How not to spam..

Posted in Shaking my head on February 9, 2014 by yujinishuge
Wow! $2,965,021 for me, and all you need is my bank account number and access code?

Wow! $2,965,021 for me, and all you need is my bank account number and access code?

We’ve all gotten those scam emails from an estranged member of an African royal family who needs a foreign guarantor to gain access to an insane amount of money.  I get at least two a week judging from my spam folder.  But really does this kind of stuff ever work?No, it probably doesn’t.. and it shouldn’t. But if they keep writing them, then it must work some of the time, right?  Well, that’s probably true.  There have to be some people like our friend on the left there.  But generally these mails are harmless if you ignore them. But one caught my eye and I actually want to dissect it with you, so to read on follow me after the jump. Continue reading →

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It took me this long to get into Power Rangers?

Posted in Nerdy Stuff on July 2, 2013 by yujinishuge

Pirates are AWESOME!

Why am I writing a post about Power Rangers?  Well, I am married and have nephews and they are really really into Power Rangers, and when they come to visit, that’s what we always put on the TV via VOD or youtube to placate them.  I never really liked Power Rangers when it first came out in the US in the 1990’s.  I’ll tell you why in a bit.  But this past weekend while babysitting my nephew Youn-hyuk, he kept clamoring for Power Rangers Captain Force.  Seeing that via VOD that would cost money to watch, I went on the net and figured out that the Captain Force in Korea is called Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger in its original Japanese, and there were plenty of videos of that on youtube.  But I think this is the first time we actually watched it together.  Oh my gosh.. this is one of the best series ever!  And now this article is going to be all over the place, because as I am thinking about all the things I need to explain…  So if you would like to read more about something extremely geeky, then read on.

I will begin my disclaimer and say that I am a huge nerd.. and when it comes to new nerdy things, be they games, books, movies, TV shows, or comics, I never really just watch something, say it’s cool and be done with it.  If I like it, I have an insatiable thirst for more, becoming obsessed with it.  For example, I watched Professional Wrestling in college, and was hooked on it during the Monday Night Wars, so much that I would go rent videos of previous Wrestling Events.  I’ve probably watched the original 3 Star Wars movies more than 100 times.. each.  I’ve seen every episode of G1 Transformers… after my 30th birthday.  There was a period in high school when I got hooked on Spider-Man comics, in an era that was known as the Clone Saga.  This caused me to waste money on back issues trying to reassemble the whole thing, and then I bought even more back issues after that.  I play pen and paper tabletop roleplaying games in an ongoing campaign once per week.  I am a huge nerd, and if I think something is cool, I will immerse myself in it.  That is because I want to know everything there is to know about it.  Everything.

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Restoring competitive balance in baseball

Posted in Uncategorized on May 28, 2013 by yujinishuge

Digging for gold commissioner? How about promotion and relegation?

