Archive for May, 2004

Why I love BSD

« 28 May 2004 | 12:30 | geekery, scitech | No Comments »

Maybe the other *nices have it too, but I’d completely forgotten about the “yes” command. While trying to exit the debugger which had already done so, I inadvertantly typed “yes” at the command line. Try it. Then run the man page and see what other fun you can have :P

The Saga Continues

« 28 May 2004 | 11:45 | Japan, tokyo life | No Comments »

Imperial Household vs. Imperial Family smackdown. That last comment opens up a whole other can of worms :)

Sony in Focus?!

« 27 May 2004 | 12:17 | biznomics, sonystyle | No Comments »

This morning I find out Sony and Ford are teaming up. Then, I find out a MINI is safer than an F150 (courtesy of Gen). Still, it doesn’t take the second article to realize the combo just doesn’t make … sense. The Focus?! It’s a freakin’ Budget rental car. What [...]

Phish to quit

« 27 May 2004 | 12:00 | America, media, music | No Comments »

Nooooooo!
Phish is calling it quits after this summer. Boo hoo :(

The Fool and their money

« 26 May 2004 | 12:29 | Japan, biznomics, tokyo life | No Comments »

The Motley Fool is bullish on Japan. An interesting perspective with some good numbers, but as usual, I’m still bearish. There’s too much riding on manufacturing and export; the real turn-around will only happen once mentality here changes from manufacturing to knowledge.
I interned at the Fool for a summer; was a fun group. [...]

Above-Avg Temp this Summer

« 26 May 2004 | 12:07 | Japan, tokyo life | No Comments »

Bloomberg: Japan May Have Above-Average Temperatures this Summer
It’s not the heat that bothers me so much – it’s the humidity. Ugh.
Must find other conferences to take me back to S.F. :)

Do Vaio trip report

« 25 May 2004 | 18:16 | biznomics, scitech, sonystyle, 日本語 | No Comments »

台場のソニー・メディアージュで行われている 「Do Vaio」イベントへ見学しに行きましたので、簡単に報告致します。
会場に入ってから最初の印象: 「すいてるな。良かった。」:)

No more rise, just a fall

« 25 May 2004 | 18:12 | biznomics, media, music, scitech, sonystyle | No Comments »

It’s been making the rounds, and finally hit Gizmodo – this article on how Sony cemented the iPod’s supremacy.
The author – Jeremy Horwitz – apparently wrote a popular book on law school. Hmm…hmm indeedy. Been on my mind for a few months now.

Spreading Japanese

« 25 May 2004 | 14:30 | Japan, language | No Comments »

Interesting Yomiuri article on renewed efforts to spread Japanese, be it language or culture. I think it’s an important effort, but am reserved in my enthusiasm for its means.
“This isn’t just the case in the United States and China,” Ogoura said. “In the Middle East, almost no one has an accurate understanding of Japan. [...]

Creativity

« 25 May 2004 | 12:54 | Japan, sonystyle, worklife | No Comments »

Like I’ve been saying for years, creativity is spawned from the interconnection of non-obvious circles.
“My M.B.A. students tell me all the time: ‘Don’t disseminate this. This should be our little secret,’” Mr. Burt said. But he tells them there are more than enough structural holes to go around. The reason? Laziness, mostly. “Often people are [...]