Afraid of Your Smartphone? You're in Good Company

Today, it is almost strange to see someone without a smartphone in hand, uncomfortable to be in a place where there is no WiFi, and unnerving to imagine a day without Google. Humans worldwide have become so dependent on the Internet that some don’t know what to do with themselves if they are not online. It's how they get their everyday jobs done; how they learn, read, figure things out; how they connect with others in their daily lives. But while there are billions of people who heavily rely on the Internet as a main resource for jobs, daily tasks, and communication, there are hundreds of sub-cultures that do not wish to connect with others online. This article will explore some of those sub-cultures and the possible reasons that technology may not feature in their everyday lives.



They Just Don't Know
For one, some people don’t use social media networks like Facebook or Twitter, use a smartphone or computer, or even use the Internet at all simply because they don’t know how. Some people just don’t have the resources to get onto the Internet; some have never even heard of it. Have you seen the movie Avatar? Pre-industrial societies like the Navi do indeed exist in small corners of the human world, and for them, the Internet may seem like something akin to interstellar flight or cold fusion to us. But for those who have access to the Internet and or smartphones and just don’t know what they’re doing will sometimes just give up and result back to a more simpler way of dealing with social interaction, like, you know, in person.

Private People
Some people want to protect their privacy, and, let’s face it, social media networks are essentially online phone books connected to a server. Even photo-networks such as SnapChat save your ‘timed out’ photos to their server. This might freak a few people out, especially if they are trying to apply for a new job or want to hold their current position. People will protect their privacy online by using a different name or pseudonym, different pictures to represent themselves such as anime characters or pictures of trees, etc. There are also the people who choose to get rid of technology all together to protect themselves and/or family members from a previous stalking or abuse situation. However, the small font warnings about Privacy settings that come with smart phones and online social media networks don’t always attract the human eyes. It is so important to review your current privacy settings and remember to never share too much information. Example: Don’t tweet or post “I’m home alone tonight” when you’re privacy settings are set for public viewing. People get stalked this way.

The Religious and the Anarchists of Technology
People from long ago and until this day have continued to hold various religious convictions against technology. These sub-cultures find that technology will ruin a community and mankind. Modern-day transportation and gadgetry really started taking off during the Industrial Revolution. During this time, a group of British lads and ladies known as the Luddites held social stances and techno-anarchist schemes against the engineering of technology as they longed for a simpler and more pastoral life. Machines that replaced human hands and hard work left many jobless and frustrated. Those same machines were attacked and left broken in many cases by the anarchists of technology. A more calm example of people who choose religion over technology are those of The Amish cultures of today. The Amish still prefer a life more pure and precious, one without violent media and dirty rap.



Technophobics
People are just plain scared to get involved. Really, Technophobia is a term used to express both the fear and dislike of technology. It started with the Luddites during the Industrial Revolution. The fear of technology grew even more around the world after weapons of mass destruction were created and used during World War II. It has been depicted in films like Frankenstein, Fern Gully, Skynet, The Terminator, and Demon Seed that technology is something to be scared of. Whether it is a lightning bolt that awakes a dead man, a poisonous tractor that kills forests, a half-robot half-man that kills human beings, or a computer that becomes a human – they all mean the same thing – never underestimate the power of technology. Not only in fictional films are computers, phones, machines and digital systems taking over. In reality, all of technology has taken over the world. It has replaced the gumption in humans to sit up and find a real book. It has information upon information upon lost photos and messages stored in servers and now the Cloud! Even worldwide famous band U2’s latest album became lost in a Cloud, (yes, there are multiple Clouds) and was instantly on everyone’s smartphone, for free. Do any of us really even know what the Cloud is, or how many there are? At times, I even find myself fearful of technology; what it has done to our world, the way we communicate, and a possible future online war. Technology gives me anxiety. Am I technophobic?

Anti-Time Wasters
Some people won’t use Facebook, smart phones, or the Internet at all simply because they think it’s a waste of time.  For instance, why spend your entire vacation snapping photos and uploading them to Facebook; updating Twitter about your cat and Justin Beiber; gawking at YouTube videos for two hours… the agony! Spend time enjoying REAL LIFE happening around you! I remember becoming annoyed when I’d sit down with a group of close friends to watch a movie together, and everyone was updating their statues and posts online about it. Why?! Why does it matter to Uncle Greg and Elizabeth from ninth grade what you ate today or how your dentist has bad breath? Yes, even in the exciting world of technology and the Selfie, people still really don’t care about your every day and every minute updates. Do something for someone else instead. Get offline and smell the air, pick up a leaf, paint a picture, make up a new dance. When I say ‘People’, I guess I mean ‘I’. ‘I’ don’t always believe that the Internet benefits everyone, especially when meditating on time spent well. And at the same time, if we didn’t have the Internet, it would take so much more time to personally hand write and mail your letters and notes to others. This paradigm shift (return) leads to some really interesting possibilities, and I’d love to see what other think about the communicating through the Internet, online social media networks, and smart phones: Is it more of a time-saver or a waste of time?



Do you think you could go a day without any online communication or updates?
How about going a day without the use of any technology at all?

Net Neutrality: Which Side Are You On?

 

Net Neutrality – the who, the what and the where

Net Neutrality is a modern phenomenon that has been under the public microscope since the term was first coined by Tim Wu, a law professor in Virginia, U.S.A, in 2003, more than a decade ago. He was aware of the growing conflict between the public and the Internet providers, each with their own motivations and intended uses for this growing technology. In a nutshell, Net Neutrality is letting the Internet remain as is---a free field of communication. However, I.S.P.s (Internet service providers) and broadband companies like Internet giants Verizon in the U.S. are trying to reduce this freedom. They want to create an uneven field in which certain, more popular websites and channels could be accessed more quickly than ones in less demand. This means that the broadband providers will fast track these routes whilst slowing down others. The users---the consumers---will have to pay for this quicker access. With this in mind, I.S.P.s could slow down or even block sites and channels according to their whims. Now (excluding money-hungry broadband providers) who on Earth wants that to happen?

