Updated - Hooked On
The previous Hooked On section:
For the 3 new ones, check aka.me's top page
This is part of the lifestream of Paul Baron, co-founder of Tokyo Art Beat, AQ, Hitotoki.
More on http://aka.me
December
4,
2009
Viewed 6427 times
Japan's Conbini Xmas Cake Showdown!
I've found this post on Nikkei's Trendy Net and am totally translating ripping it. (what's up with their awful article pagination!)
First up: am/pm with its シャンティ・オ・フレーズ Chanter aux Fraises (2,500¥)
Then CircleKSunkus' シェリエドルチェ クリスマス苺サンド Cherie Dolce Sandwiched Xmas Strawberries (3,400¥)
7-11's かまくら Snow Hut (2,100¥)
No strawberries, you ask? They're inside!
Daily Yamazaki's スウィートシェアリング Sweet Sharing (1,800¥)
Family Mart's レ・アントルメ国立クリームストロベリー L'entremet National Christma-Strawberry (2,500¥)
Mini Stop's ベルギーチョコレート・ノエル Belgium Chocolate Noël (2,800¥)
No strawberries?! How courageous of Mini Stop.
And finally, Lawson's 苺のショートケーキ Strawberry Short Cake (2,800¥)
So which one is your favorite?! And could you imagine ever buying a Xmas cake from a convenience store?
Comments [1]
One Week At Work
Monday
- met with Mapion about using TAB API
- tweeted for TAB
- sent dimension of TAB ads to a client
- updated balance sheet of TAB Shop
- updated GPS of new TAB venue
- answered emails about TAB upcoming iPhone app
- relayed new TAB Shop orders to shipping company
- sent email to advertisers for the 2010 Tokyo Art Maps
- sent news about the party to our sponsors
Tuesday
- met about new advertising space ideas for TAB
- met about a flash animation we're making for a AQ client
- updated link to Facebook fan pages from top of TAB/NYAB sites
- met about a logo we're creating for an AQ client
- sorted out pics of Tokyo Designers Week 2009
- relayed new TAB Shop orders to shipping company
- answered emails about TAB upcoming iPhone app
- sent some advice about MailChimp to a AQ client
- sent news about the party to our sponsors
- advised a client on how to design his banner ad for TAB
- checked out submissions to Mashup Award 5 that used our TAB API
- tweeted for TAB
- talked to a TAB staff who's leaving soon
- sent an email to find a new TAB staff
- started work on new TAB advertising documents
Wednesday
- answered emails about new items for TAB store
- worked on new TAB advertising documents
- created a sitemap for one of AQ's clients
- went home early for "Daddy Wednesdays"
Thursday
- dealt with a spam issue on TAB event comments
- welcomed new TAB temp staff
- answered email about our Party
- tweeted for TAB
- relayed new TAB Shop orders to shipping company
- answered email about our TAB API with a new partner
- helped with a sitemap for one of AQ's clients
- prepared & sent the latest TAB Newsletter
- worked on new TAB advertising documents
Friday
- had a quick meeting about the day's mission.
- worked on new TAB advertising documents
- updated team on some AQ-related client work
- yaritori emails related to a couple AQ projects
- finished draft version on new TAB advertising documents
- answered a lot of random emails before the weekend.
Comments [0]
10 things that will happen after your kid is born
With the experience of the birth of our first child last January (and chats wih other daddy friends), let me share a few points on the life of a new dad for my friends with due dates on their mind:
- Your wife's head will look a lot bigger (looking at your tiny child's head all the time makes everything else look huge)
- Changing diapers really is non stop (at least the first month)
- It will get very hard to talk about anything else but your baby (sorry guys)
- You'll notice babies and kids all around you all the time and won't believe Japan ever had a falling birthrate.
- You'll need to be more creative in bed (it's not recommended to have sexual intercourse for 3 months after birth -linked to ovarian cancer, infections...)
- You will never have been so happy to have your parents or in-laws close by.
- Your wife will forget you are her husband and just call you "papa" or "daddy".
- You will act like you own the sidewalk and people should give you priority on everything.
- You will think of death, pain, helplessness a lot more than before.
- You will want to build a house with your own hands.
Anything I forgot? The comments are yours!
Comments [6]
Moving to Posterous from Movable Type (via WP)
I've decided to move my blog to Posterous, cos it's hassle-free and I don't want to fiddle with MT and the likes anymore.
It really wasn't as easy as I was hoping though. For some reason, Movable Type would not let Posterous import my full entries via RSD. And Posterous' support still being kinda slow (as the platform picks up steam), I was left to find another solution by myself.
Here is what I eventually did:
- modified RSS feed on MT to include all full past entries
- installed wordpress (!)
- imported MT blog into WP using full RSS feed
- then imported WP blog into Posterous
Anyway, what's left for me to do is redirect all past entries on in-duce.net to Posterous.
I'm also gonna tag-up my previous entries, cos it's fun!
Am looking forward to seeing how Posterous' platform and community evolve.
Update 1: all redirects done, all tagging done. in-duce.net is no more. long live aka.me
Comments [2]
Hitotoki spreading!
