Internet Vs Society - Blaming the Wrong One Again

An article has come out at The Korea Times and also Hancinema, about how certain information that exists online is causing problems for people and their reputation. The article talks mainly about a few celebrities who have had their comments or videos found and criticized by netizens, causing problems for them and their agencies.

It then mentions the "Right-to-be-forgotten Bill", a bill that is apparently being negotiated in Europe, allowing users to demand that social media websites erase their information when they ask and if the sites don't need them for a good reason. The users need to be informed when their data is stored, how and for how long.

Now, while this would sound like a good idea, as companies tend to get a bit too liberal with how they use our data, I feel this is not the solution for privacy here or in Korea and that this bill would have many negative consequences.

The problem is, a lot of criminals can also be tracked by their online data. Not only that, but online data can also be evidence to a crime or an intention. And especially Korean netizens (antis, stalkers) should really be tracked. The information should be kept, but it's who controls it and how that's the problem.

Doomsday Book - English Teaser

For the readers who don't follow me on Twitter. Here is the teaser for "Doomsday Book" made for foreign markets. It's the same thing, but the texts are in English and there are subtitles.

Big thanks to TheMovieBox.Net for it and to Kobiz for retweeting.

I will replace this with a Youtube link as soon as it's out.

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

I don't always care for this day. Not because I'm a single bitch. I love people being in love and although I envy them, I'm happy for them.

I know most crazy fangirls and spiteful nerds and such people (the real bitches) won't understand. You want the rest of the world to be as miserable as you.

The reason I dislike this is because it's a day about spending money. Not for all, but for many. I believe that, if you love a person, you don't need a specific day to "prove" it. You shouldn't need one and shouldn't only show it then.

But some people do celebrate this the right way. They do something special and symbolic. They don't try to "prove" their love just because of the day. They simply take a moment to relax from the difficulties of this busy life and appreciate each other. And that type of celebrating is always wonderful.

So, to all truly good people with love in their hearts, be it involved or single, Happy Valentine's Day. Appreciate the people you have and don't despair if you don't have someone. Life changes in the blink of an eye.

In Finland, they call this "Friend's Day" (Ystävänpäivä). So, be it a relative, a friend, a lover or even a pet, give them a nice warm hug.

Korean People Have Sex - The End is Nigh!

"Were you just sighing while thinking of "the deed", missy!?"

Bitching about sex-related things is as good a post as any, for Valentine's Day.

Me and my fellow "evil westerner" Ethlenn had to troll a post recently. It was on an article about how 1 in 10 teenagers in Korea have had sex... Which, apparently, is a huge shocking number for the country.

Well, maybe it's shocking to the people who had to get their entire town to bless the wedding before it happened, 60 years ago. Maybe it's shocking to shut-in nuns. Maybe they're just pulling people's leg in hopes they actually stop being normal and having sex because they want them deprived, frustrated and overcompensating that with material goods and surgeries.

Who knows...

What was extremely ridiculous and disgusting about that poll, is that according to it, poor people are more promiscuous than children of rich families. Hmmm. So, 1 in 10 have sex in highschool, and not many rich kids say they had done it.

Well, let's see why poor children might be more inclined to be honest about their sexual activities than rich ones. Rich children are treated like superior beings. They have to be perfect, in every way, and that includes controlling these pesky things called feelings and wishes and sexuality, because those get in the way of greatness.

So tell me now. Is it that poor kids are bigger sluts or that the smart and afraid rich kids would not admit it? And since it's 1 out of 10 here, you can be damn sure many more did not admit to having had sex. I hate to break it to you, "lost my virginity, conceived and had my first and last sex in one day" mommies or you fossils who wouldn't know love if it bit you in your decaying privates, but people have sex.

And it may have been so long for you that you've forgotten, but teenagers are the most horny and susceptible to temptation beings on the planet. If you'd like to think they can be "educated" or stopped, you really are a bunch of morons.

Imageshack Policy Change - Just ACTA Naturally

Just when I had gotten my writing heat and nice mood back.

Imageshack just changed their policy. I need to make a Premium account or I can only have 500 pictures there. Everything 500+ will be erased by March 1... You know, I don't blame them for doing it, but after the lousy customer service they have, when their blog and support community and e-mail support have been silent and deprived of any company individuals showing signs of life for a whole YEAR, I thought they would make a smooth transition.

Maybe users who already have 500+ pics could keep them and need a Premium account to host any more. They are basically forcing their users to pay up or get their over-500 pics and go. Meaning they have to store them elsewhere and if they use them in blog posts, like I do, go to every older post and change the urls.

