Clash of the cultures stereotypes

Posted on February 5, 2007 by admin

I read an article at 1up called “Clash of the Cultures” that talked about the differences between American and Japanese games and directly correlated those differences with the differences in American and Japanese culture, mind-set, history, etc. My feelings on this article are mixed. I think the explanations of the differences between Japanese and American games, and the examples provided to explain those differences, are excellent. However, the analysis/explanation of those differences via an explanation of Japanese and American culture border somewhere between overly simplistic and idiodic. Granted, alot of the ‘analysis’ is being quoted by various American and Japanese game developers, who can hardly be considered to be sociologists, anthropologists, or Japan studies scholars, but that doesn’t change the idiocy of the statements.

Here are some of the more obvious ones:
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Posted in Entertainment, General | 1 Comment

Linux may be finally arriving

Posted on February 3, 2007 by admin

I have an old computer. I got it as a gift 8 years ago, and it wasn’t even top-of-the line then. It is an Acer Travelmate 512T laptop, which comes with a whopping 330 MHz processor, 64 MB of ram, and an unbelievably huge 4 GB hard drive. In subsequent use I’ve updated the ram to 160 MB, and the hard drive to 20 GB (I had to do this when the old hard drive died on me…)

It was running Win98SE, which was sufficient for its time. In the past I’ve experimented with a few linux distributions on it, mostly Mandrake because I was a newbie to linux and the command line scared me. I never really got used to it though, and always went back to Windows.

Well, that computer is old and it got to the point where running anything with Win98 was practically an open invitation for viruses and zombification, so I stopped using it. It’s been sitting in it’s bag for about 3 years.

But the other day I needed to install Linux on one of my computers at school, so I gave Ubuntu a try. And lo and behold, it was easy! I had it up and going, patched, and ready to go in under an hour. I was so impressed that I decided to try something that I have tried many times but never gotten working in linux before – Japanese input.

Now having Japanese input isn’t so hard really, you just log in with a Japanese session. However, that makes all the menus, etc. Japanese, which isn’t really what I want. I just want the ability to input Japanese when I want to while staying in a primarily English environment. It used to be hard in Windows, but in XP it’s pretty simple. Just a few clicks on the Language Settings.

So I performed a google search that gave me this site. I followed the instructions, and it worked the first time! I was amazed. So I decided to pull out my old laptop and give it another try, this time with Ubuntu. There were a few snags, mostly just that it doesn’t have the memory to handle the graphics-based installer, but there is a seperate alternate-install CD for computers with less memory.

And did it work? I’m typing this entry with that very same super-old computer. The 600×800 resolution is a little smaller than what I’m used to, but other than that it’s great. It did take over 4 hours to install and patch it, but that’s not too different than how long it took to install Win98 and get everything installed and working again.

And did I get Japanese input working? それもちゃんとできている。文句はただ一つで、その英語と日本語の引力を変えるホットキーはShift+Spaceであるから、英語で「Ｉ」を打ったらよく日本語に変わってしまう。そのホットキーも変えられるはずけど、まだそこまではわかってない。

So my point behind the title is that linux may now be to the point where it’s usable/useful for the more average computer user. This old laptop is now my mess-around computer. I can surf and blog, and even code if I want to. For now I guess I’m limited to C++ and python though. I can get Fortran working if I install the compiler (but why would I want to, do you ask?), but no Matlab. Although there is Sci-Pï½™, and GNU Octave, which are both kind of open-source Matlab alternatives, so when I have some time I’ll check it out.

Posted in General | 3 Comments

More Shimajiro videos

Posted on January 9, 2007 by admin

I’ve put up some more excerpts from the Shimajiro videos our daughter Karisa gets from Japan. You may remember the one I put up a few months ago featuring the toilet training song, complete with dancing poo. I hadn’t checked up on it in a few months, and it turns out some group has made a parody dub of it. It’s not too bad for ad-lib, at least it made me laugh.