This article was originally penned in February 2005 on my Livejournal. A recent discussion has broken out on facebook discussing the possibility of promotion and relegation in baseball, so I thought I’d just repost it here for reference. – Eugene
–
I just read a crappy article in USA Today where the GM of the Nats suggests that baseball divisions be divided by payroll rather than geographic location. That’s a horrible idea, because it actually encourages teams to have a small payroll or else face the stiffer competition. The cheap teams will then be eliminated in the playoffs every year, while the expensive team that won it all gets a cakewalk to the championship, while the other three or four “great teams” it beat, don’t get a chance while the “best” bad team does. Suddenly the playoffs are reduced to exhibition games, between largely disparate teams. Now, what good is complaining when you don’t have your own solution to the competitive balance solution?
My solution is to develop a system of relegation.
First, make it so the AL and the NL are both 15 team leagues. (Move an NL Team to the AL)
 Edit – This happened in 2013 as the Houston Astros moved to the AL West!  See? My vision is coming true! – Eugene)
Based on the previous year’s record, the top 10 teams in each league get to be division one of their league. The bottom five get relegated to division two. From then on, the season, playoffs, and anti-playoffs go as follows:
Season:
Division one: The 20 division one teams play two 81 game stages (half seasons) with no interleague play. (Playing each team in their league 9 times per stage). This is perfect for 3 game series. If a team A plays team B six times at home and three away in stage 1, in stage 2 they’ll play team B six times away and three at home.
Edit: I don’t really know what I was thinking with the 2 stage season thing… I guess my idea was to boost excitement in the middle of the season, but in retrospect I’d can that idea. – Eugene
Division two: The 10 division two teams play in two seperate 5 team divisions (based on league) with interleague play (now exclusively a division two gimmick). They play a 154 game season with no stages, playing against the division two teams in the same league either 23 or 24 times* (94). They play each division two team in the other league 12 times (60).
If there is a rainout, the game(s) will be played as double headers or on the most convenient off day to be decided by the league.
There are two trading periods in division one: From one week after the World Series until after all teams have played game 40 of stage 1. From the start of stage 2 until all teams have played game 41 of stage 2.
Rosters never expand. There are no trading deadlines in division two. Trades between teams in division one and division two are allowed.
Post Season:
Division one:
Championship:
A)In each league, the winner of stage 1 plays a 5 game LCS against the winner of stage 2. The team with the better cumulative record gets 3 home games (home field advantage). (See B)
B)If the winner of stage 1 and stage 2 are the same team, then the second place team from stage 1 plays a one game playoff against the second place team from stage two, at the home of the team with the better cumulative record. The loser must play in the relegation bracket. The winner advances to the LCS, where all 5 games are played at the home of the first place team. (See C)
C)If the first and second place teams are the same for stage 1 and stage 2, The second place team plays all 5 LCS games at the home of the first place team.
The 7 game World Series is played between the two LCS winners, 4 home games (home field advantage) awarded to each league on alternating years.
Brutal Relegation Tournament: (to be played before the LCS) Division one: The 8 teams in each league which take NO part in the LCS are seeded 1-8 into the relegation bracket based on cumulative record. Single elimination tournament style play begins. The losing team advances to the next round. The team that loses three times is automatically relegated to division two. The team that loses two times advances to the relegation series. The games are played at the home of the higher seeded team. (To risk relegation, relatively good teams would have to lose at least twice at home, against lesser ranked teams, to avoid relegation, horrible teams need to win on the road against higher ranked teams)
Edit: Perhaps it’s not such a great idea to have relegation based on single elimination.  Any team can have a bad 3 games.  I’d change it to 3 game series, though this would possibly push the World series into Novermber.
Division two: In each league, the first place team is automatically promoted to division one. The second place team qualifies for the Promotion Series.
Promotion Series: A 3 game series played at the home of the division one representative in each league. The winner gets to be in division one, the loser must be in division two.
——- Tiebreakers Any ties between two teams in their regular season record are to be decided by a one game playoff if and only if the winning team advances to the post season and the losing team either is demoted to relegation games, or is not included in the post season. (example, a tie for 2nd in division two, a tie for first in division one.)
Edit: Am I speaking English here? This much time devoted to tiebreakers?
Any ties that pertain to seeding or home field advantage (Example, a tie for fourth in cumulative record in Division one)are to be decided by:
1. Average stage results Example: Team A got 3rd place in stage 1, 5th place in stage 2 = avg of 4th place; Team B got 4th place in stage 1, 3rd place in stage 2 = avg of 3.5th place. Team B wins the tiebreaker.
2. Common games (Team A played team B 18 times during the year, and Team A won 10 of those, thus Team A wins the tiebreaker.)
3. Run differential: Team A scored 850 runs and gave away 700, their RD is 150. Team B scored 860 runs and gave up 800, their RD is 60. Team A wins the tiebreaker.
4. Runs scored: Team A scored 950 runs and gave up 800 (RD 150) Team B scored 700 runs and gave up 550 (RD 150) Offensive baseball is encouraged, so Team A wins the tiebreaker by virtue of having more runs.
5. Wins by starters: Logic: Superior team has better starting pitching.
6. Saves: Logic: Superior team shut the door in close games.
7. Wins within 9 innings: Logic: Superior team would go to extra innings fewer times.
8. Walk off wins: Logic: Superior team wins dramatically at home more often.
9. Run differential in common games
10. Runs scored in common games
11. Wins by starters in common games
12. Saves in common games
13. Wins within 9 innings in common games
14. Walk off wins in common games
15. Then a coinflip. Logic: the very liklihood that a tiebreaker would come this far is minimal at best. When this is being used to decide something as insignificant as seeding, stop bitching and call heads or tails. ——–
This is good because it’s a situation where crappy teams still have something to play for. In order to avoid being relegated, horrible teams can’t trade away their best player to a contender and give up on the rest of the season. Mediocre teams still have reason to improve immediately or risk being seeded low in the relegation tournament. This way, having tons of cash won’t necessarily allow you to use the crappy teams as your farm system, making your offseason that more important. There will be no such thing as a rebuilding year for division one teams. The division two teams meanwhile have no chance to win the championship that year, and they never will win until they get out of division two. The chance to be promoted to division one should attract fans at the end of the season.
—-
Edit: That seems overly complicated… let me simplify it for you.  I am writing the following on May 28, 2013:
1. For the 2014 season organize the league so that the 5 worst teams from the AL and the 5 worst teams from the NL are relegated into a respective second divisions.  These 2nd divisions are still Major League Baseball teams and retain control of their minor league farm system.
2. For division one teams, there will be no interleague play and a balanced schedule.  For division 2 teams there will be interleague play but they will play more games against their own league than from the other league.
3.  Division one and Division 2 teams never play each other except in the promotion-relegation series. (see 6)
4. The winners of each league in division 1 advance to the World Series.. (we can add playoffs if necessary)
5.  The 10th place team of division 1 is automatically relegated.  The 1st place team in division 2 is automatically promoted.
6. Promotion-Relegation Series: The 9th place team in division 1 must play a 3 game series vs the 2nd place team from Division 2.  The winner gets to spend the next season in Division 1, and the loser must be in division 2.

