Posts by Konrad Kurta

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  • Cracker: Johnny Foreigner & the Auckland…, in reply to Jarno van der Linden,

    Perhaps it would affect your ability to apply for citizenship? The anecdote I heard was that wealthy overseas folk were buying houses with the intention of applying for citizenship, which is a lot easier if you own property here. I can certainly understand the appeal if you're wealthy and want your kids to live in Auckland rather than downtown Shanghai or Seoul. If you're not the actual owner of the house, it has no citizenship value, so there is less incentive to buy. Note: I have no idea if this actually holds true or not.

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • Hard News: Community standards,

    If you figure out what a 'proxy' is, then you can watch all the overseas-hosted content you want while bypassing filters altogether. Ironically, the people most likely to figure it out are the generation that David Cameron would claim to be protecting. Basically, this bill will be most effective in protecting middle-aged luddites from porn.

    Case in point: porn is illegal here in South Korea but students and friends seem to have no trouble acquiring and/or viewing porn whenever they want - torrents and proxies give you unfettered access to everything the Japanese (and global) internet has to offer. Young people are technologically dextrous enough to get around the limited hurdles that legislation can place in their way, which means the only people effectively 'blocked' are the very demographic who are complaining. It's amusing, and a great way of being seen as conservative while achieving absolutely nothing (apart from protecting technologically illiterate middle-aged people from hardcore porn).

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • Hard News: Who else forgot to get married?,

    It's interesting to read Bob McCoskries neo-conservatism and these comments through the lens of where I live now (South Korea). My fiance-but-not-really of six years and I are leaving here soon, and marriage is inevitably brought up when we tell anyone that we're leaving. That is, of course, if it hasn't been brought up already after finding out we've been together for six years (gasp - not married) and live together (bigger gasp - not married!).

    Every Korean person I talk to assumes we will get married - it's not so much desirable as a pre-requisite for being a socially legitimate couple. For my partner, it is a vital part of being a legitimate woman. For my part, apparently I should lock my partner down with a ring ASAP before she finds someone else who she'd rather marry. It's interesting to see how they view it compared to our: "healthy relationship first, marriage superfluous luxury" perspective.

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • Southerly: Getting There is Half the Fun, in reply to Sacha,

    Aren't planes computer-controlled to a large degree? I would have thought that would be the worst place for them.

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • Southerly: Getting There is Half the Fun,

    I don't know how people laughed at this - perhaps it's because I can't relate (I don't have kids yet), or perhaps because I loathe long-distance air travel enough as it is without having the bonus multiplier of little humans that don't quite understand what's going on. Perhaps I lack the black humour gland?

    This also gave me an uncomfortable reminder that I've got a total travel time of 26 hours to deal with soon, on the venerable China Southern. Shudder.

    I also agree that LAX is a ridiculous airport. I still recall the brusque unhelpfulness of the staff there.

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Government Portfolios for Dummies,

    If some MPs compare the internet to Skynet and think file sharing is illegal, it doesn't surprise me that some government departments don't know the difference between a scanned image PDF and a text 'read only' PDF file. I honestly feel that the government shouldn't be passing laws affecting IT if they don't know any 'I' about the 'T'.

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • Hard News: The future: be careful what…,

    A friend of mine was saying buying rights for Serie A is being considered by the group. Other leagues might be available as a "standalone subscription or a cheap upgrade to the premier league pass" if enough people are interested. Dunno if Sky has that tied up or not, or how much the other league rights would cost.

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • Hard News: Media3: Game On,

    ...well, facetious in terms of running a major network station with four staff. Perhaps Kiwi FM would be a better comparison then?

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • Hard News: Media3: Game On, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Yes, I'm aware of that. I was being facetious.

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

  • Hard News: Media3: Game On,

    Perhaps Mediaworks upper management should watch Media 3 to learn how a full-powered radio station with a myriad of broadcasters and a diverse schedule of programming can comfortably run with four full-time staff.

    South Korea • Since Dec 2012 • 43 posts Report

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