redFred

Social Media Gems

2011-06-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

ifttt - Stands for If This Then That. You know how most online services have alert functions now? For instance, if you receive a message on Facebook you can have it email you or send a text to your phone. Well ifttt is that kind of service but you can apply it to anything. You can have it call you every time one of your friends checks into the bar down the street on foursquare. It ties into an impressive number of services, including: Craigslist, facebook, Flickr, foursquare, most Google services, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube and more. It's already been immensely helpful in setting job search alerts on Craigslist. I highly recommend.

gdgt - A show-off-my-collection site for electronics. Create lists of things you own or want to own, from the past, present and future. Compare lists with others, comment and ask questions. It's also an interesting place to get new updates about the latest interesting technology coming out.

Weotta - A social planning site, useful in finding an itinerary for an unplanned weekend night. You enter what kind of crowd you're running with, what mood you're in, and Weotta will give you a list of things to do. For example, one plan is to grab dinner at a new cajun restaurant, go see the Deftones in concert, and then drinks at a hip, bayside bar. They only have San Francisco and New York so far but I'm really excited to see what they do with the service.

Movies

2011-05-25T17:33:00.001-07:00

Wow, I've been pretty knee-deep in code and textbooks lately. First Javascript, then Flash, and now PHP. I have to say by far the hardest for me has been PHP. With the first two they're primarily visual tools: you can see what you're doing with them. Learning to think about what goes on in the backend of a site purely in code is really tough.

I'd like to find a script to host moview reviews on my site. I used to post them on my Flixster app within Facebook until they all got deleted. I haven't written any lately and I would love to put down my thoughts on what I'm watching. More than a long-form blog entry I'd like something where someone could flip through a series of small, paragraph-length entries. Maybe with a small built-in search.

I did see Thor the other night and it was pretty good, better than I was expecting. Chris Hemsworth more than held his own with the other cast. I only knew him from his small part in Star Trek before this and I worried he should be dwarfed by Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins. Not only did he hold his own but he owned the character and became the heart of the movie. In both the dramatic and comedic scenes he shined. I'll really be looking forward to his future performances. Portman performed well typo and fit the part excellently. She never overpowered a scene. I also appreciated the scenes in Valhalla were many and we got to see some great, fantastical effects. I didn't notice much of Branaugh's mark on the film but he didn't detract from it either. Overall it was one of the better Marvel films I've seen.

Deep Love Core

2011-05-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

Found a really excellent design portfolio site with some help from the benevolent Nicopolitan. It's this site called Krop and they display your resume and portfolio in a really clean, slick looking setup. The free account lets you have ten images and looks great as it is. They've got more layout designs and a larger portfolio size for the paid service. I'm really enjoying the results I've gotten with it so far.

Really, really hooked on this song at the moment. It's actually a collaboration that Girls' Generation did with Intel for the release of one of their processors in Korea. It sounds like a aural bomb dropped through a time warp from some far flung distant future digital society.

My Keyboard is Unnecessarily Obtuse

2011-04-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

I hope I spelled unnecessarily correct.

I'm another chapter farther into Javascript, but it's an awful long one. Just got done with Arrays and next is Objects, though I'm most looking forward to the next chapter which is specifically about web design applications. That's what I was looking for in the first place! Though I do feel like I've gotten a good general mindset for programming with what I've learned so far. Just the logic leaps and how you have to break down what you're going to output into code-digestible bits.

I'm giving The Name of the Wind a second chance. I didn't much care for the author's writing style the first time around. There were a lot of unnecessary (let's hope I'm right) metaphors and he tends to write out way too much of the scene and characters' actions, when I feel more should be left to the reader's imagination. My good friend from high school really enjoyed it and actually got me a copy as a present, so I told him I would give it an honest second read.

I watched The Fountain again last night. I really enjoy that movie even though I hear it get a lot of hate. It's very visual and emotional, with a really elaborate mood that kind of envelopes you as you watch it. I don't feel it's confused or poorly written at all, just that there is more simply to absorb and let wash over you than to clearly parse with dialogue. Plus Hugh Jackman is at his finest when he's playing a broken, tortured man in my opinion. Between this and The Prestige my opinion of his acting greatly increased. Wolverine is badass but watching him struggle with his wife's death and desperately searching for a cure is incredibly engaging through his acting.

The Day After Yesterday

2011-04-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my Javascript. I hope first and foremost it'll improve my resume and make me a more attractive candidate for jobs. The long term goal is to climb those programming languages one by one and build myself up as a programmer. Of course I wonder how far I'll go without an actual degree, but half the time what's written on a job posting is just to screen out all the people who don't have the balls to put their money where their mouth is. That's rather harsh, I suppose. I finished the fourth chapter in my Javascript for Dummies book, all the way up through loops and into arrays. I realise now a lot of it was intimidating because I'm not good at math and math was always linked with programming in my mind. Now I'm approaching it from more of a language angle. It is a lot like a language, just that you have to think about the logic underlying it as well, which you really do have to do in learning any language it's just not something people typically think about from the outside. I'm enjoying programming so far, I just wish I was on the applicable stuff already. I wanna be making snazzy menus and sliding galleries for web pages instead of writing programs that output the results of a six-sided die roll as a popup. I know I have to start somewhere. We'll see how far I am in a month. I've managed to do about a chapter a day.

I watched the Game of Thrones pilot. Wow, that was fantastic. They seem to have captured the series incredibly well, though HBO is in the business of making the best drama on television. There's a wonderful feeling of the innocence of the Stark children and the darkness of the world around them. It feels a lot like those classic fairytales. I absolutely cannot wait for more Tyrion as that actor is excellent and only got a couple of minutes onscreen in the pilot. Same with Arya. A lot of the characters still need time to develop, though I think the pilot did a good enough job introducing us to Ned Stark. The production is incredible as well, everything looks accurate and realistic. The swords are all shiny and the horses are horsey. I can't wait for more.

Oh, and the intro is incredibly original and awesome.

I've been using Robot Science as my work music and it's working out quite well. It kind of fades into the background but keeps out the noise and is interesting enough to keep me engaged when I do zone out a bit and listen to it.

Robot Revolution, When Not If

2010-04-21T00:36:00.001-07:00

The robot revolution has been a popular scifi theme for the last twenty years. In one form or another, robotic servants of humankind become more human-like, develop self-awareness and a survival drive, and act in ways their human masters didn't plan for. It's always presented as an "if" scenario, a distinctly fictionized story. It's likely more of a "when".

In a previous post I pointed out how we'll definitely see robots in economic functions. Business decisions are always about the best value for the lowest cost and once robotics become commonly affordable it'll make the most sense to have humanoid robots perform tasks already in place for humans, using equipment already in place for humans. I linked to a documentary about how Japanese society is planning for its ongoing population decline by developing human-like robot workers, and this shows there are very real plans to place robotic servants in human jobs.

Necessarily these robotic servants will have a human appearance, though people have even become attached to their roombas. It will make interacting with them more comfortable and alleviate some of the unease at seeing "mechanical" servants take over human jobs.

Once you have a human-like being doing a human amount of work how long will it be until people start calling for equal rights? Animal rights protesters fight for the rights of non-human creatures. There will be loud, perhaps violent, counterarguments of robots being manufactured creatures and thus not "alive". However, as we've seen storytellers say in many robot revolution stories: if they think like a human, talk like a human, and act like a human, aren't they also human? It's not like they chose to be "mechanical", they were "born" that way. I don't think it's unfair to say this struggle will resemble the gay rights movement.

