(This article was originally posted in 2007 here)

Kimchi is the best known Korean food, which Korean people are most proud of. We simply cannot live without kimchi. It tastes really good though it stinks really bad. It’s really good for your body, too. For more information, obviously go check out the Wikipedia article on kimchi.

Now, why the name TechnoKimchi? Some people liked the name very much. Some thought it was purely stupid. Some even told me it sounds too much like TechCrunch. Fine, all points well taken.

To tell you the truth, it took me way over a year to come up with the name. I’ve had an idea about a blog like this for a long time. After all, my Korean blog is one of the most widely read IT/Web blogs in Korea. Just to flex my muscle, my Korean blog was started like a year before TechCrunch was born. Subscriber-wise? Probably 1/100 of TechCrunch

Anyhow, I really wanted a name that can well represent what I want to write about–the Digital Generation in Asia. Somehow it needed to have the word “Tech” combined with something very Asian. Even better if it can maximize people’s prejudice about Asia or even the “oriental world”.

Now, I’m Korean. Korea does not, by any means, represent Asia. China, Japan, India, even Vietnam are far more famous Asian countries to those over in the other half of the world than Korea is. From my personal experience, every time I told somebody in U.S. that I was from Korea (especially given I lived in South Carolina for so many years), the first question I would always get was “North or South?”

But I really love kimchi. I also thought TechnoKimchi was such a great brand name for a blog like this. In all truth, some other candidates were “TechKaraoke”, “DimsumTech” or “Chopstech(s)”. I liked them all, but had to shed tears choosing TechnoKimchi over them. I love Karaoke, dimsum and I use chopsticks every day. But I just love kimchi too much. And obviously, “TechnoKimchi” sounds far better than “TechKimchi”!

And it turns out that kimchi is extremely spicy and hot. So I added the “spicy thoughts” part to the subtitle. Personally, I love both the title and the subtitle.

So that’s how “TechnoKimchi: Spicy Thoughts on Digital Generaton in Asia” came around. Unfortunately, kimchi is only vegetable stuff. I guess it’s now time to add some meat to it.