Monday, October 27, 2008

Perfect way to improve test scores

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: "<a href='http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1303'>
<img src='http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20081002.gif'></a>"



Sunday, October 26, 2008

Three Alley Pub Itaewon

Three Alley Pub Itaewon

I've heard a lot about Three Alley Pub, so my wife and I stopped in tonight. The place was smokey and the chairs were uncomfortable. What do I expect from a pub? I was just hoping to get some decent pub food. I got an OB (yeah, I know, but I'm cheap) and my wife got a Long Island Ice Tea. The OB was great, but the LIT tasted like sewage. A blind monkey could have poured better. LITs are easy to make. I don't know how they messed that up.

We with the drink in hand, we decided it was best to order one entree and see how they did. We got the Beef and Guinness Stew. It was pretty good, but pretty obvious that the sauce from either from a can or mix and the potatoes and meat were added later. The bread served with it was really good. Actually, the bread made the meal. We decided not to risk another order, so we hit some street food and Cold Stone on the way home.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Seoul Eats: Review: Hamburgers in Seoul

Seoul Eats: Review: Hamburgers in Seoul

There are 2 kinds of Americans in Korea who aren't looking for good burgers: (1) vegetarians, and (2) those who were locked in a closet for 20+ years before being shipped to Korea (I've met a few of the latter).

This why Daniel Gray's research into where to get good burgers is so welcomed. These days I might have one or two days a month that I can go out into the world (beyond my neighborhood) and enjoy a good meal. Most of the time, I am looking for meat. Occasionally, I get hamburgers on the brain and can't relax until I satisfy that hunger. I've been unsatisfied for a long time.

On a suggestion that came either directly or indirectly from Daniel Gray, I went to the #1 on his list, Wolfhound. It was certainly the best burger that I've had in Korea. I was a little disappointed in the meat as it had a lot of filler and tasted more like a meaty meatloaf than a burger. I followed up with Daniel and he recommended the Corner Bistro and Tony's Aussie Bar and Bistro for places that offer a plain meat (can we say that about hamburger?) patty and a good bun. I'll have to give them a try.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Caffeine Curve

The Caffeine Curve

Love the graphic and it's so true.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Gal to Gal Virtual Walk 2008

Gal to Gal Virtual Walk 2008

This is virtual walk to support people with stage IV breast cancer. It is a great organization and a nice twist on traditional "walks". The cost is $5, but you can give as much as you'd like. The money goes towards programs to help families through this very difficult, and sometimes drawn out, experience.

If you'd like to join the walk, join my group "Global Walkers" and we can walk together.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Super ex

YouTube - Super ex

Funny and rather true. I hate to spread the hate for ex pat teachers, but whatcha' gonna do?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

YouTube to McCain: You Made Your DMCA Bed, Lie in It

YouTube to McCain: You Made Your DMCA Bed, Lie in It

Repeat after me, "Karmic Justice." The McCain campaign has been getting their advertisements pulled down left and right since many contain clips from other sources (CBS for example). These are certainly fair use examples, but the way that the DMCA works, it makes no difference in the initial take down request.

I don't know McCain's history with the DMCA. Not many voted against it, so I assume he voted for it. I'm not even happy that it's happening to him. I'm just happy that it's happening to someone in government. Maybe now that they've been screwed by it as many others have, it will get fixed.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Glassbooth - Quiz to help you choose best 2008 presidential candidate

Glassbooth - Quiz to help you choose best 2008 presidential candidate

This is a cool site. There is a 2-part quiz. The first quiz seems useless when you are doing it, but it informs the second part that measures the strength of your opinion on these issues. The first part measures how important to you different categories of issues are. You assign values until you use up all of your "points". I think that this makes you focus on which issues you care about and how much. The second part is a Likert scale from strongly disagree (oppose) to strongly agree. The statements are based on general differences in policy proposals/support from politicians.

The result pairs you with politicians and tells you how well you match. I was 87% Nader. I'm not surprised. I've even voted for him in the past (I'm a 3rd party guy). It's tough who to identify with when you are middle of the road. Also not surprisingly I was a 65% match with Obama and 33% with McCain. That about sums up my opinion on all of them :)

Obviously, there is more to think about than how well you match overall.

Is college worth it?

Is college worth it? -- chicagotribune.com

This is a great article in that it brings home something that many educators have been saying for years, "Why go to college"?

