Kuma's Tales

Sayonara to my home.

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:35:19 +0900

Today I bought a sofa, a desk, a coffee table, a stack of curtains, an umbrella “bin”, a gyoza pan, 2 cups of starbucks latte and 2 bottles of leffe blonde beer as a farewell to my home.

I’m sad but excited at the same time. My longest home yet ends tonight.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Sayonara to my home.

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:35:15 +0900

Today I bought a sofa, a desk, a coffee table, a stack of curtains, an umbrella “bin”, a gyoza pan, 2 cups of starbucks latte and 2 bottles of leffe blonde beer as a farewell to my home.

I’m sad but excited at the same time. My longest home yet ends tonight.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Last Monday Night

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:15:12 +0900

It’s a cold, wet Monday Sapporo evening.

This is my last Monday, this week is the last of everything in my current digs. Moving next Monday to my new home.

I’m sad yet excited.

New home, new opportunities. Further to town.

Oh well you can’t have everything.

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The Nook - No Buyers Remorse Here.

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:23:40 +0900

Some people around the nets are talking with great enthusiasm and excitement about Barnes and Nobles “Nook”. After watching a couple of videos and I feel I have seen to enough to make some preliminary comments.

1/ When demoing the nook they didn’t let reviewers like Engadget get their paws on the Nook. The video of Nook in operation taken by Engadget shows a less than stellar response time to command inputs. It looked slow and clumsy. Watch the video for yourself. It is certainly not anywhere near iPhone fluidity. I am yet to play with my Kindle so I can’t make any judgement calls, but it just made me go “hmmmm”. If B&N were so confident surely they would have let tech bloggers get their mitts on it. 2/ I then watched Kate promoting the Nook over at nook.com. In that video you will see a great big cut between opening the book and the opened book. Suggesting a significant lag between input and output. 3/ The Nook “coverflow” is about as a smooth as the non-slip surface on the bottom of my shoes to stop me slipping on ice in winter; it looks jagged, sputtery, it doesn’t glide. This is not to say the Nook doesn’t look cool, it does, it looks very cool with a whole lot of potential. This current model looks unfinished and underpowered; there is a lot of Windows ME or 98 about it. Just watch Kate, and you will see what I mean. Maybe a firmware update or a rev’d version will make the Nook more appetising. But for now - I am not suffering any buyers remorse for dropping my cash down on a Kindle.

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Using your iPhone in Japan.

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:48:48 +0900

Occasionally I get asked can I use my iPhone in Japan.

The answer is of course you can!

The ironic thing is your iPhone will work better in Japan because you will be able to roam and use docomo’s network, which is far superior to the crappy service that Softbank provide.

Now if you have an unlocked iPhone, things get a bit more interesting.

You can go to either Softbank or docomo store and ask to get a sim card for the iPhone. These are different to Japanese sim cards, not physically but some hardware way.

Subscribing to Softbank is pretty easy, you get a sim card, choose the white plan and data plan (there is only one data plan), then decide if you want the additional services. For what it’s worth - I have the full enchilada and the iPhone costs me around ¥10000/m it has only gone well over that when I sent a ton of SMS messages to international destinations (won’t be doing that again).

You could choose docomo (I just got off the phone to them). They are less than forthcoming with information on using an unlocked phone on their network. First of all - it depends on the shop. The lass told me to go to an official docomo shop and have them ring the international service desk to get the questions answered. She also told me some services might not work, or if they do work I would be charged higher rates for it. Secretly I suspect you could buy an android or blackberry phone, subscribe to the data service, take the sim card out and slip it into you iPhone and bingo you are up and running - it is an experiment I would like to try.

I don’t know what docomo would charge for the sim card but Softbank charge just shy of ¥3000.

Hope this answers your questions.

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Kindle International

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:09:27 +0900

When Amazon released a Kindle app for the iPhone I quickly snapped it up and installed it, then I promptly deleted it!

Why?

Because I couldn’t purchase Kindle books. Stupid international copyright or whatever the deal was, it was stopping me from buying books from the Amazon Kindle Store.

Yes, I had read about a workaround, which actually wasn’t that difficult, but I didn’t want to bother with it badly enough. And so I thought that was that.

Till today, when Amazon announced Kindle International. I quickly logged on and ordered myself a Kindle. My order stands and to be honest I’m not really sure if I am going to proceed with it. Really I want the DX and I’m also a bit hopeful that early next year Apple will release something totally awesome that will make the Kindle redundant.

