Category: Nerding Out

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Episode 10 – Cell Phone Code Reader

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Ok well, maybe not a full episode, but a short one minute clip I put together before heading out for the night. Earlier today, Alex and I tore up Tokyo by bike. Stopping at Akihabara to get an Ebi-Filet, I began playing with my cell phone’s bar code reader. I was amazed at how fast it read the bar code.

The bar codes (also known as QR codes) are in a square format and contain text information, usually a URL. In this case, McDonald’s publishes all of their nutritional information this way. Want to know how many pounds that Choco-Pie is going to add on? Just whip out your keitai and check it out. Man, I do love Japan! Enjoy!

Upcoming episodes for those who cannot wait to hear, I’ve got some great material coming up: Getting stopped by the cops on bike in Japan, making elephant characters out of hotdogs (video), and my first full week in a Japanese office. Stay tuned.

Alternative video link (Google Video)

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My Japanese License

Well not really, but this will probably be as close as I get. I went to an arcade in Asakusa last night. If you pay just a little more to start up Sega’s Initial D 4, you get to save your player data on an IC card (a.k.a. Smart Card) that the machine will create for you on the spot. Now I can upgrade my car and keep track of the levels I’ve completed, and track my progress on the Internet. I’m a nerd, but this is so very cool.

There are a slew of games like these that make interesting uses of IC cards. One game, called Sangokushi, uses IC cards by allowing the player to manipulate the position of the cards to control his or her troops on the screen. Another game, Gundam Card Builder 0083, uses the same approach. It looks awfully complicated but I do want to learn at some point. I may have to take up smoking to stay in these places for more than 15 minutes though as there are a ton of chain-smoking 25-45 year olds there.

If you want to see more pictures of what I’m talking about, click on this Flickr search. Enjoy!

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A Productive Day

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It has been nearly 20 days in Japan and I’m finally, finally feeling settled in. Today I took care of another major hurdle in the chain of bureaucratic events that must occur if you are moving to Japan – the dreaded, yet much needed bank account.

On my way over to Ginza, to find one of the very few Citibank banks in the city, I met up with Scott Lockman from Tokyo Calling. If you are interested in Japan and haven’t visited his blog or podcast, please do. Scott is a great guy and every bit as articulate as I thought he might be after listening to his podcasts. We did a short interview with two mics and I captured some audio from my limited setup as well. We chatted about what its like to be in Japan, the future of podcasting, the point of Twitter, and the dangers of giving too much information out in your podcast. Look for some of that in a future episode.

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After a nice chat and some coffee, I headed over to Ginza, walking through the emperor’s palace a different way this time. I stopped to take a few photos with my new phone and played with my GPS and moving map functions while I sat under the sakura trees. I really had no particular time I needed to be at the bank so I took my time heading on over there.

Working with Citibank in Japan was a breeze. They spoke English very well, and when they found out I spoke a little Japanese, they were delighted and began telling me about all the places I needed to go – Sumo wrestling in Sumida-ku (where I live), Kamakura, and more. Just more to add to the list. I am going to create a big list and hopefully I can visit these places on the weekend. The account took very little time to set up once I had my alien card. However, depositing what remaining cash I had took nearly a 1/2 hour at the teller.

It’s so bizarre, some things are so convenient in Japan while others take a very long time and are very procedural. I waited the typical 10 minutes for a free teller, I brought my slip and money up. She took and and told me to take a seat. Fifteen minutes later I returned for my receipt. I’m still trying to figure out why I takes 15 minutes to count money and deposit it. I guess perhaps, they want to be sure it was put in the safe or something. I’ll never know because I don’t think the cop sitting there would have let me see what was going on behind the scenes.

I then took my time home and did my monthly ritual of going through my finances. Banking online makes living a dual life in American and Japan very convenient. In that regard, thank you Citibank. I have some free time tonight so I am off to study a little more grammar. I will post another episode soon this week, please continue to leave comments and suggestions as always. Take care.

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Zen Gaming with Flow

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Ok, so this is not really Japan related but I wanted to share this with my friends and those who perhaps appreciate the simple, clean aesthetics.

A week ago while stressing Japanese grammar, I found this very soothing and relaxing game called Flow. It is a flash-based game, played in a browser. Today I was amazed to see that Flow is being released as a PS3 title, with even better graphics and amazing gameplay.

A little more exploring and it turns out, “flow” is actually a concept defined in psychology:

Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields. (source: Wikipedia)

Not only is this game incredibly relaxing, but it is also so freshing to see that good games can be developed by independent developers and attract so much attention that they become mainstream on major platforms. Instead of solely focusing on next generation hardware, this game focuses on a simple concept and executes on it so well. Let’s hope we see more independent and creative titles from developers like this in the future.

If class / work / life / pets / whatever is stressing you out, go on and play flow. You won’t regret the experience.

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Another Wii-less Day

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When Nintendo announced their strategy to release the Nintendo Revolution (a.k.a. Wii) as a platform that would focus on unique gameplay instead of next-generation graphics and sound, I knew it would be the console for me, casual gamer with a Nintendo-upbringing. What I didn’t know is that it would truly be the console for everybody, or at least apparently.

This past Sunday was spent stalking Target from the wii-hour of 5:00am only to find out they had 12. I think we were about #60ish in line. Oh well. Another wii-less week. Though this week has been pretty busy and tiring so I don’t think I would have had much time to play it – it is still becomine a quiet obsession of mine.

All in all, it was fun hanging out with Don and Linda outside, watching crazy people run around in nothing more than pajamas and a towel or wrapped up in sleeping bags that were made in the 70s.

