What's Up: My Weblog

Things You Probably Didn't Want To Know - Google Earth

Google, in its never-ending-battle against the Evil Empire from Washington State, is rolling out the beta version of Google Earth. They already had Google Maps online, and earlier this week upgraded the Maps functionality to include a hybrid display that overlays the street maps over the satellite photos.

Google Earth is a totally different product that performs something like Google Maps on steroids. You can pan and zoom around the globe to your heart's content - or until you get motion sick - whichever comes first. Want to see a coast to coast route - say from San Diego to Florida? Just type in the start and end locations then click Search, and Google Earth goes off and does its magic. You can pan along the route, and zoom in to see an amazing amount of detail - with the streets and highways overlayed.

Then, under the 'layers' selections, pick what other features you would like to see overlayed on the map. Things like coffee shops, gas stations, schools, shopping centers. You name it and you can see it right on the map. Click on any of the overlayed features and you get a nice pop up that includes all the information you might need.

For example, want to see the epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake along with the epicenters of all the other smaller quakes that have taken place in the region? Just Google Earth it-

Or, want to know the crime statistics for a neighborhood you might be considering moving to? Just Google Earth it-

Pretty cool, and pretty scary at the same time.

All Ears

Across the street from the bus stop where I wait for the bus to the office every morning...

Absolutely Brilliant - Laundry Rug

Got kids (or a husband) that tend to throw their dirty clothes on the floor? Have you tried and tried to get them to tidy up - to keep their room in apple pie order to no avail? About to explode because you just can seem to get them to stop?

Here's an absolutely brilliant solution from a design company in the UK - the Laundry Rug!

Laundry Rug

The Bicycle Police

Late last week the Makuhari Amuse center next to Kaihim Makuhari station started to crack down on bicycles parked around the building. They put up signs, tagged all the bicycles, and stationed a guard to chase people trying to leave their bicycles in the posted areas. The next day the sidewalks were almost vacant - hardly a bicycle in sight.

I'm sure that those bicycles went somewhere. People didn't give up riding them to get to and from the train station. And it doesn't appear that the official bicycle parking lot (that charges for parking) is over-stuffed. So, where have they gone? My guess is that they are a block or two away, parked on the sidewalk next to some other building that isn't actively policing at the moment.

Connecting The Dots - Skype

My recent experience listening to the daily Kickbike podcast updates made a Skype believer out of me. So, early one morning I called Alan Stewart in Australia (using Skype of course), and got more of the details about using Skype for international telephone calls.

Based on Alan's comments, I setup a Skype US 408 area code phone number. I picked 408 because my children live in that area and I wanted to keep their costs as low as possible. Skype provides a voice mailbox as a part of the phone number package. Then I purchased some SkypeOut credits so that I could dial out into the 'real world.' To test and see if everything was operational, I called my home phone number - just a few feet away. When it rang, I let my wife pick it up. Of course she thought I was nuts - but she's come to expect strange behavior like this from me.

Then I posted my new 408 number on our family weblog and asked other family members to call and leave a message. My sister, who lives in Texas, was the first to read the post, and left a nice message in my brand new Skype voice mailbox! I happened to be sound asleep at the time, but when I found the message in the morning, I immediately called her back using the SkypeOut capability. She was busy, so her phone switched over to her voice mail, and I left a thank you message.

About two minutes later she picked up my message and called my 408 number. It rang through to me in Japan, and we chatted for close to 40 minutes. Amazingly enough the voice quality was excellent. No time delays, no static, no drop outs.

So, what did all this cost? Very, very little actually. I pay a flat fee for the 408 number package that is about 30 euros/year, and I buy SkypeOut credits as I need them. Ignoring those costs for the moment, my cost for the call to my sister was less than a US dime! And, since she has free long distance on her cell phone contract, she didn't pay anything extra to call my 408 number and connect to me in Japan. So, for about one thin dime, or less, we were able to talk almost endlessly.

Will I continue to use it? Absolutely. No question.

Whole Lotta Shaking Going On!

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake NEAR THE S. COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN has occurred at: 35.47N 139.96E  Depth  75km  Sat Jul 23 07:34:58 2005 UTC

Time: Universal Time         (UTC) Sat Jul 23 07:34:58 2005
Time Near Epicenter          Sat Jul 23 16:34:58 2005
Location with respect to nearby cities:
     30 km (20 miles) SE of TOKYO, Japan (pop 7,967,000)

Thankfully, we’re okay. We definitely felt the earthquake, but had no damage other than a large clock falling over. According to the news reports the subways and trains were shutdown while they checked out the tracks for possible damage.

Brought To You By The Magic of PodCasting

During Jim Delzer's hpv trip across the US, I listened to his daily reports from the road - kind of a mini-reality real-time show. It was almost like being there, rooting for Jim every step/kick/pedal of the way.

So, how was it done? Especially on a limited, almost non-existent budget? I asked Alan Stewart (aka Mr. Kickpod) how they put it all together:

First Alan, who happens to live in Australia - literally on the opposite side of the world from Jim, setup a number in the US for Jim to call into while he was on the road. If he had access to a telephone or cell phone he could check in. No PC, modem, or other fancy technology required. Jim's calls into the US telephone network were then routed to Skype (if you don't already know what Skype is all about, then you will definitely want to check it out.)

