pay 10,000,000won to join me?
I hope they can pull a few strings to get the medical insurance for me and don’t need to fire me…
otherwise I will become gloomy again.
oops.. I wasn’t first – because it took so long to type that message. (I guess I am a loser again)
craash — You’ve been in Korea long enough to know that naming a person connected to an ongoing investigation or lawsuit can get me sued. Do it again and you will be banned.
thanks Robert for telling me – I didn’t realize that.
Always happy to be of assistance.
A military buff has done some extensive research on North Korea’s ability to strike the South;
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?162240-Bluffer-s-Guide-North-Korea-strikes!-(2009)
I decided to make a concerted effort to learn 바둑 this year. I started by working my way through a large number of problem sets, advancing through the various difficulty ratings. I have to say it is an absolutely beautiful game. The very simple basic rules lead to so many emergent principles, and as they open up to you it’s very exciting. It comes on very quickly as well once you get the basics down and has a much more organic feel to it, as compared to chess, especially when you move out of the fuseki (No idea what fuseki is in Korean), and into the mid-game. Even with just a few weeks of practice you can stare at a mid-game scenario and sort of feel the various iterations cycling through your mind, but without any sort of active visualization of specific stone placement.
KrZ, we should play together. I love baduk. (The game, not the dude.)
you fellas in korea are NOT alone!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/opinion/05reed.html
Where do you play thekorean? IGS?
Tygem. But I haven’t played in about a year. I must be terrible now.
Just shoveled almost a foot of snow off my front steps and the walk leading to my car. Expect to shovel another foot or so tomorrow morning.
Gosh do I really hate shoveling. I would rather live in a small dingy apartment than have to live in a mansion where I had to do the shoveling myself.
The problem I get when it snows is that the plow truck piles the snow such that the car gets stuck behind a mound of snow in the parking lot.
Just like digging your own foxhole, shoveling snow is one of the best forms of aerobic and anaerobic exercise around, and is one of the best natural highs you can get! I’ve never felt such exhilaration before until I dug my first foxhole with my combat buddy at Ft. Benning in 97 deg heat and shoveled my parents’ circular driveway when they were on vacation during a weekend blizzard.
On today’s NYTimes I saw the words Potentially Epic Snowstorm heading towards East Coast and almost had a heart attack. Do these guys at the Times not understand that “East Coast” for NYC area people usually means NYC area? Quite obviously NYTimes has gotten way too big for its own good.
So Blankfein gets a 9 mil dollar government backed bonus and everyone’s about to give him two thumbs up for taking such a small amount in these sensitive times…see how fucked up they’ve made everything? They make the crazy seem normal.
Chinese woman seeks Jessica Alba makeover…
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6134TQ20100204
Hmmm. Mmmm. No comment.
Nice to see the Shanghai Time Plastic Surgery Hospital donating their services to such a good cause.
Anyone seen the Korean student (“Clive”) and Korean father (“Mr. Park”) in the Coen Bros. new movie A Serious Man? Some of the kōan-like dialog from the film:
*********************************************************************
Mr. Park: Culcha clash. (He bangs the knuckles of his two bunched up fists together, illustrating.)
Larry: With all respect, Mr. Park, I don’t think it’s that.
Mr. Park:Yes.
Larry: No. It would be a culture clash if it were the custom in your land to bribe people for grades.
Mr. Park: Yes.
Larry: So, you’re saying it is the custom?
Mr. Park: No. This is defamation. Grounds for lawsuit.
Larry: You – let me get this straight – you’re threatening to sue me for defaming your son?
Mr. Park: Yes.
Larry: But it wouldn’t . . . I, uh . . . See, if it were defamation there would have to be someone I was defaming him to, or I . . . All right, I . . . let’s keep it simple. I could pretend the money never appeared. That’s not defaming anyone.
Mr. Park: Yes. And passing grade.
Larry: Passing grade.
Mr. Park: Yes.
Larry: Or you’ll sue me.
Mr. Park: For taking money.
Larry: So . . . he did leave the money.
Mr. Park: This is defamation.
Larry: (Stares at Mr. Park.) Look. It doesn’t make sense. Either he left the money or he didn’t.
Mr. Park: Please. Accept mystery.
