By Kelly Faircloth 1:59pm

Schmidt Happens

Mr. Schmidt, laying some knowledge on us. (Screencap)

After Eric Schmidt’s North Korean Jaunt, Foreigners Get 3G But Locals Still Out of Luck

Hard on the heels of Google chairman Eric Schmidt’s jaunt to North Korea, the World’s Most Isolated Country™ is letting a bit of Internet breeze in. The AP reports that foreigners in the country will soon have access to 3G connections, meaning they’ll now be able to fact-check anything their government-assigned tour guides tell them. Be warned, however, that your surroundings are probably bugged six ways to Sunday.  Read More

By Jessica Roy 2/05 10:07am

Play Your Video Games

(Photo: LiveLeak)

North Korea Uses Call of Duty Footage in Creepy Propaganda Video [Updated]

What do you do when you lack the technology to create your own simulation of New York City under missile attack? You use footage from video games, of course!

Kotaku reports that a new space race propaganda video put online by North Korea’s propaganda arm Uriminzokkiri depicts a city that looks an awful lot like New York being struck by missiles. Buildings begin to burn as an American flag waves overtop the footage. The video is couched as a dream sequence, showing the dreaming man aboard the rocket the country successfully tested in December. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 1/21 9:40am

Schmidt Happens

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Sorry Eric Schmidt, but Your Daughter Is Our New Favorite North Korean Delegate

Don’t get us wrong, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt. Your trip to North Korea has been a blast–the highlight of our year, really. Remember that time those Kim Il-sung University students pretended they were allowed to google things just to impress you?! Or what about former Governor Bill Richardson’s superfluous but omnipresent cravat?

But now that you’re free from the Supreme Leader’s distortion field, we have to say your tight-lipped travelogue pales in comparison to the candid, snark-laced account offered up by your daughter Sophie Schmidt. Read More

By Patrick Clark 1/10 8:22am

Linkages

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Booting Up: When Google’s Eric Schmidt Discovers North Korea is Isolated Edition

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt urged North Korean leaders to open Internet access to its citizens, or doom them to a state of virtual isolation. Which, if we understand Mr. Schmidt correctly, he thinks will be far more insidious than the actual isolation North Koreans are currently experiencing. [AP]

North Korea’s official Twitter account only follows three, and only three, other accounts. One belongs to Jimmy Dushku, a 25-year-old investor who’s been to almost 60 Coldplay concerts and counts The Fast and the Furious as his favorite movie. What? [Mother Jones]

They’re not saying how they know, exactly, but U.S. officials are convinced that the cyberattacks on the consumer-facing websites of American banks are the work of the Iranian government. [NYT]

Soon you will buy prepaid iPhones at Walmart. Sounds like another season of The Wire is in order. [PRNewswire]

Not to put a timetable on anything, but Digg figures its content discovery app  is about one percent done. Which is as fine a time as any to talk about monetization. [Digg]

By Jessica Roy 1/08 2:25pm

Schmidt Happens

(Photo: Asian Correspondent)

North Korean Students Pretend They’re Allowed to Use Google to Impress Eric Schmidt

Google chairman Eric Schmidt continued his romp around North Korea today, escorted by the polka-dot-loving Bill Richardson. CBS News reports that the duo visited Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, which is outfitted with a computer lab connected to the country’s intranet, a closed system where users can receive only state-sponsored news. Some students, however, have applied for and won the privilege to connect to the web for research purposes. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 1/03 3:45pm

Schmidt Happens

Mr. Schmidt, laying some knowledge on us. (Screencap)

The Feds Are All, ‘Really, Eric?’ With Mr. Schmidt’s Mission to North Korea

Sometime soon, Google chairman and unfiltered man-about-town Eric Schmidt is due to set out for North Korea in the company of former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

However, it seems the U.S. State Department is not particularly keen on this trip. In fact, it sounds like America’s highest-ranking diplomats are downright pissed that Messrs. Schmidt and Richardson have seen fit to embark on their own private mission to Pyongyang. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 1/02 3:30pm

Planet GOOG

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Eric Schmidt ✈ North Korea

What happens when an outspoken executive from the world’s largest Internet search company visits the world’s most restrictive Internet economy? We’ll soon find out! The Associated Press reports that Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt is scheduled to travel to North Korea as early as this month on a “private trip” led by former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

The gloriously candid Mr. Schmidt has taken on more of a policy role since stepping down as CEO in 2011, focusing on the company’s external relationships with business partners and governments. He’s working on a book called The New Digital Age with Jared Cohen, the fratty-looking former State Department policy and planning adviser, who now heads Google Ideas, a New York-based think tank that “convenes unorthodox stakeholders.” Read More

By Jessica Roy 12/13/12 9:26am

Lulz

One of the Internet's most prolific Kim Jong Un memes. (Photo: 1mut)

Kim Jong-Un Wins Time’s Person of the Year Reader Poll With a Little Help from 4chan

A few weeks ago we reported that 4chan, the Internet’s favorite underbelly, was galvanizing to vote North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the top of Time’s person of the year reader poll. It seems it has been successful in its pursuit, as Time just announced that Kim Jong-un won the spot. This, of course, doesn’t mean that he will certainly be the Time editors’ person of the year pick, but it demonstrates the immense online voting power of 4chan. Read More