Whether these robots have independent thought or not, it will surely be one of the rights we fight for. Determining the path of one's own life is a right we recognize extended to all human beings, and once robots are recognized as "human", we'll extend it to them as well.

It's a sure thing there will be discrimination and any number of darker acts on the road to robot freedom. We can only hope that when the robots win their eventual freedom they don't hate us too much for the inevitable shit we will put them through.

Digital Memories: Soul Calibur 2

2010-03-29T18:36:00.001-07:00

Following in my post about the ten year anniversary of the PS2, I talk about one of my favorite games for the platform: Soul Calibur 2.

Bravo, Google

2010-03-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you're aware of the ongoing battle between Google and the Chinese government over its decision to switch to uncensored search. It's important to also keep in mind this battle was started by Chinese-government-sponsored web attacks on Google.

We're also all aware that China is on the rise to become the next world dominating power. Economically they've managed to recapture momentum after the global crash, even if they did it at the expense of other countries' economies by fixing their currency. They've committed themselves to putting their citizens second and profits first, and they continue to deny their citizens a voice of any kind in the determination of their destiny. China may have changed their image economically but they remain a totalitarian power exercising complete political control over their citizens.

There are a number of US companies who overlook China's government and are moving their operations wholesale to the Communist country. The vast majority of US companies have exploited the country's cheap labor over the past twenty years. And yes, it's worth pointing out that Google did enter mainland China censored for five years before pulling out this spring. Their posturing may just be putting a good face on a strategic pull-out.

Even if that's the case, it's the message of this that should be considered. This move won't make Google any money, they'll definitely lose out on a huge and growing market, and there are plenty of other companies that are willing to step over the trampeled rights of the Chinese people to make a few bucks. It does send a message to the Chinese government that not everyone cares more about dollars than freedom. It shows that political censorship coupled with anything goes economic exploitation won't get you the whole way.

I say bravo, Google. Whatever the motivations that began this, you've decided to take a stand on your principles. That's something the people within China don't have the power to do, and the companies outside of China have no interest in.

Japan: New Frontiers in Censorship

2010-03-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

Some Tokyo politicians thought up the wonderful idea to "ban provocative visual depictions of characters who appear to be 18 or younger." Many speculate this comes at a time when Japan is facing pressure from other countries to curb its child pornography. I have a lot of problems with this.

To start, I don't care for these characters in anime. I would rather see realistic portrayals of women (such as Black Lagoon's Revy or RahXephon's Haruka) than the continually rehashed ideal of a naive, junior high school girl pining after a socially inept older man. That said, I don't necessarily think these characters drive fans to sexually abuse young children. Take a look at your average otaku's room and you'll find shrines to these characters alone rather than anything that suggests an interest in real little girls.

This ban is first of all an act of misdirection. As the author of this article points out, it's merely an "aesthetic bandaid" fix to the problem. Rather than take real, controversial steps to change the state of child pornography in Japan politicians decide to take on a safer target in underage anime characters in order to look like they're doing something. Authorities in Japan, whether in government or in business, favor the appearance of change rather than change itself, as you can read in this heavy, yet accurate rant.

Secondly, while it's a despicable decision politically it's also a dumb move economically. If this goes through it could injure Japan's anime culture, which is a major financial asset both domestically and abroad. As much as I may not care for the character type, there's no arguing that these "lolicon" characters have become a major pillar of the industry. Straight out banning their depictions would stop shows that feature these characters (of which there are currently a LOT), stop fans buying their merchandise, and cause the anime industry to shrink.

Finally, it's flat out censorship. Japan has not had a great history of fighting censorship, as their antiquated pornography laws will show, but it is censorship all the same. If no one is being hurt and there are people who want this kind of content, who are they to stand in the way?

Japan has a problem with fetishizing youth, but it's being sidestepped rather than dealt with by this solution.

Happy Birthday PS2!

2010-03-07T07:16:00.000-08:00

March 4th marks the ten year anniversary of Sony's little black wonder, and inspired by other accounts of the console I wanted to share my own experience.

The PS2 was one of only two consoles I've bought at launch (the other being an N64). I've read stories about shortages at launch but I had mine preordered months in advance and it arrived as expected in the beginning of the second month of my freshman college year. None of the launch titles interested me so I didn't order any with the system. I was intrigued by the console's ability to enhance the graphics of PS1 games, and it was a noticeable if not mindblowing effect. Within a couple weeks I realised I needed to have a real PS2 title to show off the system and I picked up Tekken. The graphics were indeed a step up from the previous generation. I remember being in awe of the shiny, curvy new polygons and deep, 3D backgrounds. Tekken's intro movie also looked beautiful (I didn't realise at the time such movies were entirely pre-rendered files).

The PS2 served me well throughout my college years, with some big gaming enjoyments along the way. Final Fantasy X was of course a huge moment. The powerful narrative, the first-time inclusion of voice-acting, the graphics, the music, and an energetic new battle system combined to make it one of my favorite FFs to this day. Metal Gear Solid 2 delivered a Hollywood-caliber espionage story that, even if it largely dropped its star character, lived up to the promise of its predecessor. Soul Calibur 2 brought my circle of friends back together for more fighting game goodness that had begun with Super Smash Bros on the Gamecube. Gran Turismo 3 streamlined the series into a next generation experience that refined the core concept of realistic racing.

It was about this time, a year to year and a half after purchase, that my PS2 began to wear out. A well-documented issue with the disc-reading laser lens claimed first the systems ability to read DVDs, then PS1 games, and then gradually PS2 title after title began to read errors. I read online guides and opended up my system to tinker with no miraculous results. There was a period of about half a year or so where I couldn't play much else than a handful of the newest games for the system. Luckily a friend of mine came through with a replacement PS2 shanghaied from a deadbeat college roommate and I was back in the game. This system would eventually begin to fail too, and as of this moment I am on my third PS2 system, a brand new Slim bought two months ago.

Towards the end of the system's time in the spotlight there were some true gems. Final Fantasy XII was a graphical marvel on "aging" hardware, if a bit incoherent in terms of story. Really, for me, the shining moment in the systems twilight time was Shadow of the Colossus. I had seen a puzzle-fiend friend play through ICO and swear up and down its brilliance. The game was breathtakingly beautiful and haunting, though my brain having trouble with the most basic of puzzles I never got into it. SotC immersed me in a beautiful, simple, powerful world that was sublime in its simplicity. The massive "boss battles" were stunning and beautiful, but at the same time I spent hours just riding around the massive world and taking in the gorgeous scenery. I never wanted SotC to end, and one of these days I'll jump back in for a replay.

There are still games being released for the system, even as it's no longer Sony's flagship. I've heard the recent Odin Sphere is amazing, and Nippon Ichi among others continues to port the vast backlog of Japanese RPGs. Barring the multiple failures of my PS2s I've had a wonderful experience with the system and I hope my current console lasts long enough to enjoy its stellar titles for years to come.

Battle Angel Alita Plot Details

2010-03-07T04:25:00.000-08:00

Jon Landau, one of the producers on Avatar, and a producer on James Cameron's Battle Angel Alita film discussed the plot in a recent interview.

Battle Angel Alita is my favorite manga. It's basically the only manga I've read. Besides a couple of one of issues of things like Tenchi Muyo and Eat Man back in the late nineties, the only manga I've read is Alita. I've watched my fair share of anime but never really got bitten by the manga bug.

