Mad Cows … and Mad People June 6, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Uncategorized.Tags: candlelight vigil, FTA, Lee Myung Bak, Mad Cow Disease
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In short notice, the South Korean government decided about a month ago to lift the bans on US Beef Imports. But unlike anybody had expected, disagreements were fierce and demanding. Tens of thousands of people in Seoul alone took to the city hall for a fiery candlelight vigil, as well as violent marches towards the blue house. Photos, videos, and news stories all told us one thing – that this won’t go away easily.
But honestly, the frenzy about mad cow disease is in my opinion vastly over exaggerated. There were only three mad cow disease cases in the US alone, and the government has repeatedly promised to strengthen quarantine procedures. What more could we expect when an important FTA trade agreement with the United States was at stake?
Above all, I still believe the government is to be of blame. They were faulty in ensuring the nation about the mad cow disease scare and peacefully stopping the demonstrations. The Lee Administration is hastily making ends match and the best of luck for him … with his ever low 20% approval ratings.
Photo Thanks to: http://www.asianews.it/files/img/COREA_-_0503_-_Manzo.jpg
iRiver Unveils the P.ple (P10) May 21, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Tech + Gadgets.Tags: Gadget, iRiver, P10, PMP
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The long awaited P10 was unveiled today by the iRiver homepage. Following the success of the PMP industry in Korea, they took a shot at it and unveiled this product. What I like about this PMP is that it is a moderate size unlike some absurdly big gadgets other PMP products are and as iRiver has continually done so far, has taken design into more consideration. The PMP is a sleek, white or black body with simple controls that line the perimeter. Another concept point I like about the P10 is that it actually gives you a space for a stylus, instead of having to carry it separately and lose it in a matter of days. Below is a link to more pictures of the P10 and only until reviews come out will this gadget be fully critiqued.
http://product.iriver.co.kr/p_p10_gall.asp (just click on the image you want to see – no need to know Korean)
Images thanks to: (http://ployer.com/archives/2008/01/08/iRiver%20%20P10-thumb-480×317.jpg), (www.iriver.co.kr)
Myanmar’s Cyclone, China’s Earthquake, US storms … what next? May 12, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Current Events.Tags: 2008 Presidential Elections, cyclone, earthquakes, hurricane, mother nature, natural disasters, obama, Obama vs. Hillary, superdelegates, tornadoes, typhoon
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“Mother” Earth is scary. No kidding; she can burn us with volcano lava, whip our homes and crush us with tornadoes, choke our lungs with dust (especially in Korea, where the infamous “yellow dust” flows from the Gobi Desert in the spring), drown us in a tsunami … you name it. And in spite of recent events, it just goes on to tell us she ain’t peaceful.
Myanmar’s deadly Cyclone Nargis made landfall on May 2nd and lived until the 3rd, killing well over 100,000 people (and counting), and mind you, the number of people killed by the earthquake/tsunami was about 250,000.
Just a few hours ago China reported a strong earthquake with a magnitude of about 7.8, confirming a kill of about 100 people, but with 900 children collapsed under a school, it is hard to say what happened to the innocent students. Above is a student from the Juyuan Middle School being rescued under the rubble. (News update at DST 10:40 – about 3000 ~ 5000 feared dead with 10,000 injured, with about 80% of the buildings in the area destroyed. http://news.joins.com/article/3143256.html?ctg=1302, Korean JOINS newspaper).
And added to that are tornadoes over the Midwest in the United States, killing 22 people over a mother’s day weekend. Ouch.
Next up is the hurricane and typhoon season for the United States and Korea, respectively. Both haven’t experienced a threat from these monsters in a few years…
Well on a happier note, Obama seems to be getting a better grip over the democratic candidacy in the 2008 presidential elections by evening out the number of superdelegates with Clinton and more “normal” delegates. 