What’s all the fuss about?

So what is all the fuss concerning the Net? What is there to debate? It seems most people are somewhat unaware of the conflict. Yet. I think most people just want the Internet to simply remain as it is in its current form. Humans tend to hate stuff that disrupts our lives. If Net Neutrality hadn’t been present from the start, then perhaps we wouldn’t be having this debate at all; it is because of its potential introduction that we are worried. Imagine visiting your favorite park for ten years and then being told one day that you would either have to pay to enter or else you would have to use the back entrance a few miles away. You’d be certainly annoyed, wouldn’t you? But if you knew the situation from the start, it wouldn’t be so bothering, right?

Take another example. In Ireland this year, household water charges were introduced. This means that the Irish public will have to relinquish their right to free water use at home and will now have to pay an annual cost, depending on usage. Most countries have water charges already in place, but it is the introduction that has led the people of Ireland into protest and disgust at the government.

If alcohol was invented today, would it be legal and sold in stores worldwide? Cigarettes? Of course not, but because they have been around for so long, they are enjoyed legally by potential addicts and cancer patients the world over. It’s the unwanted, ‘unprecedentedness’ of Net Neutrality that would cause debate among nations, governments and mostly their publics. When we get used to having something so good on tap, we don’t want anything to change too greatly, be it water, beer or in this case, the Internet.

Why is the debate growing?

After more than ten years passed since the topic first arose, we have seen the availability and uses of the Irocket. ‘Convergence’ in technology is a key aspect. This has lead to the consumer being able to use Internet not just on a PC at home, but also on her phone, laptop, in the car, in the bathroom and even on a plane. The suits need to check their email constantly. Young adults are watching Netflix and addicted to Facebook. Teens are watching porn, playing games and following celebrities. We all need the Internet.

The whole debate on Net Neutrality brings the entire role of the Internet in our lives into question. Is the it just another product akin to TV and cable? Most households in the developed world are willing to add an extra fee to their monthly cable bill in order to watch more sports and movies. Premium football games and the latest movie releases. So why are YouTube, Facebook, Skype and other mega Internet pillars any different? These sites have cost millions of dollars to develop and a vast amount of ingenious brain power to engineer. Why should we be allowed to consume these things for free? Look at Skype and Facebook: They have connected us to our families and friends at next to no cost. Should we hate Internet providers for charging us a few dollars extra for such an incredible facility?

On the other hand, is the Internet more than just a service nowadays? Is it something we could choose to live without or has it become so integral, that to disrupt it in some way, would genuinely harm people’s daily welfare? The Internet itself is arguably humankind’s greatest invention.

Although I can understand business minds want more return on such a wonderful product, personally I think it should remain as it is. The Internet has changed the world immensely. Each website should be given a fair chance of being discovered and becoming the next sensation to captures the public’s eye (case in point: idigculture.com).

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="429"] Favorite website seem a little slower? Seems we need net Neutrality![/caption]

Online but Not Connected: The Internet Does Not Equal Globalization

The year 2013 marked the twentieth that W3 Internet server technology has been freely available to the public. [1] Fittingly, I know that thanks to my Facebook news feed.

That this technology enables the efficient transmission of an increasingly rich web of information might be deemed nothing short of miraculous, but has our behavior caught up to its possibilities? Are we, as one meme so aptly expresses, using our ability to access the knowledge of humanity at our fingertips simply to argue with strangers and watch cat videos? We could be taking advantage of the Web to erect a marketplace of ideas on a scale that would make John Stuart Mill dance in his grave, but are we actually taking the time to avail ourselves of the gold inside this global treasure chest?

[caption id="attachment_2535" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Grumpy Cat is angry because you could be teaching yourself solid state physics right now.[/caption]

Whatever we might be using the Internet for, a lot of us are using it, and we’re certainly using it a lot. According to statistics published by the International Telecommunications Union and Royal Pingdom.com, in the last year the world had 2.7 billion Internet users, or 750 million households (41% of the world) [2] looking at about 630 million web sites. The number of Tumblr blogs reached nearly 90 million, and our old friend Wordpress claimed almost 60 million sites worldwide. Reddit had 37 billion pageviews last year---that’s more than five pageviews per member of this planet---and Facebook supported about 5 petabytes---yeah, that’s a prefix we haven’t heard much of yet---of photo content a month and 2 billion “Likes” per day. This wealth of constantly updated information is hardly limited to the English-speaking world. The most active country on Facebook is reportedly Brazil, with more than 85,000 monthly posts-by-page, and Sina Weibo, mainland China’s Twitter mimic, saw a rate of more than 720,000 posts a minute during the transition from 2012 to 2013 [3].

With all that content and activity, we must certainly be learning from each other, right? Not necessarily. In fact, the Internet’s expansive educational landscape continues to be rent by linguistic, cultural, and political barriers that prevent the free flow of information in the directions we need it most. Even if we limit our discussion to the 35% of the world’s population estimated to use the Internet as of 2011 [4], a limitation that is itself admittedly problematic because a lot of culture---traditions, values, linguistic habits--is locked up in groups that may not have access to the Web, we can’t earnestly assert that the Internet is the orgy of promiscuously conjugating memes that we might hope it to be.

[caption id="attachment_2536" align="aligncenter" width="700"] We can't always expect the English we may be used to. (photo credit: kelleyswanberg.com)[/caption]

Not Everyone Speaks English (No, Really) 

For one thing, not everyone uses, or is able to use, the Internet in the same language. According to Web Technology Surveys, as of today (October 19, 2014), just over half of the content available online is in English, with the rest split up among infinitesimally small pockets of various other tongues, from the far second German (6.1%) to the last-place tie among Hebrew, Lithuanian, Croatian, Ukrainian, Bokmal, Serbian, Slovenian, and Catalan (0.1%), in addition to more than a hundred other languages that make up even less [5]. While English is widely hailed as the international language of business, science, and politics---as physicist Michio Kaku once put it, a step toward a “Level I civilization language,” [6]---and a mostly-English Internet might thus be a step in the right direction, two facts stand in the way of a truly global Web.

