I can't believe it's been just two months since the last link roundup post. With the constant Coronavirus news it feels like this summer has lasted forever. Glad the weather is finally starting to cool down at night and I can stop running the A/C all night long.
Now have a big dish of interesting links for your midweek grind.
Society, Culture, Lifestyle, etc. links
- [이슈IN] 카페에 갔을 뿐인데…"술 사주겠다"는 문자가 왔다 | Bloter.net - Some guys are using the Coronavirus contact-tracing sign-in sheets at bars and coffee shops to scout names and phone numbers of attractive female customers, then randomly messaging them. Creepy.
- “Please Help Me Receive My Divorce Papers from Korea” | ILDA
- [T/W] Taxi driver stabs passenger 10 times for farting in the vehicle - DAILY NAVER
- Seoul unveils virus-blocking bus shelter
- Web portals suspend sports news comment services to stop hateful remarks - Not just hate, but sexual comments too. I guess when you block comments on entertainment articles, the creeps are just going to migrate to the sports pages. Creepy.
- SK Telecom launches prepaid service for foreign residents : Business : News : The Hankyoreh - This service will extend the same identity-verification ability to pre-paid phone numbers as traditionally the post-paid services had. So if you're using pre-paid for whatever reason (visiting, cheap, whatever), give this a look. It can make ordering delivery food, online shopping, etc. much easier as you can use just your phone number (and possibly a SMS confirmation or app) to verify your identity. No more plugins, Active X, etc.
- Hanam Line extension opens for Seoul's Line 5 – Kojects
- More Well-Off Koreans Move Abroad - The Chosun Ilbo
- Seoul phasing out diesel and gasoline car sales by 2035 – Kojects
- [News Focus] Gyeonggi Province outstrips ‘Seoul plus Busan’ in population
- S. Korea to develop defense system against N. Korea’s long-range artillery by 2030 : North Korea : News : The Hankyoreh
- Children from Multicultural Families More Proud to be S. Korean | Be Korea-savvy - I have definitely noticed an uptick in recent years in teh number of multi-cultural looking faces I see in groups of school children. It's not surprising these days for elementary students to have 1 or even 2 mixed-race or foreign kids in class.
- From kitchen sink to animal farm: Life cycle of food waste in Seoul - Turns out most of that food trash really is destined for pig slop.
- [Feature] Controversy over architectural heritage from Japanese colonial era continues
- Introduction of the App Report System for Mandatory Mask Wearing on Public Transportation | 서울아카이브 Seoul Solution
- EV Fires Pose Unique Challenges for Firefighters | Be Korea-savvy
- [Column] Why was Korea divided after World War II instead of Japan?
- Public distrust in state-run weather agency deepens - This can't be any worse than me asking my Google Home if it will rain today, and it tells me it will be clear all day, so I walk outside and oops it's raining right now.
- Garbage alert: 11 Seoul districts expected to exceed dumping cap - It's amazing to think about the fact that some of the largest, greenest campgrounds and parks are just the top layer of massive trash dumps. We surely cannot keep living like this.
- 통신3사, 비대면 수업 지원 연장..."EBS 데이터 무과금" | Bloter.net - Nice gesture to ease network fees for students who need it for online classes. Streaming classes 5-6 hours a day would be hard on the pocketbook otherwise.
- We Interrupt this Propaganda…A Dynamic 24 Hours on North Korean TV
- Where does Seoul's drinking water come from?
- New train line to connect Suwon and Incheon in 70 minutes
- [KH Explains] How effective are antimicrobial films on elevator buttons? - They're not.
- [News Focus] Korea has 2nd-highest income gap in OECD
- No joke: Reality TV K-pop act rocks music scene while raising questions of fairness - Seems to me this is more an issue of the actual "music" acts just not resonating with viewers.
- New Tenants' Rights Guaranteed - The Chosun Ilbo
- Military's detention system set to fade into history next week - Pretty big news considering how contentious of an issue this was just a few years ago
- [Feature] Pandemic’s ‘uneven’ impact on college hopefuls
- Lee Ung-no reaches international audience through Google Arts & Culture platform
- Korea's reggae bands keep busy releasing new music
- [Exclusive] Point system revised for residency visa
- Kakao M Aims to Deliver 15 Films, TV Shows Annually Starting in 2023 | Be Korea-savvy
- 48 year old netizen fined 500,000 won for his comment about a girl group ~ Netizen Buzz
- A step toward globalization: Accepting Korean spoken with a foreign accent - I'm definitely guilty of this to the amusement of my friends and coworkers to no end
- Select Schools to Adopt Modified 'Hanbok' Uniforms as Early as Autumn | Be Korea-savvy - Pretty, classy, unique. Probably ironically more comfortable than the ultra-tight uniforms worn by male and female students alike right now
- Starbucks to Open First Bakery Cafe | Be Korea-savvy
- Subway Drivers Banned from Carrying Phones - The Chosun Ilbo - Now do taxi drivers watching DMB
- S. Korea curbs minors' YouTube appearances, content
- Dark side of internet broadcasting
- Police vow intensive crackdown on possessors of digital sexual abuse materials
- More expats have their voices heard in Korea
- [Reporter's Notebook] Can English names break hierarchy in Shinhan?