It was hinted and obvious from the start that they'd be focusing on Motorball for this film. It's the most accessible plot line of the series and would best translate into a straight action film. It's something I see Cameron having a hard time messing up.

Focusing on Motorball, I imagine it will be hard to move on to the rest of the story. Motorball is merely one of the settings for Alita's reawakening and remembering her powers. If they start the "series" with a Motorball movie, everyone will be thinking it's all about Motorball and any future installments may be distorted or never even be produced.

Oh well, I suppose it's not worth worrying over. Even one Alita movie, which I never dreamed I'd see, is a treat.

Google Buzz Issues

2010-02-25T18:48:00.000-08:00

Why did Google release Buzz without a closed beta as they traditionally have with their products; such as Gmail, Voice, and Wave?

McG, Murakami, and Dunst are Turning Japanese

2010-02-24T07:07:00.001-08:00

Takashi Murakami and McG teamed up to film a cover music video of The Vapors' "Turning Japanese" in Akihabara starring Kirsten Dunst. A fun video and playful enough to not flog the dead horse of "Japan/Akihabara is different and weird!" Dunst turns in a good performance, and is obviously enjoying herself.

I think Murakami's genius is simplified by many observers in the current wash of anime-aesthetic hitting US shores. His visions manage time after time to be more compelling and interesting than the vast majority of commercial cash-ins on the anime boom.

I saw a display of his work at the Little Tokyo branch of the LACMA two years ago. His designs border on the psychadelic but manage to incorporate a bubbly, cute anime/cartoon feel that makes them digestible. I especially enjoyed how he takes the exaggerations of women and sexuality in anime aesthetics to the extreme conclusion. (see: "Hiropon")

Olympic Theme

2010-02-24T06:22:00.001-08:00

I'm sure news shows in the US are using powerful, bombastic orchestral songs as their Olympic theme but here in Japan our news shows play this over Olympic montages:

Mechanical Tumor

2010-02-21T19:06:00.001-08:00

Part of a Japanese installation art series, a realistic-looking tumor like mass is connected to a PC and inflates to approximate the CPU load of programs and running tasks.

Olympic News Bias?

2010-02-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

Watching the Olympics outside of the US I've noticed that the events covered tend to be those in which the country I'm watching from performs the best in.

Androids versus Battle Mechs

2010-02-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

My first video blog. I figure I'd try this format as it's less time-intensive. In this post I discuss the commercial and wartime application of robots and why I think the former is more likely to come true in the near future.

(Here is the documentary I reference in the video, provided by my friend nicopolitan.)

I Now Pronounce You Man and Video Game

2009-11-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend what some say is a very important event in geek fandom took place: a Japanese man married a video game character. The man, going by the online handle "Sal9000" married the character Nene Anegasaki from the video game Love Plus. Many watching the video of the event commented it represented the "end of Japan", and while I think it is a sad expression of one human beings need for companionship, I wouldn't say it's the "end of Japan" and there are certainly other factors to take into consideration when examining the broken down psychology of relationships in Japan.

First of all, it's not the "end of Japan". Obsessive otaku have existed for at least the past 35 years, and have found slightly disturbing outlets in everything from naked, mid-coitus anime character statues, to full length body-pillows with popular, scantily clad anime characters illustrated on them. In addition, what both Boingboing blogger Lisa Katayama's video erroneously states and the related Kotaku article fail to mention (even though it is plainly stated in a previous Kotaku article) is that although this was a Japanese man, the ceremony took place in Guam at a church that agreed to hold the ceremony. No goverment agency was involved in recognizing this "marriage" as a legal union in any way, particularly not the Japanese government. This is far from a permanent shift in Japanese society. Lisa Katayama goes so far as to suggest that rather than a "real marriage" the Japanese man just wanted to express "he's hooked on this game and that he's really into the character who lives inside of it". On that point I differ, and while I don't believe this is the "end of Japan" I do think it's one more symptom of a confused, stressed-out society.

The decline in relationships and dating in Japan is a serious issue. The Japanese population is expected to decrease by 30 million over the next 40 years, and 50% of that population will be 65 years old or older. Japanese citizens are having fewer children, and part of the issue is that they are forming relationships more and more rarely. In my opinion, it stems from a culture that emphasizes incredibly exhausting work schedules, the clash of traditional and modern views of relationships, and the culture that surrounds Japan's unique brand of escapist entertainment.

Ever since Japan's rapid industrialization in the late 1800s Japan has had an incredibly strong work ethic. At that time the government drove the country to "catch up" to the West in an effort to avoid colonization. This effort was effective, and transformed Japan into a colonial power itself at the beginning of the 20th century. In the aftermath of WWII, this same spirit created the "salaryman" culture that saw Japan rise from a post-war country with a ruined infrastructure to a premiere economic power in the 1980s. The salaryman was expected to work 15 hour shifts, move wherever his company needed him most, and by and large sacrifice his family time and leisure for the good of the company and by extension the country. DThe fiuring that time Japanese men may have been willing to accept this grueling lifestyle as they had either seen first-hand or were not far removed from the destruction and poverty of war, and they were buoyed by Japan's fantastic rise to eminence on the world stage. Once the economic bubble burst in the early 90s however, a generation raised in wealth entered the workforce at a time when the country was facing an economic recession some say has never ended. These young men were expected to work the same endlessly tiring schedules as their fathers; expected to step into harsh and thankless roles after leaving a relatively easy childhood. This pressure may have drove them to seek escape from the reality of Japanese business culture.

Due to Japan's rapid industrialization many tradition aspects of Japanese society have clashed with their foriegn-influenced modern counterparts. Traditional Japanese society practiced arranged marriage. The Western feeling of passionate "true love" was one that was acknowledged but acknowledged as problematic and not a feeling to be indulged. Instead the traditional Japanese ideal of love was very innocent. Like the "first love" during adolescence, this ideal emphasizes shy, tentative expressions of affection as opposed to the passionate outpourings of Western "love" (and by extension was something expected to be shed when the demands of "adulthood" arose). This has remained the ideal for Japanese men, while buoyed by their growing economic power Japanese women have embraced the imported concept of the empowered woman. This is a positive development as traditionally women have had very submissive roles in Japanese society. The conflict lies in that Japanese women have come to expect confident men who have their lives organized, while the driving economic pressure and obsession with innocent, stress-free relationships has left more and more Japanese men checking out of relationships.

Just as Japan was known worldwide for its economic prowess in the 1980s, Japanese pop culture began a rise to international renown in the mid 1990s. Driving this rise inside Japan were a growing fanbase of "otaku", men in their twenties and beyond with a childlike obsession with video games and anime. Series aimed towards young girls, featuring young female protagonists and innocent "first love" stories, were particularly popular with this demographic. As the animation/video game industry saw this they began to produce products that catered to these desires for innocent, stress-free relationships. One of which is the very videogame, Love Plus, which features Sal9000's "bride". In a society where men are under a large amount of stress to work tirelessly and the major form of escapist entertainment offers them their ideal romantic relationship, many choose to tune out the changing realities of modern relationships in Japan.

A Japanese man marrying a video game character is by no means the "end of Japan" or even a symptom of the sole cause in the Japanese population decline. There are still men and women who manage to have realistic relationships in Japan, but may decline to start a family because of the pressures of their jobs. However, this event is a symptom of a society in crisis. A society that on its current path is looking at the prospect of extinction.