First, that only about half of the Internet is rendered in this international language means that the other half is sectioned among (largely) mutually unvisitable linguistic islands of information exchange within smaller cultural groups. Of course, if I really wanted to see what was happening on islands to which foreign language experiences offer no bridge I could just hop on a machine-translation plane, but the view from the window isn’t always so clear, and securing a ticket requires an extra decision and some time, activation energy that becomes even higher in spaces of continuous two-way exchange, as in forum discussions.

Second, the first fact would not be such a big problem if every user of the other languages could also freely browse English sites and exchange ideas there (even if English speakers were unable to hop over to the other linguistic islands, emissaries from them would be sufficient for two-way information exchange), but not everyone can understand the language to the degree required for efficient high-level information processing and expression. According to 2000 estimates from the British Council, in 2010 about 2 billion people were learning English as a foreign language in addition to the world’s 400 million or so native speakers [7] [8], but “learning English” is far from equivalent to “able to use educated high-level English to proficiently understand and express complex thoughts.” Indeed, according to a 2012 study in business English proficiency by English First, the average score among twenty-one countries with non-native English-speaking populations was only about 54/100 (though I, too, wonder what the United States might have scored). I don’t know about you, but in my family a 54% test grade was nothing to boast about in a public statistics database, so knowing that, for example, Egypt’s BEI index came out to 45.92 sort of puts its reported 80,000,000 strong “English-speaking population” in a new light in deciding how influential a website like NYTimes Online might be in fostering dialogue among its citizens [9].

[caption id="attachment_2537" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Look familiar? Maybe not so much.[/caption]

Birds of a Feather Flock Together...

In addition to the more obvious language difficulties, the Internet is also divided by social and cultural barriers that affect our proclivity for certain types of websites. The influences of these factors, which are still often drawn along linguistic, geographic, and/or ethnic lines, are perhaps most readily apparent in the social networks that we choose to use. While Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world, was poised to achieve a billion users in 2013, its international penetration rates are uneven, from 50% in its nation of origin the United States and 52% geographically and culturally proximate Canada [10]. Penetration statistics similarly hover around 50% for Anglophone and Northern Europe: England, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark. Australia and southern South America---Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile have also jumped onto the Facebook bandwagon with numbers similar to the country of its founder, and, as already mentioned, Brazil allegedly sees the most page posting activity.

But the story changes when we step a bit outside of the Anglo-American culture zone. Russia, for example, has a Facebook use rate of only 5%, while 78% of Russians have profiles on local SNS Vkontakte [11]. But how many Kenyans, Canadians, or French people have even heard of Vkontakte, let alone use it to engage in cultural exchange with Russians? Similarly, Korean and Japanese users still seem to prefer Cyworld (30%) [12] and Mixi (21 million active users or about 16% in 2011) [13], respectively, to Facebook (17.06% in Korea, 11% in Japan), two closed systems traditionally difficult for non-residents of those countries to access. And even nations where English is an official language, like South Africa (11%) and India (5%), factors other than language differences are presumably keeping people from connecting with others through the most international SNS currently available to us.

Even though these figures seem to be spiraling in the right direction as the growth of Facebook in countries like Japan is finally starting to engender user numbers surpassing home-grown giants like Mixi and formerly closed local social networks services like Cyworld have started to offering global services in a desperate effort to stave off the looming Facebook storm [14], the fact remains that even when language might not be an issue---Facebook offers interfaces in thirty-seven different languages---we still tend to separate ourselves online into different social groups along lines that seem to have some degree of correlation with culture.

Of course, there do exist some exceptions to this rule, thanks to a few online communities built by enterprising individuals working hard to purposefully increase inter-cultural virtual contact across the world. For example, CultureMesh.com seeks to establish geographically diffuse social networks based explicitly around particular linguistic and cultural interests, but unlike those grown organically around local platforms like Vkontake or Cyworld, these networks are open and accessible to anyone interested in joining. And our own website, of course, is a growing hodgepodge of discussions on cultural issues addressed by people displaced all over the world. We can only hope that more online communities shy away from strictly local comfort zones and join this trend of explicit cultural mixing.

[caption id="attachment_2538" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Thank you Mario! But our princess is in a firewalled server network![/caption]

...And Tend to Peck at Strangers

Finally, not only are we continuing to naturally divide our online communities along linguistic and cultural lines, but we are also even actively erecting our own geographic and political barriers around them. Politically based firewalls cutting down the content available to people in China, Iran, and North Korea notwithstanding, even countries in the so-called free world erect firewalls justified by copyright laws that prevent the international dissemination of certain multimedia content. I can’t sit down to enjoy a free streaming of The Big Bang Theory on a number of websites unless the servers think I’m in America; similarly, in order to watch a Mandarin-dubbed Korean drama or download music from locations indexed in Baidu I need to first log onto a mainland Chinese proxy server. Of course, I’m not suggesting that we turn the Internet into an intellectual property free-for-all, but for the sake of argument (and evidentiary triads of data), it’s interesting to note how these actions suggest our greater valuation of economic and political gain than, perhaps, free exchange and intellectual advancement as a species. As also argued by economist Pankaj Ghemawhat for slightly different reasons than those which I have presented here [15], the world is not quite as flat as book titles by Thomas Friedman may suggest, and an Internet sectioned across geographic, linguistic, and cultural barriers is part and parcel of this phenomenon.