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Sparse Posting

Posted in Uncategorized on August 18, 2012 by yujinishuge

I know I have not written here for a while. The reason is because I actually have two writing jobs and they both take all my creative juices away. My readership has dwindled because I don’t update as often…

Sorry.

It also appears that I’ve gotten a lot of traffic the past week thanks to my Dokdo posts. Leave it up to the controversy over Dokdo to drive traffic to my blog. Not complaining of course, but I think it is high time that people realize that it is time to talk logically about Dokdo. I’ve gotten a lot of complimentary comments that I don’t want to publish because they seem to be very ignorant. Let’s just say I don’t really like it when people say to me “Yeah, Eugene! Stick it to those no good dirty Jerps!” I can’t get down with that..

By the way that’s an extremely mild version of what most of the comments say.

And another thing. If you’re Korean and you’re calling Japanese people monkeys…. how do you think that non-Asians view you? I guess the retort would be “I don’t care what non-Asians think.”

But if that were really the case then why are you trying to convince non-Asians that Dokdo is Korean?

BRAIN EXPLOSION!

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How do I make Monopoly fun again?

Posted in Nerdy Stuff, Uncategorized on August 18, 2012 by yujinishuge

Actually, Monopoly is still fun, for me anyway, but a lot of people complain that it takes too long and nothing ever happens. Well those people simply do not know how to play. Youre supposed to make deals with other players to get a color group and bankrupt everyone else instead of just going around and around paying 22 dollars here and there.

Another problem is the house rules people play by whereupon the Free Parking space gives y $500 and too much money is infused into the game.

So if you eliminate those rules then the game should just go smoothly.

 

But that’s not necessarily fun.

 

If you want to have a different Monopoly experience, try these house rules.

The everyone is rich game…

1. Start with $2000

2. Get 400 for passing go, 800 for landing on it.

3. Free Parking collects fines and taxes and starts with $500 which is replenished when anyone lands there.

Analysis: With this game, you will see for sure that it really does come down to statistics. The reds triumph over all, but having the reds and oranges while your opponent has the entire rest of the board, you will still have a higher chance at winning.

 

The everyone is poor game

1. Start with $1000

2. No salary for passing go

3. Auction all declined properties starting at $1.

4. No free parking

Analysis: The only way that money can be infused into the game is by chance and community chest cards, thereby necessitating that some things get auctioned off cheaply. I got Boardwalk for $35 when I played this way. Railroads become the best properties. The 4th side of the board is practically worthless because nobody has enough money to build anything over there.

The Utilities matter rule

1. If you own one utility you get 5 percent of all rent collected on properties with houses or hotels. (That’s $100 if someone lands on Boardwalk with a hotel.)

2. If you own both utilities, you get 20% of all rent collected on properties with houses or hotels (That’s $400 if someone lands on Boardwalk with a hotel.)

3. If there are no houses or hotels in play, you get the standard utility fee if someone lands on your utility.  If there is a house or hotel in play then landing on utilities is free.

This rule applies even if you land on someone else’s property with houses and hotels, in effect giving you a discount.

Analysis: It might not seem like much for some properties, but you’re basically getting rent for other people’s stuff.