So the new videos are 1) A new toilet-training video, this one dealing with the infamous Japanese style washiki toilet, aka ‘squatter’. 2) Traffic safety with the lion police. Great song on this one. 3) Correct manners in public as demonstrated by your friendly neighborhood ninja monkey. This one has a catchy song too.

I’ve often contemplated whether I should put up a translation of the songs on these videos, but I decided it’s funnier for most people when they can’t understand most of the words. Afterall kikkoman is still hilarious without even understanding Japanese.

Also, for those that understand Japanese, ペリーのお願い is an old favorite of mine. Also his piano lesson is hilarious. A quick google searched turned up Perry’s trip to Yoshinoya, which I hadn’t heard before.

Posted in Entertainment | 5 Comments

Instant Tom Cruise movie review

Posted on December 7, 2006 by admin

My cousin Peter made this comment on my earlier post on the Conan movies. My comment on Tom Cruise’s acting recalled this quote from a review of Minority Report:

While there are action elements, this is not an action film, per se, but rather a film about Tom Cruise in the future.

I paraphrased this to apply to The Last Samurai:

While The Last Samurai does have historical elements, it is not a historical epic per se. It’s a movie about Tom Cruise in Meiji-era Japan.

That’s when it hit me: This can be applied to practically any Tom Cruise movie! The formula is this:

“While [movie starring Tom Cruise] does have [supposed genre of film] elements, this is not a [supposed genre] film per se. It’s a movie about Tom Cruise in [place setting for movie].”

Footnote: The original review here is actually just a review for the trailer! It somehow makes it even more hilarious.

Posted in Entertainment | 1 Comment

Message to your 12 year old self…

Posted on December 4, 2006 by admin

Over at fark a while back, there was a LONG discussion in the forums here. The subject is, “If you could go back in time and tell your 12-year old self one thing, what would it be? Difficulty, no stock tips.”

The ensuing discussion is REALLY long, but it was also a good mix of thought-provoking and entertaining comments. Basically, most things people say are in one of 4 categories:

1) Take opportunities or you will regret it. (For most people this equates to “You could have a relationship with [certain person] in [number] years if you just ask him/her.)
2) Try hard, or you will regret it.
3) If you love someone, tell them every day, or you will regret it. Also related to this, alot of people said something to the effect of “Get [certain loved person] to a doctor before they [die , collapse, etc.] to be screened for [debilitating or deadly condition, usually cancer], no matter how they say they don’t want to.”
4) Be forgiving, but be strong.

What would I say to myself? Probably not too much. Even though my angst-filled teenage years were pretty difficult, there really isn’t that much that I regret. Maybe just the following:
1) You’re not going to hit puberty for another 4 years, so be patient with your puny body. You’re not athletic either, so don’t expect too much even after you do.
2) Feel free to (try to) date girls and stuff in high school, but don’t be too serious about girls until you’re older and in college. They unfortunately won’t be serious about you until you’re 24 or so. If you decide to date [name witheld] in high school, know that she will only be interested in you as a temporary surrogate boyfriend that treats her nice, and she’ll be sleeping with at least two of your friends while you think you’re dating her. (This really happened.) Also, don’t date [name witheld] when you’re at OU. She actually has a fiancé back in her hometown, and she’s only dating you in order to make an excuse to break up her engagement. (This actually happened too!)

Posted in Personal | 2 Comments

answer to the ESP test

Posted on December 4, 2006 by admin

Is I mentioned in the earlier post, I would post the answer later. Most people that were kind enough to comment on it also gave the correct answer. I thought the trick was pretty sneaky, so I wrote an email to the author of the website:

Cliff,
It took me a few minutes, but I really had to slap myself on the forehead when I realized the trick. The trick being that *none* of the six cards appear after you click the one of the six eyes. The five that appear after the click are all different. The original six has three red face cards: a king, a queen, and a jack, and three black face cards, also a king, a queen, and a jack. When you click on the eyes, then five face cards are shown. However, for each face card that was there before, the suit of each card changes to the other suit of the same color. A king of diamonds is replaced by a king of hearts, a jack of spades is replaced by a jack of clubs, etc. Then you show five of these cards instead of six, and no matter which of the six they chose, that card will not appear with the five. Since the person playing is only paying attention to the card that they picked, they only notice that the card they chose is no longer there: they don’t notice that all the other cards have changed because they weren’t paying attention to that detail. Quite an ingenius little trick.