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Pythagora Switch

My colleague pointed out an excellent video today of NHK’s ピタゴラスイッチ, a Japanese television children’s education show that has some excellent setups of Rube Goldberg devices. Now I’ve seen a few interesting Goldberg devices in my life, but this seriously took it to the next level.

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This entry in Wikipedia gives a little more background.

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Good Music to Get You Through

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Music, ahhhh music. My place of solice when it comes to numbing the mind.

This last week of the semester is killer. International Finance is kicking my butt, and I know I’m not alone. Fortunately, I’ve found some solice in some excellent music. Last year I opened a Last.fm account and I only just recently spent about 2 hours going through music of people that have similar tastes with me. Combined with some great recommendations from Saya-san, I’ve got what I feel is the quintessential soundtrack to December. Check out what I’m listening to:

  • Say Hi To Your Mom – This guy is excellent. I may have heard one song before but Saya turned me on to his website earlier today which has at least three songs from each album. Excellent winter music.
  • TV on the Radio – I have trouble describing these guys. Noisy, organic, loud, a little like Peter Gabriel with synths. Preview their songs on Last.fm here.
  • Dinosaur Jr. – Nearly forgot about these guys until recently. Going back to the album, “Where You Been”. Incredible.
  • Marxy – An american-expat I believe (not sure), living in Japan. Great writer and surprisingly good musician. You can his latest for free here. If you are curious, check out his blog too. Inspired me to become a better writer.
  • The Futureheads – English rock, but good. A bit like obscure Devo and the clash. Some people may not like this but I find it refreshing. Not many English bands like this put so much emphasis on vocals. Catchy lo-fi tunes done right.

If you’ve got some recommendations, please end them my way. If you want to keep up with what else is going on in these headphones, look in the column to the right. Enjoy!

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Welcome Back Update

Well hello there. Sorry for the time off, but its been a great holiday weekend and I’m finally all back caught up with the regular schedule. A quick update for family and friends. Let’s go!

So classes have started again in earnest. Our schedule is pretty much non-stop until December 15th. This ending session will be different as we will have three finals in a row, a departure from our previous staggered schedule of classes. We are also beginning what I feel to be the most challenging module of the curriculum thusfar, International Finance. Spot rates and exchange market futures are all fun. Just as I am submitting tuition to Waseda in Japanese Yen, I learn precisely how that transaction actually works – quite interesting.

This past week marked an entrance into traditional Americana cuisine experience, my first Thanksgiving turkey. I had the assistance and leadership of my lovely girlfriend and her father’s excellent brined-turkey recipe to guide me through the experience. With a couple of friends, we managed to put the turkey down along with some friends for what made a great evening. Earlier in the day, I was also able to teleconference up to my family in the North, to enjoy a spot of turkey with them remotely. It just wasn’t the same over the blocky H.264 encoded transmission though.

Thanksgiving Crew

Two days of this week were dedicated to hunting down the much coveted Nintendo Wii. Alex and I were up bright and early at 3:30am on Friday morning to wait outside of Toys R Us, only to learn that they didn’t have any. The following 2 hours were series of disappointments (being just one and two slots short of the line at Gamestop). Alex did manage to get a Wii later in the weekend as he tackled Best Buy into submission.

The remainder of the week was spend with Linda traveling up to Charlotte, checking out the Discovery Place museum and science center, going to some fancy dinners, relaxing, and catching up on some Nintendo DS Lite titles. It was nice to finally spend some time with her. I truly feel like we have settled into the dynamic of our relationship and it feels great, even with the overseas distance of studying abroad. I’m lucky to have found someone who understands me so well.

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So, after all the excitement, I’m left with a sore throat, feeling a bit under the weather but hopeful I’ll recover soon, and overall satisfied – satisfied that this stage of graduate school will soon be over, I shall soon be heading back up north for a nice work week and the holidays, soon to head over to Europe for a nice vacation, dedicating time to the study of Japanese, and soon to take a much needed long night of rest.

Mata ne!

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Apple Advertisements, What Gives?

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Are you confused?

So first there was the news that Justin Long was no longer making Apple commercials. Next, I had discovered that there were equally compelling commercials using the same schtick for Japan. Following this, I posted some borish comments on the topic. Then, I read another article today claiming that the long-man himself is denying it. Whatever, I’m so confused, and yet I don’t care. I still like the Japanese commercials better.

But in all this, I couldn’t help but wonder, what if this guy were in the Japanese commercials. Would he be confused? Would he brush it off? Would he try to talk to the hot Japanese camera girl again?

So to add to the confusion, here is a little ditty done I did with Final Cut Pro while taking a study break, just for each and every one of you. Enjoy.

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Japanese “Get a Mac” Ads

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Nearly all white background, check. Smug hipster guy with a cool hair style, check. Hands in the pocket, check. Suit for the PC-guy, check. Unzipped sweatshirt, check. Kitschy piano vamp in the background, check.

Just as Apple is discontinuing the infamous cool Mac-guy versus unhip PC-guy, they are now using this same advertising slant in its Japanese marketing campaigns. The Japanese Apple videos are nearly identical, with the absence of Justin Long and John Hodgman.

I wish Apple would have quit while they were ahead with the success of this ad campaign. Over a dozen of these does seem to be a bit overbearing. People can quickly relate to the PC guy. “Hey, that guy cut me in line at Starbucks!” “Oh, its ok. He has a Mac.” I can’t say blame folks who feel this way as the repercussions of this brand-building exercise is being felt here.

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