But anyway - that got me thinking, Kindle is now available internationally and you have to have an American Amazon account to use it, that means that international restrictions would be removed. So I tried shopping and it worked. So now I have a Kindle book (the Sookie Stackhouse Series) on my iPhone. Excellent.

Currently I think this is what you need:

An American iTunes account (to get the Kindle app) it is not currently available on the Australian iTS (although maybe that will change).

An American Amazon account (to buy kindle books).

That’s it.

I bought the book on the Amazon website (via the desktop not through the iPhone).

Told Amazon to send it to my iPhone

Turned on the iPhone Kindle and in a few moments there it was.

I started reading immediately. Too easy.

Now I have the iPhone Kindle reader.. I think I might hold out for the Kindle DX or the tablet from Apple.

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Kindle International

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:07:19 +0900

When Amazon released a Kindle app for the iPhone I quickly snapped it up and installed it, then I promptly deleted it!

Why?

Because I couldn’t purchase Kindle books. Stupid international copyright or whatever the deal was, it was stopping me from buying books from the Amazon Kindle Store.

Yes, I had read about a workaround, which actually wasn’t that difficult, but I didn’t want to bother with it badly enough. And so I thought that was that.

Currently I think this is what you need:

An American iTunes account (to get the Kindle app) it is not currently available on the Australian iTS (although maybe that will change).

An American Amazon account (to buy kindle books).

That’s it.

I bought the book on the Amazon website (via the desktop not through the iPhone).

Told Amazon to send it to my iPhone

Turned on the iPhone Kindle and in a few moments there it was.

I started reading immediately. Too easy.

Now I have the iPhone Kindle reader.. I think I might hold out for the Kindle DX or the tablet from Apple.

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Have you ever...

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:00:00 +0900

wanted to throw a perfectly good, very expensive piece of hardware at something so hard to smash it to pieces.

One of the reasons I left the windows platform behind was because I was sick of this feeling. A desire to smash a perfectly good computer, what wasn’t perfectly good was the Windows running it.

Last night I wanted to fling my iPhone into the ground so hard, I wanted to see it smash into a million pieces. Now to be fair it wasn’t the iPhones fault or the user (ie me!).

It was Softbank. Hell all my telecommunication woe stem from Softbank.

I have forever griped and ranted over their shitty coverage.

いつも電波がない。(There is never any reception) is my most common complaint.

Yesterday not 7 kilometres from town centre I went to use the iPhone.. no bloody signal. AGAIN!! And only 7 kilometres from the town centre…

Then last night as I finished work I tried to call my mate to organise the meeting place. The phone couldn’t connect.

So I sent him a text message.

30 minutes later I got a reply. I headed off to meet him.

I arrived in the centre of town and had to call him to find exactly where he was. I was unable to connect to the network. I tried to text him. I was unable to connect to the network. The network was jammed.

It was now I wanted to see my phone smash into a million pieces. I am sure that if I had a cheaper phone, it would have been smashed. The only thing that saved the iPhone was its cost.

Like a bad biorhythm connection to the network came in short and infrequent waves.

I eventually made contact.

Upon sitting down with my friends (all who had Softbank phones) we all started complaining, Softbank had failed badly. For the rest of the night communicating with Softbank users was impossible.

Friends on other networks were having no problems. Softbank alone failed failed failed.

So yesterday when I read that docomo hasn’t given up on stocking the iPhone, I was stoked. Today I am more stoked and I can promise docomo, if/when you get the iPhone I will be there at the opening to ditch the Softbank piece of shit.

Getting the iPhone 3GS

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:36:12 +0900

I had always promised myself to get the new iPhone if it came with a better camera. After watching WWDC I was convinced that it was a must get upgrade. Then I downloaded the 3.0 firmware… and my desire to upgrade began to diminish. 3.0 is awesome. The software alone was such a great upgrade that I was thinking twice, three times about actually getting the 3GS.

What to do… what to do??

I mulled it over and over, weighing pros and cons. But  lust runs strong in my veins and I capitulated. On Thursday the 18th of June I ordered my iPhone 3GS (Black - I have a white 3G), and the long wait began.

Well the long bloody process of buying an iPhone began. It took 25-30 minutes to go through all the paperwork, ticking boxing, the guy explaining to me the different ~~options~~ packs that you must subscribe to if you want a fully functioning iPhone 3GS. After getting out of there before starvation and dehydration became a real issue I could now begin the 1 week and 1 day wait.

