A photo I took in Shinjuku; quite confusing.
Escalator going up or down ?
Going Up or Down
Photography
I find it quite difficult taking photos while on family trips.
No time to relax, to set the camera as I want to, to wait for the right light, right moment.
Nevertheless, two photos from the weekend:
Second one, Long exposure, not Tripod. Was quite surprised it turned out ok. (not very good though)
Signs
One can find signs everywhere if he wants to.
Today was “Israeli”, with Israel and Hebrew surrounding me… Or not.
1. Morning show (FujiTV) had an おもてなし (hospitality) lesson to foreigners featuring two Intelligent and fun Israeli girls
2. Had dinner with a Jewish friend and chatted about Jewish holidays
3. On the train back home bumped into a Japanese acquaintance who speaks Hebrew
4. A bit later a girl standing in front of me was carrying a bag with “Tel Aviv” written on it (together with other city names)
So, do I choose to find it symbolic or mark it is an interesting coincidence?
Missing a screw – MacBook Pro
For a while now (more details later), my MacBook Pro trackpad was misbehaving. Constantly shifting, clicks were not recognised.
After researching the web, I found out it is a known problem which can be easily resolved by “tuning” the trackpad screw.
So, I opened my MaBook, removed the battery and to my surprise I found out that the trackpad is floating around with screws missing.
On the left, two screws were present but not connected. On the right, both screws were missing. Found one of them inside the box, but one of them is still missing.
How can this happen?
Not sure, but a few months ago I had to go Apple to fix my Macbook after the fan made very loud noise which resulted in Macbook not booting.
Apple replaced the chassis which made my very happy, BUT trackpad problems started shortly after.
So,
1) What caused the Fan issue – a screw , broken plastic or similar – I was never told
2) Is it possible that Apple Service (Genius) failed to assemble my Macbook ?
I will never know.
In the meantime, I reassembled, trackpad works well. … Still missing a screw.
Where can I find one?
Facebook Kansai Dialect
Facebook surprised me this morning with the following announcement.
Does this mean I can customise my Facebook to use Kansai Dialect?
Not really interested in that, but may be funny for a day or so
Death of WiMAX ?
Sprint will kill OFF WiMax in 2015 .
Although I am not surprised, I still think it is too early to bury WiMAX. Obviously it has lost the race to LTE, but I can still see usage models for WiMAX in developing countries and places where LTE is not deployed.
Job offer in html source
Breaking Bad – WWII style
While reading The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan I was surprised to read references to Shabu and Philopin (Hiropin), which I obviously did not understand.
A quick search found a slightly comical, blog post which helped me understand :
- Chrystal Meth was first synthesised in Japan
- It was widely used by the Japanese Army during the second World War , including by Kamikaze pilots.
- Surplus of production during WWII was sold to the public immediately after the war – WOW
I have so many ideas now for a “Breaking Bad” episode…
Japan Economy – an interesting analysis
Nikkei has an interesting interview on Japan economy with Bill Emmott, former Economist editor.
My take: reform of the Labor Market :
I think the big thing that needs to be done is to have a single labor law that applies to everyone, so to reduce the amount of protection for regular workers to make it easier to fire people, but then have the same protections for the irregular workers, so there should be one law for everyone.
ALS Ice Bucket challenge
There is something bothering about the ALS ice bucket challenge.
ALS is a horrible disease which deserves attention and funding, BUT.
1. Around 5600 Americans are diagnosed with ALS each year
2. ALS is most common among persons over 60
3. It is a terminal illness. We can improve the patients lives (and extend it), but the end is inevitable
ALS should get funding, research. We should care for the patients.
I am concerned about the Internet Meme. The discussion about ALS when we have so many bigger problems. Obesity, Ignorance, Racism, AIDS, Cancer that affect the lives of more people.
ALS will be discussed and forgotten. We will stay ignorant and ill