December 2007
33 posts
Motorist group trashes UK speed cameras →
Good for them. The UK’s excessive surveillance is one reason for my not wanting to live there again.
Nissan GT-R refs GPS to unlock speed limiter on... →
As Engadget notes, how long until someone hacks the DB of racetracks to include the Shuto Expressway, at least (unless it’s in there already; the damn thing is a de facto racetrack once you hit 3am or so).
Engadget's gift guide for your enemies →
Not so much a gift guide as a trawl through all sorts of awful knock-off crap, ill-conceived designs and lethal, recalled products, but highly entertaining.
Does Japan Need the iPhone? →
Interesting and perceptive piece on what Apple faces in getting the iPhone to market in Japan and its prospects for success. The key point in my mind is whether consumers will opt for the convergence that the iPhone represents in one sense (i.e., you get your phone and mp3 player in the same box) but be willing at the same time to give up a lot of the things to which they’ve grown used:...
Hirohito's understatement →
Matt Treyvaud, the blogging Japanese language geek against whom all other blogging Japanese language geeks must be measured (I hope that doesn’t sound like faint praise; it isn’t intended to be) weighs in on what Hirohito meant with his famous “folks, things aren’t necessarily going all that well” line at the end of WWII.
Name of the day: Elon Musk →
David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging... →
David Byrne and Thom Yorke on the Real Value of... →
Radiohead Makes Business Plans the New Punk Rock →
Japanese Government Spokesman: UFOs Definitely... →
Rakuten's English language "site" →
“Site,” that is, in the sense of “plot of empty ground on which construction has yet to commence”. A dreadful, straight translation of their launch page with almost every category link immediately and entirely in Japanese. This is a mockup for internal consumption, not something that should be on their public servers.
“As Twain once said, “never pick a fight with a man who buys his ink by the...”
– The Spy Who Billed Me: Blackwater Shoots NYT Dog
Blackwater Shoots New York Times Dog in Iraq →
— thedaytheytriedtokillme
Rave Generator →
And now one can replace a roomful of equipment with a simple web page. (Via Music Thing)
1 tag
Economist on capitalism and business in Japan →
Won’t comment as I haven’t had a chance to read this yet (it’s very long), but it looks like a good, thoughtful summation of where Japan’s business world is heading.
“You can find numerous examples of the words nanpa and kōha being used to bisect...”
– Néojaponisme » Blog Archive » Nanpa: A History
Tokyo out of Top 10 most expensive cities... →
…for expats, “as a decline in the yen [and] low inflation reduced the relative cost of living”. For non-US expats, one presumes; many Americans here are paid in dollars, and that’s got to be hurting recently. European colleagues on similar packages should be faring far better, however. But overall, who cares how expensive expats find the place, really?
How to Eavesdrop on Bluetooth Headsets →
Virtual Pachislot/Pachinko Tour →
SegaSammy’s cartoon introduction to the joys of pachinko and pachislot. The delivery of the voiceover suggests that not only is it intended for those with low IQs and hearing disabilities, but is intended to patronise said group mercilessly. The informational density per minute is consequently so low that it will make you scream and rend your garments.
