Category: Japan

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Open Network Lab with HootSuite

Open Network Lab is a new incubation lab for Internet based Startups.

I joined last week’s meeting with Ryan Holmes, HootSuite CEO and Japanese Shinnichi Fujikawa, founder of Movatwi.

Open Network Lab goal is to encourage innovation and Internet based Start-Ups, which may explain the 40 minutes long panel on “How Engineers can start Companies”.

HootSuite recently launched a Japanese version of their service,with the aid of Digital Garage which is heavily invested in the Twitter phenomena and related tools/services.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4650441303_46d0d1c8cd.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4006/4650441303_46d0d1c8cd.jpg

To me it seems Open Network Lab is the right tool for the current economic and social situation in Japan. In the past few months I have met many Engineers, Innovators excited to start their own companies, but fail in two things:

  • How to market their services to the mass market
  • How to go Global
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Japanese Girl – Hebrew Tattoo

While waiting for my train to arrive, I noticed a Tattoo in Hebrew behind her ear. Tattoos are not common in Japan, let alone visible ones.

I Just had to take a Photo, which she agreed to without hesitation.

Meaning of Tattoo – מופלא (Moofla) is: Wonderful, Exceptional, Mysterious.

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There Goes Advanced PHS (XGP)

As previously reported, Israeli Startup Altair Semiconductors was supposed to Supply chips to Willcom’s XGP network .

XGP was never a world-wide standard, but Willcom’s attempt to keep PHS alive. It now looks like XGP (or Advanced PHS) will not be deployed.

Willcom announced today their plan to file for bankruptcy  (See Japan Times and NYT for more details) after a steady decline of their customer base.

I don’t know what kind of commitments Altair Semi received from Willcom, but I certainly hope their WiMAX and LTE business will be more successful.

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JLPT Level 2

I failed JLPT Level 2 test.

Now, it may seem something that one would not want to share on a blog or brag about. But, the thing is, I DID NOT STUDY AT ALL for the test. In the 9 months since I arrived to Japan I attended maybe 20 hours of formal Japanese lessons.

Considering the above, the results I got are quite impressive.

Kanji/Vocabulary – 38/100

Reading/Grammar – 80/200-  Very surprising, considering I couldn’t really read the text

I am mostly proud of Listening test results:  64/100

JLPT L2 result - Fail

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Snow in Kawasaki, Feb 2010

As I was parking the car last night, the rain turned into sleet, which later that night turned to Snow.

Obviously, I went out early in the morning to take photos.  Here they are:

In one of the photos you can see Mejiro (bird) on a tree

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New Year Food

This was the second time I experienced the Japanese New Year, but this time it felt stronger.It may be related to the fact that now I actually live in Japan, while previously we were visitors.

Here are 3 photos of the traditional Japanese New Year Food:

All photos taken with Nikon D90, Nikkon 50mm f/1.8 Lense

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Some Kindle Books Are Not Available in Japan

I love my Kindle.

I read more, especially on business trips. I do all I can to carry less when I travel, so carrying a book always seems to me like a burden. With Kindle, I could eliminate the problem. Fixed (rather small) size and weight and can carry many books.

Yesterday, I was surprised to find that not all Kindle Books are available to me, since my kindle is associated to  my Japanese address. I am thinking very hard, but still can’t find a reason.

If I can purchase the book (Hardcover) from Amazon and ship it to Japan, how come I can’t buy the Kindle version and receive it over a Wireless connection?

Amazon Kindle Japan Fail

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Shibuya Crossing from Bing.com

Bing.com added  new map services, which has great “3D” photos (not just the flat satellite map). Finding it very useful, as sometimes Google’s Street View is too restrictive as taken from the street level.

As an example, see below Shibuya Crossings in Tokyo:

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UQ WiMAX Marketing(?)

Yet another awful commercial from UQ WiMAX has arrived. This time, they outdid themselves, by using a cat which has a very successful Youtube channel.

See below UQ WiMAX Commercial, asking if the cat will manage to go into the box, then asking if your Laptop has WiMAX. (Did I mention this commercial is BAD?)

And a sample cat video from mugumogu channel: