Tuesday May 27
 
22:45
 
PC On Mac On PC

How cool is this? My LG LW25 laptop running NATIVE Mac OS X - ie, running Mac OS X on a plain old PC.

Not only that, but within Mac OS, my old PC setup (C: drive) is now running as a “Virtual PC” under VMWare Fusion.

PC on Mac On PC. Lovely!

This is all thanks to Kalyway 10.5.2 (one of the ways to install OS X on a PC) and VMWare Fusion (virtual machine software). The only pain is internet access - I can’t get the Mac to talk Bluetooth PAN with my phone. I can, however, get Bluetooth running under VMWare Fusion and access the internet via my phone that way. I need to work out a way to let Mac OS share the internet connection.

Notes for anyone with an LG LW25 wanting to attempt this (and who has found this page from Google):
- The keyboard does not work during installation - you need a USB keyboard.
- After installing and booting into Mac OS X, you need to Sleep and then Wake Mac OS X. The keyboard will then work. All LG laptops have keyboard issues with Mac OS X at the moment.
- Internal Ethernet LAN and Wireless LAN do not work. I believe there’s a project in place to get drivers for the Wireless LAN working (it is standard Intel). Most people simply buy another LAN card (one that is known to work) and install it.
- Sound is working.
- Sometimes hangs during shutdown - not a big deal.
- I tried Leo4All and others, Kalyway is the only one that I could get to work with the keyboard, sleep, and sound. Make sure you click Customise when installing to select the correct drivers (eg, Intel 950 graphics card).

Friday May 23
 
18:22
 
How To Video Chat With A PC User From The Mac

It was surprisingly difficult to find a way to video chat with PC user from the Mac.

Apple provide iChat - but that’s pretty useless. The only PC client iChat will video chat with is AIM - and who uses AIM outside the US? From the reports I’ve read, even that compatibility isn’t great - with iChat only working with certain versions of the AIM client. In the end, I ruled out AIM - I didn’t want to have to ask my friends to install AIM, go through all the hassles of getting an ID, and then find out it doesn’t work.

Ideally I would have liked something which worked with MSN Messenger (Windows Live Messenger), because all my Korean friends use MSN for video chat. So far the only way I have been able to video chat with MSN users is to run XP using VMWare Fusion - that works, but it is sluggish, and it seems to use only the center part of the iSight image.

What I wanted was something that would work reliably and effortlessly. I would need to get my friends to install a new chat client to be able to talk with me, so I wanted something which “just works”. In the end, I found three options:

1. Yahoo Messenger (to other Yahoo users only - video chat doesn’t work to MSN users).

2. Skype

3. Sightspeed

Since I use Skype anyway on the PC, I went with Skype. It’s a bit of a heavy client, but it works well - and that’s what matters. Plus, these days many people have Skype installed anyway for international calling.

It is slightly surprising, though, that iChat is so limited. In my view, Apple should do more to make it easy to communicate with PC users. It doesn’t project a good image of the Mac when Mac users are forced to say to Windows users: “Mac doesn’t work with XXX.” It only reiterates the image that Mac is limited.

Friday May 23
 
10:42
 
Charge By Passenger Weight

American began charging $25 for a second checked bag on May 12. The $15 for a first checked bag is to go into effect June 15 — although elite frequent fliers, those paying full fare and on international flights are exempt.

Fort Worth-based American, the nation’s largest carrier, said it needs extra revenue to cover fuel costs, which it says have soared by billions of dollars in the last few years.

If American airline companies want to raise extra money to cover fuel costs, why don’t they levy a charge for the huge fat arses and stomachs of Americans?

I’m serious about this. The last time I flew NWA, I couldn’t believe the size of the people. The guy sitting across the aisle from me could barely open the seat-back table in front of him - and when he did get it open, it was pushing into his stomach. It would have been so funny if he couldn’t have eaten because he was too fat to open the table.

There is nothing worse than being stuck next to a fatty on the plane. The huge jelly arms spilling over the armrest, invading into the little bit of seat space that I have.