I’m curious, what percentage of people figure out the trick to this? I’m sure you won’t post this reply (and I wouldn’t ask you to) on your site since it would ruin the trick for everyone, but I’m certainly not a genius and I highly doubt that I’m the first to figure it out.

Also, I find it hilarious that many people claim it didn’t work and thier card wasn’t removed! I guess they remembered thier own card wrong, or something like that.
–Derek

Alas, Cliff never wrote me back.

Posted in Entertainment, Science | Leave a comment

Japan making the Bomb

Posted on November 30, 2006 by admin

Reading this news article piqued my interest. What I found interesting is not that Japan’s foreign minister proclaimed that Japan was capable of producing a nuclear weapon should it wish to, but that such a declaration was even necessary.

Japan has been this way for several decades, I would assume. As an engineer, the way I see it is this. In order to produce a nuclear weapon, you need the following:

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Posted in General, Science | Leave a comment

Baby girl

Posted on October 23, 2006 by admin

Ack… I haven’t posted anything here in quite a while. Well, Ryoko gave birth to a baby girl on Sept. 25th. Everything went fine, and we have named her Eren. The spelling is what it is because we wanted no ambiguity between the Japanese and English on her name. The characters for her name are 恵蓮, the first character pronounced e or megumi means ‘blessing’ or ‘grace’, and the second character ren or hasu means ‘lotus’. I’m afraid this is the only picture I have handy right now, it’s Ryoko in the hospital with Karisa on her lap holding baby Eren.
Bassett women
Eren seems to be a good-tempered baby so far, and Karisa has gotten used to the idea of a baby sister (and hence no longer being the center of the universe) pretty well. Ryoko is recovering well, so really no major problems.

The only scary thing is thinking about what will happen 10~15 years from now when they become teenagers…

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The secret of ESP

Posted on September 1, 2006 by admin

I saw a link to this ESP test and on a whim checked it out. Try the test a few times to see how accurate it is. Then, see if you can figure it out. It had me stumped at first, but in a few minutes I figured out how it works. Once you think you’ve figured it out, post your answer here as a comment. If no one gets it (or if no one even replies, which is much more likely given the extremely limited readership of this blog) after a few days, then I’ll post the answer.

Hint: You can read through the postings on his site on people’s theories and explanations on how it works. However, all of the explanations given by the people there are wrong. In fact, it’s probably best not to read them until you have figured out the trick yourself.

Posted in Entertainment, Science | 5 Comments

Economics of mass transit

Posted on August 31, 2006 by admin

I ran across this article that discusses the economic reality of why people in America don’t use the public transportation. I find it meaningful because he address the value of the commuter’s time, which he purports to be the most important variable and is usually ignored by those that try to get people to adopt mass-transit.

Basically, it boils down to this: if I can drive there faster than I can get there via mass-transit, I will drive because my time has real (i.e. economic) value to me. This is more pronounced the more money you make, because your time is appropriately more valuable. Also, even if it takes the same amount of time, most people will choose to drive because time spent by yourself in your car (where you can control your immediate environment) is worth more to people than time spent on a bus or train where you are crowded with other people you’d rather not be with if you had an alternative.

In his analysis he only discusses the US, comparing places like NY where it makes sense for most people to use mass transit, to Moab, UT where obviously no one uses mass transit. What I find most compelling about it though, is that even though he never mentions it, his tenets seem to apply perfectly to Japan, where mass transit is almost ubiquitous and is used by practically everyone.

Let’s look at some of his conclusions and see how well they apply to Japan and to my commute to school here in Austin:
Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 2 Comments