Assassin's Creed

2009-11-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

Having just gotten into Assassin's Creed on the PC, I am already psyched for the sequel. Nevermind that Ubisoft crafted an amazing game with rich gameplay, a detailed, authentic world, and fascinating story and characters. The marketing blitz for Assassin's Creed 2 has been mindblowing, largely due to a short film series being produced about the game's characters. The films are rendered in digital environments but feature real, quality actors, period costumes, and quite well written dialogue and story. I would watch all of these strung together and put into a movie theater.

I'm also reminded of my social marketing experience and the idea of using apps to market an upcoming product. Many see the success of games like Mafia Wars on Facebook and Spymaster on Twitter then want to create something as interactive and viral. The idea of simply "skinning" a game like Mafia Wars, turning the mobsters into say vampires and assassinations into feedings, is often brought up. I would play a Mafia Wars skinning of Assassin's Creed to no end. Playing through the first game I already see parallels, like assassinations, rescuing innocents from brutal guards, and completing missions with fellow informants to gain information, parallels that could easily be skinned for Assassin's Creed. This is a game I want to tell my friends about and get them interested in as well, and what better way to direct that desire than through a game app. I know people get tired of the constant spam updates on Facebook from others' games but I think Assassin's Creed holds more weight as an established franchise than something about generic mobsters, vampires, or farm animals.

Just a thought, Ubisoft.

Mind Hole Balls

2009-10-26T17:56:00.001-07:00

Via the Nefariously Magnificent Nicopolitan:

Nicopolitan: it's gonna blow your mindhole
Nicopolitan: well, maybe not, but still neat
redFred: Hehe
redFred: I will prepare my mindhole
redFred: Pack it all stuffed with all kinds of cotton balls
redFred: Don't wanna lose too much
Nicopolitan: i hear you can get a great deal on mindhole cottonballs at Costco
redFred: Hmm, but it's gonna be a bitch to carry that huge box home
redFred: I'd rather just get the individual packs at Rite Aid
Nicopolitan: individually wrapped mindhole balls
Nicopolitan: like, the ones you get on the airplane
redFred: Sealed for your protection
Nicopolitan: do not open if safety seal has been broken
redFred: Apply to mindhole only with the advice of a trained professional
Nicopolitan: consult a physician to ask if mindholeballs are right for you
redFred: Stop using mindholeballs immediately if you see adverse symptoms such as bleeding, leakage, or grey matter absorption
Nicopolitan: ok, ok ok ok, now we need a slogan
redFred: Mind Hole Balls: A Better Life through Balls ?
Nicopolitan: wow. okay, i just snotted on my keyboard
redFred: Hahaha
Nicopolitan: there is no way i'm not Photoshopping a logo for this

Portrait: Koban

2009-10-18T18:46:00.001-07:00

From Japan

Koban, or police boxes, are small neighborhood outposts for the Japanese police. They're often only one or two rooms, and house two to ten police officers. Koban are good meeting places as they're often close to major stations and well marked on area maps. Many are built with a cute facade, like this owl-shaped koban in Chiba city.

Oktoberfest

2009-10-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here are photos of the Yokohama Oktoberfest 2009. Giant mugs of beer, sausage and pretzels, and polka bands. I'm half sorry I didn't get a photo of the guy emptying the entirety of his digested Oktoberfest meal on the ground next to our table. By far the highlight was the Japanese crowd getting all riled up and dancing to the polka music after getting some liquid courage in them.

GMT +9

2009-10-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've made a post on life in Japan.

The weather has been incredibly strange lately. It was nice and pleasantly cool all the way up through the end of September. Long-sleeved shirt weather, but nothing heavier. Then we've had a week and a half of rain and wind with a huge typhoon coming in, and the temperature has plummeted. I was walking to work in just my suit one day and the next I had to take a sweater and jacket. Today the typhoon winds are so strong they've closed down most of the train lines.

This week and a half I've also been working non-stop. I decided to work overtime this weekend and so I've been going, going, going since last Sunday. It made me a little sick at the end of last week but with some good medication I've pulled through.

This coming weekend is the Yokohama Oktoberfest and I'm planning to go again this year. They really spare no expense in making it authentic, even hiring a real German polka band to play music under the big dining hall tent. There are all kinds of great German beer, good stouts and weizens, and all the sausages you could possibly eat. It's usually packed which is fun because the festival atmosphere spreads throughout the crowd.

Fans

2009-09-29T19:14:00.001-07:00

A new study says 99% of US Online Retailers are planning to have Facebook Fan Pages, and 91% are planning to have Twitter accounts. Theoretically this is to both build a fan base and keep in touch with their customers about upcoming products and sales.

I've always seen the attempt to build "fans" around a retail outlet rather disingenuous. Consumers generally shop at one retailer or another because of low prices and convenience. I imagine there is generally no one who are actual fans of retailers, outside of Sharper Image/Brookstone gadget enthusiasts. I'm sure this massive move to online representation will separate retailers along those two lines: those who see this as a real opportunity to give their customers the information they need, and those who use this to attempt building an imaginary retailer fan base.

Twitter Widgets

2009-09-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

I'd like to update my Twitter feed, and find a nice clean way to post it on various sites. Right now my feed sits at the top of this blog, as a plain RSS feed. I've tried using the official Twitter widget but it becomes misshapen and weird when I try to place it in the sidebar on this page. There's also an interesting looking batch of widgets I found on a site called Wish-a-Friend, but it's much busier than my page:

Twitter Widgets - Twitter Backgrounds

What Twitter widgets do you use? Have you seen any nice, clean ones? How does my plain RSS Twitter feed look? Do I even need to change it?

Facebook, Twitter, Internet Gossip

2009-09-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about slander, and particularly the pettiness to which it sinks in the political and entertainment arenas. We're barraged by "breaking news" about divorces, infidelity, drug use, slip-ups, or even just a bad photo. Minutiae that are blown up to operatic proportions and evidence of why we can no longer put our trust in this or that person.

At the same time, we are a generation living through changes in the definition of privacy. Most of us are aware that our Tweets and Facebook posts are publicly available, and most of what we do online can be found one way or another. There are the stories of people losing jobs over Facebook and blog content, and reports that organizations now thoroughly research prospective employees' online presence.

I wonder what's going to happen in ten to fifteen years when the majority of our celebrities and politicians have been raised in this culture. I'd like to think we will become desensitized to this brand of "news", but I'm not sure. How will it change our definitions of privacy and our expectations of behavior when the people we look up to and choose to lead us have every past mistake documented for our scrutiny? How will the news media adapt to such a readily available source of gossip? Will we become more forgiving as a culture?

Google Captchas

2009-09-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Google has been on another round of purchases lately. They've snapped up the popular identity verification service reCAPTCHA, and there are rumors that they're looking to acquire the Brightcove video service as well.

Both are interesting moves. Google's reason for their acquisition of reCAPTCHA was not neccessarily as a security service, but apparently the software uses advanced scanning to take those words from old newspapers and books and make them readable to the services' computers. This is an effort to increase the viability of their Google Books project. Acquiring Brightcove is an interesting parallel to their acquisition of YouTube in 2006. The video service is popular among major news sites and this could shore up Google's dominance of online video.

There's a lot of promise here for these companies to expand their business. Google's proven record of acquiring companies and letting them continue to do what they do best has paid off. I'm excited to see these services helping Google's own projects as well.

Where Do We Go From Here?

2009-09-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

I think Twitter has just about reached the market saturation where first adopters will start looking for something new. It's considered a legitimate news source and most social networking users are hip to it, if not our parents yet. With Twitter becoming mainstream what could be next?

