2006: Good Riddance

I am not so much looking forward to 2007 as glad to see 2006 go into the history books.

Why Is South Korea Soft On The North?

The WSJ ran an interesting editorial saying that the reason South Korea is soft on North Korea is because deep, deep down, it is all about nationalism and race :

The South Koreans have compromised their nationalist principles in a quest for wealth and modernity, and while they're glad they did, they feel a nagging sense of moral inferiority to their more orthodox brethren. They often disapprove of the North's actions, but never with indignation, and always with an effort to blame the outside world for having provoked them.

Having worked for a Korean company and still doing a lot of business there, I think there is a lot of truth in this article. I have had conversations with Koreans who are totally oblivious - or don't really care - to the danger just sixty miles north of their capital city. In fact, most young South Koreans view America as a bigger threat to their security than North Korea. And you can point to South Korea's economic might, improving living standards and fully functional democracy for hours, but it falls on deaf ears.

Update Dec 29 - Maybe I spoke too soon, or SK finally realizes what's going on: South Korea Calls North Korea a Threat

PEAS On Earth

The Christmas season is supposedly the time for stress, depression and anxiety (which is somewhat of an urban myth). But assuming you have one of these issues now, or at any time, there is a helpful acronym that can bring PEAS to your life:

Pleasure - Do things you enjoy
Exersize - In some studies it does better than medication to reduce depression
Achievement - Give yourself goals and work towards them, giving yourself purpose
Socialize - Spend time with friends, relatives and others; connect with other people

I think the only one missing here is religion, which gives people a framework to structure their lives.

Just Made It As A 2006 Darwin Award Candidate

13-Foot Pet Boa Strangles Owner in Ohio

Airline Miles: How Did I Do This Year?

One of the perks of air travel is that it is supposed to get better over time. As you accumulate miles on an airline you move up the pecking order for upgrades, early boarding, and other special accommodations.

While I did put in a lot of miles on the road this year, unfortunately it was spread out across multiple airlines. This is due to the fact that my company is smaller and has fewer people traveling. So instead of negotiating a package deal with one airline, my travel department just looks for the lowest cost, making it a bit of a crap shoot on which airline I might be on.

The net result to me is that instead of being Super Special Primo Magnum Platinum on one airline, I am just first or second rung on a bunch of them:

American - Gold - It used to be like the Olympics: bronze, silver, then gold. But now gold is the BOTTOM rung of the American Airlines system which goes Gold, Platinum, Executive Platinum (why not use another metal?). I will add that I got this one the hard way: using segments instead of miles (takes 30 of them).

United - Premier Executive - United got rid of metals all together and uses Premier, Premier Executive, then the elusive "1K", or 100,000 miles ("executive" makes its second appearance in these programs, so some consulting company must have come up with a reason for that). I managed to steer my travel department to United for overseas flights for the back half of the year and I am going to try to go for the 1K club in 2007.

Continental (and Northwest) - Gold - Continental stayed with three metals, but instead of staying with the Olympic standard they go with Silver, Gold, then Platinum. I guess this is to make the bottom rung feel better than they are, but the perks are what is important, not what it is called.


The interesting part next year is if something really happens with a United/Continental merger. As a business traveler this looks like a good deal for me.

Starbucks Hegemony

The nice thing about living in The OC was that there were three major coffee chains (even though I am decaf now): Starbucks, Diedrichs and Pete's. Now there are only two: Sale of Diedrich cafes to Starbucks approved.

This sucks for another reason: Diedrich offered free internet (with a cup of coffee), while Starbucks charges.

At least Pete's is still around, and their coffee is better than Starbucks.

How Many Pads Could You Crash In?

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.

This is true of home, but also true of relatives and certain friends.

So here's the question: How many homes could you show up at 8pm, knock on the door, and get a bed (or couch) for the night? How many of those doors belong to non-relatives? How many different cities could you do this in?

Self Declared Consumer Advocates

I found this headline rather ironic since it would make a typical lefty's head spin: Apple Slammed by Greenpeace.

Greenpeace noted that Apple is an exception and that many companies are following recommendations (Ed: Whose "recommendations") to eliminate the hazardous chemicals from their products and are adopting progressive recycling policies, such as financing the take-back, reuse or recycling end-of-life products.

My question is this: who made Greenpeace the arbiter of who is doing right and wrong in this area? There are already substances banned by governments, so called "RoHaS", or Reduction of Hazardous Substances programs. Those are monitored by various governments and we can be sure that Apple (or really it's subcontractors, since they don't make anything themselves) have dozens of people to make sure they comply.

No, these "recommendations" are Greenpeace's alone. So this is a group that makes up programs then slams entities that don't follow them. And the only reason they have any power is because the press publishes them.

This is like other busy body groups like "Center for Science in the Public Interest" which wants to dictate what sort of food everyone eats.

Ode To My Computer

My computer has become the interface for my life.

I work through it. I entertain myself through it. I express myself through it. I communicate through it. No creative thought or plan is done without it. It brings me information that I process and send out as newer, better information.

I spend more time with it than my wife, my child, my co-workers or friends. It is one of the first things I see in the morning and last things I see at night.

It is with me on trips and vacations; it makes long trips less fatiguing, evenings alone less boring. It is my constant companion. My income and lifestyle are largely dependent on it.

And sometimes I want to crash it with my bare fists and heave it out the window.

Blogging Pointers

A fellow blogger sent me an email complaining about writers block and wanted some advice on keeping the blog entries going. Here is what I wrote:

As for writer's block - it's sort of like trying to remember something: it comes to you when NOT thinking about it. By stressing over what to write, you are creating the very block you are struggling with. My recommendation is to relax and not worry about it - and something just might come to you. Other hints:

• Read other blogs and comment on something someone else wrote. These can be short posts like "This is an interesting article", but you might find that a comment agreeing or disagreeing on a topic can turn into a whole blog entry.

• Expand Your Reach - You may have to branch your blog to other topics - which is what I have done to my blog, which has become just a general topic blog.

• What's On Your Mind - To be quite honest, my blog is a form of "therapy". I blog on things that are on my mind.

Of course I left out one method I use whenever possible: turning reader email into an blog entry