Published inSOKO: South Korea·Oct 14, 2014Sirgoo-Lee’s Speech/Apology on KakaoTalkSirgoo-Lee has delivered what appears to be an apology-slash-official policy stance on user security, which by default is also a speech on user privacy. This is a significant moment for KakaoTalk the app, and IMO it’s a good thing that Daum Kakao is taking time to address this component of…4 min read4 min read
Published inThe Far East·Aug 5, 2014KakaoTalk-Taxi: What Uber Can’t AccomplishSo, there’s chatter that KakaoTalk is going to make way into the taxi brokering business as part of the “Sharing-Economy.” As previously noted, I personally don’t think that term accurately describes the monetization of having a business that brokers between taxi drivers and passengers. However, inserting KakaoTalk into this discussion…1 min read1 min read
Published inThe Far East·Jul 28, 2014Uber Korea Isn’t Part of the Sharing EconomyUber Korea Isn’t Part of the Sharing Economy I hate to distract from the uproar by the expat community on the news that Uber in Korea is being banned. But, I have a “philosophical” annoyance that I would like to address. I keep hearing it over-and-over. …3 min read3 min read
Apr 28, 2014The Counterintuitive Nature of Actions: From Milgram to Sewole Reading through Kia Ma’s Time.com article about the sinking of the South Korean passenger ferry, I was slightly taken back by the Dallas Morning News comment on the event, which stated,“ If that was a boatload of American students, you know they would have been finding any and every…4 min read4 min read
Feb 26, 2014How Do You Measure a KakaoTalk User?After discussing with a Mr. XXX (a PhD student from a certain department at the UH) on the very hot topic of a 19 Billion dollar acquisition of WhatsApp, I thought a quick blog post was in order to tease out some things I’ve been mulling over about KakaoTalk. There…3 min read3 min read
Jan 25, 2014South Korean Broadband Speeds are Slowly Becoming UnintelligibleI have a 4G-LTE device that is capable under AT&T’s LTE network of around 15.52 Mbps in Honolulu, with a Max DL speed of around 45 Mpbs. That’s great for me at the moment. I can understand the speeds, as it relates to my own digital assets that I interact…3 min read3 min read
Dec 24, 2013Being American Means Never really having to Feel like you Have to Say SorryBeing American Means Never really having to Feel like you Have to Say Sorry? Target’s suffering a bit of a public relations crisis at the moment. The Dec.19th data breach means that around 40 million bank cards were hacked. The very next day, Target’s CEO Gregg Steinhafel created a 4-part…2 min read2 min read
Dec 4, 2013The DPRK is a Great ExampleSo, I really enjoyed this piece by the Council on Foreign Relations. At the heart of the article is a great example that ties together the marginal choices that North Korea is making between aid (rice, etc) and nuclear materials ;and the desperation and despair that people often forget that…2 min read2 min read
Nov 26, 2013Stop Talking About Dominant ChatappsKakaoTalk, Line, and WeChat are not mutually Exclusive Services There are two questions constantly gnawing at the heels of every IT writer as they ponder the implications of a increasingly disinterested youth population in traditional forms of social-networking services. One, why are they choosing more in-group based social media apps…2 min read2 min read
Published inI. M. H. O.·Nov 23, 2013South Korea and Estonias’ Suicide Rates: Is it Capitalism?The OECD Health at a Glace for 2013 report came out. One thing that’s pretty apparent from the data on suicide is that the great “divergence” that took place with Korea’s suicide rate is still holding strong vis-a-vis other countries like Japan and Greece.The culture of capitalism is sometimes attributed…2 min read2 min read