So maybe we’re not using the Internet to pick each other’s brains as freely as we should be. But maybe that’s because we don’t need to. We’re already saturated with too much data, right? Why should we add novel ideas from and experiences with other cultures to the mix, especially given that they’re very probably even harder to relate to and assimilate than the homegrown information deluge in which we’re already drowning? Stay tuned for Part II, on why we should be even be worried that we're not engaging in as much cultural exchange as we could be.

Curb your enthusiasm: Korean internet is not all it's cracked up to be.

Roughly two years ago I moved from a country where net neutrality is implemented by law (the Netherlands) to a country where the freedom of the Internet is under pressure (South Korea). It has been a world of difference using the Internet in both of these countries. To give a feel for how bad the situation really is in South Korea, I will first describe the situation in the Netherlands as a contrast.

The history of how net neutrality in the Netherlands came to be is a fairly recent one. I vividly remember the time when the news leaked that one of the Netherlands' biggest Internet providers had admitted to its investors it was using a technique called Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), with which they could differentiate what the customer was doing on their network. Basically it meant the company was spying on its customers. The plan was to charge extra for certain VoIP and message services because the company was losing money due to decreasing use of SMS and regular calls. The indication that they soon had to pay extra for their WhatsApp use was too much to handle for the Dutch, being the frugal people that they are, and caused such an outrage that the telecom company had to cancel its plan to use the technique. In addition, the Dutch society is also an open one where everybody has the right to express themselves and press freedom is being held in high regard. Therefore, the more informed people worried that the Internet would be controlled by several companies. With these two main arguments, the people urged the Dutch political parties to take action. On 22 June 2011 the Dutch parliament decided to include net neutrality in the new telecom law, and by ratification by the Dutch Senate on 8 May 2012, the Netherlands became one of only two countries in the world (the other being Chile) where net neutrality is guaranteed by the legal system. Thus mirroring the democratic principles of Dutch society in cyberspace.

The benefits of the Dutch net neutrality law for the consumer are many: Internet providers can't limit or charge extra for certain services, the contents of your Internet traffic can be accessed by your Internet provider only in certain extreme cases, your Internet connection can be disconnected only if you don’t pay your bills or you commit fraud, and you have to give explicit permission to let tracking cookies be installed on your computer, which in turn makes it difficult for advertisers to track your behavior on the Internet. All in all it was and is a huge victory for freedom on the Internet. Although at the time I realized to some extent that this was a big deal, since roughly two years I really know by experience how fortunate the Dutch are.

When, in August 2012, I moved to South Korea, which has a reputation of being the Internet capital of the world, I thought I was going to live in the Valhalla of the Internet. Due to several news stories, I thought positively about the South Korean Internet, which seemed to dazzle the world with not only the fastest download and upload speeds around but also nearly universal LTE and WiFi accessibility. Unfortunately, there are some aspects of the South Korean Internet that don't get the attention that they deserve in the news, because of the focus of Western media on the speed of the Internet here. I quickly found out that a new 5G network isn't the most important thing about Internet usage.

A fast Internet connection doesn't get you anywhere if you're not able to access everything you want. Sadly, like in the Netherlands, South Korean cyberspace mirrors its society as well. Internet censorship is common: blocking everything from North Korean sites and materials harmful to minors to pornography and even simple nudity. If the government deems it inappropriate, you won't be able to see it without using a workaround. Unfortunately, blocking some sites is not all the government does; commenting on the Internet isn't anonymous anymore, since you need to register with your social security number to be able to comment on any Korean Internet portal. That makes it easier to extensively monitor the Internet on anti-government comments. Sometimes action is being taken to cut of the perpetrator's Internet or even making arrests in some cases. For example Chung Bong-ju, one of the four hosts of the popular South Korean podcast "Naneun Ggomsuda" (나는 꼼수다) and national lawmaker at the time, was found guilty in 2011 of spreading false rumors, accusing then-presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak in 2007 of being affiliated with a company that forged stock prices. Critics have claimed that it was a political motivated sentence, because of its timing just before the presidential elections. The podcast was a very influential channel of anti-government views. All of this is very serious, but the by far most annoying thing on the Korean Internet ever is Active-X.

The country that has the reputation to be years ahead in technology relative to the rest of the globe relies on this archaic 90's program for its entire e-commerce economy. Forget buying something on your iMac if you're not willing to partition and install Windows as well. Not only that, Active-X is Internet Explorer only, hence the biggest market share of Internet Explorer in the world. Being the Apple fan boy that I am, this frustrates me immensely. I refuse to install Windows on my iMac and if I would, I don't want to have anything to do with Internet Explorer. Fortunately, I have a workaround: if I spot something I want, I'll ask my wife to buy it at her office where she uses a Windows machine. Also I found a bank that has Internet banking for OS X. Well, had Internet banking for OS X.

As a Mac user, you're such a rarity in this country that you're met with a lot of misunderstanding and disbelief. When my bank updated their security protocol they somehow forgot that they used to support OS X as well. As a result the site stopped working on an Apple computer and I had to contact the bank's service center. Their solution was to take over my computer to take a look by sending me an .exe file. When that didn’t work they were genuinely surprised and apparently had no alternative way to access my computer. Not much later after the service center employee promised me she would get back to me and hung up the phone, I got a message that they were unable to solve the problem. So now I have to use my workaround for my Internet banking as well.



Having lived here for two years, I now know that not South Korea, but the Netherlands is the real champion of the Internet. Although the overall Internet speed isn't as fast as that of South Korea, it's close enough. There is no monitoring, no blocking (although there was one issue with Pirate Bay being blocked), and no Active-X. All government websites have to be accessible by all major browsers and all purchases can be done with any operating system. You can criticize the government without being afraid of being cut off from the Internet. While Dutch cyberspace is a free and open world, South Korean citizens have no access to unfiltered Internet. I have not been homesick often in the two years that I lived in South Korea, but when I stumble on news of Internet censorship being used or when I get confronted by the limitations when browsing the web on my iMac, I long for the possibilities of net neutrality in my own country. I secretly wish South Korea would implement it too. Unfortunately, with democracy more and more under strain, I don’t see that happening in the near future.