When I fly Korean Air or Japan Airlines or Thai, the plane is full of Asians and normal sized people. When I fly a European company, the passengers are bigger. When I fly an American company, I’m amazed the plane can get off the ground.

I already find it obscene that I should have to pay extra to carry more luggage when some fat ass weighing double my weight has to pay nothing extra for his (or her) blubber:

Fatty: 150kg + 20kg luggage.
Me: 75kg + 20kg luggage. If I want to take more luggage, I should pay.

The price of an airline ticket fee should give you a combined weight allowance - say 120kg. When you arrive at the airport, you weigh yourself and the luggage. Anything over the allowance, you pay for. That way, us normal sized people can take a decent amount of luggage on holiday, and fat people whose excessive eating causes a burden on fuel can be penalised.

Fatty: 150kg + 20kg luggage -> 50kg penalty charge.
Me: 75kg + 20kg luggage -> 25kg extra luggage allowance.

However, now we’re being asked to pay extra to check in anything? When fatty can have as much blubber as he (or she) wants? Ridiculous.

It makes my idea of the “luggage coat” even more of a winner. My reasoning is this: I can weigh what the hell I like and still fly the plane - but my luggage is limited. Enter the “luggage coat” - a huge tent like coat with space inside to pack clothes and other goodies. Think a coat with two mini rucksacks inside.

It’s a sparkling idea. American airline companies could never say to you “Are you fat or is that luggage coat sir?” - they’d be sued to the high heavens. Simply wear it. Check in. Take it off and wheel it around on a trolley while doing duty free shopping. Put it back on to board. Then take it off again and put it in the overhead luggage space when on the plane.

Rant over. Time for cake.

Tuesday May 20
 
11:19
 
Moving iTunes From Windows To Mac

Finally I think I have my iTunes working on the iMac. By following Apple’s recommended procedure, it should have been simple - but I ended up with corrupt Korean ID3 tags (artist, song name, album, etc).

I’ve heard of others who have had the same problem with Japanese tags becoming garbage, and Chinese, and Thai. It seems to be related to unicode and tag encoding. Since I couldn’t find a single webpage which had a solution that worked, so here’s the procedure I followed to fix things. Hope it helps someone else someday.

Monday May 19
 
18:50
 
Korea Town

A few weeks ago I met a couple of Korean guys at Tonjang - the only REAL Korean BBQ that I’ve found in Tokyo. We got talking because they saw me speaking Korean, and we exchanged contact details. Last night we met up and headed to Shin-Okubo - the Korea Town of Tokyo - and ended up in a bar (pictured) which could have been lifted straight out of Shinchon in Seoul. For atmosphere, it was an excellent find.

I used to go to Shin-Okubo often, but stopped because I always ended up getting very drunk. Last night was no exception. Korean alcohol is lethal.

The whole night reminded me of all the things I miss about Korea - so much so that I actually started crying in the subway on the way to work this morning. The same thing happened at lunch.

Tears. Me?! I never cry.

I really miss Korea a lot.

I’d like the think it’s just the Tokyo-Japanese people I know, but it’s not. It’s difficult to bond with people here, full stop. It’s like going out to party with your mother tagging along - there’s always a restraint.

They only want to go out on weekends, not during the week. They are continually thinking of the subway home. They never let go and party or express their emotions. They don’t know how to live and be free.

It’s not just me that feels this way either. I’ve know people who have been in Japan for years, even people who speak fluent Japanese, and they tell me the same thing. There’s always a barrier - a shield - with Japanese. They are minding their Ps and Qs. You never really know what’s inside.

Last night I went out with Koreans that I had randomly met in a restaurant. We drank, ate, chatted, had an awesome time. I ended up getting a taxi home at 2am. I almost never made it into work this morning.

I have never done that with Japanese.

When I used to go to Shin-Okubo regularly, I’d always end up getting talking to a group of Koreans in a bar. We’d share bottles of Korean alcohol, to the extent that it was impossible to tell what one had actually consumed.

That has also never happened to me with Japanese, ever.

You can meet Koreans randomly, and become friends instantly. No guard. No hiding. No restraint. THAT is what I miss about Korea.

I better start finding more Korean friends if I’m to enjoy Tokyo.