Well, I updated WordPress (after I found out that my hoster had a case of the stupids and was limiting my web hosting space) and nothing seems to be broken.  I guess I can continue now :)

I don’t know if you have been following the SOPA and ProtectIP debates going on around the Internet about the US bills that are trying to be pushed through the Gov’t. If you are of a ‘content-focused’ nature, this should be a huge interest as it will affect you directly in your business/blog/online dealings.

Here is a pretty good overview of what these entail:

GoDaddy was a huge supporter of SOPA. So much so that there was a ton of backlash from many, many of it customers. When it really started to hit their pocketbook, they made a statement that they no longer support it.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57349913-281/godaddy-bows-to-boycott-now-opposes-sopa-copyright-bill/

Being the cynic that I am, when companies do things like this, they may oppose it but when push comes to shove, they’ll cave without reservation, if the bill gets passed and some company makes its first claim to their new SOPA-powered legal rights. I just don’t trust them any more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protectip
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/12/setting-record-straight-sopa-some-evidence-based-analysis

Like free books.

http://openlibrary.org/subjects/accessible_book

One web page for every book ever published. It’s a lofty but achievable goal.

To build Open Library, we need hundreds of millions of book records, a wiki interface, and lots of people who are willing to contribute their time and effort to building the site.

To date, we have gathered over 20 million records from a variety of large catalogs as well as single contributions, with more on the way.

Open Library is an open project: the software is open, the data are open, the documentation is open, and we welcome your contribution. Whether you fix a typo, add a book, or write a widget–it’s all welcome. We have a small team of fantastic programmers who have accomplished a lot, but we can’t do it alone!

Open Library is a project of the non-profit Internet Archive, and has been funded in part by a grant from the California State Library and the Kahle/Austin Foundation.

Definitely worth checking out.

These statues are in the embassy area.  Their perspective screws with my eyes, almoat like something is wrong with them, and technically there is.

While this post is a little late (yeah, it’s been busy) I’m many of you wondered how I spent my b-day.  Ok, maybe you didn’t but I’m gonna tell you any ways :)

One of the biggest changes when living in another country is food.  Almost any other country has some very interesting dishes that are more than just a little different.  Still, South Korea has been heavily influenced by the west in many, many ways and food is no exception.

Here you have McDonalds and they even deliver.  In fact, there really are few places that do NOT deliver.  Even if they don’t have dedicated drivers/mopeds, they will just as easily find someone to deliver if you want.  Service is really top here.

I always try to find good places to eat.  Sure I’m a meatatarian and that rather limits the bulk of the food here but given that I’ve been here for 6 months and not ‘wasted away to nothing’, I think I’m doing well.  On that note, I have been losing weight.  Hell, even the ‘junk food’ is better for you here.  Since I have been exposed to East Indian cuisine, I make it a point to test out every restaurant’s Butter Chicken and South Korea was no exception.  There are quite a few East Indian restaurants here and I’ve tried a couple so far.  One really stands out as being the best I have ever tried, save for maybe a little place in ‘little India’ by Gerard & Coxwell in Toronto.  This place is called Namaste.  The food has exquisite flavour and they don’t skimp on portions.

Despite me telling people not to bring presents, I still got them.

I wonder if you can tell which present I was really happy to see :)

Still, the coolest gift was the Arc Mouse.  Sooo geeky :)

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it!

You can check out the whole Gallery here.