Links for May 2018

It's time for another link roundup. Stuff I read in May that interested me.

Links for May 2018

This Korean life

• Tourists Fascinated by Korean Freeway Rest Stops - I've been here a number of years and these places still delight me. Coming from the US, first of all the quality of Korean rest stops is amazing and immaculate compared to the shitty "old vending machine and dirty public restroom" rest stops I was used to. Second I feel like there are very few car journeys in Korea that even require a rest stop break. Come on, a 3 hour drive? That was practically my commute back home. But I admit I sure do stop at one when I see one here. A smoke, some walnut cake poppers, a stretch, some albums of a 1970s crooner singing about a girl who clearly isn't coming back, what's not to like? I've seen some with batting cages, dog parks, war memorials, full shopping malls, you name it. Love these places.
• SoCar Car Rental / Car Sharing in South Korea – Our Experience - I always used GreenCar back before I picked up my own car. Only issue I had with car sharing was the need to input your ending time. I often had no clue, and would have to try to add additional hours in-app when the time got close. If somebody else already booked it, there I am scrambling to get the damn thing back in time.
• Increasing number of foreign 'begging' backpackers traveling through Korea - Don't think I've seen one of these but I don't exactly hang out at Hongdae on a Saturday night either.
• ‘Begpackers’ bring cajoling to sidewalks - more of these losers adventurers
• 10 Business Networking Events in Seoul this June
• Cooling System to Lower Heat at Gwanghwamun Plaza - now it will mist you and remind you of waiting in line at the amusement park in 7th grade
• Local governments under fire for needless emergency warnings - And meanwhile here I am the only guy in the country who wants these alerts but since a SIM card change into a new phone don't get jack squat.
• All aboard! Traveling through Korea by train in the 1930s - Great anecdotes as always. I'm always wondering if Mr. Neff embellishes these diary stories he finds, or if the original author himself embellished for posterity. Anyway fun read. Feel like I used to know guys like this here back in the day. Korea's changed a lot in 10 years.
• Ulsan exposed to yearlong toxic fine dust: study - Yikes
• BTS breaks records with #1 on the 'Billboard 200' - Congrats. Saw their moves on the Ellen show and all I can say is my feet hurt after just watching them.
• [Newsmaker] Seoul’s pedestrian overpass gets mixed reactions one year on - I visited a couple times but never really was all that impressed. It's a nice idea and spruced up the area. Maybe if it could be expanded and connected to a whole system, that would be pretty cool.
• 'Deadpool 2' star Reynolds serenades Korean audience [VIDEO] - Didn't watch the video so can't comment
• Watch Ryan Reynolds Entertaining Interview Over Food and Drinks in Seoul
• Free Health Check-Ups for Refugees in South Korea
• [Photo] Residents of traditional homes up in arms against disrespectful tourists - Well to be fair if you're going to live in a hannok in downtown Seoul...
• Majority Disagree with Inheriting Father’s Last Name - The stats are pretty high here. Ammo to add to your "Korea isn't ruled by Confucianism" argumet
• [Obituary] Jeju’s “blue-eyed saint” passes away - RIP to a very decent man. One of the last of the old-school foreigners.
• Frederic H Dustin, King of maze, passes away - RIP to another. Man two big strikes on Jeju this month. Super interesting life of this guy if you get a chance to brush up.
• Ozone threat off radar - And here I was just relaxing about less yellow dust
• Korea to change passport design from 2020 - neat
• To bee or not to bee: Urban bees all the buzz - Headline win.
• Korea's child traffic death numbers fall sharply in past decade
• Suwon to tackle heat, fine dust with ‘green curtains’ - I'm a big fan of this idea. Forget the eco-friendly solution, I'm just glad some of these ugly buildings can be covered up.

