McRib (not) in Korea

As far as I know, the famed McRib sandwich is so far unavailable in Korea, although some other "tropical" sort of possibly-pork product was available last week at a competing restaurant. This went by the name "Hawaiian Baby" and I can vouch for it indeed tasting like what a baby born of those islands might taste like.

That the McRib itself is nowhere to be found here is based both on my own personal observations and the McRib Locator app, the comments for which are particularly enlightening on the subject:

Love this. Never had one, but F^<# Michelle Osama and her food. Commie b!↑c#.

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Android Gmail count out of sync with Desktop Gmail

PROBLEM:
Gmail on your Android phone shows there are 5 unread messages in your inbox:

Inbox (5)

But looking at the message list, no matter how many times you refresh, you still only see 1 or 0 unread messages. Meanwhile, messages you deleted from Android Gmail may show up again as unread on desktop email. This is not a big deal, but annoying.

SOLUTION:
So simple, I felt dumb for not thinking of it sooner.

1. Disable the sync feature of the phone (Settings -> Accounts and sync)
2. Go to where you can "Manage" the Gmail app (for me, it's Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications) *NOT* the settings inside the Gmail app
3. Press the "Clear Data" button.
4. Re-enable sync.
5. Done.

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pyRenamer - The BEST linux file renamer

I had downloaded various parts of video files, but all with different filenames. I wanted something similar to my favorite Windows renamer, Ant Renamer, but on my Lubuntu machine. I tried pyRenamer and it was flawless. Super simple controls, full file name previews, speedy renames, and a wide variety of options.

I liked it so much, I decided to post some screenshots here to illustrate the options available.

You can also see a video of pyRenamer in action here, along with more details. 

Perhaps best of all, it is already in the Ubuntu repositories, so just run sudo apt-get install pyrenamer to install it. I give it two thumbs up.

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Update Samsung Sens x05 to Windows 7

I had tried updating a Samsung Sens x05 notebook computer to Windows 7, but each time during the installation process, an blue screen error would come up saying:

The BIOS in this system is not fully ACPI compliant. Please contact your system vendor for an updated BIOS.

After checking the Samsung website, I (sadly) discovered that I was already running the latest version of the BIOS (which had come out around 5 years ago!).

But don't give up!

As it turns out, the solution was very simple.

You just need to disable a feature called "Speed Step Technology" also knows as the "Intel Geyserville III function." In your BIOS settings, change this value to "Disabled" and retry the Windows 7 installation process. Here's what it looks like:

After that, no problems. Other tutorials exist online showing how to re-enable this feature after Windows 7 is fully installed and working, but I honestly haven't seen any reason to try to re-enable it.

My one negative experience is that the computer can no longer hibernate or sleep. This seems a common problem on older hardware running Windows 7. If you can figure out how to get these working on this particular computer, let me know!

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Adblock Plus filter list for Korea

Problem:
You are tired of the disgusting magnified nose pore photos and flashing before-and-after surgery flash animations that completely cover the webpage when viewing news articles on Korean portals. You're a fan of Adblock Plus (Chrome and Firefox), but they don't list any available filter lists for Korea when you install.

Solution:
Add this custom filter list to your Adblock Plus subscriptions:

Source: https://code.google.com/p/adblock-korea/

Happy surfing.

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Cold Eyes

Dear Korean film industry,

Please stop trying to make artsy titles for your movies. Literal translations are fine. If it's good enough for Korea, it's good enough for us. "The Monitors" or "The Watchers" or even "The Observers" would be fine titles; interesting and also indicative of what sort of plot we can expect. Yes, even "Stake Out" would be better (if not best). 

Cold Eyes? I'm already not interested. It sounds like the unpleasant sensation I would feel if I were forced to watch this. 

Source: http://wftrok.com/2013/05/18/cold-eyes-for-a-hot-summer

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KakaoHome available for Android

Problem:
Your phone home screen is boring. You like the "chat heads" feature of Facebook Home, but otherwise don't like Facebook Home. Also, you live in Korea and everyone uses KakaoTalk anyway (annoyingly)

Solution:
Install "Kakao Home" on your ICS or higher phone. Though I have no idea why you'd want to.