********************************************************************
Mr. Park’s sage advice, incidentally, is the theme of the film.
Good film, some fantastic scenes with “Clive” (“I know about dead cat.”) and Mr. Park. How Larry chooses to resolve the issue with “Clive” is also interesting.
re #21: it’s good to see an english teacher concerned about stereotypes.
Regarding #19, a Jessica Alba makeover? Jessica Alba looks great already! Why would anyone want to make her over?
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
Ralph Nader weighs in on Toyota
http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/ralph-nader-weights-in-on-toyota.aspx?googleid=277796&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IBnationalnews+%28InjuryBoard+National+News+Desk%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
#7 theotherkorean
Thanks for the link – the guy did an excellent job. Rokdrop will hopefully blog about it as well for his audience.
There’s a bunch of people who are now saying that the faulty Toyota part was manufactured by an American supplier. Ralph Nader seems to corroborate this by saying:
“the floor mat seems to have been a ruse. That was their first attempt to cover it up. There are two different suppliers in the U.S. and Japan, and they are not getting a recall in Japan.”
Again for all of you k-pop lovers (you sick bastards don’t even try to pretend i’m the only one cos i’ll never believe it) another dj doing great remixes, in this case his style is more geared toward techno and electro, which by the way are my favourite genres of music:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DJAMAYAOFFICIAL#p/u/7/7z1kK8xwLpY
The one and only Dj Amaya is not such a virtuoso as the Areia dude but his stuff is very energetic and i think his remix of Wonder Girls monster hit is just so fcking over the top
I think you might mean 2NE1 -that’s CL and Minzy performing their hit ‘Please Don’t Go’. Here’s that video again, this time with its original sound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XoLc1MEpmE
If you scroll down there’s also a great Nobody remix and yes i’m familiar with CL and Minji hit, great song and cool remix there too
let alone the fact CL is hotter than hell…nothing cooler than a Korean bad girl
Exactly! I tried explaining to my Brazilian friend the invigorating feeling of shoveling on a cold winter day, how you don’t need to wear a coat because you work up a sweat. She wasn’t buying it. Back in college, I had a friend snap a photo of me wearing a pastel floral bikini and sunglasses and sipping a drink on the back porch swing surrounded by several inches of snow. There’s no link to it in my comment, so everyone can relax.
the press is starting to report the toyota fiasco is made in japan not the us.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704533204575047370633234414.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular
the best line:
‘It needs to raise added value and per capita output to support a growing elderly population and its pension and medical care needs. And this means keeping up with competitors such as South Korea, which are ready to displace Japan wherever it falters. A resurgent Toyota is a good-news scenario that can mean a lot to the battered national psyche and help restore Japan’s reputation as a manufacturing powerhouse where the attention to detail is a hallmark rather than a question mark.’
Regarding faulty parts or after-service, I’ve really had a horrible time with getting decent after-service from Winia. I needed a anti-bacteria component to a water-wheel air filter that they sell and after calling them, they said they had it at their service center close to Shilim Station. When I get there, they say they don’t have it and that I should check any department store selling Winia products. Naturally, when I check two such department stores, they direct me back to the first Winia service center that did not have it to begin with.
No more Winia products for me.
@21
oops, Clive’s “dead cat” comment was supposed to direct you to Schrödinger paradox. (Maybe this link will work better).
Anyway, “Accept mystery” y’all.
Here’s the “Serious Man” clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC8Vh76vy0w
Hey, how come we never talk about Kevin Shea? ‘Cause that cat is hilarious!
DLB
In last week’s Open Thread a few of us had a conversation about the various theories on the language of Koguryo (Goguryeo, 고구려).
I found an interesting series of articles (word of warning, all the articles are in one file and it’s almost 50 megs) on the subject:
http://www.historyfoundation.or.kr/Data/DataGarden/Journal%2802-2%29%282%29.pdf
DLB,
Kevin Shea is alrite. I’ll get you this for Christmas (if I still remember):
http://www.amazon.com/Kims-Comedy-Bobby-Lee/dp/B000ECX0A6
One man’s hero is another man’s terrorist:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/LB03Dg01.html
@35
Thanks for that… “Clive’s” scene… Oh boy, I’ve been there before.
I still think “Mr. Park’s” scene is more central to the film. Although Clive’s quip of “Mere surmise, sir. Very uncertain…” is pretty damn essential…
Larry: And we both know about your actions.
Clive: No sir. I know about my actions.
Larry: I can interpret, Clive. I know what you meant me to understand.
Clive: Meer sir my sir.
Larry: (looks confused) Meer sir my sir?
Clive: (carefully enunciating) Mere surmise. Sir. (gravely shakes his head) Very uncertain . . .
> Cold as hell out there — be sure to take care.
Eh? it’s 21 C outside in the middle of the night, 30 C every day… i see no problems… and those ripe mangos fresh-off-the-tree sure are sweet!
Greetings to Robert and other M-Holers from the southern Philippines, where ‘it’s all good’… Even sanshinseons gotta take a break sometimes
For you freaks that think that k-pop girls are hot (those bags of bones, no meat), the real deal are these backup dancers for trot singers!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxB8BNvtlPk
#25 robert neff
You’re welcome. Yes the guy did an impressive job. Part of me couldn’t help thinking that he probably wasn’t really an amateur military buff.
Mangoes? Bah, I never really liked tropical fruit. Too sweet. I feel like superwoman after moving about 3 cubic meters of snow from around my vehicle late this afternoon.
3 cubic meters of snow
Ahh. We are slowing inching our way towards the metric system, I see.
You mean centimetering towards….
hmmm, not got quite the same ring to it…..
The S. Korean Defense Ministry has decided to lease or buy 20 M-ATV(MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle)s for the S. Korean unit that will be deployed to Afghanistan.
http://www.sisain.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=6426
More info regarding the M-ATV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-ATV
Well. at least the S.Korean defense establishment is doing something smart and sensible for a change.
Darn, I spent some time last night, listening to one fellow, who is a researcher in a scientific field, in a major institution, tell me of how his wife complained about his unwillingness to pay a 20, 000,000 Won bribe to become a professor but the man has pride and won’t pay. After he breaks the topic, then others talk about how one quit their position because he was told to convert to Christianity or else he was out.
Once again I wonder if this is really why quite a few people in science or technology fields put Korea behind them and leave.
Saw Avatar. I was surprised by how much power it had at times, despite the simple plot. Our crisis visa vis nature is the stuff of strong emotion, no matter what country you’re from. The fantasy of a magical connection to nature like the Na’vi had resonates globally, IMHO.
The scene where they destroyed home tree was really hard to watch, heart rending. I think that is why it is a global phenom. James Cameron definitely did not just fall off the turnip truck.
This is interesting:
“The lead visual effects company was Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand, at one point employing 900 people to work on the film[96]. To render Avatar, Weta used a 10,000-square foot server farm making use of 4,000 Hewlett-Packard servers with 35,000 processor cores.[97] The render farm occupies the 193rd to 197th spots in the TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Creating the Na’vi characters and the virtual world of Pandora required over a petabyte of digital storage,[98] and each minute of the final footage for Avatar occupies 17.28 gigabytes of storage.”
#50,
Leftover equipment from LOTR, plus some new equipment, maybe? Did Peter Jackson, I wonder, also do ‘King Kong’ in Kiwiland?
Is a petabyte 1,000 terabytes? Sorry, too lazy to Google.
yes , it is
Did anyone see this week’s episode of “Frontline” titled “Digital Nation?” A big part of it was filmed here in South Korea and focused on our internet friend and netiquette as well as the dangers of the PC Bang.
Now, if only old brick and mortar method’s of education can catch up with today’s technology and the limited attention spans of today’s generation who can now access instant gratification in a nanosecond while talking to their friends, instant messaging on their iphone, listening to their ipod, and updating their facebook status on their netbook at the same time.
gangpeh, are you kidding?
If techno and electro are truly your favorite genres of music, how could you possibly stomach the k-poo DJ link you recommended?
LOL I’ve never been particularly picky, i just fell for the Nobody and Dara’s Kiss remixes….something Tiga or Designer Drugs could have done
Oh and skinny tall Korean girls rock !
“Bah, I never really liked tropical fruit.”
Strange, in previous post you seemed quite keen on androgynous smooth chested korean fruit….