- Mascot for policewomen to become more gender neutral
- Thousands of Vietnamese take Samsung GSAT
- 30-Year Investigation of Hwaseong Serial Killings End
- New system of military service begins
- Green onion-flavored cereal: 'consumer-powered' product goes viral in Korea - Goes viral perhaps, but the taste is absolutely disgusting. I tried all the ways I could think of or read about to eat it: dry in my hand, with milk, in soups, crushed and sprinkled on salads, everything. In the end this is just a product that doesn't know what it is and doesn't have a real life use case except for being a novelty. So if you bought a box, don't open it. Just hold on to it for another 15 years and sell high on nostalgia buying.
- U+프로야구(모든 통신사 이용가능) - Google Play 앱 - American MLB baseball games can be streamed for free with this app
Business, tech, etc. links
- 네이버 바이브(VIBE), 애플워치 탑재 | Bloter.net - Naver Vibe (streaming music service) is expanding and now works on Apple Watch
- ‘한때 국민메신저’ 네이트온, 업무용 탈바꿈한다 | Bloter.net - Classic Korean messenger app NateOn is repositioning itself as a business-focused messenger. I remember using this with my coworkers when I first arrived here, and getting it to work on Pidgen with a plugin made by some random Korean blogger Linux enthusiast. Now we just use KakaoTalk mostly.
- "한 휴대폰에 2개 번호, 어디에 쓸까?"...KCT, 휴대폰 eSIM서비스 출시 | Bloter.net - Carriers are adopting eSIM support so you can have two phone numbers on the same phone but really this mostly benefits IoT devices to more easily gain cell network internet access.
- [카카오맵 APP] 교통약자 이동 경로 안내 서비스 오픈! - | 카카오맵 공식 블로그 - This is nice. Kakao Map has expanded information for subway stations for people with disabilities.
- 싸이월드 '미니홈피' 느낌을 살린 백업 앱이 등장했다 | Bloter.net - Cyworld gave people plenty of notice that their "mini homepages" were being taken down but apparently nobody listened until it actually happened and then people freaked out at losing that precious precious data like the cheesy mini avatar they made of themselves back in 2003. Apparently a backup app has been built but who knows if it will still function today.
- Foreigners face barriers in crypto exchanges
- Kakao testing new office version of chat app with higher security
- Naver prepares to take on Facebook, Google in e-commerce
- GS E&C introduces Boston Dynamics Spot robot at construction sites
- Five years of Google for Startups in Korea
- Google Korea pays W600b in penalty tax: sources
- Korea’s 50 Richest 2020: More Than Half The Country’s Wealthiest Takes A Hit Amid The Pandemic - Cry me a river.
- KakaoTalk has more users than Naver, says a June analysis : The DONG-A ILBO - It's too bad Naver never really broke into the chat market. Kakao really benefited from being in the right place at the right time with KakaoTalk as soon as 3G service came online. Naver should have pushed LINE more but that's history.
- Posco distributes smartwatches for safety of steel mill workers
- LG set to release 'rollable' phone next year - LG just going all out wild this year with crazy phone designs, hoping something will stick.
- Korean Edtech startup Riiid launches AI education solutions in America
- 세상 편리한 유플러스 PASS(패스) 앱, 모바일 운전면허증 등록하는 방법은? - The PASS app is going to be your best friend soon. All personal identity verification will be tied to it and it's very easy to use but you must have your phone number tied to your personal ID. It won't work correctly if you're using a phone under another's name (for now). This is why you should never offer to get text message verification for someone abroad wanting to play Korean games.
- Google Nest Hub and Nest Mini now available in South Korea
- Real-time noise levels now available through online map
- Samsung inks W8tr 5G equipment deal with Verizon - It's pretty amazing to me Korea doesn't more promote the fact that the American ban on Chinese telecom equipment is hugely good news for Korea.
- Gov't to Set Up Investigation Committee for Self-driving Car Accidents | Be Korea-savvy
- FTC imposes W1b fine on Naver’s real estate service - The competition between these two is really heating up. Who will be Google and who will be Bing?
