By Ruben(nerd) Schade, a UTS university student and IT guy in Sydney and Singapore. c.2004
Observing a minute's silence for those affected by the horrible Japanese Tsunami last year. And a second minute for Douglas Adams on what would be his birthday. From Stephen Fry, who could almost be speaking for the victims as much as Douglas:
Happy 60th Douglas Noel Adams. 11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001. As revered, admired, [..] needed & missed as ever #DouglasAdams60th
Graphic by ShingetsuXMangetsu.
Lawmakers propose back-up capital in Osaka in case of quake
TOKYO - Japan's government should turn Osaka's old airport into a site to handle administrative functions and economic activities in the event an earthquake, or other disaster, knocks out Tokyo, according to a group of lawmakers.
I would have thought Kyoto would be a more fitting locale given it's the historical centre of Japan, but I suppose refurbishing an existing site makes sense.
In any case, having a backup is a great idea. The USS Enterprise D had an auxiliary "battle" bridge, and Australia has Canberra.
Given recent events overseas, my sister has bemoaned the use of tasteless headlines such as "bloodbath" regarding the New South Wales state elections results. In my opinion, this one takes the cake though:
Seismic shift shapes nation: NSW delivered a tectonic shift in Australian politics yesterday - a shift so dynamic it has the capacity to alter the cultural course of the nation for the next decade and longer.
Is this guy for real? I know it was was written by the far-right Piers Akerman for the Sunday Telegraph and I should have expected as much, but what a load of blowhard crap!
It wasn't just his assertions I found intellectually offensive however, it was his crude metaphors. I've had comments refused from their website before, so just in case I'm recording it here for posterity.
Am I the only one who thought the use of the phrase "seismic shift" and "tectonics" to be utterly tasteless given recent events overseas?
No matter how major such a political change appears, its in a subordinate part of a country (a state- an unnecessary extra layer of expensive, tax payer funded bureaucracy) and not the result of real "seismic" activity caused by real "tectonics" that has killed thousands and left many others homeless in Japan, China and New Zealand.
Bemoan this attack of "political correctness", but I for one won't be grieving the Labor government's defeat here in the same vein, nor do I take the Liberal's win as anything other than politics which is (to borrow a phrase) simply the primary school playground with money, bigger words and ammunition.
For what its worth, Labor deserved what they got in this latest election. The scandals and corruption went above even what we all expect from politicians. I'll be interested to see how/if the new conservative Liberal leader fulfils his campaign promises of increases spending in key areas such as education and public transport, while somehow also reducing the state budget deficit.
That said, this defeat is absolutely nothing like the real hell people are going through around the world right now, and his use of the terms techtonic and seismic were at best a cheap shot, and at worse macabre. I wish I could say I expected more from journalists in Australian papers, but to their credit they're consistently terrible.
Screenshot from CNET's News.com taken 13:33 AEDST. Go the order.
This comes hot on the heels of a report by the illustrious Mr Brown that Channel NewsAsia in Singapore used the Japanese earthquake as an excuse to sell high value advertising (Japan got earthquake, quickly book your CNA commercial slots NOW!). I'm sure all the proceeds will be donated, right? </sarcasm>
So-called "new media" is bad because it doesn't adhere to the journalistic and honourable standards of "old media", you see.
Graphic from the United States Geological Survey site. :-(
As a formerly obsessed aviation nut and a logo nerd, I felt compelled to comment on JALs new livery, albeit a month late. Hey, I don't exactly keep up to date with press releases, except if its from a company with a bitten apple for a logo.
You can read the whole thing in English, and I'm assuming Japanese, somewhere on that page.
The JAL Group (JAL) today will adopt a new corporate policy and announced its decision to change its logo from April 1, 2011; symbolizing a fresh start for the airline group with its strengthened commitment to society and reinvigorated determination of the management and all employees.
The symbol of the crane has come to be associated with the nation’s distinct hallmarks of pristine quality and reliability. For customers, JAL is determined to safeguard these values of the Japanese culture and to continue reflecting its quintessential hospitality from the heart in the airline’s authentic services - a promise that is now embodied in the Group’s new corporate policy unveiled today.
First, it must be said, few airlines have changed their liveries as much as JAL has over the last twenty years. Being a product of the 1980s myself, I can count no less than three changes in the time I've been alive. When one considers all the work and cost involved in doing this, that is not an insignificant number!