GO (New Orleans) SAINTS (in the Super Bowl)!
(The U.S. football championship. Sunday night U.S. time.)
The Korean angle: I tried to explain to my Korean students the idea of “underdogs” (easy enough) and why Americans like rooting for underdogs (impossible for Koreans to truly understand, I think).
I, too, could taunt you with tales of tropical Philippine temps; but the truth is, after five months here I would love to feel cold and see snow.
Back in the mid-90s, a female professor in the Spanish language department of a major university in Seoul was told by the department head that he wouldn’t consider her for a tenure-track position until she got married. Under pressure from him and her parents, she did.
The Korean angle: I tried to explain to my students the idea of “underdogs” (easy enough) and why Americans like rooting for underdogs (impossible for Koreans to understand).”
Thus a nation of Manchester United, NY Yankees, and LA Lakers fans. (I meant to add.)
If Park Ji-Sung were traded to a crappy team like [fill in the name of a crappy soccer team], you can be sure his 49 million Korean fans would still follow his career but ignore his team’s fortunes, just as they ignore the Cleveland Indians while following their one Korean player.
Korea as a whole was an underdog for vast majority of its history. Korean people instinctively know what rooting for an underdog is like. That’s why movies like Cool Running and 우생순 was such a sensation in Korea.
고맙습니다, 왕건씨.
So I just watched A Serious Man….Good fuckin’ movie! I don’t see how it denigrates Koreans at all, and such a thing didn’t even register my mind considering how absorbed the movie is in the main character, his “Jewishness”, if you will, and his marital and family problems as they rolled out before him. Very smart film.
A recent entry by R Elgin about violence among Korea’s youth somehow reminded me of the murder of a famous actor’s brother. I believe it’s Lee Dong Gun’s brother who was hanging out somewhere in New Zealand…
I remember seeing the CCTV footage of his brother staggering into a convenience store and collapsing after having been stabbed… Has this ever been resolved? It’s supposed that he was stabbed by a bunch of Chinese gang members. I may be mistaken about this, though. Sad stuff. I don’t like watching murders on TV, I recall seeing another one of an American lady working the cash register at a gas station, getting shot twice – first in the arm and then finally once in the chest – by a robber seeking cash in the register. He got away with 40 something dollars, according to America’s Most Wanted. What’s disturbing about the video, besides of course the fact that the video is real, is that it had audio….
Go Saints! (Too bad they’re going to get smashed by Manning et al.)
Got this?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jqnqOrgKYFRLxZkB3eRFB9Jwsnqw
Korea as a whole was an underdog for vast majority of its history. Korean people instinctively know what rooting for an underdog is like.
Instinct? As in Koreans are (uniquely) genetically predisposed to root for the underdog? Are you serious, or just being cute? Cuz that sounds likes Eugenics…
@ gangpehmoderniste
I’m responding to your comment here because it was off topic on the other thread.
You’re right in that it was a kind of race war back in the 60s and 70s. Blacks were initially used by various groups, and still are to a certain extent (though less so than initially, and partly due to the introduction of other minorities), to start a kind of race war that has ebbed and flowed and changed since then, but has always been around. White ethnics that had longstanding urban neighborhoods were in effect ethnically cleansed from the cities during the 60s and 70s. This “white flight” to the suburbs greatly enriched developers and land owners during the ensuing decades of suburban sprawl which continued the suburb development boom that followed WWII, and also allowed urban property and real estate to be cheaply swooped up. In more recent decades following the centralization of urban property and real estate assets, you have seen crime fighting mayors like Giuliani in New York come in and make the way for gentrification, which of course raises urban property values and rent streams.
Blacks were then countered by the introduction of masses of cheap Hispanic labor which hit them hardest by greatly lowering wages in the unskilled labor/service industries that they were primarily employed in. Once effectively countered they could be better managed in a coalition with Hispanics and other minorities for power and in order to, for lack of a better word, extort the majority.
“Korean people instinctively know what rooting for an underdog is like.” TheAmazingKorean
Allow me to be the second person in two days to inquire, Have you ever MET any actual Koreans?
theotherkorean,
I’d be willing to bet quite a few of them are decoys. Either way, South Korea and the USFK have better resources than Google Earth. They are very much capable of taking those sites quickly and effectively.