Posterous,Tumblr, and similar services have been slowly gaining popularity for a while. Situated somewhere between Twitter and a blog, these are ideal places to upload brief clips of text, day-to-day snapped photos, and the occasional short video. While they're a brilliant amalgamation of current web communication they seem to be a bit too involved for the average webizen.

Robo.to is a service between Posterous and Twitter. It's in my opinion a simple step above Twitter, adding Facebook and blog integration and a short, 30-sec looping video of yourself. While enjoyable I think the reason it hasn't taken off has been the webcam feature. Yes it's incredibly fun and an innovative integration but as curious tech users have found since the debut of webcams we aren't always looking our best when surfing the web. As much as I love Robo.to I rarely update it because most days I'm sitting in front of the computer in frumpy pajamas and with wild, unruly bedhair.

What these services and most speculation don't take into account however is that the next "hot" webapp is bound to be something we can't quite imagine just yet. As much as Facebook is going after Twitter because they believe them to be competition, they really aren't. True, the service is taking FB's place in the internet spotlight, but it's proven itself more of a news service than a social networking platform. The next big thing may bear some passing resemblance to the two giants, or may take one of their features and expand upon it to the point of a worthwhile, brilliant service in its own right, but it will be an unlikely service we did not instantly recognize for its similar potential.

Taking that into account, what are the basic characteristics of both Facebook and Twitter that it may have? Both services let users share simple, small content broadly and include a networking component. While we may not recognize it's form, it's a good bet the next web service hit will fit these basic criteria.

Chrome +1

2009-09-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Google Chrome is one year old today. It's been a year of the fastest, slickest browser around which apparently hasn't gained the Google-like popularity the search engine enjoys.

I use both Firefox and Chrome myself. Firefox is the traditional, loyal browser that I prefer for it's enormously varied plugins and addons. I like being able to tweak my web browsing experience and finding new addons that do things I didn't even know I needed. Chrome, on the other hand, I use for quick simple tasks like checking out a YouTube video link or checking my Gmail. I enjoy it's lightweight nature and the separate-processes-per-tab. It's set as the default browser on my system, even though it's not my main browser, so I can use it to quickly view links. Even though I enjoy features of both, they occupy separate needs on my system.

I don't think Google Chrome will become my main browser in the near feature, but that could change. I'd like to see them open up the plugin API to the public. I'm sure if they did the diligent, and Google-loyal, programming community would produce some very awesome plugins for the browser. I'd like to see them support themes as well, which I understand is coming in the next version of Chrome. While the default look is clean when I'm browsing late at night I like something a bit easier on the eyes.

While the 2.84% market share Chrome currently enjoys in no way reflects Google's dominance in other web-related arenas there's still hope for the browser. Google has proven time after time that they have the innovation and the strength to completely change the way we view the web. I have confidence they'll make something revolutionary out of Chrome yet.

Tweet Sale?

2009-08-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

An excellent, though short, piece on Mashable today about the pros and cons of putting Twitter up for sale.

I am impressed at the lengths Facebook has gone to in their bid to clone/outmaneuver Twitter's features and appeal. FB has made it clear they see a rival in Twitter, and they're interested in being the top dog in Social Networking conversations once again.

I like the suggestion that Twitter sell to a company such as Google or Apple. If they did end up selling to Facebook there's a very good chance their unique service would be buried under the multitude of communication features on Facebook. I enjoy having different conversations on the two networks and worry that Twitter would disappear in such a move. If they were bought by a company that is known for making various, unique web platforms and fostering real development (as is Google) they would gain both the support to become a top social networking service and the security to keep them from being absorbed along the way. It would be nice to see them continue on their own, but the climate is beginning to feel like Facebook is in for the kill and Twitter needs some protection.

Audio Wars

2009-08-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

MySpace announced it has acquired music sharing service iLike, which allows users to share songs and playlists over social networks and via a Last.fm-like iTunes plugin. This consolidates MySpace's emphasis on music and bands in their network but interestingly it's also a move to block Facebook invading this territory.

According to the article above, iLike has a music sharing application on Facebook that boasts 10 million users. This chunk of the userbase theoretically will lose access to the application and need a replacement. Seeing as how these users potentially have accounts they've made on iLike that can be ported over to whatever iLike-based application that MySpace creates there's a chance they may take an interest in the network again.

It's a very smart move by MySpace. The few people I know who still prefer the network over Facebook primarily cite its music support. Based on what we've seen so far FB may be content to let their rival keep that userbase but this is clearly a move they need to address as it affects their own service.

MicroHoo!

2009-07-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

Microsoft and Yahoo have officially joined forces to work as a single search engine to challenge Google. Yahoo will now use Microsoft's bing search for all of its sites.

Many news outlets are calling this a huge game changer and a bold move by Microsoft to disrupt Google's success. While I am surprised at Microsoft's recent changes in their company attitude, the coming Microsoft stores and PC commercials challenging Apple, I just don't see this as a real threat to Google.

Google hasn't gotten to the top of the hill and just rested, they're constantly innovating and producing amazing new services. With years of that innovation, all of which has been free to the public, they've built an immense, loyal following. Ultimately people will use the superior product and bing has incorporated some interesting features, such as their in-search video, but at best I think this will simply be a challenge to Google to innovate at a faster pace. They'll need to produce either similar features or better, and given Google's track record I can't see them letting us down.

Digital Selves

2009-07-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

There are a number of services online that make an "e-penis" list of the things I've listened to, read, played, or watched. I religiously update both my Shelfari and MyAnimeList accounts, and Last.fm takes care of itself as does Steam. I'm trying to find a comparable site to keep my movie reviews and ratings, and I was using Flixster on Facebook until I logged into the application with my actual Flixster account and it deleted the year and a half of ratings and reviews I had made while not technically "logged in." Great feature. IMDb is likely the place to go, and Mashable put out a list of 10 top social networking sites for movie lovers.

I'm both curious and squeamish about exploring what makes these kinds of sites so addictive. Squeamish because I'm afraid all I can point to is they help me feel like I've done something "productive" with activities that might not otherwise be considered "productive". Sure, I just logged two hours in Team Fortress 2 and grabbed a handful of achievements, or I finished three more episodes of Nodame Cantabile, but I could have been spending that time studying Japanese. I can't help but come to this conclusion because I also tend not to be very social on these sites. Sure I've got real life friends on Shelfari and Steam, and I keep an eye on their updates, but I'm mostly content to see myself chip away at the massive list of films I haven't seen or books I haven't read.

Is there inherent value in having these lists? Beyond justifying how I spend my time and sometimes not being able to remember all the media I've consumed.

I'd Like to Buy the World a Twitter

2009-07-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

Rumors are flying that Facebook is developing a Twitter app, another one of those boxes on your wall, that would, well, let you use Twitter within Facebook. This would keep Facebook users on the site and let the less tech-savvy explore Twitter while not having to leave their familiar Facebook home. I have a feeling this large portion of the Facebook demographic would be interested in Twitter if they tried it but likely can't be bothered to go figure out how it works or jump into a new service where there's no one they know. It may not bring over the long-time power users of Twitter however, as it remains to be seen how feature rich the app is or even what it looks like. Without the features of desktop clients such as Seesmic Desktop to parse my Twitter information, I wouldn't be terribly interested in switching over to this app.