Photos thanks to: Cyclone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nargis_01_may_2008_0440Z.jpg), China Earthquake, (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/12/china.quake/index.html), Mideast Tornadoes (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/05/11/severe.weather/index.html), Obama vs. Hillary (http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/)
S. Korea’s Meat and Fish are Disappearing … May 10, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Current Events, Debates.Tags: Avian Influenza, Birds, Cows, Fish, Food, Oil Spill, Pigs, President Lee, Protest, Rice, Sam-Geop-Sal (삼겹살)
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Cow Meat: Apparently roughly half of the nation (or even more) believes that American meat is 100% Mad-Cow diseased. This brought onto a series of infamous mass candle protests in front of the Seoul city hall (shown above) and a petition with 600,000 names and social security numbers asking for newly elected president Lee to resign. They believe that he has been compliant with US to ensure better relations, sacrificing the nation’s well being. Ouch.
Bird Meat (primarily ducks and chickens): Although it is impossible to cook A.I. (Avian Influenza) infested meat because the hair and feathers won’t pull off of the skin, the meat looks horrendously disgusting, and it smell is putrid, we Korean’s still don’t think many of them are safe. (Although for us smart few chicken prices have gone down and we enjoy eating them) Above are Korean army recruits helping out with clearing the chicken killed within the radius of the virus.
Fish Meat: Roughly less than a third of our fish may be contaminated from the West Sea because of the worst oilspill that struck South Korea last year December. About 10,000 tons of oil was leaked and the catastrophe may affect the ecological conditions around the spill for more than 50 years. And that includes our beloved source of clams and raw fish.
But we have two things to be relieved of: Korean government’s high level of protection given for those who make rice keep the prices steady due to world wide concerns, and nothing is wrong with our pigs, reputably Korea’s favorite meat, especially Sam-Geop-Sal. (삼겹살)
Images thanks to: Mass Candle Protest (http://hrights.or.kr/image/061220web05.jpg), Bird Flu (http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-04/37949858.jpg), Oil Spill (http://ecoworldly.com/files/2007/12/south-korea-updated-oil-spill-dec-13.jpg)
Assault on the iPhone May 9, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Tech + Gadgets.Tags: 3G, Anycall, Cyon, Haptic, iPhone, LG, Phone, Prada, Samsung, South Korea, touch screen, Touch Web Phone, UI, Viewty
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South Korea is obsessed with cellphones. It would be common place for people to be changing their phones as much as every 6 months because they simply wanted, “a change.” And especially after the release of the iPhone, Samsung, LG, and Cyon (Korea’s biggest phone manufacturers) have followed the hip touch UI. Here are some of the models:
Anycall Haptic
Currently the best selling touch phone model in South Korea. WIth basic abilities (3 megapixel camera, bluetooth and MP3) the phone is a 3G (3rd generation) and allows HSPDA, aka fast data transfers, as well as video calling (note the small camera on the front). This phone also allows DMB broadcasts, digital money, and international roaming.
Cyon Viewty
One of the earlier touch-phone models, the key feature of this model is its 5.1 megapixel camera. It allows for xenon flash, face recognition, video calls, and video recordings. On top of its camera capabilties it allows FM radio, DMB broadcasts, IPOP (and other types) email, and bluetooth.
LG Prada Phone
The earliest candy-bar touch screen model that came even before the Apple iPhone. It was a hit in Korea for two reasons: the unique touch screen the cellphone had, and the name “Prada.” With the country’s obsession with luxury goods and items, it was a hit product and is still a steadily selling phone. It only some of the basic capabilities of MP3, bluetooth, and its 2 megapixel camera, but its well crafted games top it off.
Cyon Touch Web Phone
This was a touch phone model with the simple basics (video calls, camera, bluetooth) with the web browsing capability as its forte. Much like the iPhone.
Photos thanks to: Haptic (http://www.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/7151-samsunganycallhaptic1.jpg), Viewty (http://www.pma-show.com/news_images/00309_lg-viewty.jpg), Prada (http://handcellphone.com/wp-content/themes/green-marinee/phonepic/PRADA-Phone-LG-KE850-1.jpg), Cyon Touch Web Phone (http://www.loopygadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/lg_web_phone.jpg)
* Cyon is a cellphone brand of LG. Cyon was not extensively used in the model “LG Prada Phone” because it was more a collaboration of LG and Prada rather than using Cyon’s creativity and their technologies.