Minjok: yes and Elgin was right truth to be told
thanks for your accurate depiction, which sounds by the way a bit terrifying, not exactly what i would call propaganda for multiculturalism.
Maybe i’m an idealist but i see North East Asia as the last bastion of human civilisation, it would be nice if it would stay that way.
1. i made some pork mandoo the other day. i steamed and fried them. i served thm with a very sweet yang-nyom-jang. they were gone as soon as i put them on the table. white people really like mandoo!
2. this year marks the 100th year anniversary of the unlawful annexation of korea by nippon (with the help of the western world).
i will be making posters as way to remember korea’s darkest hour.
3. if you are korean and your belly is full, please don’t forget there are some 25 million koreans who are still waiting to eat. the job of the yemaek is only half done. only half of korea’s potential has been realized.
let’s not forget that.
4. ‘yi san’ is fantastic!
5. the ratings system here is just a popularity contest. koreans will always be at a disadvantage because of that.
6. gangpe, not trying to tell you what to do but perhaps you should zoom in a little with your gravatars so the figures are clearer.
Two important observations:
1. I made some fried chicken this weekend that was out of this world. Want really delicious fried chicken? Try soaking that chicken in a milk/egg/hot sauce mixture (use enough hot sauce to make that mixture completely red) for about 30 minutes before breading it in flour, a dash of baking powder, salt, pepper and garlic powder. It ain’t kosher but hot damn.
Recommendation: Eat y’all some fried chicken.
2. My iMac 27″ arrived this afternoon and the screen is so large (2560×1440) that it really exposes the inadequacy of the Korean web (and, alas, the crummy old iMac 24″ I’m stuck with at work). Everyone here is stuck designing for 800×600 monitors it seems. It’s really regrettable.
Recommendation: Get an iMac.
Marmot, I know you love architecture and film, so this one’s for you. (Oh, and here’s a sample of how it was put together. )
I’m considering getting an iphone here (via a Korean friend), but don’t think I’ll be around for the full two years, which means that I’d have to pay some money to help my friend get out of the contract early. That would be more worth it if the phone could be used in the USA, but I’ve read (in some not to reliable places) that that isn’t possible. Anyone know anything more about the possibility of this endeavor of mine–taking a Korean Iphone to the USA and using it there? Mr. Carr perhaps?
**taking a Korean Iphone to the USA and activating it with a USA carrier
Hitler responds to the iPad
You can unlock the iPhone when you get back to the US and use it on whatever network you like.
Brendon, where do I buy an Aeron chair, here in Korea?
There is a reasonable interpretation of what I conveyed, and an unreasonable one. Which one did you think I conveyed?
The real question is if you have, other than the students you teach.
I’ve met both kinds. Koreans like to consider themselves underdogs (well, because we have been/still are) with respect to larger or wealthier countries and we like to make films and sob-story documentaries on the countless heroes who prevails through all the difficulties and prejudice (imposed by the very same people who like a good cry in the cinema). However, in real life, the wealthy ones tend develop the instinct after the underdog has already achieved a megastar status.
The poorer Koreans, the underdogs of the Korean society, do have some sort of affinity for each other.
#31 Back in college, I had a friend snap a photo of me wearing a pastel floral bikini and sunglasses and sipping a drink on the back porch swing surrounded by several inches of snow.
Well, somebody’s nipples must have gotten really hard then. Would you care to post a link someday?
#64
Instinct? As in Koreans are (uniquely) genetically predisposed to root for the underdog? Are you serious, or just being cute? Cuz that sounds likes Eugenics…
Oh, do shut up please!
The lead visual effects company was Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand, at one point employing 900 people to work on the film[96]. To render Avatar, Weta used a 10,000-square foot server farm making use of 4,000 Hewlett-Packard servers with 35,000 processor cores.[97] The render farm occupies the 193rd to 197th spots in the TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Creating the Na’vi characters and the virtual world of Pandora required over a petabyte of digital storage,[98] and each minute of the final footage for Avatar occupies 17.28 gigabytes of storage
Sounds like it might have been a Beowulf cluster running on a Linux platform.