Korean Memes vs. American Memes

Meme – n. a cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase, etc., that is spread via the Internet and often altered in a creative or humorous way. (dictionary.com)

Memes are designed to make us laugh. But depending on where you’re from, some memes will have you gasping for air, and some will simply not resonate. While some cultures have different perspectives on what's funny or not, some memes just simply have people xD/MDR/ㅋㅋㅋ/LOLing anywhere in the world. I’ve had a lot of trouble getting Korean people to laugh at some of the memes from America, and vice versa, but sometimes I would hit the jackpot and have both the East and the West bursting out in laughter. Let's take a look at  some of the similarities and differences I found between Korean and American memes, and how the Korean and American people are wired when it comes to comedy.

1. 
   

   Pop culture

   
   The biggest contributors to memes are figures from pop culture. In Korea, celebrities such as Yoo Jae-Seok (유재석) or Park Myung-Soo (박명수) are used to deliver image-based memes. They're the icons of Korean comedy, and their notorious for their starring roles in Infinite Challenge (무한도전). Viewers really like the show. And when I mean "really like the show," I mean eight years worth of liking the show. The first episode aired in 2006, and the program has been running nonstop ever since.
   In America, a series has seasons like Seinfeld, Modern Family, or Community. But Korea doesn't have seasons. They just run the show every week until it finally dies out on its own.
   As the title says, Infinite Challenge has endless obstacles for the cast to overcome, and in their quest to overcome these challenges, they often find themselves in humorous situations. In their horror specials (much like The Treehouse of Horror on the Simpsons), they go through a maze filled with ghosts and other scary monsters, hoping to complete the tasks assigned to them. One of the more memorable episodes had a member of the cast try to balance himself on a surfboard, but he failed miserably. Koreans especially love laughing at comedians performing body humor, so when they see some of their favorite comedians getting hit on the head, falling down, or making weird funny faces, they can't help but laugh.
   
   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" class=" "] "Shut up" - Yoo Jae-Seok[/caption]
   
   At one point, Chuck Norris was all the rage in America, and recently, Jonathan Goldsmith is the biggest image for memes in America. While Korea loves slapstick comedy, Americans can't help but poke fun at almost anything which can range from politics to celebrities. America doesn't rely heavily on body humor, and thus, anything can be used for satire or parodies. Go ahead, name anything in America that people haven't already tried to make fun of. There are thousands of videos about racism, even when human rights activists try so hard to promote equality. Just watch an episode of South Park, and you'll have a general idea of how anything can be used for humor. I didn't think anyone could or would use Christopher Reeves (Superman) as the butt of their joke, but alas, I stood corrected.
   The Daily Show and the Colbert Report are really popular because they can find the humor in anything such as mainstream news medias like Fox News. And there are many other shows that satirically comment on social issues like racism and politics which show Americans generally find humor in situations that don't seem to be funny on the surface. But when American humor digs under that surface, they can laugh at what they find.
   
   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" class=" "] Chuck Noris just got served, which is funny 'cuz he's the one that's supposed to be serving.[/caption]
   
   Though the content may be different, the fact remains pop culture plays a big role in memes. It’s the biggest common factor to which almost everyone can relate. It’s easy to recognize and deliver to audiences, which in turn, goes viral. However, the same cannot be said about…


2. 
   

   Video-based memes

   
   Vine, an app that allows users to shoot a 6 second video, is one of the most popular mediums to deliver short funny videos in America. Koreans, however, rarely use the app. Instead, they cut out certain scenes from sketch comedy programs like Gag Concert or dramas. There aren't many original videos Korean people make. In fact, many of the memes Korean people share are actually ones from abroad, and even then, they're usually videos about people getting hurt or some form of slapstick. There is only so much slapstick people can do without landing themselves in a hospital ward. Thus, most video memes go viral in Korea if they can provide body humor, to which Koreans are so accustomed.
   [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0itk4pUcIvA]
   On the other hand, a lot of the video memes in America are shot by average people hoping to go viral. They have a lot of material to their advantage such as other videos taken from movies or even news footage. One of the most famous to spread throughout the Internet at the moment is the P-O-P clip, in which a young woman leaves a message for her mom and crew as she is hauled away by the police. It's funny because she tries to act tough while in handcuffs, but suddenly breaks down as she gives a shout out to her associates. In America, almost anything and anyone can be used to deliver humor, whereas in Korea, it would be taboo to speak out (even comically)  against social issues.
   [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-rVEs5RLZQ]
   Whether or not the video revolves around slapstick, parody, or satire, these clips need to be delivered. And the best way to spread these memes are…


3. 
   

   Facebook and You Tube

   
   I’ll admit I probably couldn't live without Facebook. I probably check my wall every thirty minutes or so. When I do scroll through Facebook, I generally find myself lost in an endless maze of videos. Sure, Facebook is popular in America, but it’s the biggest growing social network in Korea, and almost everyone has an account. Seven years ago, everyone I knew in Korea had a Cyworld account, but by 2010, they had discarded that social network for Facebook. Back then, everyone would ask for their Cyworld address, but now, they ask whether you're on Facebook or not. Another big distributor of memes is You Tube.
   [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLL2EAR5Yjg]
   Though the contents people watch are different in Korea and America, if anyone needs to find a video for anything, they go to You Tube. The top You Tube videos in Korea are usually clips from TV programs.
   [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v9sMU3FrDg]
   Americans can use almost any video to set as a meme, so there are no guarantees for what will be the next big thing to go viral. Who knew a chubby little kid would obtain notoriety as he gracefully showed the world his refined swordplay with a fake lightsaber?
   [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPPj6viIBmU]

