Thank you Swine Flu for extending my summer vacation by one week.
Monthly Archives: August 2009
Back in the Po
I’m finally back in Mokpo after a bloody long trek from Port Elgin, Ontario. I left home at Friday at seven in the morning and reached my Officetel in Mokpo around two in the morning on Sunday. It’s good to be back. But first I want to say how ass Air Canada Economy meals are. We were given sandwiches mid flight. The sandwiches consisted of white bread, chewy turkey meat, and cheese slices. No butter. Tasted awful. The other meals were not much better.
With that aside, I missed the last bus from Gwangju to Mokpo. Sucks. Luckily I met a Korean couple on the Incheon to Gwangju express bus who talked to a taxi to give me a flat rate to Mokpo. So I hopped in a cab with two other adjoshis and made my way to Mokpo. I got service coffee along the way and eventually made it home. I’m jet lagged beyond belief and really hope I am quarantined for a week to give me time to adjust to the time change and get some more done in terms of lessons for this semester. Here’s hoping! ^^
Shock threat to shut Skype
Asher Moses
July 31, 2009
eBay says it may have to shut down Skype due to a licensing dispute with the founders of the internet telephony service.
The surprise admission puts a cloud over the 40 million active daily users around the world who use Skype for business or to keep in touch with friends and far-flung relatives.
A recent study by market researcher TeleGeography found Skype carried about 8 per cent of all international voice traffic, making it the world’s largest provider of cross-border voice communications.
The online auction powerhouse bought Skype from entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis for $US2.6 billion in 2005, but this did not include a core piece of peer-to-peer communications technology that powers the software.
eBay has since been licensing the technology from the founders’ new company, Joltid, but the pair recently decided to revoke the licensing agreement.
The matter is now the subject of a legal battle in the English High Court of Justice, with eBay trying to force Joltid to let it continue using the technology.
In a quarterly report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, eBay said in no uncertain terms that if it lost the right to use the software it would most likely have to shut Skype down.
eBay said it was working on developing ‘‘alternative software’’ to that licensed through Joltid, but this ‘‘may not be successful, may result in loss of functionality or customers even if successful, and will in any event be expensive’’.
‘‘If Skype was to lose the right to use the Joltid software as the result of the litigation, and if alternative software was not available, Skype would be severely and adversely affected and the continued operation of Skype’s business as currently conducted would likely not be possible,’’ eBay wrote.
In the filing eBay also said that, even if it was successful in developing alternative software, the technical challenge of assuring backward compatibility with older versions of Skype’s technology ‘‘may be difficult to overcome’’.
This was echoed by analysts, with the Info-Tech Research Group’s Jayanth Angl telling Bloomberg that ‘‘it would be quite difficult to replace what they already have as the underlying component to their service’’.
‘‘There are a number of barriers to that, not the least of which are legal barriers,” he said.
The case is set to go to trial in June next year, which could seriously hinder eBay’s plans to spin Skype off as a separate company in a public stock offering next year.
Already, eBay has had to write down Skype on its books to $US1.7 billion, an admission that the business is not worth nearly as much as it originally paid for it. However, its revenues for the second quarter grew 25 per cent to $US170 million.
But, even though Skype has not been a major financial success, it has succeeded in becoming the dominant internet telephony service globally.
Skype has more than 480 million user accounts – almost twice as many as Facebook – and the application comes bundled with more than 50 mobile phones and even the Sony PSP.
Source: smh.com.au
I like…
Nickelbrook Beer. mmm mmmm beery. I tried this beer in the Discovery Pack available in the LBCO. After drinking Korean beers for a year, Nickelbrook Green Apple Pilsner was a very welcome change. The beer is only four percect but is perfect for someone just wanting a couple beers and is ok stepping out of the typical beer drinking box. It is a great tasting beer with a hint of a tart taste that makes it delicious. I really liked it and hope other people give it a try too.
12 Days
It feels like I’ve been in Canada forever. I go back to South Korea and my life in Mokpo in twelve days. How time flies! I still need to do some things (buy clothes, etc) and visit before I go back. I also need to think much more about what my plans for 2010-2011 are as well. Do I stay in Korea or do I go?
Canada
Canada has been pretty decent for visiting. The weather nicer and cooler than in Mokpo and it has been very nice to have wide open spaces again to enjoy. The homemade cooking is also really nice. The downtime I have here has been great and I’ve been thinking lots about next year and beyond. I am pretty sure I am going to leave my school and Mokpo next year. I don’t want to live in the same city, the same apartment, and working at the same school for three years. I want to change things up. I know I want to stay within Jeolla province but not sure which city I want to live in. I’ve given thought to Suncheon, Yeosu, Naju, and Wando. Gwangju is a distant option.
I also have a somewhat clearer idea of what I will do after my time in South Korea is up. I was originally planning on Teachers College but I don’t think this is for me. Instead I am giving lots of thought to Museum Curatorship. I love History and it allows me to use my education in something I enjoy. I would like to save for school next year then begin the program in 2011.
When back in Korea, I want to make more use of my time and travel around the country more on weekends and take in much more. I haven’t done that as much since my core group of friends left last year. But I will be out and about! 
The Five Alpha Cats Of My Parent’s Farm
My parents have owned their farm from 1983-now. We have had many cats on that farm and only a select few were the alpha males for those years. I’m writing about them to try and better remember them. They were:
- Bear- 1983-1996
- Snowball -1997-97
- Streak – 1998-1999
- Blackie – 1999-2009
- Fred – 2009
Bear was the son of my parents first cat, Bessy. He was born on another farm my parents owned before they moved here and he came with them. He was the lead guy for many years because of his size and toughness. He was bit in the head by a large dog and survived but was blinded in one eye. He was pitch black and was a very large cat. He would let out a constant meow to let you know he was coming up. He was an expert mouse and bird killer and feircely defended his territority from other male cats. He would let the younger male cats we had know he was boss by growling at them. The younger ones would cower and run off the deck. Bear lived off a mix of kibble and food he would catch for himself. He eventually died of cancer at the age of fourteen.
Snowball was a white male kitten we picked up free at a market and brought home. He did not last long. One day he disappeared. Wildlife most likely.
Streak was picked up at a market in Keady. He came after bear. His sister, Spunky, was killed. We had two other female cats, Fluffy and Boots as well. A stray female showed up as well and made herself at home on the deck with the other cats. Streak was hit by a car and was killed. By this time, all three female cats were expecting.
Tiger (the stray) gave birth to 5 kittens, 3 female and 2 male. The one male died at birth, leaving only one male kitten left. The one left would become the Alpha of the farm for ten years. Blackie was Tiger’s son and was a very large cat, like his father Streak. He weighed ten to fifteen pounds easily. He was very territorial and would beat up on the slightly younger male cat we also have. He would always patrol at night and come back the next day scraped up. In April of 2009 he was attacked by an animal. He was beginning to recover but fell to his wounds in June of 2009.
Boots was also pregnant the same time the stray female was and had her litter two weeks after. She had 6, three of each gender. We kept the largest cat, Fred. Fred is a large orange longhair cat. He is shy around new people but loves my parents, sister, and myself. He became the Alpha once Blackie died.
