Posted in Technology on Nov 15th, 2007
One of the best things about living in Japan is the access to the latest and greatest technology. Whether it’s phones, iPods, computers or digital cameras that float your boat we get them early and we get them cheap, dirt cheap. When i first got here i picked up the Canon IXY 1000 for a cool $450 including spare battery, case and 2gig memory card.
Now less than a year later the new model is out, the Canon IXY Digital 2000is and it’s going for around $350 .. seeing as i don’t need a case or the memory that seems like a pretty good deal to me. So now i’m left to ponder, do i treat myself to an early Xmas present? …. if so what do i do with the “old” camera …. my brother has a new one from when he was here a few months back, my parents got his old one … that leaves me with a less than 12 month old 10meg camera. Maybe i should have a competition to find the lucky recipient of the new camera ….. i’ll look into that over the next few days.
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Posted in Japan, Ramblings, Technology on Nov 2nd, 2007
Train Grope is rife in Japan but there are methods to reduce the risk of being a victim of the Groping Train epidemic.
That’s the message women are flashing on their cell phones with a popular program designed to ward off wandering hands in Japan’s congested commuter trains.
Living in a city as large as Tokyo there’s bound to be a few scruffy individuals after a cheap feel. Just for the record, Greater Tokyo has about 35 million people, more than the entire population of Canada.
When i first came to Japan in 2002 i noticed signs on the subways depicting 3 things … all illustrated by cartoon; no fighting, no setting the seats on fire and no putting your hand up a school girls dress. Needless to say each picture was as funny as the next, well the picture, not necessarily the issue at hand … pardon the pun.
Fast forward 5 years and the signs are gone but the problems still remain. There`s women only carriages on certain lines between certain hours and there`s well known lines that have the most issues, especially in the area of wandering hands.
I was amused earlier this week to read a story from the Mainichi Daily News covering this very topic of Train Groping.
Did you grope me? Shall we tell the police?
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Posted in Japan, Technology, Web Design on Oct 16th, 2007
A few weeks ago i wrote about my Sony Living Room PC and extras which doubles as the home office after hours during the week and generally for extended periods on the weekend. I think if i had to sit bolt up right at a desk i`d be spending a lot less hours in front of the computer but things are pretty comfortable so it`s easy to let the hours slip away. The only downside of the PC, if you could call it that, is the Japanese OS with Vista installed which as painful as it is at times it at least makes for some good Japanese reading practice, don`t quote me on that when i`m having a fit trying to navigate the directory structure mind you.
I have a Sony 40` HD TV as my `monitor` … the left hand side of the screen i`m doing a little work on my personal blog, the top right hand side i`m catching up on the latest from John Chow and the bottom right hand corner i`m watching Survivor 15 China through Windows Media Centre. I don`t think i`ll ever tire of watching Survivor.
There`s also a wireless keyboard (Japanese again) on my lap and a 500ml can of Asahi to the left of me and a packet of hot beef jerky to the right, both just out of shot.
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Posted in Technology on Oct 5th, 2007
If it’s not enough spending 10 or 12 hrs a day in front of a computer at work, as soon as i get home i jump back on and do some web related work, this time in more comfortable surrounds. I often get torn between television and the computer so i decided to kill 2 birds with one stone when i bought my latest set-up. I opted for the Sony Living Room PC which plugs into a Sony Bravia 40″ High Definition flat screen sitting on a Sony Theatre System Television Stand. I have to say after having this set-up for the lat 3 months i’m extermely happy and wouldn’t change a thing. The 40″ HD (1920×180) screen gives a fantastic picture when i’m doing some web stuff and having Windows Media Centre allows me to have the T.V or a DVD playing at the same time. All this while kicking back on the leather chaise lounge makes things pretty comfotable on the home front. All in all it’s a pretty swanky set-up. The PC plugs straight into the back of the TV and the table hooks it all up together with some tremendous sounds. Internet wired directly in courtesy of the fantastic 100mg up/down fibre-optic broadband we get in Japan with unlimited download for about USD$30 … needless to say bitlord gets a hammering! Wireless keyboard and remote control to change between any and all functions means you don’t have to leave your arm chair. Standard the PC comes with 160gb of storage and there’s an option to get a further 500gb if you need. Storage is cheap here and i already had a 300gb external drive so i bolt that in the back and we’re set. Only thing to do is set up the wireless, i have all the hardware but i’ve been too pre-occupied with the net of late, specifically getting this site in order using WordPress. Guess i’ll get around to it in a few weeks time, more than likely when the weather deteriorates and we hit winter. I orignally took a few pics of the set-up at home but photographing a TV isn’t so easy i discovered. I’ll try and get a picture over the weekend with natural light and get it up in a future post. I will say though if you’re remotely interested in this sort of set-up then have a good look at the Sony Living Room PC as an option.
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Posted in Technology on Sep 19th, 2007
Tonight on the hour long train ride from work i had the pleasure of messing about with the Apple iPhone. I`d read about it, I`d seen it online but i still never really appreciated how cool this device is.
Anyone in the market for a new phone strongly needs to consider the Apple iPhone which from what i`m told is available totally unlocked in Australia for a shade under a gorilla now.
My buddy from work described it as his single best purchase to date and he picked it up for $200 US more than what it is today.
If you`ve been living under a rock, the Apple iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows you to make a call by simply pointing your finger at a name or number in your address book, a favorites list, or a call log. And it lets you select and listen to voicemail messages in whatever order you want–just like email.
iPhone features a rich HTML email client and Safari — the most advanced web browser ever on a portable device — which automatically syncs bookmarks from your PC or Mac. Safari also includes built-in Google and Yahoo! search. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you can read a web page while downloading your email in the background over Wi-Fi or EDGE.
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