- Naver and Kakao to offer digital driver's license service this year - Already active for many people. I haven't bothered yet.
- KT aiming for serving robots across Mad for Garlic restaurant chain | ZDNet
- South Korean Crypto Exchange Coinbit Raided Over Allegations of Wash Trading: Report - CoinDesk
- Exclusive: First look at the LG Wing dual-display phone - Android Authority
- 국내 최초 주차로봇 ‘나르카’, 부천에서 첫 선 | Bloter.net - Don't bother parking. Let this little platform robot do it for you.
- Kim & Chang hidden beneficiary of Anbang's lawsuit
- 카카오모빌리티, 정장 입은 대리기사 보내주는 ‘대리 프리미엄’ 출시 | Bloter.net - Use the Kakao T app to order a substitute driver to take you home after one too many drinks. Better yet, order a premium driver who shows up in a suit, tie, and gloves and probably offers you a mint or something.
- [안내] 네이버 인증서 소개 및 사용법 : 네이버 블로그 - Guide to setting up a Naver-account-based identify certification. This process is slowly but actually fairly rapidly replacing the old bank certificate based identity verification process. This is apparently being baked into Naver's Whale browser too so soon, simply logging in to Whale (your Naver account) will be enough to authenticate you for online purchases, bill paying, etc. Soon we will look back in horror and disbelief at the hoops we had to go through before this sea change.
- 대한민국을 응원합니다! 독도 거리뷰 (8/12) : 네이버 블로그 - Dokdo streetview imagery is updated again. Take a virtual tour.
- Digital driver’s license app users reach 1 million
- Clova Lamp is an AI-powered light that reads books to children
- KT launches cloud-based game streaming service
- S. Korea's main gateway in Incheon to test robot parking service
- Top Reason Why Naver Could Make Your Life Easy
- Samsung Launches Mobile Device Care Service in S. Korea | Be Korea-savvy
- Patent Court’s Written Rulings to be Translated into English | Be Korea-savvy
- Naver's research lab uses AR technology and robot for 3D indoor map data
- Insurers sell real estate ahead of new accounting rules
- SK Telecom to Launch Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Game Service in S. Korea | Be Korea-savvy
- 'RE100' emerges as new risk for Korean firms
- SM CEO confirms they've secured 100 billion investment from Naver - DAILY NAVER Seems like Naver is getting more serious about their role in the massive Korean entertainment biz. Ripe for export but get on that train guys.
- KT, '버림 도난 감지' AI 영상분석 서비스 출시 | Bloter.net - Dump trash illegally? AI CCTV will catch you.
- “눈 돌아가는 거 다 보여!” 시선추적으로 컨닝 막는다 | Bloter.net Cheat on a test? AI CCTV will catch you.
- 카카오, 다음 검색 최적화 돕는 '다음 웹마스터 도구 베타' 공개 | Bloter.net - Daum Webmaster Tools makes it easier to ensure your site is listed on Daum/Kakao search results
- South Korea's 1st military satellite enters geostationary orbit
- Netflix Set to Further Boost Presence in S. Korea via Partnership with KT | Be Korea-savvy
- All eyes on W80bln Bithumb tax dispute
- Naver's cloud unit launches new cloud service
- South Korean Naver, which provides Line app, pulls out of Hong Kong to come to S'pore - Mothership.SG - News from Singapore, Asia and around the world
- Cars, a cocktail and a celebrity: South Koreans succumb to Tesla fever | Reuters
- 네이버PC방 전용웨일 신청 접수 > 자유게시판 | 대한민국 인터넷 동맥 (사)한국인터넷PC문화협회 - Special version of Naver Whale browser released for PC Bangs. Features heightened security, phishing/virus protect, admin management. Only for Windows. Looks like a way to target older Win 7 era desktops that lose MS update support.
If you read this far you're probably one of my very few regular readers. I've been pretty busy lately and just don't have the energy or desire to post too much in this blog. I get ideas, but then realize how much work it would be to actually make detailed and thorough posts and I'd rather just game or watch Netflix when I finally get home.
The views for these links posts never go beyond about 150 anyway so maybe I ought to just post these to Twitter instead of this link-roundup type format.
Finally, if you're bored, check out this sci-fi series SF8. It's like a Korean version of Black Mirror, but much less bleak in a way because the focus is like most Korean dramas mostly on family interaction and 정 and the sci-fi dystopia stuff is mostly a background for that, but it makes for interesting results. I've been enjoying the series. There's only 8 episodes and I'm up to #6 at the moment. A surprising among of girl-on-girl love for a series too. I thought maybe this was a boundary-pushing thing but on second thought realized it may just be playing to the demographic that likely watches a show like this. Anyway it's worth checking out.
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