Chris Salzberg
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7 December 2008
Japan
In a post entitled, “I realized for the first time yesterday that Hatena is doomed” [昨日初めて「”はてな”はダメだ」と思った], blogger id:grgr56 explains how they tried out the new service “Hatena Bottle” yesterday [ja] and concluded: “Hatena Bottle is a spam trap”: “I noticed [after registering] that mails started coming. […] If you go to the top page of Hatena Bottle [ja], you'll see that nothing is written about what kind of service it is. I guess some people must consider it the fault of the person who registers for the service [that they end up getting spam mails]. Well, that was my mistake. I overestimated Hatena.”
5 December 2008
Japan
Minae Mizumura's The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English, which sparked debate recently in Japan on the future of the country's national language, is the subject of a blog post [ja] by Nobuo Ikeda. Ikeda writes that his wife had bought the book and described it as “boring”, and when he later picked it up and had a read himself, he felt the same. “She says that Japanese literature is being threatened so we need to protect it, but her understanding is mistaken,” he writes. “In scholarship and business, at least, Japanese is already nothing more than a regional language.”
4 December 2008
Japan
Matimulog reports on news that the Fukuoka Bar Association has made a declaration requesting that Google halt its Street View service [ja], launched in August of this year in Japan to mixed reviews, due to its violation of the right to privacy. The blogger writes: “I can't help but wonder: why the Fukuoka Bar Association? The Street View service hasn't even been offered anywhere in Kyūshū, let alone in Fukuoka.” (For more info see also J-CAST article [ja].)
23 November 2008
Japan
The GLOCOM blog reports that land prices are falling across Japan, even in prime locations such as Otemachi and Ginza (Tokyo). The trend resembles the beginning of country's so-called “lost decade” in the early 1990s.
Japan
Following on a request by the Machida city council for regulation of Google's Street View service, recently introduced in Japan, Asiajin reports that the ward of Suginami in central Tokyo has advised its residents on how to submit [ja] takedown requests to Google. An article at Asahi reports that Suginami city was alerted by citizens about privacy violation concerns related to GSV and has twice contacted Google asking the company to respond by deleting images.
3 November 2008
Japan
In a post entitled “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”, Yasai-ＤＸ２ posts a picture of three guys [ja] dressed up as Japanese anime character Haruhi Suzumiya. “Well, they have nice legs, no?” one commenter responds.
2 November 2008
Japan
mamachari at niwahacker.com remarks on the resemblance between Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, and sitcom character ALF.
31 October 2008
Japan: Thoughts on Itochu trading scam
On October 10th, Itochu Corporation announced that it had paid close to one hundred billion yen in false transactions valued at nearly 100 billion yen to Mongolian suppliers for construction machinery and materials. One blogger and chartered accountant offers their thoughts on what happened inside Itochu.
Japan
Comments from Japanese net users respond [ja] to an ad by U.S. presidential nominee Obama in which viewers are told to “put down the remote and go vote“. “Why Wii?” one asks. Another writes: “Anti-Japan policies before even becoming president?” And one person wonders: “Does Obama despise Japan?”
Japan
id:crystaline reports [ja] that she discovered a spam mail with the title: “It might seem unbelievable, but I am a chimpanzee”. The ‘chimp' explains: “At first, I thought I was a human. Like the other humans around me. However, I acquired knowledge, and realized that I was different. And I now know that I am a chimpanzee.” The email continues: “You and I are very similar: among chimpanzees, I myself am close to humans, and you are human but resemble a chimpanzee. This is a big part of the reason I was attracted to you.” The message ends with a link to a website where you can apparently chat with the chimpanzee on live video.
==> As Africans we need to let go of our victimhood, inferiority complex & acceptance...