As much as I abhor Facebook's misguided contortions in its attempt to block the rise of Twitter, I have to admit this is a smart move to co-opt the service's users and it would be a win-win situation for both services. It would keep Facebook users on Facebook and improve the ability of the service to keep users in touch with their friends, its core value. At the same time it would bring Twitter to the attention of Facebook's 250 million users.

Facebook for Better or Worse

2009-07-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

Facebook has made two changes to its service recently that reflect the two directions it could go in: the ability to send status updates to the entire Facebook network, and the placing of the Event feature directly in the "What's On Your Mind?" box.

The first change, the ability to send your status updates to "Everyone" on Facebook, allows you to broadcast your updates to everyone on the Facebook network. It reflects the company's desire to be everything to everyone. It's a move clearly designed to target Twitter and co-opt their design into Facebook.

The second change, the placing of the Event feature directly in the Status Update box, makes it easier to send a quick event to your network/friends, such as getting together for a drink after work that night. It's a useful enhancement of Facebook's core features, and it makes the service more useful in communicating with your friends.

The status update change has gotten more press because it's an attack on a company that Facebook sees as a competitor. It's the wrong move. Facebook is a useful collection of tools to keep in touch with your friends and organize your social life around. It's become as big as it has because it streamlined the social networking concept. (Remember how you had to go through four different pages to post a comment to your friend's wall on MySpace? Not to mention all the bugs.) Twitter is a service best used for getting news and updates from and about important people and events. Sure, many people have their friends on Twitter but I know my friends' Tweets get lost in the deluge of other stories from the celebrities and news outlets I follow. On Facebook I can get, and want, just updates from my friends about their lives.

By trying to be all the hot things on the Internet at once and attack Twitter, Facebook is losing what made it popular. Allowing me to send my status updates to everyone on Facebook does not enhance my ability to stay in touch with my friends. As Mashable points out in the above article, this change will at best be wasted man hours in programming and at worst will erode Facebook users' confidence that the network is a place for them.

Fascinating Developments in Freedom

2009-07-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Two major stories broke today: China has indefinitely postponed their Green Dam Censorship Software initiative, and coverage of the Iran Election on Twitter has exceeded 2 million Tweets.

It's cliche to say that current technology is changing the way we interact at a basic level but this is evidence that it really is. These are political movements in traditionally repressive countries that were fueled by technology. In the case of Green Dam, traditionally apathetic youth were galvanized to protest when their technology was being tampered with. Without the massive coverage on Twitter we would have very little knowledge of the size and extent of protests in Iran, and no knowledge of the protests from the average people involved.

We've seen for years how technology evolves too quickly to be squashed by the powers that be (the U.S. music industry), and we're seeing that same power applied to the political sphere. It's exciting to see technology improving lives in such positive ways and becoming a tool for political change in the world.

Say Goodbye to Cash

2009-06-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

There have been a number of organizations looking at the concept of a cashless society recently. Here in Japan the Suica card, which started as merely an electronic railpass, has expanded to use at convenience stores, vending machines, restaurants, parking garages, and practically any business which chooses to use their card readers as a payment option. The ability to use mobile phones as Suica cards/accounts has been introduced as well. Now the GSM Association, responsible for the most widely accepted mobile phone standard in the world, is looking at bringing banking-like services, such as money transfers, bill payments, and savings to mobile phones.

This would apparently be most beneficial to a large number of the world's poor who live without banking services but do have a mobile phone. People in this financial bracket spend an inordinate amount of time organizing these services, and making order of this chaos by tying everything easily to their mobile phone and its account would bring some much needed stability to their lives.

I'm tentatively optimistic about the idea of a cashless society. Of course I see the benefit described above and believe this is a great step to improve the standard of living in third-world countries. I imagine it would take a huge financial burden off most countries by removing the major services and industries required to keep a cash-based society going. Financial crises could be averted or lessened as governments could minutely adjust their currencies. I'd also love to be able to stop carrying around a massive bag of change in my pocket.

On the other hand, my inner luddite can't help but feel scared of letting go of such a central concept to modern life. My head is filled with nightmarish visions of the new kinds of financial crime and corporate abuse possible when our livelihood is converted to just 1s and 0s.

But that may be part of its value. Converting this fetishized object of modern life to a digital number may aleviate some of the societal obsession with money and it's attainment. When all the money you have and the money you use in your daily life is simply a number instead of a physical bunch of things you can hold, carry, and hoard, accumulating those things is likely to weigh less on your mind. I'd certainly like to see our values change to shift away from assigning so much self-worth to how much money we make. Maybe a cashless society would be just the medicine we need for our collective psychosis.

Arrr! Ripe for the Plundering!

2009-06-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

I ate, slept and breathed Lucasarts games throughout my childhood. Staying up until the early morning on school nights playing Day of the Tentacle or Full Throttle. The lack of point and click adventures is a big gaping hole in current gaming culture as far as I'm concerned (as well as the deplorable lack of space combat sims).

Monkey Island was the series that got me into those games, the first one being one of my very first computer games. So with glee I read the E3 announcement of not only Lucasarts releasing a graphically updated version of the original game, but a monthly installment series from the company responsible for the Sam & Max restart.

However the E3 trailer for Tales of Monkey Island exposes the same failing that the new Sam & Max series had: the humor. The old, irreverent, clever wit you found in these original games is gone, replaced with "wacky" phrases and lame situational humor. ("Sword of Hot Monkey Vengeance" and Threepwood's "What just happened?" after his possession, etc.) What really made these games great were the writers behind them. Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer wrote with a clever, sharp wit (any gamer who lived through that period is familiar with "You fight like a dairy farmer.") and filled their games with unique characters that were riffs on pirate story stereotypes, like the vegetarian cannibal headhunters or used galleon salesman "Stan".

I'm often against continuations of old intellectual properties both because of the careless manner in which they're often handled and because the stories told in the originals often are complete unto themselves. I don't mind seeing more games based upon Monkey Island or Sam & Max, because those games were more about the characters than a self-contained plot. However a quick slap-dash of Monkey Island graphics over a generic comedy script destroys everything that makes it Monkey Island.

Manga Notes: Spicing up your office life since 2009

2009-05-20T18:50:00.001-07:00

What a fantastic product idea. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Shonen Sunday comic magazine the company is releasing a huge line of manga post-it notes. They look exactly like the classic manga series they're meant to represent, only all text is removed and each page can be pulled off like a post-it note. This lets you write notes for yourself, friends, and coworkers in the speech bubbles. The notes written on the Kininaru episode where I saw this were hilarious; including a muscle-bound, tragic Fist of the North Star scene with the text, "Tomo, would you like to get lunch today?" I hope this becomes a permanent product rather than just an anniversary one.

Goodbye, Internet of My Youth

2009-04-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's a day a younger me would never have thought would come: Geocities has closed. As I stop and think about it, it's mind boggling.

My first real foray into the Internet and online social interaction was roleplaying in chatrooms on AOL, circa 1996. I was a real geeky kid (no surprise) and my love of tabletop roleplaying, anime, and console RPGs found chatroom roleplaying a potent drug. I created several characters whose lives were just as real to me as my own, who I lived through, and events in their lives I'll always remember.

Every character on AOL had their own profile within their account, but some had a separate character profile on AOL Hometown or Geocities. This was back when HTML was incredibly impressive and the people with these custom created webpages were the dedicated gamers. A couple of cribbed pictures of vampires, drawings of castles, and white text on a black HTML background was the coolest thing around. I eventually got on the bandwagon and created my own, complete with my character sheet, a layout for my character's house, and a list of my adventures. It was unfortunately deleted after I stopped logging in years ago but if I close my eyes I can still remember the layout and the red-on-black text.

