"21st Century Family" (21세기가족) download link

I'm usually not a fan of K-drama, but for this I made an exception.

"21st Century Family" (Korean title: 21세기 가족) is basically a Korean version of ABC's "Modern Family" and pretty funny. It features that wild old guy with the nice (fake) hair from those health insurance ads as the Jay (wealthy, conservative, cranky grandpa figure) and enough real humor to keep you interested. Of course there's the hot stay-at-home mom (aka Claire) with the childish husband (aka Phil) and the 1-son-2-daughters mix (dumb boy, hot slut daughter, smart daughter), and of course the grandpa married a much younger hotter woman (aka Gloria), but instead of the gay son there's an ugly slut daughter, though I would definitely do her don't get why she's ugly and her brother who basically is a manchild that still lives at home and despite his heart of gold fails at every job interview. I like American Modern Family, and I like this one too. The plot is different of course but still pretty funny. I like it because it's so unlike normal Korean melodrama.You'll forget that what you're watching is Korean. Or, it will make you think that Koreans aren't so different from "us" after all. Aww.

You can watch this show with burned-in subtitles on various streaming websites, but why be a chump? Just download the whole season at this link that someone *ahem* graciously put up.

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Google Maps Pokemon found in Korea

Today for April Fool's Day, Google Maps had a Pokemon challenge. As best I could find, there were two Pokemon to be found in Korea.

The first, which I found at Gangnam District Office in Seoul (map link), was Raichu. In my excitement to capture him, I only took a screen cap after he'd been caught:

 The second was Luxray, which I found while zooming around Busan. He was chilling in a park next to a statue of 송상현 (map link).

 

I tried this on my friend's phone (set to Korean language) but it didn't allow me to "Start" the chase, so I guess they hadn't translated the Pokedex into Korean?

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Korean maps on Google Map Gallery

Over at Google's new Map Gallery there are a few interesting old printed maps of Korea aligned and laid-over Google's maps. Hopefully more will appear in time. Check them out here:
https://maps.google.com/gallery/search?hl=en&q=korea

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RSS feeds for Waygook boards/threads

I sometimes browse Waygook.org to see what all the foreigners in Korea are complaining about now. Recently I discovered that you can actually get RSS feeds for most Waygook sections, which makes browsing much easier. I scroll through in my RSS reader on the subway, find something that looks interesting, then save it so that when I get home I can open my computer, log-in to Waygook, and leave disparaging comments. Then I log-in with my other account and troll my first account. Then I sit back and watch the feeding frenzy as everyone takes sides. Yes, minions, yes...

Here's the basic RSS feed URL:
http://www.waygook.org/index.php?type=rss&action=.xml&board=##

Just replace the ## with the number of the board you want to follow, which you can find by visiting that board on Waygook and checking the URL. For example, the Gyeonggi-do board is at
http://www.waygook.org/index.php?board=72.0 so the RSS feed for the board is http://www.waygook.org/index.php?type=rss&action=.xml&board=72

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Rooting your Android phone in Korea with Tegrak Kernel

PROBLEM:
You bought an awesome Samsung phone in Korea, and want to root it. But because it's the "Korean" version and not a US or International version, it's a pain in the butt. Custom ROMs like CyanogenMod don't seem to work. Fret not: here's the easiest way to do it.

SOLUTION:
In two words: Tegrak Kernel.

Disclaimer: Everything here is my personal opinion. I'm neither an Android developer nor paid endorser. I am just a guy who spent a hellofalotof time trying to figure this out. There could be an easier way out there. For me, this worked, and I hope it might work for you.

I'm not going to lie to you-- there is a huge variety of custom ROMs out there for Korean-model phones. The Korean developer community is, unsurprisingly, extremely prolific. But if you're like me, you don't really care about all variety of custom builds and wacky configurations and bleeding-edge features. Also, you don't read Korean. You just want your phone rooted so you can get rid of the bloatware and make it as speedy as possible.

Why choose Tegrak?

It works on almost all Samsung smartphones, from the humble Galaxy S1 to the Note and S4. I also like Tegrak because it's relatively low-risk: it is NOT a custom ROM per se. It's only a kernel, so you are still keeping whatever stock ROM your phone came with. In addition to giving you root, it has Overclock features and a Lagfix, though in my experience the lagfix is less noticeable on newer models.

How do I install it?

Basically the whole process boils down to this:

1. Download the files for your phone from the internet.
2. Install them via Odin (see below).
3. Install the Tegrek app from the Google Play Store.

That's it.

Tell me more, tell me more

What? You don't know what I'm talking about? Alright, I'll give you a bit more.

Step 1: Though there are many mirrors, hosts, fileshare lockers where you can find the files from a Google search, skip that crap and go to the source. Find your phone's model ("SHW-M110S" for example), and click through to that page. Scroll down.

See what he did here? There are multiple version of the Tegrak Kernel files, for each phone model and even for each Android version for each phone model. Therefore it's important that you PAY ATTENTION here. Don't go downloading any old "Tegrak Kernel Build" files. You need the ones for YOUR phone and YOUR Android stock software. So double-check that you're downloading the right files.

Scroll down to where the files are available for download (near the bottom of the page, just above the comments section. You'll see the little zip-file icons). Again, find the files for YOUR PHONE MODEL. Only the latest verisions will be displayed, so you might need to click the blue bar reading 이전 버전 다운로드 접기 to expand the list to see all the offerings. Check the end of the filename before downloading to make sure that it matches the software version displayed in your phone's "About Phone" (or similar) settings. You might not need (or even be able to use) the "latest build" but whatever.

Download the files. Note that some are in 2~3 pieces, so you might need to combine the files with 7zip after downloading.