Of course the following day the phone was released in America and I got to listen to all of the lovely news from America. What podcasters, bloggers and Joe ~~the Plumber~~ Blow thought. Reviews were mostly good, with some issues emerging during the week. And I saw a few videos of the iPhone 3GS in side by side comparisons with the 3G.

The speed of the 3GS was apparent. My excitement, like a mouse who had just broken into a swiss cheese factory, was building.

Friday the 26th came and I found myself outside Yodobashi at the ridiculous time of 8.30am (I rarely leave home before 10.. one of the advantages of my job here in Sapporo).

Sidenote - Wow.. Sapporo really does have a peak hour.. I was shocked to see so many people out and about on their way to work.

A couple of Softbank guys were standing outside the very closed store. Handing out time reservation cards to those who wanted them. I was the second person to get a card, my time 9.30 - I was to be one of the first in Sapporo with a new iPhone 3GS.

If you must know every detail - I killed time with a visit to Starbucks.

Back at the store I was first in line, first in store and first served. This however did not equal first out of the store and the first 3GS activation. Even though the girl had a tag around her neck saying “iPhone Master”, I’d say the only thing she was “Master of” was the space she was occupying. Everything she did had to be double checked and double checked again.

What really surprised me was that even though I had done all the paperwork 1 week before, I basically had to do it all again. And it wasn’t just me, everybody there (11 at one time) was redoing the paperwork. What the hell had we achieved with all that work pre ordering. We may as well have just given our names and telephone numbers.

It would appear that AT&T don’t have a monopoly on lousy customer service/experience. Apple really do know how to pick their carriers.

(At least Australians get a choice of who is going to screw them).

Truth be told if the iPhone became available on docomo I would switch promptly - I hate Softbank!!

I got home to do the lengthy restore from backup and syncing. My iPhone completed it’s job with just enough time for me to do a trial run against some games to check the speed. Which impressed me greatly!

I have now spent one day with the iPhone and I am convinced that this upgrade is pure gold.

If you were thinking about it, and have the funds, I would definitely recommend the upgrade.

Next post - The Review.

WWDC Plans

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:25:39 +0900

I know that like a little boy at Christmas I will awake in the wee hours of tomorrow to suss out what  has deigned the world worthy of.

I just know that once I’m awake I will stay awake.. so I may as well get some zzzz’s before then.

The big question for me… is “Will I be rushing off to the Sapporo  Store at 10am? (and can I get in and out in 30mins?)”

Time will tell… and only a short amount of time at that.

GlobalSubnationalMaster_20090504_0630.jpg 2027×1358 pixels

Tue, 05 May 2009 10:54:12 +0900

GlobalSubnationalMaster_20090504_0630.jpg 2027×1358 pixels

Tue, 05 May 2009 10:54:04 +0900

GlobalSubnationalMaster_20090504_0630.jpg 2027×1358 pixels:

Ohhhh the swine flu.. it is so scary… its the Spanish Flu epidemic all over again… NOT!!

Swine Flu

Sun, 03 May 2009 21:28:50 +0900

I like this rumour -

Tamiflu is losing its effectiveness against various flus… so swine flu is hyped up to help get tamiflu stock off the shelves.

(John C Dvorak’s theory.. sounds good to me).

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My Simple Curry Recipe

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:09:42 +0900

First of all - I don’t cook by measure.. I cook to taste and amount required. So my cooking is rough and always different.

Ingredients

Sauce

Potato

Sweet Potato

Onion

Ginger (generous amounts)

Garlic (generous amounts)

Tinned Whole Tomatoes

Raw Chilli

Turmeric

Masala

Chilli Powder

Curry Powder

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Coriander

Roughly Chop 1-3 add with 4 & 5 cover in water.. bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients to taste simmer for another 10 minutes. Allow to cool. Then by whatever method you so choose puree the sauce. Use immediately or freeze.

Chicken and Mushroom

Chicken

Mushroom

Onion

Potato

Carrot

Sweet Potato

Olive Oil

Bok Choi (or other green leafy veggie)

Curry Sauce (from above)

Cut the potato and carrot into bite size pieces, place in pot and boil for 10-25 minutes.. (variable). The potato is done when it is easy to bite through.

Fry in olive oil onion and chicken when the onion is soft add mushrooms, potatoes and carrots, cover in curry sauce and simmer for 5 -10 mins. A few minutes before the curry is ready add the GLV and stir in… when it is soft and cooked through… you are done.

Serve on rice.

The world's first trillion dollar advertising campaign | smh.com.au

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:28:06 +0900

The world's first trillion dollar advertising campaign | smh.com.au:

100 Trillion dollars and you cant buy a loaf of bread.

Robots - Good vs Bad

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:18:34 +0900

I posed a question to my student, what’s the difference between robots in Japanese movies and American movies.

