Category Archives: News

News

Still here!

April 24, 2010 – 19:29

Just a brief note to say that I’m still around!  Family has been visiting for the past two and a half weeks, so between going out with them and work, I haven’t had much time to post anything.

But I’m still here, and will be back to write soon. 🙂

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News

Learn something and feel good about it!

March 18, 2010 – 00:49

I came across this site from the PW’s blog and thought it’d be worth posting a link to.

www.freerice.com – the premise is simple; “play” a word vocabulary quiz and for each answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to the hungry with the help of sponsors.  I tend to be suspicious about things like this, often wondering where the money comes from, how they can support themselves, how we’re sure that what we donate ACTUALLY goes towards helping feed the hungry.  In this case though, it seems to be legitimate – and they don’t even ask for registration/donations, etc!

It’s a clever idea actually – the idea of making something into a game and letting people play for free without any obligations.  It’s actually quite challenging, and if you like words/reading, you’ll probably enjoy it.  I’m embarrassed to say that I have yet to finish all levels – from around 40-45, I keep getting stuck and get kicked back a couple of levels.  Give a try – get smarter, and feed the hungry at the same time! 🙂

Ok, now who can tell me what the heck “splenetic” means??

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News

Looking forward to having more to read!

March 4, 2010 – 13:08

Most will know that I love reading, and I just had to mention it when I read Patrick Rothfuss’ blog update on his second book.

The Name of the Wind is one of my favorite fantasy books, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting news of when the second part of the trilogy will come out.  Though there’s no publishing date yet, it sounds like it’s finally nearing completion!  That was exciting enough, but he also mentions that:

The Wise Man’s Fear is going to be bigger than The Name of the Wind by at least 100,000 words or so.

That is just incredible.  The Name of the Wind took me a long time to go through, mostly because I enjoyed it so much that I deliberately tried to hold back and savor it rather than my customary speed-reading. That book was over 600 pages long, and if 50,000 words equals roughly 150-200 pages, then that’s another 300-400 more pages in the second book!

The second book has been a long time in the making, but if the quality of the book is on par with The Name of the Wind, and is LONGER to boot, then I can be patient. 🙂


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News

Tokyo Marathon!

February 26, 2010 – 18:28

Course Map I  can’t believe it’s already been 10 days since my last post, heck I can’t believe we only have 2 days before February is over!  It has been a busy period recently, and I’ve been too tired to do much in the way of posting.  I wish I had more energy though – I will hear, or read, or see, or experience something and I will often think of writing about it… only to put it off for the above reasons.

I just wanted to mention quickly that the Tokyo Marathon will be taking place this Sunday.  I and 5 other folks from the office will be participating!

To be honest, I’ve done little to nothing in the way of practice this last month due to a knee injury I sustained during a 20km practice run in early January.  So I’m actually a bit worried about how I will handle 42km… my only “strategy” is going to alternate between walking and jogging, hopefully with more of the latter.

My only goal is to FINISH.  Though the 8,000,000 prize money would be something spectacular, I don’t care if I’m dead last, I don’t care if I have to limp or crawl the whole way – as long as I cross the finish line before the cutoff time, I will be satisfied.

Wish me luck!

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News

All that glitters…

February 16, 2010 – 13:10

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A friend of mine (Michael, of emuu.net) has just made public a new venture that he’s been working on for a while now – jewelry!  Specifically, he’s gone into the diamond ring business.

I’m no authority on diamonds, but the prices look quite reasonable for Japan, and he offers various levels of customization to match one’s budget and style.   So, if there’s someone for whom the wedding bells will soon be tolling, check out Caritas.co.jp – you might find your perfect ring there! 🙂

(and no, I’m not getting any kickbacks from this post – I just like shiny things)

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News

Aerial images of WTC on 9/11

February 11, 2010 – 13:44

Came across this link of images taken from a helicopter during the attack on the WTC buildings.  There aren’t that many (only 13) but are a reminder of the devastation on that day.  It’s hard to believe that almost 9 years have passed since then.

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Rest of images can be found here: http://www.reuters.com/article/slideshow?articleId=USTRE6195G920100210#a=1

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News

The world is getting scarier

February 9, 2010 – 08:46

Headlines such as this used to be like something out of a science fiction movie, just… not anymore.

Pentagon Looks to Breed Immortal ‘Synthetic Organisms,’ Molecular Kill-Switch Included

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Unfortunately I can understand the military’s point of view/reasoning behind research into such technologies.  Namely, if “we” don’t do it, “they” will do it, and we’ll be at their mercy.  It’s always about the race to be the one carrying the “bigger stick”.  You need to be powerful, or have something that others want,  if others are to take you seriously.  Unfortunately, this aggressive streak, while great for fostering survival and competition, makes for a bleak and frightening future if things progress as they currently are.
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Maybe they’ll find a way to eliminate the gene for war/conflict.  Now THAT might be worth it.
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Humor News

Driving test tomorrow

November 12, 2009 – 14:01

Well, I’ll be going in tomorrow morning for my driving test!  I’m not sure how I’m going to do actually, since I have only once passed my practice tests.  The rest of the times I’ve only scored in the 80’s…

To be honest, I keep falling asleep… part if it is just tiredness from early shifts, (meaning I wake at 0530), and part of it is just that… my brain starts numbing out halfway through the 100 questions… we’ll see how it goes tomorrow…

Hopefully though, I won’t turn out like this.  While I admire the tenacity of the woman (though 950 is a suspiciously tidy number), I do have to say that I’ve got some concerns about someone taking that long to pass the driving test…

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News

What a depressing way to go

August 19, 2009 – 00:00

“He died while testing a concrete canoe” – that is one heck of a depressing eulogy.  I mean… when I first read the story, I wondered what on earth the kids could have been thinking.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20090817p2a00m0na013000c.html?inb=rs

However, a quick Google search brings up THIS, which implies that concrete canoes do actually serve as engineering/structural challenges in those respective fields of study.  Nonetheless… a very sad way to go… 🙁

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