Step 2: Shit just got real. Time to flash. You are going to need a copy of the Windows program Odin, which Tegrak conveniently makes available here:
http://pspmaster.tistory.com/attachment/cfile26.uf@250F504551E3A519103474.zip
This will allow you to flash the kernel files to your phone. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO DO THIS, AND ALSO THIS COULD BRICK YOUR PHONE but it always works for me so please do not complain if it does something wacky. If you are seriously in trouble, there is a lot of useful information at the XDA forums. Search there for your model number.

Turn off your phone and put it into recovery mode (I feel lazy, so Google it yourself to see how to do this; on mine it was holding down the Home button and Power button simultaneously).

Oh, by the way: You're going to need to Samsung USB drivers for your phone and you need to ensure that KIES is not running. How?

1. Install KIES. Somewhere there is a menu option for installing USB drivers. Do it.
2. Uninstall KIES. Done.

IT IS TIME. You might want to follow along visually by looking at the screenshots he provides.
Load the Tegrak Kernel files in the "PDA" option of Odin. Connect the phone (which is in recovery mode). The yellow light in Odin should show up. "Start" the process. Let it do it's magic for several minutes. When it's all done, the phone should reboot. Let it do it's thing. Don't get antsy. Hopefully, you're done.

Step 3 should be obvious. Note that there is a free version and a "donation" version. Both are identical except for ads in the app itself, which you will only likely use once. This guy has done an amazing job, so once the process is done (and you've used the free version to set it all up), please consider replacing the app with the Donation version (like I did). It's a couple bucks to bring new life to your phone (I used my prior phone, Galaxy S1, for over 3 years thanks to the speed boost from Tegrak).

Open the app, enable rooting, and feel the rush of power surge to your brain. Enable lagfix and enjoy a speedy phone. Enable overclock and burn a hole in your pants don't bother.

Final thoughts

Again I am NOT an Android developer. I'm just sharing what worked for me. Please do not ask me how to fix X, Y, or Z because I, like you, am just a normal guy who scoured the internet looking for information. XDA Forums have it. I hope this little guide was helpful.

Major props to Tegrak for making this possible. Donate to him, minions!

P.S. If, like me, you did all this and discovered that your Galaxy S1 now had very little space for installing apps (an unfortunate side-effect of the lagfix process), I recommend Matpclub Hackpunch. It plays nice with Tegrak and gave me a much larger install space.

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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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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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Enable "Google Latitude" in Korea

UPDATE 2013-06-22: The same features of Google Latitude are now available in the Google+ App, under the "Locations" sidebar. You'll need to enable location sharing to a specific Google+ circle, and your former Latitude friends will have to enable their location sharing to you, but it works much the same. 

UPDATE  2013-02-23: A nice replacement app for Latitude is Backitude, which gives greater control over location updates. This app will only report your location. For your own Location History, you'll need to install a modded version of the latest Maps version with "World Navigation" active. 

UPDATE  2013-02-19: Apparently as of Maps 6.14.2, Latitude is now removed even from the English interface. Buzz among Korean bloggers indicates that, at the moment, the method below must be done while assigned a US-based IP address (i.e. use a proxy or VPN).

===============

Problem:
You want to use Google Latitude to obsessively stalk your Korean boyfriend keep up with your friends, but the version of the Google Maps app (Android)  in Korea doesn't have the Latitude feature.

Solution:
It actually does, but it's disabled in the Korean settings. Here is how to make it work:

1. Switch the phone's overall system language from Korean to English.
2. "Settings" -> "Applications" -> "Manage applications" -> Maps
3. Hit the "Clear data" button
4. Hit "Uninstall" (if it says it will revert to the factory version, that's fine)
5. Go to Android Market aka Google Play Store. Reinstall Google Maps.
6. DO NOT ALLOW IT TO AUTOMATICALLY UPDATE, or you'll have to do this all over again every single time. I suggest changing Play Store's preferences to forbid any/all apps from auto-updating.
7. Open Maps, Launch Latitude, change settings to enable "Location Reporting" and to allow friends (you) to view that Location Data. "Location History" is unnecessary.
8. TURN OFF THE PHONE. TURN ON THE PHONE AGAIN, WHILE STILL IN ENGLISH. If you do not do this, Maps will revert to non-Latitude status when you change the language back to Korean.
9. Now launch Maps again. Verify Latitude is still working.
10. Change phone's language back to Korean. Done.

Note that although Latitude will not appear in Maps anymore (because it's set back to Korean), the location will still be reporting and be visible to your Latitude friends or your Latitude dashboard. This can be verified by checking the phone's "Running Services."
Note also that this will only succeed in reporting the phone's location. It will not, so long as it is set to Korean, allow you to view your friends' locations.

Now when your boyfriend calls you at 3am, slurredly says he doesn't know where he is, then passes out drunk, you can go fetch him easily. Just be aware that Latitude updates rather infrequently, so the room-salon his location is reporting may only be where he was an hour ago. Thus, you are advised to check the local gutters in a half-mile radius, lest he end up on this site.

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Right-click on Korean websites that block it

Problem:
You want to copy or highlight text from a Korean blog/website, or right-click to save an image from it, but the site prevents you from right-clicking.

Solution:
I use this simple add-on for Firefox. One click on this non-obtrusive button in the tool-bar, and the page reloads will full right-click and highlight privileges.

RightToClick :: Add-ons for Firefox

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Use NateOn with Pidgin 2.10

Problem:
You want to use NateOn (South Korea's most popular instant messaging program), but you already use AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, etc.

Solution:
Use Pidgin (multi-platform, multi-protocol IM client) to consolidate your IM accounts, including your NateOn account by downloading and installing the pidgin-nateon plugin.

Source:
http://blog.kaisyu.com/2011/08/pidgin-2100.html

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