These primitive webpages are a vivid part of my teenage memories, and so it is with heavy heart that I pour one out for my homey, Geocities.

Yahoo Quietly Pulls The Plug On Geocities

RIP GeoCities, You Will Be Missed

Photo Odyssey

2009-04-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

I'd like to take a moment to highlight the Japan side of things going on. I admit I don't take as many pictures as I should, particularly when friends ask what I've been up to. It's a combination of typically not carrying around a camera on me and unique things becoming normal the longer I'm here.

There are however a number of great photo blogs about Japan online and my particular favorite is Tokyo Times.

The blogger/photographer behind Tokyo Times, Lee Chapman, has a tendency to take pictures uncommon even for us expats. Sure, there's the occasional fun Engrish shot (most recently this great find) but by and large his photos highlight the unseen, underappreciated sights of life in Japan. He takes candid shots of Tokyo inhabitants going about their daily lives that are my personal favorites, and explores ruined places for a glimpse at a Japan recently passed.

If you're interested to see what day-to-day life is like in this country, I highly recommend going to Tokyo Times.

Battle of the Twitterers

2009-04-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Recently while logging into Twitter to add a friend I noticed a small advertisement for TweetDeck, what I assume is Twitter's in-house desktop interface. Being a long-time user of Twhirl I decided to check out its features and see if it might be worth making the switch.

Positives:

Separation of Tweets, replies, and direct messages into separate columns is a nice improvement over the occasionally confusing one-column view Twhirl uses.

Mimics Twhirl's retweet/actions mouseover on friends' icons which is a great idea. I always like it when originators humbly integrate a competitor's superior features/improvements, such as IE's adoption of Firefox-like tabs.

The ability to make groups of friends and separate accordingly may be useful for those users with a huge number of friends.

You can add your facebook status updates (apparently Twhirl can do this through FriendFeed, but I'm having some trouble setting up my Facebook updates in friendfeed) TweetDeck does allow you to update to Facebook as well.

Negatives:

It's almost too big. With all the numerous columns and the larger size of Tweets, compared to Twhirl, I feel like I need to be using TweetDeck maximized on my external 24" monitor.

The close dialog for columns is downright frightening, asking if you really want to "delete" the column, and telling you "this action cannot be undone - choose wisely". All its doing is closing the column and you can reopen it by the corresponding button at the top.

Facebook support is great and a good addition considering the current popularity of the service. However I prefer my FriendFeed window in Twhirl which, while certainly less widely adopted, is a much more robust addition.

In the end I'll stick with Twhirl for now. It's a more compact application, in terms of screen real estate, and I prefer its features. The one thing that could possibly make me switch is the grouping feature on TweetDeck but I currently don't have a glut of friends on Twitter to justify using it.

Do you have a preference for either program? Or another Twitter desktop interface? Leave a comment and let me know.

A Step in the Right Direction?

2009-04-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

YouTube recently announced that it's made a deal with Sony Pictures, CBS, MGM, Lionsgate, Starz, and the BBC to show full-length films and tv shows on YouTube. They'll be supported initially with advertising, as everything else on YouTube is, with the possibility of micropayments in the future.

I want to believe this is a mature step by the television and film industry, recognizing that the game has changed and they'll need to change if they want to remain competitive. However it's probably too early to call this a sign of a change in behavior. It's more likely a tentative exploration of ways to co-opt the popular video service as an advertising tool rather than jump fully into the future of content delivery.

(CNET via PSFK)

AmazonFail

2009-04-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

By now those of you with Twitter have probably seen at least a tweet or two on AmazonFail. Basically Amazon employees delisted a bunch of books from their main search with homosexual content or characters by labeling them "Adult". The story was rapidly spread through Twitter by tweets tagged with the #AmazonFail tag.

There's a very rational account of the phenomenon from author Neil Gaiman, whose retweeting of the story certainly helped to boost its awareness. Notably he opines that it's really not clear whether this was an evil or simply stupid move on the part of Amazon/Amazon employees. It's such a huge company that it really could have been either one.

The power of Twitter and social networking is what's amazing about this story. Shortly after the resultant noise Amazon claimed the delisting was not deliberate but a "glitch" and took steps to list those books on their search again. Social networking was able to bring the outrage, the voice of these people, to the ears of such a huge corporation and effect change in an unpopular change. I think those looking for meaning and to define what Twitter and its purpose is have seen its a tool for political as well as commercial awareness.

All Aboard the Twitter Train...

2009-04-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

...But where is it going?

An article on Rotorblog today points out exponential growth in Twitter's ComScore web traffic ranking and that the social communication tool has become the third most popular social networking destination aside from Facebook and MySpace. This is interesting because most articles I see about Twitter nowadays point out the celebrity rush to jump on the bandwagon, how many corporations and celebrities jump on it in the hopes of driving traffic back to their site, it's ghastly "replacement" of regular blogging (which people have been conjecturing and complaining about since it popped up on the Social Media radar), and the other long-standing gripe about how meaningful is a 140 character form of communication?

These two opposites seem to suggest to me that Twitter's not going away anytime soon and the grumbling is really just anxiety about where it will go next. Which is a good question: what's the next logical step from here? As social communication becomes more truncated I think Twitter fills a desire to say something terse but meaningful. No Tweet can be longer than 140 characters so there's little room for a spectrum of worth. When I Tweet about the turkey sandwich I ate for lunch and Neil Gaiman Tweets about his book winning a Newberry Award, they're limited to the same amount of information, are both easily digestible. I would argue this is a function filled by Facebook's Status too.

So if short social messaging fills such a cozy niche, what could people possibly want more?

Kyoto & Nara - Day 2 - Kyoto and the Golden Pavillion

2008-10-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

On the second day of my vacation I headed into Kyoto and planned to see a couple of its most famous sites.

On the bus ride to my first stop I saw one of the mountainside bonfires that I'd see lit up a few days later.

There was a good sized crowd at Kinkaku-ji that day, understandable as it's one of the most popular attractions in the city.

My ticket into the grounds.

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavillion, is a shrine in Kyoto and one of the most famous sites in the city. It was originally built as the retirement villa for the Shogun in 1397 but was later turned into a Buddhist shrine. It's famous, of course, because it's covered in gold.

In these closeups you can see the detail of the gold plating, and the edges of the individual squares of gold leaf affixed to the side of the building.

Here are some features of the gardens surrounding Kinkaku-ji.

Next up was Ryoan-ji, famous for its Zen rock garden. The garden is one of the three most famous in all of Japan, consisting of traditional raked gravel, and fifteen moss-covered stones. It really is peaceful to sit in front of and watch.

Ryoan-ji's grounds contained a beautiful pond full of lilypads, lotuses, and bamboo.

On the way to Koryu-ji the bus route wound through the beautiful riverside Arashiyama area, which has been a popular summertime playground for several centuries.

Koryu-ji is the oldest temple in Kyoto, dating from 603, and home to a collection of beautiful wooden Buddhist sculptures which I do not have any pictures of here as there was no photography inside the statue hall.

It does however have some very beautiful temple grounds.

This hall was built in 1165 and is one of the few remaining original buildings on site.

Being templed out for the day I decided to head into Kyoto's modern Kawaramachi district for some dinner and to soak up the nightlife.

A traditional and still wildly popular way to spend a sweltering summer evening is out on a restaurant terrace along the Kamo river.