Memes put a smile on our faces when we’re procrastinating at work, studying for mid-terms, or just generally when we’re faced with boredom. And they’re a great way to spread humor and laughter around the world, especially with the global connections we have today. Though memes vary in each culture, the slow yet gradual overflow of one culture’s memes into another will help us to laugh together, regardless of distance. With all the conflicts and issues throughout the world, wouldn’t it be great to have some humor to uplift this gloomy atmosphere? After all, laughter is the best medicine.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iz_mVgEzqg]

Vampires! Psychology of the Vampire Mythos: Part II

Vampires may not really exist but clinical vampirism does, and psychiatrists have been aware of it for quite some time. Clinical vampirism is when a person develops an unhealthy attraction to blood. In such a condition, blood takes on a fantastical symbolism, a mystical power, often one associated with the fantasy of another mystical power to many a young boy: Sex. I say ‘young boy’ because most patients who have developed clinical vampirism are male. A fascination with blood usually develops at a time of insecurity – a blood injury at an early age. A child is both terrified and fascinated the first time he sees his own blood. If this carries over to another major realization that is also often met with the same emotions – say, the sexual nature of humans – then this can lead to a fascination with vampires, who are not only obsessed with blood but are, in modern pop culture, imbued with very sexual overtones. As we saw in the first installment of this article, this is a complete misrepresentation, but hey – that’s Hollywood for you. Sexual insecurity is thereby masked with the power and physical prowess of the vampire. Most young men forget about their fascination with vampires as soon as they actually get laid.

Cases of Real Vampiricism

Others, however, do not. This can lead to some very serious problems. Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D., relates an account of one very horrific case in her article on vampire personality disorder, published in her blog “Shadow Boxing”:

During the mid-1880s, German neurologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing noted the sexual presentation of the attacks, in that they were compulsive and often aimed at a victim in a way that suggested lust. He included descriptions in Psychopathia Sexualis.

For example, a 24-year-old vinedresser who murdered a twelve-year-old girl in the woods admitted that he also drank her blood, mutilated her genitals, tore out and ate part of her heart, and buried her remains.

In his book, Forbidden Partners: The Incest Taboo in Modern Cultures, author James B. Twitchell likened the vampire to a child molester:

“I cannot think of any other monster-molester in our culture who does such terrible things to young victims in such a gentlemanly manner. He is always polite and deferential, and his victim is almost always passive in return.”

There are many other cases of deranged people committing unthinkable acts while claiming to be under the influence of vampirism. Suffice it to say that not only do vampires stink, but they have a lot of sexual insecurities that have, on rare and yet deeply troubling occasions, turned violent.

Does this mean that all interests in vampires are the products of a sick mind? Of course not. While the fascination is often tied to sexual insecurity, there is nothing unnatural about such insecurities. A healthy interest in the gothic imagery and the spooky tales associated with vampires is nothing to shy away from. As with all things, however, moderation is key. If someone enjoys watching vampire movies or reading vampire romance novels, or even making movies and writing stories about vampires themselves, it’s a healthy hobby indicative of a very creative mind. Such an interest may even lead to a more comfortable outlook on sex, which is a good thing for their future romantic interests. Look at all of the successful people who have contributed to the vampire lore, from Christopher Lloyd to Stephen King to Kiefer Sutherland. However, if your boyfriend (or even girlfriend) insists on sleeping in a casket or drinking blood, it may be time to consult a psychologist.

 

Where did it all start?

As noted at the beginning of this article, the vampire mythos dates back a lot farther than most of us realize: Around 2000 B.C. to be accurate. What were vampires like before there were crucifixes to scare them away? Since the earliest religions of Mesopotamia and the ancient Greeks, there were tales of demonic spirits with a thirst for the blood of the living. The devil himself was considered to be such an evil spirit, and hence, the term “nosferatu” became synonymous with the more modern 18^th century term: Vampire. There were other legendary figures that were caught up in the vampire mythos.

The goddess Sekhmet of ancient Egypt was known as many things, including “Mistress of Dread,” “Lady of Slaughter,” and “She who Mauls” – all of which would look great on your resume. She is most famously associated with a tale of the Nile turning blood red, and she had to drink it before it flooded and killed all of humanity. She if often depicted with the face of a lion and wearing a blood-red dress, and is not only referred to as the Goddess of Vengeance, but also the Goddess of Medicine and Menstruation. Images of her have survived through the ages as there were many carved depictions of her found in temples where rituals were often performed to appease her in order to prevent her wrath. Many such rituals were performed at the end of battles to ensure that the bloodshed would end.

[caption id="attachment_2515" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Goddess Sekhmet, doin’ that hot lion wrath thing[/caption]

 

The term “ghoul” usually refers to an undead entity that lurks in graveyards and feeds on the flesh of the dead. It was first used in a collection of folk tales from South Asia, One Thousand and One Nights. It was written in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age, and so is commonly known in English as “The Arabian Nights”. The Anglicized ‘ghoul’ originates from the Arabic term al-ghūl (الغول) from ghala “to seize.” According to Wikipedia, “The term is etymologically related to Gallu, a Mesopotamian demon.” In ancient Arabian folklore, the ghūl showed first signs of the shape-shifting abilities of modern vampires, changing form to lure its victims into secluded areas to devour them, and then taking the form of the victim.

The oldest, however, would have to go to the Babylonians, whose earliest version of what could be considered a vampire story focused on Lilitu, who would eventually become Lilith in the Hebraic traditions. Lilith is also said to have been created by God as a pre-Eve prototype mate for Adam. Their union produced a number of demons that are said to still plague mankind, including Asmodeus. Lilith apparently did not like laying with Adam as he insisted on the missionary position. As his equal, she did not like being beneath Adam, and so she “uttered the magic name of God, rose into the air and left him.” God sent three angels to retrieve her, but she refused to return. To this day, Lilith is said to be a killer of children unless they are protected by an amulet adorned with the names of the three angels: Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof. In modern myth, Lilith is said to be a demon that drinks the blood of babies, and is therefore quite possibly the oldest relative of the vampire mythos. She is immortal as she was never cursed with death because she left before the condemnation of Original Sin. Hers is a fascinating footnote to Biblical history, and is certainly worth more study for those who are interested. The notes included here are taken from the book Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis by Robert Graves and Raphael Patai. A lovely overview of this book can be found here.