That's unacceptable customer blackmail service.

There is one saving grace though. I just sent them an e-mail about how to download all my extra images and they told me they're working on a tool for bulk download. So, at least users who don't plan to make an account will be able to get all their pictures out without doing it one by one. According to the e-mail, and if I did understand correctly, the images will not be deleted before that. So, free users with over 500 pictures will have time to store them in their hard drive.

But I don't have the time, knowledge or energy to host them in my own server or something, neither do I have time to take 300+ pics (I have 900+) and try to put them elsewhere. And where? All sites have restrictions now. So, I'll pay and get a Premium Pro account, hoping that they will be a bit better on the customer service part this time. But hey, they answered my e-mail right away. I didn't get the same courtesy a few weeks, e-mails and forum posts back so I guess they're improving.

The internet is getting messed up, people. ACTA, SOPA and any other CRAPA they create are giving users less and less freedoms and scaring half the businesses into changing their policies or then give some of them (the big ones) the arrogance to abuse their users. I don't know if Imageshack did this in light of ACTA and SOPA, because they go after all these services, but the timing is certainly unnerving.

So, next time you want to say the internet is safe or that some of us are overreacting about these regulations, look around at what's happening online.

Playing with Werdz - Killing Time

I am trying to write an article, but the distractions are many.

So, I just made a gag picture while I'm at it. Got my writing heat back.

Funny enough, this is kind of how it works with celebrities in Asia. One day you're the trend and everyone loves you and then you're forgotten, in favor of the next "flower boy" or plastic-fantastic aegyo-powered bimbo.

Doomsday Book - Where Is Your Sci-Fi, Korea?

If you only want info, pictures and a teaser for the movie and don't care for the second part of the title up there, click here.

I actually discovered this movie called "Doomsday Book" by accident, as we all usually discover most of the things we might like or not. I was browsing through the M-Line Distribution website, looking for an update on the release of Camellia and I saw this title. When I clicked on it, I saw the poster and immediately, two thoughts popped into in my head. "I, Robot" and "Documentary".

The first is pretty self-explanatory, if you look at the poster. Upon closer inspection, the design is different in some ways, but that was probably the first thought of anyone who has watched that movie.

Marry Me, Mary (No One Else Will)

"Just smile and pretend this series doesn't suck. Maybe they'll believe us."

It's no secret that I really dislike Jang Keun Suk. I've said it plenty of times. I was originally a die-hard fan, after watching "You're Beautiful" and for a few months. When he slowly started turning into a one-man circus act minus the talented performances, I was one of those who defended him and thought it was a phase. Or maybe that he was trying to get in touch with his bimbo side for a role.

Alas, the bimbo side came and stayed, to this very day. "Marry Me, Mary" was the milestone of that change. Or rather, the final nail to the coffin of any respect or admiration I had left for him.

"Great!", you'll say. "You just don't like the guy, but maybe the series is good!". Well, I hate to disappoint you (no I don't), but nah. Watching this show is like drinking gasoline. It tastes like crap and you get sicker the more you drink. Not that I've ever done that, but the few episodes of this series I watched did make me want to set myself on fire, just to have something interesting happen.

Public Vs. Cable TV in Korea - Shameless Demands

Some news came out recently, about a fight between cable channel operators and the public TV channels of KBS, MBC, and SBS. The short version is, these channels broadcast their shows through cable channel operators, reaching people nationwide, without the limitations of terrestrial broadcasting.

Up until a point, the cable channels did not pay any money to these 3 stations, to re-broadcast their shows. But it seems the public channels got greedy and demanded they receive a fee for their programs being shown on cable. A fee quite larger than what cable was already willing to pay.

That's a demand the cable operators were refusing, and very rightfully so.

"We held an emergency executive meeting Monday morning and decided to cease airing KBS 2 programs at 3 p.m"., KCTA secretary general Choi Jong-sam said. "Our subscribers will be double-burdened if cable TV operators are forced to pay fees for retransmitting terrestrial programs produced by KBS, which collects 2,500 won ($2.17) in monthly license fees from each household"

See, terrestrial stations make more money when cable airs their shows. And then they demanded even more.

"Before the agreement, broadcasters insisted that cable operators pay 280 won for each subscriber, stressing that cable operators should pay for airing their programs.

But cable stations were only willing to offer 100 won, saying they should be able to transmit terrestrial shows free of charge as the retransmission helps broadcasters reach a broader audience and boosts their advertising revenue."