Disqus - Latest Comments for brianherbert

Re: Will child-free zones on planes keep both kids and disgruntled passengers quiet?

brianherbert — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 22:08:23 -0000

I live in Korea with my wife and baby, entire extended family is in the
US. Should I just ask my entire extended family to come to Korea because
you can't put on a pair of headphones for a couple hours?

Re: A litmus test for anti-Muslim bigotry

brianherbert — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:00:25 -0000

+1 - I agree with you, but for the sake of argument, it's highly unlikely one has the resources to completely change their physical appearance.

Re: A litmus test for anti-Muslim bigotry

brianherbert — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 08:50:45 -0000

Replace the word Muslim with Black? Since when is "Muslim" a race? You can't help being black, but you can help being Muslim, or Christian, or Hindu, or whatever.

Re: Seoul hotels at war over dessert

brianherbert — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 02:43:12 -0000

Yup! Freeze some milk, mash it up with your spoon, put some berries on there and if you want, some pat. Wala, $2 bingsu.

Re: TED Video – Ushahidi’s Juliana Rotich speaks about Brck, an internet access modem built for Africa

brianherbert — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 03:41:23 -0000

Just a quick correction. Rotish is misspelled in the title! It should be Rotich ;)

Re: NYT lawyers to indie dev: "you need to remove any reference to The New York Times from your website"

brianherbert — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:44:25 -0000

They asked our company to remove mention of the NYT on our website, even though we were promoting the fact that they mentioned us in an article. This was a few years ago.

Looking back, we should have asked them to remove our companies name from their articles.

Re: Should I stay or should I go? Expats mull future as Korean tensions rise

brianherbert — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 02:39:03 -0000

Obviously there are some of the 22,000 teachers with masters degrees. I wasn't insinuating anything, just that I have never met them. The requirement to teach in Korea is generally a bachelors degree. I don't really see the point in arguing that because it's a fact.

Re: Should I stay or should I go? Expats mull future as Korean tensions rise

brianherbert — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 02:05:32 -0000

TESOL isn't a masters degree, but okay. Besides, there aren't 22,000 professors and public school foreigner English teachers. They're mostly going to these private institutions.

Re: Should I stay or should I go? Expats mull future as Korean tensions rise

brianherbert — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:18:59 -0000

If you're teaching at a university, sure, you need qualifications. If you go to any given hagwon, the teachers there have very little experience teaching. Also, I understand it's not everyone, but the vast majority of the teachers from these types of schools I've encountered treat this country like a frat house.

Re: Should I stay or should I go? Expats mull future as Korean tensions rise

brianherbert — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:11:20 -0000

I live in an apartment.

Re: Should I stay or should I go? Expats mull future as Korean tensions rise

brianherbert — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:09:31 -0000

I've been living and working in Seoul for the past two years.

Re: Should I stay or should I go? Expats mull future as Korean tensions rise

brianherbert — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:55:44 -0000

I've never met an English teacher in Korea with a masters degree.

Re: Delta Officially Confirms New Revenue Based Medallion Program

brianherbert — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 04:39:46 -0000

That doesn't help if you maintain an address in the US though. They can't make exceptions.

Re: Delta Officially Confirms New Revenue Based Medallion Program

brianherbert — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:41:42 -0000

I just spoke with Delta regarding MQDs. Since I fly mostly on partner airlines, I cannot accrue enough dollars spent on Delta coded flights to maintain Diamond status.

I told them I would leave for another airline. They responded telling me to buy tickets for other people on the Delta coded flights flying with me to hit my spend requirement. That still isn't good enough.

Sorry, that's not a good way to keep my loyalty. I fly Delta whenever I have the chance and I usually end up paying a premium to do so. I also evangelize their product any chance I get and you can bet I won't be recommending their program in the future. I understand they need to do whatever they can to make a little more money but they should be looking for ways to improve their products, make spending time with them more enjoyable and provide premium levels of service to people who shell out more cash, not penalizing those that are still loyal customers.

It's all a sad reminder that we're just numbers on a spreadsheet.