Tech stuff

• Enable Google Maps Timeline in Korea - If you use Google Location History in Korea, and you can't seem to access your Google Maps Timeline inside Korea anymore, follow this simple fix.
• SK Telecom’s T Map upgraded for messages - Neat. Dictate messages to the map and it sends them for you.
• South Korea's IoT in full swing: From water meters to AI-powered smart buildings
• Stay updated on news with The Korea Herald’s social media platforms - Disgusting. Huge praise for their Twitter/Facebook but not a word about their RSS feed, which is literally how I got this article.
• People want to hear they’re pretty, SKT finds - well yeah but not from a damn AI speaker, do they?
• ICT firms upgrading AI speakers ahead of Google's entry - Got my Google Home up and running in the Sam cave. Using it in English. Haven't tried in Korean actually. Mainly use it for streaming radio or weather updates. Really needs a call function. Integration with Hangouts or Gmail. I can see it being useful with the door locks and light accessories but right now it just sits on my desk unused 95% of the time. Wonder if the official launch here will unlock some features (it wants me to have YouTube Red to play anything from YouTube).
• Netflix aims to have stronger presence in Korea
• Naver's incomplete reforms
• Inside a developer's crusade for a clean internet - Long but interesting insider interview with a guy familiar with the Druking-style comment/likes manipulations. Guy rocks an amazing 90s look on top of it all.
• Global hit 'Battleground' developers receive up to W5 billion rewards - This game just keeps on growing. Amazing.
• Naver going Google? Judge for yourself - Interview about the outlinks issue
• ​South Korea's biggest crypto exchange raided by authorities - Oops
• Self-driving buses to roam Digital Media City
• KT builds Africa’s first nationwide 4G network
• Vision AI to help find missing children - Amazing idea. Huge potential privacy issues but when you've lost your kid at Everland I bet any parent would waive anything to get a thousand CCTV cameras scanning for his lost kid. Huge potential safety impact in this kind of tech too. Big pro for the surveillance state, can't deny that.
• SK CC recruits AI in hunt for lost children​ - similar
• KT launches NB-IoT-based child monitoring service - stick a homing tag on your kid. Problem solved?
• Seoul offers free incubation programs for foreign startups
• Korean newspapers demand law forcing portals to link stories to media websites
• ‘GandCrab’ Ransomware Spreads in S. Korea - Oops
• Facebook Fires Back with Lawsuit
• Facebook Korea files suit challenging KCC’s W396m network slowdown fine
• 네이버, 한때 서비스 장애...9시경 최종 복구 - Apparently Naver went down for about an hour
• 카카오톡, 자정부터 30여분 먹통… "피해보상 없어" - KakaoTalk went down too. What's going on this month?
• 카카오, AI로 사진 속 옷 찾아준다 - Naver's been doing similar moves. Get that AI scanning stuff around you so you can buy it for yourself. Soon you'll never have to say "I love your dress, where'd you get it?" Think about the implications when you can do a quick scan of somebody and know immediately how much their whole outfit cost. Imagine this on a date or a job interview.
• “LGU+·넷플릭스 제휴, 미디어 생태계 파괴 우려” - Well with their free streaming promotion last month, LG seems all in on Netflix, just like they were with Google's casting. It's funny, being in 3rd place seems to make LG very willing and eager to play nice with the foreign corps, while biggies KT and SK push their own services/products.
• Unmanned Chicken Farms in the Works - well that's one way to deal with a diminishing workforce
• SK Telecom partners with global map developers for autonomous driving map - Yet another example of Korean corps allying with Euro corps to take on the big bad G.
• 클로바가 탑재된 최초의 키즈폰 아키를 소개합니다 - OK so this is a kids phone... but it tracks you by GPS, let's you make calls/texts hands free, full Clova (aka Korea's Google Assistant) integration... I kind of want this for myself. Cute and relatively cheap. Korea is doing the smartwatch thing way better than Google at this point.
• Google beats Naver in monthly users of mobile maps in April - I don't get how this works. Maybe people are fed up with Naver's new style (comment boards are filled with hate for the new redesign). Maybe fewer people are driving and don't need road directions. I have noticed a lot more Korean "local guides" lately. Weird. [Update: other metrics say otherwise]
• 구글맵, 네이버·T맵 제치고 '국내 지도앱 1위' - More on G Maps beating Naver but I still don't see why that would be happening, aside from Naver dropping off (probably due to that redesign. It made me leave Naver for Kakao).
• [와이즈앱 비교하기 #96] 2018년 4월 내비게이션 앱 사용자 동향 - Looks like for actual navigation app, Naver still beats Google.
• 지도, 택시, 내비 앱 사용 현황!
• [Newsmaker] ‘Google thought Panmunjeom was in North Korea’ - Eh, I mean it's not exactly not there...
• YouTube most used app in Korea - Pssh anybody on a bus or subway can tell you this
• Naver joins forces with Mando for self-driving cars - If they release a Mando car that looks like a big mandoo I'm getting in.
• [Weekender] Parking made easy via smartphone applications - Glad I usually don't have to worry about parking like this but very cool use of tech here
• Why South Korea's Gaming Giants Are Storming Into Cryptocurrencies
• PUBG sues Epic, claiming Fortnite copied PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
• WeWork Labs launches in Korea to help startups go global
• 카톡으로 온·오프…'카카오i 오피스텔' 가보니 - What a fully decked out Korean style Google Home system would look like. Use KakaoTalk or a Kakao Mini Speaker to control your home via text/voice. Nice.
• 네이버 파파고, ‘러시아어’ 더 똑똑하게 번역한다 - Naver's translator app Papago does Russian now. Use it to talk to that deaf beggar making the rounds.
• [INTERVIEW] Ticket Monster founder embraces role of venture capitalist
• RAT campaign targets Koreans with phishing lures featuring US-North Korea summit
• SM Launches VR Dating App For Red Velvet’s Irene - This is the first step down a very slippery slope... and don't even think about why that slope is slippery. Ew. On the bright side there's huge potential in licensing full VR versions of entertainment agency's idols to developers for certain "experience" focused VR apps. Based on the rabid fancam groups out there, I'm sure it would sell. Uncle fans are about to get a whole lot bolder.