She told me that in Japanese movies robots are generally the good guys and American movies robots are generally the bad guys.

I asked her why she thought that was. Her reply was thoughtful, considered and perhaps accurate.

“Japanese believe in Science, Americans believe in God!”

I think she nailed it.

"A man and a woman are having sex.. when there son walks in.. he sees them and screams “what..."

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:18:46 +0900

“

A man and a woman are having sex.. when there son walks in.. he sees them and screams “what are you doing?” and runs out of the room all freaked out.

The man laughs and says
“I’ll give him a few minutes and then I’ll go out and explain to him what’s going on.”

A few minutes pass and he heads out to find his son.

He walks into his sons room and there his son is having sex with his grandmother.
The man screams “What are you doing?”

His son replies

“See it’s not so funny when it’s your MOTHER!”

”

A dash of snow.

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:32:32 +0900

A dash of snow.

The worst doctor. EVER!!

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:06:00 +0900

So I have been having this weird wave of vertigo strike me when I go to bed, and when I roll over in bed. It wakes me up and makes going to bed not as pleasent as it should be.

So today on my day off I decided to go see the Doc. But because I was late in leaving home I couldn’t get to see the doc at the university hospital - u had to wait for this evening to go see a doc in a private clinic.

My friend rang the clinic to check if the fox could speak English. I generally have enough Japanese to get by, but with medical probe especially something like this which requires a bit of explanaltion an English speaking doctor for me is required.

So I go to the clinic which is staffed by a bunch of pretty girls under 30, one elderly matron (who spoke a spattering of English) and Doctor Dickhead.

So I go into see the doctor where I am instructed to place my bag on his desk, not on the vacant chair, but placed on his desk.

Then I have to sit down in something resembling a barber/dentist chair. Which a) was made 40 years ago and built to hold little Japanese.

I just fit.

Attractive assistant number 2 then steps on the peddle and my chair raises 10cm and rotates to face the doctor. The doctor instructs me to lift my feet and place them on the foot rest - which is fine if you are under 165cm which is ridiculous if you are over 180cm. I now look like a fat squashes tow in the barbers seat.

I’m not happy already.

The doctor asks me if I speak japanese, I say no, I was told you speak English. He says no.

He then proceeds to interogate me in Japanese, waterboarding would have been more successful. Elederly matron helps a bit. Then with all assistants present he makes me go stand on the spot.

Assistant number 2 lowers and rotates the seat. I am led to the spot (2 footprints painted on the floor). He then instructs me to raise my foot, then raise the other.

If I was suffering from vertigo while standing up this would make sense. However as I, and the elderly matron explained to the doctor I only have attacks when I am horizontal. Surely this is the pistiln that must be adopted for testing.

Anyway the doctor ten perceived his opportunity to humiliate the gaijin, in front of his stuff of pretty young assistants.

Close your eyes and march on the spot and count with a lou voice. I proceed to do so. So now I’m marching on the spot, eyes closed, arms out like Frankenstein’s monster.

And I’m counting and marching, couring and marching. How far do I have to count? I get to 50 and he gets me to stop and start again. This time I have to count to 100. FUCKER!!

He then instructs me to sit down (we go through the opening phases of the consultation again.

He prescribes 2 medications. 1 to take when I feel giddy and one to take 3 times a day.

What is going on? I only have attacks when I’m sleeping - at night and attacks only last 20-30 seconds. Clearly neither medication is designed to make my nights sleep satisfactory.

For now I only have an internet diagnosis - which is never really a good thing - but I would expect my doctor to ask me to adopt the horizontal position for testing.

Well this one managed to fuck me in the vertical postion - in front of a crowd. Wanker.

Tomorrow I’m going to see if I can find a real doctor.

White Illumination

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:30:00 +0900

Every December Odori Koen (the central park in Sapporo) lights up with is White Illumination Festival.

Just before the TV Tower small stalls are set up as part of this festival “The Munich Christmas” Full of German flavoured foods, beers and Christmas ornaments.

It is all very beautiful and a bit expensive.

Today I splashed out on what I thought was a good deal ¥600 for a German Hot Dog. (The festival finishes on the 24th and now the food stands are having stock clearing sales).

The hot dog was most unsatisfying. The bread stale the sausages cold (I was given a bonus sausage) and the onions were cold too.

The lights are, however, beautiful. Now if I could just take a decent photo.