**Anycall is a brand of Samsung.
Avian Influenza back in S. Korea May 8, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Current Events, Media, My Life.Tags: Avian Influenza, Disease/Epidemic, South Korea
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It was the second time it struck South Korea. The Avian Influenza was found in some places, some thousands of chickens killed, blah, blah, blah … then Grand Central Park in South Korea was closed becuase some of its bird species in the zoo were suspected of having the flu.
And came the big whammy: my field trip to an amusement park called Everland was cancelled too. I anticipated this day a long time ago, thinking of the rollercoasters I would be riding on, where else to go, and what to do at the water park. Despite being told earlier today that our field trip would resume (due to rumors), at 3:00 PM news spread that it was officially called off, and was posted on our school site. I punched the seat on my school bus in frustration.
But it also came for me to realize that hey, maybe we are in some big trouble with the Avian Flu. Or is it some sort of paranoia the school has and the fact that they don’t want to be responsible for the “what if” case happened?
I’ll see tomorrow if I live.
Picture of a South Korean cleaning up the extermination of ducks. Picture courtesy of (http://menu.itooza.com/board/spaw/img/b-20051027_49f8e8a6.jpg)
Battlefield 2! May 7, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Uncategorized.Tags: Battlefield 2, Parody, Youtube
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Just another one of the games I enjoy playing. Here’s a hilarious video on the game, giving a comic twist to each of the roles in the game who has different apparatus to deal with. It’s pretty awesome.
GTA 4 May 6, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Media, Tech + Gadgets.Tags: Games, GTA 4
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I’m a little busy with my school work right now, so I won’t be able to write as much.
But anyways, here is an awesome video on youtube of a guy’s review of GTA 4 on a PS3. Some changes I’ve noticed:
- When you are shot/a car explodes and kills you or if anything lethal happens to you, they make a movie scene like shot out of it, making your movements slow motion in black and white.
- The hp, armor, star rating, money have been minimized to allow much more screen to view.
- Cars don’t explode if you turn them over upside down.
- You can hide behind cars and take cover like the system found in Gears of War.
- As long as you did not shoot a gun or threaten the police, they will not shoot you but will make you put your hand up. They will approach you with handcuffs; here you have the option of being taken away to the police or retaliating to kill them. They will start shooting if you retaliate.
Staying Up = Me + Work + Red Bull May 5, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in My Life.Tags: Red Bull, School, Staying Up
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Last night I stayed up, finishing 24 Season 1 and playing some games on my laptop.
Today, I need to stay up to finish a research paper and study for two tests. What do I need?
Red Bull. The Ultimate Energizer. I know its not good for ya, but I’ve got stuff to do.
Own a Copy of Iron Man for 7 cents May 4, 2008
Posted by dsdukcy in Debates, Media, Tech + Gadgets.Tags: Cheap, File Sharing, Iron Man, MFile, South Korea
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You think I’m kidding? In South Korea, there are sites for people to upload content and after exchanging money for points, the user can search content and download them, paying it with fees. The cheapest point per money (1 cent for a megabyte) andd the most popular site is Mfile.net. There, Iron Man (which has already been uploaded only a few days after the release here in Korea) is about 700 MB, so you can own your own copy of Iron Man for 7 cents.
And that’s not it. Other movies, TV shows, games, songs, programs … anything you can think of that can run on a PC. So basically, GTA San Andreas is 39 cents compared to its real price of $19.99 (that’s a 98% off sale) and here’s a whammy: a nice copy of an Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended costs $624.99 but you can get the same program on Mfile for 50 cents. (thats a 99.91% off). Unlike the file download servers on the internet, you can download a gigabyte of any content from MFile in 40 minutes.
Can’t find a program you want? Upload a request on the site and these dedicated people will get anything for you as long as you promise to boost their “reliability” as an uploader.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a problem? Although it’s in Korean, check it out for yourself at www.mfile.net.