By comparison, QANTAS have changed theirs once from the orange cheatlines and the kangaroo with wings (there's a Red Bull joke in there somewhere) to the plain white and red scheme we see now. There was a minor tweak recently when they introduced an awful new font that looked like a preschooler was given permission to scrawl on the forward fuselage and the kangaroo was turned from a sleek, fast moving creature into one with an extremely serious weight problem, but overall the scheme has remained basically the same.
Singapore Airlines, the world's greatest IMHO, has barely changed at all save for a minor tweak of the cheatlines and slightly larger logos and lettering recently.
I'm getting to that, geez! Some people have absolutely no patience, tact or either of the above. Tact would make a great name for wall adhesive, I'm just saying. 3M probably already has it trademarked. Sneaky Minnesotans.
I'm genuinly conflicted by JAL's latest design.
For one thing I've been a huge fan of the retrojets; the aircraft that have been painted out by their operators in recent years with paintjobs from the 1950s. They look absolutely amazing. JAL's new livery is actually based on their previous, previous, previous design, right down to the reintroduction of the crane logo and even the original font! Right there, they've earned some design cred with me.
It was also desperately needed. Their latest design with the plain red rising sun tail was duller than the design of Rubenerd.com. It lacked any of the character of the crane, and its great to see it back in this latest iteration.
Two things. First, I didn't think it was possible to top the previous design in dullness, but they did it. As a fan of Apple, Braun and IKEA, I'm all for minimalism, but I also don't think you have to sacrifice all detail to achieve it. Minimalism != nothing.
Secondly, to me the font for the forward fuselage just doesn't look right. In the previous design upon which this livery was based, thick black and red cheatlines along the windows balanced the letters out, but by themselves on a plain white background they look really out of place. Its stark. Its cold.
First, I'd fly ANA instead because they're solvent and I've been told the flight attendants are super cute. Not that you just read that.
Secondly, JAL have a strategic asset that I think is being completely wasted. From Wikipedia, emphasis added by me:
Japan Air System Co., Ltd. (JAS) (日本エアシステム, Nihon Ea Shisutemu) (IATA: JD, ICAO: JAS, Call sign: Air System) was the smallest of the big three Japanese airlines [...] It has since merged with Japan Airlines.
JAS was famous for its variety of aircraft liveries; Amy Chavez of The Japan Times described the rainbow liveries as "abstract." Many of its color schemes in the 1990s were designed by film director Akira Kurosawa.
The airline's slogan was "Good Speed Always."
JAS, aside from sounding very much like JAL and nothing like ANA, had in my opinion one of the most awesome liveries in the world. They were super colourful, but still looked classy! And they didn't just have one, some were rainbow colours, some were predominantly teal... I could go on.
So here's what I propose. Bring them back! Put the epic JAL crane on the vertical stabiliser, but keep the colourful schemes! That would represent optimism to your customers. For saving your company, all I'd ask for are some regular business class tickets between Narita and Singapore, and Singapore to Sydney.
Credits to Japan Airlines for the press release graphic, AusLexJapan on Photobucket for the Kouhei14915 on Wikimedia Commons for the JAS photo.
Stop the presses! Next they'll be telling us DRM doesn't work, and that suing your customers doesn't good sentiment make.
From TorrentFreak, via Slashdot.
A prestigious economics think-tank of the Japanese Government has published a study which concludes that online piracy of anime shows actually increases sales of DVDs.
No, really!? But this this goes against the narrative we've been forced fed!
The conclusion stands in sharp contrast with the entertainment industry’s claims that ‘illicit’ downloading is leading to billions of dollars in losses worldwide. It also puts the increased anti-piracy efforts of the anime industry in doubt.
Not to say I've ever pirated any anime, but if I did, I sure as heck have given them a lot of my time, money and business since. This is how promotion works, and in this case its even better because the producers don't even need to spend money on advertising.
From my perspective [theoretically speaking], had I not downloaded anything from fansubbers, I theoretically wouldn't have got into this incredibly rich world of unconventional storytelling and art anywhere near as much as I have. I [theoretically] would not have bought as many VCDs and DVDs and figures and posters and music and magazines and all the other stuff. Even if a select few do nothing but leech, there are plenty of other people to fill in the gap. Theoretically speaking.
Japan is an interesting case study in that the doujin and fanart communities are another testament to the nurturing rather than parasitic nature of people who take creative works, copy them and expand upon them. They don't leech off the success of creative works, they build an ecosystem around them.