KakaoHome - on Google Play

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Bike Rental in Yeosu

Near the site of the Yeosu Expo, there is a bicycle rental place near the road to 오동도 island. It is about a 10 minute walk from Yeosu Expo Station if you are travelling via train. They rent normal single person bikes and tandem "couple" bikes at $6~$8/hour. Riding leisurely through the expo grounds, to the island, and around the waterfront on the opposite side of the tunnel is a fun way to pass an afternoon there.

Here's a photo, taken after closing time, so normally there will be bikes out in front:

Here's a Google Maps link to the location: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.74081,127.754061

Ride through this tunnel and pay a visit to the interesting Hamel Museum.

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Japanese commenters on the WSJ's "Korea Realtime"

Check out the comments from this article:

Comments (3 of 3)

3:17 pm March 1, 2013
Anonymous wrote: 
Eliminate the Korean thieves in Takeshima 

-

12:27 pm March 1, 2013
Anonymous wrote:
Same thing seen in Samesung vs Apple or POSCO vs Nippon Steel. Koreans are known thieves.

-

11:09 am March 1, 2013
Bring out the hatchet wrote:
It’s time for M$ to use the ISD clause in the FTA to put the unruly Koreans into line.

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Top 5 Annoying Tech Issues in Korea

Because all of these REALLY annoy me, and small explanations for those who may not be aware, I present the Top 5 Annoying Tech Issues in Korea:

1. Active X in all its glorious forms.
   As SSL security methods are not used here, all online transactions must be handled through individual site plug-ins. Meaning once you proceed to check-out, you have to install 400 damn stupid little plug-ins, then repeat your order all over again. Grr. Until recently, this required the use of Windows and Internet Explorer, but nowadays plug-in frames are available for Mac, and Chrome/FF on Windows, but suck it Linux users. If only we'd voted for this guy.
2. Flash.
   The most important and necessary Korean websites that foreigners would find useful, aside from lacking English information, contain nearly all their Korean text in images or Flash animations/menus. Thus, one cannot simply pass the page through an online translator. Perhaps this made sense 15 years ago when browser text encodings were screwy, but there's really no excuse today. Apparently they haven't heard of Unicode/UTF.
3. No Right-click.
   Most Korean portal-hosted sites, particularly blogs and cafes, employ bizarre Javascripts that prevent or severely limit your ability to right-click on their sites. There are browser extensions to counteract this, but it is an unnecessarily annoying practice at the least. It reminds me of pens that are tied to the desk at the bank, except if there were infinite pens, all tied there. 
4. Android Market restrictions.
   I don't know about iPhone, but Korea places several restrictions on what can be accessed in the Market. Until recently, all Games were banned under the guise of being "unrated." Yet today, features of Google Maps such as Latitude, Check-ins (oddly still available in the G+ app), and Location History are blocked, citing "Privacy Concerns." The same applies to the Android app version of Google Earth. Other Google products (Music, Voice, etc) have at least semi-legitimate reason to be unavailable.
5. Porn Warn.
   Nearly all porn is blocked at the IP level, so changing your DNS is not enough. A VPN or proxy is required. As if Koreans weren't tech-savvy enough to figure this out. 

What do all of these have in common?
They are all meant to annoy you, while offering either no, or highly arguable, benefit.

End rant.

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Jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 on MC series iPod Touch (bought in Korea)

If, like me, you have an old iPod lying around and want to make use of it, read on:

I bought an iPod Touch (2G) (Model #MC086KH/A) in Korea a few years ago. After finally getting an Android phone, I didn't have much use for it anymore, and I nearly forgot about it in my desk. I recently rediscovered it, to find that it can only be updated to iOS 4.2.1. At less than iOS 4.3, there aren't many decent apps that can be used with it.

There is a custom firmware called whited00r, but it only works with the MB-series models of the 2G iPod Touch.
At least wanting to jailbreak it, I discovered that most modern jailbreak methods no longer support the older iOS versions. However, I had success using this method on Lifehacker.

So now, through a combination of Veency (on the iPod) and Android VNC Viewer on the android phone, I have the iPod permanently attached to a set of speakers above my refrigerator, and can control it from anywhere in the house (including MP3 playback and, most commonly, streaming radio). There's an excellent and simple tutorial for accomplishing this here.

Nice way to bring an old piece of tech back to life. Hope this helps others as well!

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