Friday August 6
 
09:51
 
New internet connection

Damn, I’m not getting the full 200Mb/s download speed… hehe…

NTT East Hikari Next High Speed Family Plan (ie, for a house rather than apartment block) with Livedoor as internet provider. 200Mb/s down, 100Mb/s up (that’s megabits rather than megabytes). Total cost about 7000 yen/month, including static IP address.

It’s really interesting having such a fast connection. Until I upgraded my LAN to Gigabit, my speed was maxing out at 70Mb/s over 100Mb/s LAN – ie, my internet speed was being bound by my local network rather than the connection to the internet itself. Even now, when I use wireless I “only” get 15Mb/s over g and 30-35Mb/s over n – I’m actually hitting the max of what is possible over my wireless setup.

Monday June 28
 
22:38
 
Panchira – Up skirt Japanese

For some reason, “up skirt Japanese”, “upskirt Japanese”, and “up-skirt Japanese” are the most popular search terms for my blog from Google. I didn’t intend it to be that way – it just happened like that. I’ve never understood why anyone would search for that.

Well imagine my surprise when I was glancing at a book called “Otaku Encyclopedia” and I came across this:

There is a word in Japanese for taking photos up skirts of Japanese girls! It’s called Panchira パンチラ.

If you squint at the photo, you’ll see there’s a phrase for Panty Thief also – Shitagi dorobo.

This country never fails to amaze me.

Monday June 28
 
15:29
 
Trick Art Museum

This looks like it could be an interesting place to visit:

Home of wondrous illusions at the foot of Mount Takao….

Welcome to the world of trick art!

The Takao Trick Art Museum, located at the foot of Mt. Takao west of Tokyo, opened in April, 1996.

The history of trick art is old, and dates back to about 2,000 years ago. It had become an established art form by the time of the Renaissance era. The theme of the concept at the Takao Trick Art Museum is essentially the same as the illusionism of that era, namely creating the optical illusion that depicted objects really exist, instead of being just two-dimensional paintings. Surrounded by the rich natural environment of Mt. Takao, the museum is right across the road from Takaosanguchi Station on the Keio Line.

Whether covered in the first green of spring, or in glorious autumn colors, Mount Takao has something to offer in any season. Come and savor the rich and varied nature of Mount Takao, abandon your visual preconceptions, and have a fun time and memorable experience at the Trick Art Museum. Be ready to make fresh discoveries and to have your imagination challenged.

The fascinating trick art gallery is awaiting you! Don’t forget to bring your camera!

It may surprise you, but a number of things that are usually discouraged at museums are allowed at the Takao Trick Art Museum. Taking pictures, coming in contact with the works on display, talking aloud and feeling free to make noise are considered accepted ways of enjoying the museum, as long as it does not disturb the fun of other visitors. Go ahead and become your own movie director.

Monday February 15
 
10:32
 
Aaarrrrrgghhh GOOGLE!

A very pissed off letter I want to send to Google Adsense but can’t because there’s no contact option:

Dear Google,

I have been an Adsense user for a long time.

Suddenly you have decided that my earnings must be shown in Japanese yen because I live in Japan. It’s not something I want, but I have to do it to continue with adsense – fine.

However, you tell me I must accept new terms and conditions and these are only shown in Japanese. I don’t speak Japanese. Just because I live in Japan, it doesn’t mean I speak Japanese.

My computer is set to English. My browser is set to English. My account is set to English. But you insist that terms and conditions are shown to me in a language I don’t understand? Ridiculous.

There is no way in Adsense support to contact you about this. No way to get help about the terms and conditions. What am I supposed to do?

It’s bad enough that every time I go to http://www.google.com/ you ignore my PC OS language, browser language setting, Google account language setting, the fact I’ve clicked on “Show Google in English” millions of times, and you redirect me to http://www.google.co.jp/ – but presenting Japanese terms and conditions to me and forcing me to accept them without giving the option of a different language or even be able to contact you about them is just taking the biscuit.

Repeat: PC has English OS. Web browser has English as the primary encoding language. Google account is set to English. Stop thinking that what I really want is Japanese!

Arrrrggghhh!

Of course this letter will have zero effect and I’ll be forced to accept terms and conditions I don’t understand, but writing it made me feel a whole lot better.

Wednesday January 27
 
18:01
 
Korean music

일본에와서3년이나됐는데도아직도내가자주듣는음악은한국음악이다
Even though I haven’t lived in Korea for 3+ years, even now most of the music I listen to is Korean. The latest Jaurim EP is superb (“제목 없는 음반”).

I most listen to:

1. Delispice 델리 스파이스
2. Humming Urban Stereo 허밍 어반 스테레오
3. 3rd Line Butterfly 3호선 버터플라이
4. Rollercoaster 롤러코스터
5. Rainy Sun 레이니썬
6. Nell 넬
7. You-me 유미
8. Casker 캐스커
9. Lucid Fall 루시드폴
10. Cherry Filter 체리필터
11. Jaurim 자우림
12. Loveholic 러브홀릭
13. Jadu 자두

Know them? #1, #2, #4, #7, #10, #11, #12 and #13 should be known to most Koreans - the rest, probably not. If you like Portishead, you must listen to #5. The last 4 I only like a subset of their music.