 

Last Bites

As you can see, the depth of the vampire mythos is vast and deep, rich in legends from various cultures, both ancient and modern, and rife with psychological underpinnings. Volumes have been written on the topic, and many more will no doubt follow. Although this article, for all its laboriousness, just scratches the surface, there is a lot more buried beneath the surface. Sadly I never even really got to the most famous vampire of all: Count Chocula. Still, I would be remiss if I did not give a brief mention to his predecessor, Dracula, a.k.a. Vlad Tepes, or Vlad the Impaler. No doubt you are already familiar with this Romanian rascal, so I will not bore you further. It is interesting to note in the interest of historical fact that archaeologists believe they have found the dungeons in Turkey in which Vlad was imprisoned by the Ottomans in 1442. You can check that out here. For those further interested, you can find some interesting facts about Vlad here.

 

[caption id="attachment_2516" align="aligncenter" width="400"] If vampires were real, this would be racist.[/caption]

 

As for me, I am drained. The sun is almost up and I must retire. This article has been a real pain in the neck. I am going to go bury myself and sleep the sleep of the dead… but first, I must feed. And since I cannot get Count Chocula cereal in my current country of residence, cup o’ noodles will have to suffice.

Happy Halloween, everybody. Now forget all of this tediousness and go watch The Lost Boys. Or, if you just want a quick vampire fix, check out this short film made by our own Chief.

2014 Asian Games - Was it Worth it?

What the hell are the Asian Games? I, myself, had no idea the Asiad existed at all until I went to cover the games in Incheon this past month.

The name is self-explanatory. The Asian Games are a set of events held throughout and between Asian countries every four years.
The Asian Games are very much like the Olympics, except on a more regional-based level. There are over 44 events such as soccer, fencing, archery, swimming, decathlon, triathlon, and any other “-athon”.
The 17^th Asian Games were held in Incheon, South Korea this year. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Asian Games News Service, and as a reporter for the organization, I had access to all the events.
The games and events were fun to watch, but there were more than just enjoying the games. More than the sporting events themselves, I saw a lot of problems with the entire Asiad and its infrastructures.

 

1. 
   

   No one shows up to watch

   
   There were 36 different sporting events this year, and of course some events might not be popular. I covered basketball and boxing, and both events seem exciting and fun. However, there were barely any spectators for the games. The stadiums were emptier than an abandoned warehouse. Unless the event was in its finals, people didn't want to pay much money to come watch.
   
   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="502"] "Where did everyone go?"[/caption]
   
   There are a few dedicated fans that come to support their teams, like the Filipinos who cheered on for their basketball team.
   I was sorely disappointed at the lack of turnout for the events such as boxing. For a grueling ten days, I watched over 200 individual boxing matches, and each day, the seats throughout the gymnasium sat empty.


2. 
   

   Game officials are biased

   
   If the system can be cheated, it will. I watched basketball, handball, soccer, and boxing games in person. Without fail, the referees or judges would favor the South Korean team or athlete.
   The women’s lightweight boxing finals between India’s Sarita Devi and South Korea’s Park Jina stirred up quite the controversy. Anybody who watched that fight would have no doubt that Devi won the fight. The decision to give the victory to Park did not sit well with everyone (especially the Indian nationals) except the Korean spectators. The controversial decision is still under official investigation and the topic is still hot among boxing aficionados and fans around the world. Yet, I saw more unfair rulings on the field in other events like soccer and basketball.
   
   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="456"] Men's basketball: South Korea vs. Iran[/caption]
   
   The men’s basketball finals between S. Korea and Iran was truly an exciting game. Never for a minute did either team take a big enough lead to assume they would emerge victorious. With 16 seconds left in the game, Korea was barely leading 76-75. Iran would have no choice but to foul to stop the clock from ticking down, and Korea managed three more points at the free throw line. With eight seconds left, Iran was trailing 77-79. However, in their last drive to score one more basket, they were fouled numerous times by the Korean players, but the referee failed to blow his whistle and simply let the clock expire. I saw similar favoritism on the soccer field as well, but I won’t get into that. I’m sure I painted fairly detailed accounts of favoritism for Korean athletes. It wasn’t simply the game officials that had a hand in creating a substantial Asian Games.
   [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJGYPS6xVxM]


3. 
   

   It’s not well-organized

   
   In the first few days of the Asian Games, over 100 Korean interpreters simply left. That accounted for over a third of the interpreters available, and some of them were essential because they could speak Arabic, Russian, Chinese, and a few other languages that would have proven useful on the field. They left because they were told one thing, but found to their dismay that the organizers could not deliver on their promises. The interpreters were promised lucrative pay, decent housing, and good working conditions.
   
   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The only time they were smiling[/caption]
   
   However, when they began their jobs interpreting, they had to work around the clock, being a lackey to the different foreigners that came to speculate and participate. They were told they would be working an eight-hour work schedule, but instead, they had to work more than 12 hours at a time.
   Their pay was much lower than what they were told, and at one point, they were served lunch with stale rice, old dainty meat, and foul-smelling vegetables.
   
   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="459"] Okay, maybe it wasn't this bad, but it was still unedible.[/caption]
   
   Without them, it was hard for reporters who didn’t speak Arabic or Mongolian like me to conduct interviews. I scrambled and fought my way through other reporters to get a quote from an athlete, but my efforts to reach him or her would be useless as the athletes simply stared at me and kept saying, “No English.”
   