Still, as that example has been in the past, media cartels will no doubt be trying their best to silence and/or discredit these findings. Watch out for it.
The ultimate question now becomes, how do we allow media creators to be compensated for their creativity with a sane, rational copyright framework in place that accepts (or at least tolerates) these activities? Unfortunately, as much as all this will continue despite what any lawmaker or DRM paddler says, and as much sense as all this makes, its still illegal.
Adorable Touhou pirate graphic ID 15309430 from Pixiv.
The poor Japanese, can't they live but one month of their lives without having a new Prime Minister thrust upon them? Fortunately I have a solution that I'm confident would work out, and save taxpayer money.
I suppose at this point you expect me to make an anime reference, because Japan is where it comes from. Well firstly I'm shocked and appalled that you'd assume I'm so much of a crass simpleton that I'd see places not for what they are but with sweeping, overt generalisations based on one of their recognisable industries.
I mean, do you expect every post I write about Ireland to mention praties floating in Guinness, or every post that mentions Singapore has to mention teh tarik and PCK? Best in Singapore and JB, and some say Batam? Really?!
Now that we've got that out of the way... we all know Suzumiya Haruhi would make the best Prime Minister.
She has drive, an "unconventional" way of solving problems and getting what she wants, the uncanny ability to make those she despises very uncomfortable, and she created the universe so if anyone were to know what makes it tick, it'd be her. And if she should falter she'd be no more or less effective than any of the six previous post holders, and better still she could just change the universe back to what it was before (as she'd rumoured to be doing so her second series never ends up appearing).
Unfortunately, despite being God she couldn't be the Emperor because of her gender, though as PM she'd wield more legislative power anyway. She could also save the Diet billions over the course of her tenure by having Konata as one of her senior ministers because they'd both be voiced by the one person.
It's pure, unmitigated genius, feel free to let me know why I'm right. Come to think of it, maybe she should come to Australia given we have no good choices in either major party.
The iPad is selling like crazy over in Japan. And these people (amongst a chorus of others) told us even the iPhone was going be a disastrous flop in Japan, to speak nothing of the iPad!
in Japan, the world's second largest economy, it was launched with the kind of fanfare typically reserved for a new game machine from Nintendo.
Friday morning at an Apple store in Tokyo's Ginza district a line formed that was estimated at 1,200 people, according to media reports. Other stores in Tokyo, such as one operated by Soft Bank in Tokyo's Omotesando area, also saw long lines.
Some people have some explaining to do, and no it's not just about marketing.
I'll be interested to see what HP/WebOS and Android bring to the table. Google's perplexing ChromeOS/Android rift needs to be nipped in the bud if they're going to have an even remote shot at creating a cohesive product line.
Our latest Europe trip has rekindled my interest in Germany, which I'm sure my old man will appreciate :)
In some of my spare time I've been reading up on modern German history, and given the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall (and the Iron Curtain in general) there seems to be a resurgence in interest.
Of note for me was just how nervous the Western powers were with the prospect of a united Germany even as late as the 1990s. Margaret Thatcher was perhaps the least keen, going as far as telling Gorbachev:
"this would lead to a change to postwar borders, and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation and could endanger our security."
Did Thatcher do or say anything right? Whoa, I'd better step away from that loaded cannon, I'm not touching that Pandora's box! Seriously though, you didn't read that. Pretend that question was never asked. What question? Very good, I like you style.
Two terrible puns, in one heading? A new record!
What interests me isn't how such doomsday political and military predictions turned out to be unfounded, for one both Germany and Japan have been on their best behavior since World War II. What they did manage to do was go from literal ruins to being the forth and second largest economies in the world. People often attribute this economic success to the Marshall Plan as the US bailing them out, but Germany received only a fraction of the funds both France and Great Britain were given. As Baldrick from Black Adder would say... "I have a cunning plan!"
Apologies for the terrible grammar, it's late at night and I'm half asleep but I just finished reading a book on the German reunification and I have all these ideas floating around inside my head.
I often wonder what would have happened if the Iron Curtain hadn't come down, if Reagan hadn't taken all the credit for himself, and whether East and West Germany still existed just as Korea remains divided today. Why did wars over political ideologies have to be fought in innocent proxy states?
Credit to Thomas Wolf on Wikipedia for that amazing photo of the Brandenburg Gate. I've been to Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart but still not Berlin.
