Want a screen protector? Go to Asia.

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The last time I bought a screen protector in a cell phone store in the U.S., I think that it cost $17, plus I had to apply it myself. Approximately 17 air bubbles and an equal number of contributions to the swear jar later, I finally got the damn thing on.

Then I went to a cell phone shop in Asia. Oh, my. What a difference.

This morning I popped into a local cell phone store, and asked them to replace the screen protector on my phone. The nice young lady at the service counter pealed off the old film, used a cleaning solution to clean the front and back of my phone and my cell phone case, expertly put on the new protector (with absolutely no air bubbles), and handed it back to me.

The cost: 50,000 Vietnamese dong, about $2.20. Plus it comes with a three month guarantee. They will replace it for free if it gets scratched.

Fire-Breathing Dragon

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A big bridge in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam is decorated to look like a dragon:

Here’s what the head looks like:

And if you have a dragon, then it should breathe fire, right? Right?!

Right.

Every Saturday and Sunday night at 9:00pm, the dragon breathes fire. Fake dragon, real fire:

It also squirts water, but we didn’t get close enough to see that. Maybe next week.

Or maybe not.

I am a YouTube Violator

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So apparently my food videos are offensive to The Powers That Be at YouTube. I was just notified that my video violated YouTube’s delicate sensitivities.

This is part of the notification:

Your video “Ca Loc in Danang” was flagged for review. Upon review, we’ve determined that it violates our guidelines. We’ve removed it from YouTube and assigned a Community Guidelines strike, or temporary penalty, to your account.

I thought it might be a spearfishing attempt, so I went to my YouTube page. Sure enough, this snippet of text was waiting for me:

The video is question is an 11-second shot of my lunch: clay-pot fish. Sure, it’s “steamy,” but not in the pornographic sense:

Does this video offend you?

What “Community Guideline” does this video violate? Here are the categories, according to YouTube’s website:

Nudity or sexual content: Admittedly, the fish is not wearing any clothes. Maybe this is the one?

Harmful or dangerous content: Well, if you asked the fish, it would probably say that the video isn’t good for its health.

Hateful content: Some people don’t like fish, it’s true. Maybe this is the one?

Violent or graphic content: I’m sure that the fish was murdered. This could be the one!

Harassment and cyberbullying: Um…

Spam, misleading metadata, and scams: It’s fish, not spam. Pretty sure this one is out.

Threats: No one is saying anything bad will happen to you if you don’t eat the fish.

Copyright: It’s my video. I shot it, I own it.

Privacy: Again, the fish is nude. So, maybe…

Impersonation: The fish isn’t trying to push itself off as anything but a fish.

Child endangerment: You’ve got me: some kids don’t like fish. This definitely could be the one.

 

I assume that this is an AI fail. But it’s pretty funny to think that my food video was found to be inappropriate.

Dancing Slushie

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A new 7-11 opened on the street that I walk on to and from work. I saw a guy in a slushie costume dancing outside the store, to attract customers. When I walked home after my language lesson, 12 hours later, the poor bastard was still out there.

And you thought your job sucked?