I think the concept of rooting for the underdog is unique to American culture, which is not especially noticeable in other societies. I also think Koreans and even Korean-Americans are not especially given to favoring the underdog. Koreans are good at making class distinctions. That is because for most of Korea’s history, everyone and everything was an underdog. It doesn’t seem anything special or worthy of particular regard.
Case in point, I respect the underdog. That is why I purchased and drove a Hyundai for many years. Because Hyundai as a motor company was and still is a striving underdog among car makers. But ask most KA’s if they would drive a Hyundai or if they believe Hyundai is anything special. The answer would be no. They’d rather drive a Lexus, Honda, or Mercedes Benz. Ironically, driving a Hyundai made me peculiarly American.
Recently, I donated my beat-up Elantra hatchback to charity and got me a 95 Lexus ES300 with 130,000 miles on it for $700. I’m moving up, baby!
I also think that nowadays, rooting for the underdog is not as common as it once was even in America. That is because those who cheer for the underdog are, you’ve guessed it, are other underdogs. Those who think that they are underdogs are not as common as it was in the past.
People also need to be able to identify with the underdog on some fundamental level. Susan Boyle was an underdog but I cannot readily identify with Susan Boyle’s experience. William Hung was also an underdog but most Asian-Americans would rather not be associated with William Hung. Simply being an underdog is not going to pass muster. There has to be a certain quality or character about the underdog to inspire people. Such are rare nowadays.
KrZ, thanks. How easy/cheap is this unlocking?
KrZ, ignore that question, I can figure that one out on my own if I decide to go that route.
More of interest is, once unlocked and on a network, it’s fully functional? Also, I’d read that the US Iphones’ hardware is geared primarily for GSM networks whereas the Korean model is CMDA. Might this be true or important?
Speaking of fruit and electronic device companies named after fruit, here’s an interesting comparison:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wWSb02wz_tY/S2l9f1-8djI/AAAAAAAAAZA/bIGOxDD8EKg/s1600-h/Apple-iPad-Jokes-Watermelon.jpg
As a Touch owner, I’d advise against buying an iPhone, at least in your situation, and getting a Touch instead. Essential differences between Touch and iPhone are:
* integrated phone and camera (Touch doesn’t have)
* Wifi/3G networking capability (Touch has Wifi only)
Yet, in order to gain those two, you’ll spend an approximate W1.5 million or more over a two-year period. I have Wifi at home (W2,000/mo.) and at work (W0/mo.), and in my experience, I can easily get network connectivity where and when I need it outside of those two locations. For example, shopping malls, department stores and cafes often offer internet connectivity. I might have to walk 20 meters, but then I’ll pick up a signal. And, frankly, outside of home or work, that short list describes the places I most often visit. And it’s all free.
I don’t use my camera’s phone very often, but the Touch doesn’t have one. Nor telephony, for that matter. I carry both a phone and a Touch, which doesn’t really burden me (though it may make me less cool). But it’s also definitely more frugal, and that W1.5 million is mine for whatever I want, which is actually much cooler than giving it to a telecom to get essentially the same level of connectivity and functionality that I have now.
gbnhj, I see where you are coming from, and agree it could work for some, but I have tried this approach–carrying a separate phone and Touch–for a long time, and it hasn’t worked out too well for me personally.
I rock the company shuttle bus twice a day for about 30~35 minutes. No wi-fi there, so the 3G connectivity would be a welcome change from watching yet another TED talk podcast. I’ve go wi-fi at home, but no reason to use my touch to surf there, as I have a laptop and desktop which are much nicer alternatives. Wireless is highly regulated at my workplace and out of the question. Were it to be available, it’d firewall the good places, and messing with proxy servers on the Touch? No thanks. The joy of subversively updating my facebook status while sitting on the can at work might be worth the money…which I already give plenty of to the telecom anyway. And finally, I have found the wi-fi adapter in my Touch to be absolute shite. I’ve gotten it to work satisfactorily preciously few times (outside of my home, mostly at airports). It’s so bad (perhaps mine is defective?) that I don’t even consider it an option anymore.. My coworkers iphone however works wonders in the “connectivity anywhere” department. The ubiquitous, solid internet connection fueling my ipod/iphone is what I desire.