Via Skype Jim's call was routed to Alan in Australia - almost completely free of charge since Skype leverages the internet. If Alan was available he would pick up and interview Jim. Otherwise his Skype answering machine (in software - not a physical answering machine) would take the call and record Jim's daily report.

Alan would then take the call recording and package it as a podcast, and send it out into the podcast universe via the internet and post it on his Kickbiking podcast website.  Real magic, and really cool to boot.

R2-D2 and Boba Fett Japan Tour 2005

Taking advantage of the opening of the 'last' Star Wars movie, Japanese promoters have pulled out all the stops. They've even launched the "R2-D2 and Boba Fett Japan Tour 2005" featuring Jeremy Bullock and Kenny Baker.

Although I am certainly an R2D2 fan, and often feel that he out acts many of his fellow actors in the Star Wars movies, until I saw the ad for the Tour I didn't realize that Kenny Baker - the fellow that has portrayed R2-D2 in all six movies, was also Fidget in "Time Bandits" and has acted in quite a few other well known movies. Bullock, though he has quite a few more movies to his credit, didn't ring a bell with me at all.

In any case, both of them were totally encased in metal for their Boba Fett and R2-D2 roles, so it's really hard to associate them with the roles unless you're a dyed in the wool Star Wars fan.

Web Surfing Without the Training Wheels

Metadot, a small Texas software company, came up with a very intriguing keyboard design – no marking on the keys whatsoever. Totally blank. Flat black. Nothing to distract your eyes from the computer screen. No confusing matrix of letters to hunt and peck through. It’s kind of the computer version of going cold turkey – ripping the training wheels off your keyboard, and getting down to business. The only lettering on the keyboard is its name – Das Keyboard.

“Since there is no key to look at when typing, your brain will quickly adapt and memorize the key positions and you will find yourself typing a lot faster with more accuracy in no time. It is amazing how slow typers almost double their speed and quick typers become blazing fast! “

Das Keyboard - UberGeeks Only

Turtle Robots

Takara Toys just released a series of incredibly cute toy robots called Walkie Bits. According to the information in the press and on their website (I haven’t been able to find Walkie Bits in the store yet), the robots dance, remember sequences of moves you tap on their shells, and have interchangeable parts so you can mix and match colors.

Walkie Bits - Takara Toys (Japanese)

Really Cute Website - If You Like Eggs

Okay - so they're not Hello Kitty or Dear Daniel, just some really cute dancing eggs in costume. Still, I have to admit that the company that designed the Iloveegg characters and put their website together is highly creative. The animations are especially well executed (I'm jealous). I haven't had a chance to watch all of them yet, but so far Santa Egg and his reindeer eggs are my favorite.

Iloveegg!

Bikkuri English Contest

ELT News, eigoTown.com and the English-Speaking Union of Japan are co-sponsoring the "Amazing English Hunt 2005" (Bikkuri Eigo Tankentai), a competition to find the most amazing or surprising examples of English language usage in Japan. The English can be totally incomprehensible, unintentionally humorous or creative and inspiring. All you have to do is send in some basic details with a photograph or other means to prove authenticity. The competition is open to anyone, Japanese or non-Japanese.

ELT News: Teaching English in Japan - Bikkuri English

Lurking

Early yesterday evening I was walking down the street in Tokyo and happened to hear a very faint, lonesome whining sound - kind of like someone was very lonely and needed some attention.

Sure enough, this poor puppy was lurking about three flights up, watching everything that was going on below, but unable to play.

Then, quite a few hours later, when I finally arrived back home, I was welcomed by almost exactly the same sound, only this time it was closer to a complaint over having been left alone all day.

 

Say What? A Penguin???

It's very common in our neighborhood for dog owners to tie their dog's leashes to a tree outside the local supermarket while they go shopping. I've even seen, on rare occasions, a cat with it's leash tied to a tree. But, this is the first time I've ever seen a penguin waiting outside the store for it's master.

Mystery Bridge

Near the end of May a white wooden bridge suddenly appeared just in front of the Makuhari Techno Garden complex. One evening when I went home there was nothing there. The very next morning this huge bridge had magically appeared. It stayed around for a few days, then just as suddenly, it disappeared.

I have no idea what it was used for, though I suspect we'll see it fairly soon in some television commercial or drama.

Somewhere Under The Rainbow

I took these photos a few weeks ago, but somehow they got misplaced. It was about 6:30 pm right after a sudden summer shower, with the sun very low in the sky. The actual rainbow was complete - meaning that it stretched completely across the sky from horizon to horizon. Unfortunately I couldn't get the whole rainbow into one photo. For a few precious minutes it was actually a double rainbow.

The spot in the middle of the photo on the right, just touching the rainbow between the two buildings, is actually a JAL 747 making the turn to begin it's landing approach to Haneda Airport just across Tokyo Bay from here.

Leaving Me Behind?

This beautiful dalmation lives about a block down the street. His master had just left the house and was still visible walking down the street towards the station when I happened by and captured the photo.

Usually this dog, and one or two others in the neighborhood will bark pretty aggressively at me if I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but on a regular workday when I'm dressed in a suit and tie they are very friendly and always have their tails wagging. The old saying is that "Clothes make the man." I guess it's true for dogs as well.