Year: 2016

Would like to get an advice of a Sommelier when your purchase wine online ?

There is a service for that.

Amazon just launched Amazon Sommelier , a consulting service when buying wine on Amazon.

Very interesting service, but I do not think it can scale.  Available 5 hours per day and in Japanese only.

See screenshots below

Was just talking on the phone with an Israeli colleague. Before he hanged he said “Bekef” in Hebrew when it struck me that it is a very different way than Japanese/Korean or other languages I know.

“Bekef” in Hebrew slang means literally “with fun”, while in this context it can mean “with pleasure”, or “my pleasure”.

Now, “My pleasure” seems like the appropriate way to end the call , but how come people in Israel use Slang?   The answer is Simple, people in Israel ALWAYS use Slang, in private and business conversations. In a way, it breaks the barriers and makes the conversation friendly.

What we gain? – Friendliness

What we lose ? – Formality

 

As I am filling an expense report for a recent US trip, I encountered an issue. I exceed the company allowance on the day I traveled east.

It is not because I spend too much or eat extravagantly, but due to the simple fact that I traveled across the international date line. I had a meal in the airport before the flight, then I had two more meals after I arrived.
In Japan time zone, these are expenses on a different day, but as I left Sunday 17:00 and arrived Sunday 9:00AM the automatic expense report consider it the same day.

Now I have to decide if I have the power to explain it to our accountant or just delete some expenses

Kindle App on Mac stopped working after upgrading to 10.11.3.

Tried to run from command line; Did not run as well, without any error notification.

Luckily, reinstalling the latest Kindle App from Amazon solved the issue.

I hate it when applications fail after OS update, but what I hate more is not finding any reference on Google.

 

Still no news about Remix Mini availability in Japan.

Available in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but not Japan.

The only question is if I should wait patiently or try to buy it somewhere else and have it shipped to Japan

 

Update:

Found someone who sells it on amazon.co.jp, but the price is outrageous

Amazing what 6cm of snow can cause an organised and punctual city like Tokyo.

Snow paralysed Tokyo yesterday, which was surprising but demonstrated again the Japanese perseverance.
Arrived to my station around 8:15 to find out a long line OUTSIDE the station. Realising I will not be able to take the train in the near Future, I waited 3 hours at a Cafe.

When the line outside the station disappeared I entered the station just to realise that the lines on the platform don’t really move. It took me additional 40 minutes to board the train and from there it was “relatively” easy.

Imagine long line of people waiting in the cold, rain, holding an umbrella… patiently. No pushing, no arguments. Just standing.

Amazing

Twitter can provide example of such long lines:

出勤中の部員からの情報によると、
雪の影響で、１１時現在でも田園都市線三軒茶屋駅は入場規制がかかって写真のような状況。３時間並んで５メートルしか進んでないということです。警官もきて殺気立ってるとの情報。 pic.twitter.com/y8WQ7PpnNZ

— 【宇治通】 (@ujitsu) January 18, 2016

Considering buying a Remix Mini , but it is not available yet in Japan.

But there is a way to experience the Remix OS.

The recommended way is to use a USB and a PC an boot it to Remix OS.
Another way is to boot it on VirtualBox, which I did.

Runs well, though I do not have time to fully experiment with it.
The following thread on Reddit provides information on Mouse integration which worked very well.

 

 

Although not being sold yet, the Nikon D5 is available to hold and experience at Nikon showroom in Shinjuku L Tower .

 

As I am still using DX format, the Nikon D5 is not really for me. Maybe it is about time I will move on to FX format, but can’t justify the cost of the Nikon D5 and new set of lenses.

 

Shinjuku station has an area for special marketing campaigns which draw sometimes a lot of attention.

This time is it a campaign by Nissen , a Shopping Catalogue company, using a boy band called NEWS.

The slogan is ”さわってみて”,  touch! with real size images of the group and real clothes which the fans can touch, open the zipper and close the zipper… which they did a lot.

My photo does not show it

 

But twitter provides enough images:

https://twitter.com/gekikaracacao/status/686514371862724608