According to this;
http://www.apple.co.kr/iphone/specs.html
and this
http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html
they are identical.
Speaking of iPhone SIM unlocking it looks like geohot has cracked the PS3 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geohot
I understand what you mean, cmm. My sister-in-law, like you, has a restricted network at work, and so uses an iPhone to handle her personal trades. In that respect, I suppose she’s already made back the money she committed to paying on her telecom package, so it could definitely offer advantages to some.
I don’t use my Touch at home either, except for occasional gaming, and use my PC instead. I do load it up with several news feeds each morning, however, so it’s both useful and super cheap for that.
i would like to direct people’s attention to the essay penned by ask-a-korean dealing w english teachers and aes. very insightful. one of the problems westerners have when they get to korea is their inability to see themselves as minoritis even when they are. of course, the fact that they think they know what it’s like to be a minority in america doesn’t help either, since the picture they paint isn’t quite as rosy as the reality.
I would like to direct people’s attention to the iMac 27″ w/ Core i5 processor which arrived at my home yesterday. This thing is absolutely wonderful. So fast and the screen is the equal of, or superior to, the 30″ Apple Cinema Display which I’ve been envying for several years. It’s the best W2.8 million you could spend on a computer.
That piece of crap iMac 24″ on my work desk now has to go. It’s bringing me down.
Also, somehow having switched computers, someone who is not me is now able to download the latest 720p episodes of Castle, CSI:Miami (my kids for some reason like it), and House at 6 megabits per second over DSL. Amazing.
i would like to direct people’s attention to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHJU49KYTek
beyond good and evil
i would like to direct people’s attention to this: i can’t get into k-pop. do korean boy bands always have to look like girls?
“I think the concept of rooting for the underdog is unique to American culture, which is not especially noticeable in other societies.”
Hardly, in fact I think many from my part of the world would decry americans for being too focussed on winning.
#95 it would seem so, even their heavy rock bands look like girls.
i miss the time when korean male singers actually looked like men.
For those considering an iPod Touch in preference to an iPhone because of the service contract, be advised that unlocked iPhones are on sale in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Apple Store is down now so I can’t verify the price — I think it’s W1,200,000 or so. You probably have to go through some rigamarole to get the phone certified for use on your country’s network, even though it’s the exact same hardware worldwide. I know that Korea jerks people around that way, anyway…
1.2 million won is a sale?
itouch is fine for multimedia but be advised that the speakers are smaller which means you can’t hear it in a crowded room, though sound through earphones is just fine. wifi is hit and miss. i like my itouch (30 gigs) but i sholud have bought the phone.
750kb/s or you mean 6mb/s? Off of what? Seedboxes?
pawi,
I can’t get into k-pop either. I’m sure gyopos like JW will think of you as less of a Korean for that…
He’s got a list ya know…
I just wish the male dancing groups would quit putting on that horrific eye makeup. Next thing you know, every other joe on the streets of seoul will start looking like them. Fads move through their cycles in korea extremely fast it seems. For example, women are all of sudden having much more difficulty finding an abortion doctor, because of the recent flareup of controversy. Dynamic Korea, indeed.
jfromdj@#53:
I did — and that scene where the Korean first graders were singing that catchy “nettiquette” government-approved jingle in perfect unison and harmony sent shivers down my back and put me into a cold sweat.
I thought, replace some of the words with “I love Kim Jong-Il” and you have the same style of sing-along brainwashing that you have in the North. Absolutely terrifying how these kids are being taught to parrot and mimic whatever government-approved ideology the Seoul or Pyongyang governments has decided to ram down their throats.
This is especially tragic when you realize that sooner or later, all the smart ones who can think for themselves will eventually start asking questions and figure out what bullshit this is — and be punished and isolated for speaking out and having the nerve to upset their “harmony,” while the stupid ones who lap it up unquestioningly, will eventually be rewarded for not rocking the boat with spots in Korea’s top universities and someday, will run the country. Sad, sad, sad state of affairs.
yes, at least those with a complex.
A month ago when I first posted on it, someone wanted to know who was going to finance the Korea/UAE nuclear project.
Well, looks like the answer (or at least part of it) is here:
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/02/10/201002100060.asp
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