Archive for September, 2006

New Context Conference, Day 2

« 29 September 2006 | 14:22 | Internet, Japan, conferences, web2.0 | No Comments »

Digital Garage along with Joi Ito hosted a conference titled The New Context covering the future of web 2.0. I was returning from San Francisco the night of the first day so I unfortunately missed Lawrence Lessig’s keynote, but Gen kindly scored me a free ticket for all of day 2 (thanks Gen!) so [...]

Google Reader updated!

« 29 September 2006 | 9:12 | Internet, diary | 1 Comment »

Google Labs just updated their RSS reader, Google Reader. I know some people swear by other popular readers, notably NetNewsWire, but none that I’ve found had a good mix of web-accesibility, usability, and blog-integration (i.e. like the badge/widget in my sidebar). This new UI is quite nice – you should check it out!

Earth to US: Mixi, Mixi, Mixi IPO

« 27 September 2006 | 13:40 | America, Internet, Japan, diary, web2.0 | No Comments »

I’m finding it remarkable that almost nobody in Silicon Valley followed the Mixi IPO, let alone knew who or what Mixi is. Here’s an SNS at $2B that makes MySpace look like it sold too early and Facebook actually seem reasonable. Okay, so Japan may be in its own little internet bubble, but as [...]

EGG in the WSJ

« 27 September 2006 | 13:39 | America, alma mater, diary | No Comments »

The Tuesday, September 25th US edition of the WSJ has an article on one of the most successful academic-institution chancellors – the one and only E. Gordon Gee, who once presided as Brown University’s chancellor for a mere two years and miraculously burned through $3 million fixing up the president’s mansion before being whisked away [...]

Highlights from the Future of Web Apps, Day 2

« 27 September 2006 | 13:37 | Internet, conferences, diary, travel, web2.0 | 3 Comments »

(Day 1, if you haven’t read it yet.)
What’s Next For Web Apps: Building the Next Flickr
The second day started off with Michael Arrington of TechCrunch zipping through a host of up-and-coming as well as going-down-in-flames startups, and discussing their strengths and weaknesses. He started off his presentation with a catchy anecdote – that PlentyOfFish [...]

Highlights from the Future of Web Apps, Day 1

« 27 September 2006 | 13:30 | Internet, conferences, diary, travel | No Comments »

AJAX is roller skates for the web – Bruce Sterling
As part of my reconneissance trip to the Bay Area over the past two weeks, I attended the Future of Web Apps workshop hosted by Carson Systems at the beautiful Palace of Fine Arts Theater, just across the street from the Presidio where George Lucas [...]

Stanford IT Recommends …

« 26 September 2006 | 2:02 | alma mater, macnuttery, travel | No Comments »

I was visiting the Stanford bookstore today and saw a sign over in the computer section that amused me. Here’s a section from Stanford’s new student “getting started” guide with the quote which was on the sign:
4. Should I buy a Mac or a PC? Should I buy a laptop or desktop?
Both Macs and [...]

Mel’s Mindtrips

« 26 September 2006 | 0:40 | diary, travel | No Comments »

My younger sister is spending the year in Ecuador and has started a blog!  Check it out – Mel’s Mindtrips.

A taste of culture on American TV?

« 25 September 2006 | 23:04 | America, Japan, diary, media | No Comments »

Two years ago ABC’s Lost made a significant bet by introducing subtitles for an extended period throughout its episodes. For a good part of the beginning of the season, two Korean characters communicated only in Korean, and God forbid if couch-potatoe viewers couldn’t keep up with reading the English – here was a chance [...]

J-pop culture at Urban Outfitters

« 24 September 2006 | 16:53 | Japan, diary | No Comments »

At least someone finally figured out how to profit from the Engrish phenomenon. I found this sad toy at the Urban Outfitters near Union Square in San Francisco. Seems analogous to the irony of black minstrelsy – this time it’s American culture mocking the Japanese trying to recreate an American image. So who’s [...]