This isn't to say, at the article also states, that there aren't great reasons to go to college, including broadening horizons, meeting people from diverse backgrounds, and a little something called education. However, the return on investment isn't what it once was. They often cite salaries of people who go into business-related fields, but not those in social services. Those in business are easily making $50,000+ relatively soon after graduate. They will pay off their debts. Those other professions, though, make much less and will likely need to get advanced degrees to bridge the gap even slightly.

We need students to begin making these calculations on their own. Return on investment isn't just about money, but to be in debt for 20 years is a terrible existence. This is beginning to drive lower-cost alternatives and will change the educational landscape over the next decade (yes, that soon).

As I near the end of my formal education (I swear I'm done after this phd), I have to say that it's been pretty good to me. I'm comfortable, I'm saving a little money, and I have a generally rosey outlook on life. In order to get this, though, I've had to go through years of graduate work that was bartered for office and teaching work at the universities I attended.

I wish someone had sat me down when I was 17 and laid this out for me. I can't say that I would have done anything differently (I just wanted to party after high school and college was the best place to do it), but I might have save me (more so my parents) a little money by making different decisions. By the time my own son is preparing for post K-12 life, I don't even think this will be an issue. It will be part of a well-worn system by then. At least I hope so. Have 2 of "the talks" is just too much.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

$1000 Of Stock


$1000 Of Stock
Originally uploaded by sandossu

Too funny picture and commentary. I don't know if would be as funny if I had invested $1000.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

JALT Conference 2008

The Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) contacted me about advertising their conference at the end of the month (OCT 31). I was happy to do so. It's a great organization and I just wish I could go myself. Please see the picture below for more information or go to their website at http://jalt.org/

Hey Sarah Palin (with lyrics/subtitles)

YouTube - Hey Sarah Palin (with lyrics/subtitles)

This much be a music day for me. This is hilarious (thanks Jared). It is a commentary on Sarah Palin to the tune of "Hey There Delilah". This is tooooooo funny. Listen to the lyrics.

A E I Love U - EV Boys newest

YouTube - A E I Love U

It's difficult to follow up on classics (in this case, Kickin' it in Gumcheon), but this is certainly fun too. It's the kind of thing that foreigners in Korea (particularly English teachers) can appreciate. The most memorable line is (and I'm paraphrasing) "she won't take me home, because he dad hates waeguks (foreigners)".

If you call me names, I'll kill myself.

More Limits Planned on Internet Anonymity

Please don't get me wrong, I take suicide very seriously. It is a grave issue, and nearly what I would consider an epidemic in Korea, with one of the highest suicide rates in the world. However, the big brother approach to suicide prevention is misguided.

The Korean government already requires "real name" registration on many of the largest websites. The intent is to stifle rumors (false ones) by holding people accountable for their posts. Korea is one of the few countries in the world where this kind of policy would actually work (in a limited way). The Korean tech industry in insular. Local internet companies rule the roost, with foreign companies in distant, distant 2nd/3rd/etc (witness Naver's success within Korea). In most other countries, laws like this would be laughed off as citizen flocked to companies outside of Korea. Here, however, this has a real impact.

Does it really work? Obviously not or else they wouldn't be still talking about it. While it certainly dampens the rumor-mill, it doesn't mussle it. Now they are going after smaller sites in an attempt to further clamp down. This will fail. There is no hesitancy in my conviction. It will fail.

Like most misguided, heavy-handed approaches to governance, this policy hurts the innocent more than the culprits. It will stop the political dissenters, the whistle-blowers, and those who have been wronged. It will provide fodder for laughable libel laws that prevent people from warning the public against real dangers: corrupt politicians, criminal businesses and business people, and even harmful products (see recent melanin scare).

These public figures are not committing suicide because of online rumors. They are committing suicide because they are sick. They need medical/psychiatric attention, not post-suicide ramblings against name-callers. They need for society to quit looking for others to blame and get people with problems to help. Choi Jin-sil, as the article pointed out, told at least two people that she was going to kill herself. Sometimes signs that people are thinking about suicide are difficult to see, but you've got to be kidding me! She could have walked down the street with a sign saying I'm going home to hang myself and not been clearer.

Instead of suppressing everyone's free speech, let's start by educating the public on what to look for and how to help people with suicidal thoughts. Instead of millions in oversight for monitoring discussion groups, try spending it on building awareness of mental health and changing public perception of getting mental help?

EDIT - I found this shortly after publishing. At least someone out there is looking at the issue (though not directly related) in a rational light. More rational than me for that matter. Check out the editorial here.