Diablo 3 in Korea: An insight into the diabolical rage of our time
The following is my crude translation of an insightful article about Diablo 3 by a Korean newspaper. When I told a New Zealander friend of mine (who is deeply into Diablo 3) about it and what was happening in the world’s most online nation, he was keen to hear more. As expected, however, Google Translate did a pathetic job of… » more
How not to do Customer Care: Has 2degrees grown 2-big?
It’s devastatingly amazing how a customer service cock-up can turn things around. Here I am referring to my earlier post “10 reasons why 2degrees is better than Vodafone” back in February 2011, not that long ago. Fast-forward fourteen months: – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Eric Hertz… » more
The caring grandfather
Another great tale shared by my good friend Derrick: A woman in a supermarket is following a grandfather and his badly behaved 3-year-old grandson. It’s obvious to her that he has his hands full with the child screaming for sweets in the sweet aisle; biscuits in the biscuit aisle; and for fruit, cereal and pop in the other aisles. Meanwhile,… » more
Review – The Adjustment Bureau: The Bourne Choice?
What do Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon have in common? These actors don’t age. Seriously. Don’t believe me? Check out The Firm (1993) vs. Knight and Day (2010) / Titanic (1997) vs. Shutter Island (2010) / The Bourne Identity (2002) vs. The Adjustment Bureau (2011). They all feature the same youthful fella, seemingly cryogenically preserved. But the topic… » more
I want a sexy voice and elevator music in my library
This is my little rant, but let me first of all make it clear that I have nothing against librarians as individuals – except that I don’t understand why they all have to wear cardigans. Is that an official dress code, or do they think they’d look less professional if they wear anything else? Beats me. But that’s beside my… » more
10 reasons why 2degrees is better than Vodafone
Firstly, some disclosure statements: At the time of writing, I am an employee of Telecom New Zealand, the country’s largest telco, although my line of work has nothing to do with telecommunications services per se. What follows is an account purely from an average urban customer’s point of view. Disclosure #2: I have written on my blog before about my… » more
What should Nokia do to become relevant again?
In the mobile industry, polarities can shift in just four years. My first real blog post this year is all about Nokia. Once the most innovative leader in the mobile phone industry, Nokia has now become practically forgotten and irrelevant in the age of smartphones. On the surface, the company still holds a 30-plus-percent global market share. But that is… » more
A final round-up: The top 10 films I watched in 2010
This is my last post for 2010 – and for the decade. I am doing away with a “JK Tech Predictions for 2011″ kind of post this time around simply because virtually none of my predictions ever come true. I obviously suck at predicting the future. So I thought I’d instead reflect on this past year by mentioning the top… » more
WikiLeaks: Why not prosecute JJ Abrams and Aaron Sorkin?
Quoting Letter From Canada: Why Is America So Furious About WikiLeaks? by Jon Evans from TechCrunch: The most baffling thing about the WikiLeaks Cablegate kerfuffle is the massive foot-shooting overreaction across the entire American political spectrum. Here in the rest of the world (okay, in Canada), we’ve already moved on, because (to date) the cables are more shrug-inducing than explosive—but… » more
There is nothing to learn from “defensive” retirement
This is not exactly a rant although I guess there are elements of it. Call it a scribble by a what-would-he-know-about-life. Some time ago I read a Korean newspaper article that ran a story of a “fresh” 56 year-old retiree. I shall call the gentleman “Mr Made-It” as I do not recall his name nor am I willing to take… » more