Re: Delta Officially Confirms New Revenue Based Medallion Program

brianherbert — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:18:09 -0000

It's a big deal for people who fly mostly on partner airlines and still spend a lot of money since they will no longer accrue MQDs.

Re: Delta Officially Confirms New Revenue Based Medallion Program

brianherbert — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:04:45 -0000

I'm in the exact same boat as you. They're willing to lose us as customers to add these spend requirements and that makes me sad :(

Re: Delta Officially Confirms New Revenue Based Medallion Program

brianherbert — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:03:05 -0000

I'm living abroad (Korea) and rarely fly Delta anymore. As a Diamond now, if I can't count flights on partners towards my MQD's then I'm done flying Delta altogether.

Re: Why I Won’t Be Using BetaPunch for User Testing

brianherbert — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:37:59 -0000

Can you imagine having to publicly thank every company hawking their product or service that you tried out? You gave them the opportunity to sell something to you, which should be thanks enough. They aren't giving out trial/free access as a gift from the kindness of their hearts. They want your money.

Re: Coworking in Africa - Snowball on the Continent

brianherbert — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:23:47 -0000

It would be interesting to do a look back a year after this article was published to see where the state of coworking in Africa has grown. Which ones are still alive an well? Which spots failed? I'd be curious to see if there are any lessons to be learned on the continent.

Re: Help Me Plan My Trip To Seoul, South Korea

brianherbert — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:58:57 -0000

I saw some commenters mentioning NANTA as a good show to see. I've seen both that and Jump, and I must say Jump is better.

If you go to Gyeongbokgung Palace, make sure you go a few blocks away to Insadong and check that out. You can get a lot of souvenirs there and they usually have a group there playing traditional Korean music on the street.

If you want to see the madness of club nightlife, you can check out my neighborhood, Hongdae. I've been there for almost two years and haven't been in a club yet but the crowds at night there are unbelievable. They also have silent dance parties on the street some Saturday nights (everyone wears headphones so you can't hear the music).

Also, make sure you go to a makeoli jib, which is a little bar/restaurant where you can drink some traditional makeoli (so delicious). Alternatively, you can find a guy pushing a cart around selling it for super cheap ($1-3). Exhibit A: http://25.media.tumblr.com/...

There's so much to do, the people are so nice, the public transportation is the cleanest, cheapest and most efficient I've seen anywhere in the world. You're going to love it.

Re: Help Me Plan My Trip To Seoul, South Korea

brianherbert — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:51:26 -0000

Mark is right, the best DMZ tour is the one sponsored by the USO, which is run by Koridoor. You can get information for that here: http://www.koridoor.co.kr/b...

Re: http://sajasmom.tumblr.com/post/21831587718

brianherbert — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:20:43 -0000

Overall service in Korea is great. Free refills on panchan, wait staff is literally a push of a button away, almost any kind of food can be brought to your doorstep on real dishes, nobody ever expects a tip, if a T-Money card doesn't work in the subway, someone is there right away to help (in cases where it's reasonable), service people are generally willing to struggle with their English to serve you.

I have to agree with the other posters, the hovering of retail sales people is a bit obnoxious for most Western shoppers. You always feel like you have to make conversation or just leave since it makes you feel like a shoplifting suspect. Also, a minor annoyance to me is everyone shouting "GOODBYE, THANKS FOR COMING" no matter what kind of shop you're leaving. I've been here a year and I still feel bad not reciprocating with an equally vocal "THE FOOD WAS GREAT! THANK YOU FOR SERVING ME!" ;)

Re: Rumor: Delta Considering Drastic SkyMiles Changes

brianherbert — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:36:44 -0000

No, no, no, no, no! As a VERY loyal Delta Diamond, I would be switching to a Star Alliance carrier in a heart beat. I live in Korea and get a lot of value out of flying international routes to Europe and the US which are already more expensive than similar Star Alliance flights. Of course I would make the switch!

Re: http://sajasmom.tumblr.com/post/18510191497

brianherbert — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 01:46:51 -0000

I will be watching this thread. I'm curious myself.

Re: Free Hyatt Point Giveaway: Where in the World is TPG

brianherbert — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:05:53 -0000

Hyatt Santa Barbara
Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa
Grand Hyatt New York