Misc stuff

• Korean firefighter saves emergency patient on plane to Nepal - HERO
• [Video] Intentional crash on highway saves lives - HERO
• Korea, China seeking to finish joint study on bilateral electricity grid - Whoa. A combined electrical grid? Can you imaging the whole peninsula and up through China unified on a grid? I'm ahead of myself here but imagine the implications.
• Korea Helps Find Solution to Sinking Island State, Tuvalu - A solution which just so happens to provide massive orders for heavy industries. Convenient. Well I mean they did make Songdo so...
• President Duterte visits Seoul, Korea on June 3-5, 2018 - Trump is taking all the excitement but don't forget about Asian Trump.
• Bear Gets Hit by Bus, Survives - don't worry, the bear was fine. This is funny: "Within the ministry, KM-53 is known as the “Columbus” bear, named after the 15th century Spanish explorer who set out to discover new worlds. Like Columbus, KM-53 has tried to explore new territories on two separate occasions, departing from his current habitat."
• Chevrolet Kicks Off Donation Campaign - Eh, I don't see people falling for this gimmick. People don't want Chevy's period.
• [Photo News] Run up to the 123rd floor of Lotte World Tower - These photos will show up in my nightmare tonight. Can't believe people do this... for fun!
• Redacted Testimony Shows Why Limited Warfare Against China During the Korean War Favored The US - Interesting read
• Global center preps foreign residents for disaster

WTF

• 7-year-old girl suspected of dropping dumbbell that critically injured woman
• Hitler definitely died in 1945; new study debunks conspiracy theories - That's exactly what they want us to think. Glad this was in Korea Times right where it belongs. In all seriousness though, I don't know why people hate on the KT. 80% of their readers are probably Koreans brushing up their English. Why not toss them a bone with these soft interesting pieces?
• Cat blamed for fire at Jeju house - "The dog was excluded from the list of suspects as it couldn’t have jumped high enough to walk on the stove." That's exactly what the dog wants us to think.
• Female BJ booked for trespassing inside middle school - She was live-streaming and stripping. Talk about multi-tasking. I care barely hold my phone on the toilet without dropping it in.
• Some of Joseon era’s soldiers were into leather - Headline gore. Article has 0% sexual connotation.
• Drunk lieutenant sets off fire extinguisher inside train
• Great white shark caught in Geoje
• High school student booked for filming up teacher’s skirt - I don't condone this behavior, but boy, remember "Revenge of the Nerds?" Can you imagine how much prison time those nerds would be getting today?
• Elderly woman stuck to bus gets injured - doors closed on her
• Teacher’s car suddenly hits 4 students on sidewalk - they hadn't done their homework assignment. Just kidding. But I don't believe in this "sudden acceleration" thing.
• New Traffic Lights for Smombie Safety - Smombie = smartphone zombie. Ugh.
• Motel owner arrested for exploiting sailor with prostitutes - Total WTF story. Dude goes into massive debt from hookers, the pimp madame makes him pay it off on a shrimping boat, dude gets hit in the head and becomes brain dead, but wakes up fine now? What?
• Man steals ambulance and runs over two students while paramedics rushed to transfer a patient
• Heralds of their Ages: The Flaneur and the Paepi - Headline gore. Money quote from my buddy: "If you see the word "flaneur" in anything, stop reading. It's garbage."
• [Cityscapes] Abandoned US base turned into toxic waste dump - Winner for the absolute most bizarre article of the month. Brings up way more questions than it answers. Is this news? Editorial? Citizen journalism? A Reddit writing prompt topic taken too far? What?

Twitter stuff

Uh oh... MFW I come across the ocean between Korea and Japan in an old Dutch map from 1745... labeled as EAST SEA (well Mer Orientale but tomato, tomahto): 🤯 https://t.co/BRNemmflhA #동해물과_백두산이_마르고_닳도록... pic.twitter.com/RRh4rdo8ne

— 10원 Tips (@10wontips) May 19, 2018

An example of what Naver's mobile homepage is expected to look like, following this whole "Druking" thing. #Naver #네이버 via https://t.co/D3O8C3Y3Bx pic.twitter.com/7vZYlJ9KAs

— 10원 Tips (@10wontips) May 11, 2018

How I bet a lot of people expected this meeting to go.
Via https://t.co/WjxBTo9X4r pic.twitter.com/8ZmYXfF9Dh

— 10원 Tips (@10wontips) May 2, 2018

Got this chocolate pizza as free "service" yesterday. Perhaps there is a reason they're literally giving them away? CC @GeekinKorea pic.twitter.com/dC2epH3s1a

— Andy Tebay (@Kowiana) May 31, 2018

I just want to say, that while this "chocolate pizza" looks disgusting, it was amazing. Surprisingly satisfying. Not quite a brownie... just... well... a chocolate pizza. Do yourself a favor and try it, just once. This brand is great overall IMHO.

What's Ferris Bueller's favorite thing to do in a Korean bathroom?

치... 치카치카~~

— 10원 Tips (@10wontips) May 14, 2018

I love this joke. "Chika chika" is the Korean onomatopoeia sound for brushing teeth. So in the bathroom Ferris usually "Chi... chika chikaaaa..." GET IT? DO YOU GET IT?



Alright folks on that high note, that's it for this month. Happy reading.