   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] "No English"[/caption]
   
   Overall, South Korea did not have the budget to host such a huge international event, which is why many of the volunteers or workers had a hell of a tough time working throughout the Games. However, it wasn’t completely bad because…


4. 
   

   It’s a great way to meet new people

   
   Although I mentioned above that not many people come to watch the sporting events, there are foreign medias that come from different parts of Asia to broadcast and write about the Games.
   Many of the reporters didn’t speak English, but we all managed to break through this language barrier and communicated effectively.
   Reporters from Jordan were especially friendly. They sat next to us during the boxing matches, and they always had a smile on their face. I sat watching many other people from places such as India, the Philippines, and other Asian nations come to watch and support their respective national athletes play. Through the spirit of competition, many other people along with myself, formed new bonds and contacts with people we never thought we would ever meet. I even had the chance to meet and interview the prince of Qatar. That’s a chance I would never have been given had I not been present at the Games.

There were a lot of issues with the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. However, despite all its flaws, it was an opportunity to bring people of many different cultures into one location. There was a Food Festival that showed off the delectable dishes from countries like Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. I had the chance to interview some of the head chefs, and the Kazakhstani chef wanted to prepare horse meat, which is the main source of meat in his homeland.

It was a pity he couldn’t find horse meat in Korea because from the fragrances of smoked lamb in his kitchen made all who smelled it salivate. It wasn’t only the Korean spectators that had the chance to mingle with different cultures. People from China were able to shake hands, take pictures and talk with people from Turkmenistan, and the same held true for most of the other different-cultured people.
As long as people are able to have the opportunity to open new lines of communication with other people, then the problems of the Asian Games may be a price we are willing to pay.

Vampires! Because, Well, It’s That Time of Year: Part I

Boo.

Alright, enough frivolity. Let’s get down to the issue at hand: Das Wampyrs, or vampires, as they are known in the modern English vernacular. Most of us are familiar with the mythos of vampires. We’ve seen it time and again, in both literary and film forms. These grew out of old folktales originating in the Old Country, which many of us believe to be in Eastern Europe, as, too us, those are some pretty old countries over there. Vampires are usually old – hundreds of years old – and so we make the connection. Old people must come from old countries. In this case we would be right, as folktales of undead predators draining the life from the living do have many old roots in Eastern Europe. And some of these tales date back even farther, to ancient Rome and, some believe, even as far back as ancient Egypt. What is considered to be the earliest ‘vampire’ epic originates in Babylonia in 2000 B.C. In our three-part series on the history of these sun-fearing, plasma-guzzling monsters, we will get into the suspected origins of some such tales later on, but for now let’s start with the basics.

 

[caption id="attachment_2352" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hmmm… NosferaGru?[/caption]

Etymology

Where does the word ‘vampire’ originally come from? That is a matter of debate for people to whom it matters. The short answer is that the original word, vampir, originated in Serbian. It mingled with the Turkish word, ubyr, meaning ‘witch’ through a mixing of folk tales, and was then carried over into Hungarian and German, finally making its way west into modern English, where its usage dates back to around 1734. Another common term for undead bloodsuckers is nosferatu, which only came to be synonymous with vampire in the late 19th century through Western novels like Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. In its original Romanian, the etymological root word, Nesuferitu, literally means “repugnant one” and was usually used to describe Satan himself.

The Pros and Cons of Bloodsucking

The big questions many people have about vampires are “Are vampires real?” and “Wouldn’t it be cool to be a vampire?” The answer to both questions is “Of course not, dummy!” This is not to say that there aren’t some sick and deranged people out there that believe themselves to be vampires – some have even taken this theory so far as to consume the blood of others. Mythical vampires, as seen in films ranging from 1922’s Nosferatu to The Lost Boys to that awful Twilight series, however, simply do not exist. It would be biologically impossible. As to the coolness of being cursed with vampirism, most people that take the time to actually think it through realize what a horror it would be. Not only do you have to drink fresh human blood to survive, but you can’t admire your cool look in a mirror and you live an unnaturally long life, which would lead to insanity (as depicted in Anne Rice’s acclaimed novel, The Vampire Lestat).

[caption id="attachment_2353" align="aligncenter" width="916"] The horror… the horror…[/caption]

 

Add to that the fact that although you would be extremely powerful during times of darkness, you would also be incredibly easy to kill. A stake through the heart, holy water, a silver bullet… no wait, that’s werewolves. However, some vampires are said to possess the power of lycanthropy (shape-shifting) and can become bats and/or wolves. If you are of the wolf-shifting variety of vampire, then technically, perhaps a silver bullet could take you out. If you are of the bat-shifting variety, where does all of your other bodily mass go as you shrink down to a flying mammal with an average body size of 9 cm (3.5 in.) with a wingspan of only 18 cm (7 in.)? Great. You just went from a 6-foot-tall humanoid to a winged little mouse about the size of a tea-cup (the size of an average vampire bat). Perhaps death by silver bullet is more merciful. Even if you couldn’t be killed by a silver bullet, the sun has risen in the time it took us to arrive at that conclusion and you are reduced to a pile of ash. That's right: Mere sunlight can destroy you.

Let’s not forget that traditional vampires are driven solely by an insatiable hunger and not at all by personal hygiene. According to all accurate depictions of vampires throughout history, you would stink. You sleep in the moldering earth in the clothes that you were buried in, and you are literally rotting when you are not feeding, so yeah, you would have a serious body odor problem. The bits of flesh that get wedged between your fangs would also give you some toxic breath. Still think vampires are sexy?

[caption id="attachment_2354" align="aligncenter" width="600"] I bet he smells just like roses and lavender![/caption]

As if that weren’t embarrassing enough for the vampire image, read on next week for some shocking facts about the psychology behind this mythos. In case you cannot wait, check out the Nosferatu II trailer down below:

[embed]http://youtu.be/WTBlVn6yQnM[/embed]