Tucked into two tiny streets parallel to the Kamo river is Pontcho, the traditional nightlife area filled with tiny bars, restaurants and izakayas, many down narrow, dimly-lit side alleys.

The street continues on for the better part of a mile, and I was blown away at how many places there were crammed into this little backalley.

That's it for day 2. Stay tuned for next time when I explore historical sights so famous they're on Japanese money, fox-fertility temples in the forested mountains surrounding Kyoto, and the infamous fiery Daimon-ji festival.

Kyoto & Nara - Day 1 - Mantoro

2008-08-24T05:06:00.000-07:00

That night was the Mantoro festival, "The Festival of Ten Thousand Lanterns". For about two weeks every August, various shrines and temples around Nara decorate their grounds with thousands of lit lanterns. This culminates on August 14-15th when all the major shrines and temples are lit up with tens of thousands of lanterns at night, and walking through the town from one to the other is a surreal experience.

In the late afternoon, around 4 or 5, I began to see small lanterns with candles being set up around the city.

Food and game stalls begin to open and lanterns are lit around sunset.

Kasuga Shrine is the centerpiece of this festival. Its grounds are covered with the most ornate lanterns I saw.

Kasuga Shrine hosts a lantern-lighting ceremony, in which hundreds of these elaborate iron lanterns are lined up in a long, twisting path through the temple grounds that I walked through.

My photos came out a bit blurry from the first part of this night, so here's two videos to show the path of lanterns:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Twilightred/KyotoTrip/photo#5236200014950122450

http://picasaweb.google.com/Twilightred/KyotoTrip/photo#5236203376583768770

From Kasuga I walked down to the open park grounds, where I had fed deer earlier in the day, and the entire field was covered with row after row of lanterns:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Twilightred/KyotoTrip/photo#5236204596823625634

The path to Todaiji was packed with food stalls.

Including my favorite snack of the night, Grilled Squid!

It was brushed with a sweet soy sauce and then grilled on this open iron grill. With a consistency similar to calamari and a subtle flavor it was a perfect match for the sauce. Chewy goodness!

The path to Todaiji was lit with both lanterns and floodlights on the giant gates and halls, and Todaiji itself was as beautiful as during the day.

The pond in front of Todaiji with the small island in the middle was lit up around the edges.

On my way back out from Todaiji I had another delicious snack, giant rice crackers (senbei) wrapped in nori. The thing was the size of my entire hand.

The path to Kasuga Shrine, earlier covered in deer, was lined with subdued lanterns in bamboo cups and lantern globes hung on bamboo scaffolds in artful patterns.

The lanterns on this path lead up a hill and on the other side was a small lake, ringed with lanterns, and on which couples were cruising in rowboats.

Kofuku-ji temple was lit up as well.

As was the small lake by my inn,

and a small neighborhood shrine by my inn.

This is the inn I stayed at, Ryokan Matsumae, which offered a traditional ryokan experience inside but the staff spoke excellent English.

The Next Morning

On my way out of Nara I snapped a shot of the city's mascots,

the manhole covers depicting the iconic deer of Nara,

and my last glimpse of the city from the train platform.

In my next update: my first day in Kyoto, including the world renowned Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji.

Kyoto & Nara - Day 1 - Nara

2008-08-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

The trip began with an early morning start in Kyoto. My bus arrived around 6:30 in front of Kyoto station. I hadn't planned to take a train into Nara for another hour, so I wandered around and took some pictures.

There was a storm coming in over the dark green hills and shafts of sunlight coming through here and there. with that picturesque start I boarded my train to Nara.

It took about an hour to get there, and I arrived well before my check-in time. Grabbed some breakfast, dropped my bags off at my ryokan, and headed towards Nara Park.

I found this small lake not five minutes walk from my inn. It seemed to be a popular spot for couples and turtles to hang out. The pagoda in the background is Kofuku-ji, more on that later.

This gate is the main entrance to Nara Park. It's a large, orange Torii gate that marks the entrances to Shinto shrines. The majority of religious structures in Nara Park are temples however this path leads directly up to Kasuga Shrine, thus it's crowned with an orange Torii.

Nara Park is famous for its wild deer population, so famous that they've become a symbol of the town as well. It's a bit of a stretch to say they're wild though; nowadays they've become completely accustomed to sharing the park with humans. They'll sit peacefully around in packs, walk through crowds, come up to beg for food, and oddly seem to stop and pose for pictures too (as the one in the first image was doing when I took out my camera).

My first stop in Nara Park was Todai-ji temple.

There's a long pathway leading up to the temple and a series of large gates. The first gate houses two massive guardian statues, 28 feet tall each, depicting deities which guard Buddha.

The pathway into Todai-ji incorporates this beautiful pond with an island in the middle, and several stone lanterns. The deer weren't afraid to hang out on this busy walkway and would have probably been hanging around inside the temple grounds if they weren't shooed away by monks.

Todai-ji stands around 150 feet tall by 190 feet wide, making it the world's largest wooden structure. Even so it's been rebuilt after having burned down in a fire twice and the original was about a third bigger. Walking up to the thing it just kept getting bigger and bigger.

The temple is known for its central Buddha statue. At 52 feet tall this is the largest Buddha statue in the world. It's made entirely from bronze, the collection of which nearly bankrupted the country when it was built in the eighth century. The statue depicts Dainichi Nyorai, the Cosmic Buddha who watches over all levels of the Buddhist universe.

Each pedal of the statue's lotus throne depict the Buddhist concept of the universe and the various realms the Buddha protects.

Two of the Buddhas and guardian statues accompanying the Daibutsu.

The back of the Buddha's throne, covered in golden clouds.

A roof tile replaced during the reconstruction. It was at least three feet tall.

Supposedly if you can squeeze through this hole at the bottom of one of the columns you are guaranteed a place in paradise. The couple of little kids I saw trying it didn't seem to have any problem, but it was really narrow and I doubt many adults can get through.

This seated Bodhisattva outside of the entrance to the Buddha Hall heals your ailments if you rub the corresponding part of its body.

Up the hill from Todai-ji was Nigatsu-do, a temple far up on the mountain side known for its spectacular view of Nara.

The steps leading up to Nigatsu-do seem to have each had a different pattern on them, though by this point all but the bottom couple of steps were worn clean.

I was a bit tired from trekking up the hill at this point, so I wandered around the temple grounds and took some random photos.

I headed down a backwoods path from Nigatsu-do to Kasuga Shrine, cooling off in the dark forest along the way.

Kasuga Shrine is the shrine of the Fujiwara family, which has been instrumental to the Imperial family for centuries. It's known for its massive collection of thousands of iron lanterns, which are the central attraction for the Mantoro festival I'll be getting to later.

Back downhill I ended up in the middle of Nara Park and tried feeding the deer with the local rice crackers you can buy from food stalls for this purpose. Unfortunately the deer have figured this out over the years and I was mobbed and nearly bitten to death once I started feeding one. No, I don't have a photo of that, I was too busy holding up my hands like a traveler at gunpoint to show I was all out of crackers.

On my way back to the inn to check-in I stopped by Kofuku-ji.

Another of Nara's famous temples, Kofuku-ji was established in the seventh century by the Emperor's wife. It's notable as the shrine of the Fujiwara family, having survived the centuries through their patronage.

Come back for my next update where I share part 2 of Nara, the otherworldly Mantoro festival, "Festival of Ten Thousand Lanterns"...