Actually riding the railroads

1. When you land on a railroad, you may travel to another railroad space owned by the same person. You only have to pay the fare for the first railroad, because you are getting off at the second one.

Analysis: This makes the game a lot less about statistics, because people will ride the railroads to get past dangerous monopolies. Purples become huge in this game, especially if Boardwalk and Park Place are developed, because people will go to Reading Railroad to avoid that one.

 

If I think of more I’ll write them.

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The racist MBC video

Posted in Korea, Senseless Griping, Shaking my head on June 2, 2012 by yujinishuge

Okay for those who have not seen it here is a link.

The shocking secret about foreigners dating Korean women or something.

Now when the blackface thing occurred I came off as somewhat of an apologist, suggesting that we can’t view Korea with a moral lens acquired elsewhere, so some readers naturally thought I would defend this as well. While I probably won’t be condemning it as strongly as other people have, I am still appalled by it.

Some would say that makes me a hypocrite, as they perceive me defending Koreans who are racist to blacks (which I did not do.) and being appalled by racism when whites are included.

There is a difference between the blackface incident and this one, however.

The blackface incident (which I still don’t defend or condone in any way) was carried out by two comedians who likely didn’t know what they were doing was offensive. The video above is attempting to present itself as serious news. Moreso than the content or aim of the piece, I am more appalled by the severe lack of journalistic integrity. Here’s why:

1. All if the foreign people filmed are probably drunk and are being asked questions in such a way that they don’t understand the purpose of the piece… Which is obviously pre determined before they got their sound byte.

2. The taxi couple may well have already known each other. They didn’t bother interviewing them and their take on it (that seconds after their first meeting they are already engaging in skinship) can’t be verified.

3. The girl that they call on the phone said what they asked her about isn’t true. The narrator says she’s not telling the truth. How do we know she isn’t telling the truth?

4. The dude at the coffee shop is talking about a woman that might not even really exist.

It’s one thing to make a bunch of racist claims and back them up with evidence, but these people can’t even do that.

This isn’t entertainment. It’s supposed to be serious journalism that people trust. But it is terrible excuse for journalism and the editor ought to feel ashamed for letting it get through.

I also like the double standard of how Korea wants to portray itself to foreign people, but stuff like this slips through the cracks.

I want to see MBC respond to this in a responsible manner but I think it won’t be. Too bad.

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Dear SK Broadband.

Posted in Uncategorized on May 16, 2012 by yujinishuge

I suppose it is my own fault for not understanding Korean enough but I received a phone call from SK broadband yesterday about upgrading my Internet or something. I thought someone was going to come to my house and give me some new hardware.

Instead I got a call the next day. They asked me to turn on my computer and connect to the Internet. So I did. Then she told me to go to this website and download that thingamabob. Open this and click that. Suddenly she had gained control of my computer and wanted me to type in my Alien Registration Number to allow her to “check my hard drive for viruses.” I immediately became suspicious and told her that I did not have any viruses and I didn’t like that she had access to control my computer.

She said it was a temporary thing and that she was going to only check for viruses and delete any files that are not necessary.

I told her again that I used to work in IT and that I knew that I didn’t have viruses.

She replied that I couldn’t know that unless she could check.

And that’s where I drew the line. I told her thanks but no thanks. I appreciate that SK wants to eliminate the spread of viruses by scrubbing down every computer, but I found the process invasive and somewhat insulting.

Now I’m no expert about computers, spyware, viruses, or any of that, but I have enough knowledge about computers, networking, and troubleshooting to know that I don’t have viruses. Even if I did, it wouldn’t matter because I have everything important backed up on an external drive and I am pretty sure that if my computer were to be overrun with worms and spyware I could just reformat it and there would be no problem.

The point is, I know more about that than the average person, so telling me that I can’t know unless I give her remote access so she can check is like a car mechanic telling the lady who works at Jiffy Lube that she can’t know if the car needs an oil change unless she allows the him to check first.

(I know most people working at Jiffy Lube are men. Changing the gender helps make that last sentence more understandable without me having to make names for the two. )

I wonder how many SK customers just blindly follow the instructions? Not that I would suspect the company of anything, but it would be easy for someone to pretend that they are from SK and make a webpage that looks legit. Giving the faker access to your computer would allow them to check your computer for bank account and credit card numbers or nab any file of yours or plant illegal files on your computer.

Be careful everyone.

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