If you haven't visited our project hitotoki.org recently, then now is the time.
The small literary website building an emotional map of Tokyo is growing faster than we ever imagined, with London and NYC launched recently and the impending launch of 3 cities DC, Paris (in French and English) and Shanghai!
If you haven't submitted a story, now is the time!
Looking forward to reading you soon online.
Comments [0]
Best anime of 2008
Without a doubt: Bokurano!! Great story, great character dvpt, no moe BS.
But careful though, it's gloomy!! gloo-my!! As the series progresses, you discover all the hardships that those kids have already gone through and it's pretty painful to watch, but that makes it all worth it!
A very unique story. Don't let yourself be intimidated by the couple robot fights happening in the background...
What matter are the lives of those kids! In more ways that you can imagine...
of course I also enjoyed:
- Seirei no moribito
- Moonlight Mile season 1
- Toward the Terra
Currently watching Ghost Hound
and catching up on Denno Coil
Check out this preview of 2008's Spring series
Comments [0]
Thoughts on Casio's W53CA for AU
After my recent announce of the new AU Summer Collection, I had to wait a couple months before the official release of the Casio W53CA phone.
I got the phone a few weeks ago and it's a beauty, as always. It's even thinner than the 43CA, the hinge is even smaller and more elegant. The screen is wider and QVGA (480x800) resolution. You know all those phone ads where the screen looks incredible crisp, but then you buy the phone and it's some crappy 120x60 resolution... Well the 53CA screen makes pics look like printed matter. Simply incredible.
The camera is pretty amazing too. It does take beautiful Exilim pics, better than any other camera phone I have ever seen. Of course, certain lighting condition will always be challenging but this thing can survive just about anything.
So is there anything to complain about?
The only hardware minus point I found was the new keyboard. While thinner, it's also harder to operate in the dark or blindly as the keys are mounted nearly seamlessly. But you get used to it. The side buttons are also thinner and harder to press when operating the camera...
As far as software goes, nothing to complain about besides:
1. the camera interface
2. English translation
The camera interface hasn't really evolved over the past few models and I wish it had!! This is a major minus in this otherwise great product!
The submenus feel randomly crammed into the maximum 12 top menus which means that after having used this interface for more than 2 years, I still can't remember where what is what!!
And since I fiddle with menus a lot, this is a big issue.
ex 1:
when you choose the Scenes menu (called Best Shot - key #2), the first dialog box to come up asks you whether to turn it "ON" or "OFF". How weird, why not just give me access to the list of scenes?!
ex 2:
White Balance, which I use 50% of the time to correct the weak light condition auto evaluation of the camera software is hidden in the 4th position choice of menu key 6 (shot assistant). That's 11 clicks or scrolls to access it when you are trying to take a picture!!! And it doesn't even have a shortcut key while Self-Timer (mislabeled as Self-Timer Setup) gets its own top menu. I have never ever seen anybody (nor used it myself) use a self timer on a keitai camera.
ex 3:
"Album" is to view your photos. It takes the 3rd position of the menu just under Best Shot. Again it would be faster to access your pics via the Data Folder menu form the main camera menu. Why clog my menu when I am trying to take a picture.
ex 4:
Shot Size gets 4th position. Is that really a priority? I would like to see user studies that prove people change picture size before taking shots, on a regular basis. Personally, one prime reason for doing so would be to make it lighter to send it to a friend, but the "mail this" menu offers to do just that when I DO actually want to mail them.
ex 5:
Macro mode needs 7 click to be set up (although it does have a keypad shortcut). No wonder I never see people use it when they need it. Actually I rarely see people use it with conventional digital cameras either...
I guess this list could go on and on but overall, I love this phone and would NOT trade it for anything else on the market!!
But anyway, if anyone knows people at Casio/Hitachi, I would be happy to send in a more detailed report on the camera and funny English translations or even come in for a chat! Yes I am talking to you... S. ;-)
Comments [0]
Help Find Steve Fossett
So I've spent the past couple hours helping find Steve Fossett. I have become a Mechanical Turk for Amazon and have been reviewing satellite imagery of the area where Steve is supposed to have disappeared last Monday.
I am not a super fan of Steve but I have followed his record-breaking exploits in the news over the past few years and felt kinda touched by his disappearance; enough to wish that I could help actually, and enough to subscribe to Google Alerts on Monday to receive alerts in my inbox as soon as any news site would update us on him.
When I heard that his buddy Richard Branson was collaborating with Google and their famous maps to help find him I laughed a bit because those satellite photos are not known for being always up-to-date, nor very high-def (for non Pro members at least)...
But then a few things happened today:
- I watched Deja-Vu in which some machine allows to "see" in the past and track people and their whereabouts in the area the movie takes place in.
- It made me wonder what it would take to build a system to review satellite imagery and help find Steve, in the same way that unused computer cycles can be used to help fight cancer, Aids etc via the various grid projects .
- Next thing, I open my mails and see a Google Alerts pointing to this:
You Might Help Find Steve Fossett.
And so I better get back to my tasks.
Comments [0]
Comments [1]