Wednesday, August 27, 2008
A Dark Night For The Dark Knight
Went to the 9pm showing of the new Batman film at my local cinema. There were only about 10 people at the screening. The film was good but too long. Like life?
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Canadian Dry
This morning I met up with cheerful Canadian Aaron in Shibuya. His site is here: www.bluesandbrownbooks.com
After grabbing free magazines in Tower Records we walked to Harajuku where we ate curry and talked of the issues of the day. We then took the metro to Akihabara. Aaron bought another two R4 cards because he wants to promote software piracy.
We took the train home and then we ate curry at the Indian restaurant near my house. We then watched "The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil".
A wonderful Canadian friend once said to me "You seem to be very interested in Canada". My reply to her was simply "Somebody has to be".
After grabbing free magazines in Tower Records we walked to Harajuku where we ate curry and talked of the issues of the day. We then took the metro to Akihabara. Aaron bought another two R4 cards because he wants to promote software piracy.
We took the train home and then we ate curry at the Indian restaurant near my house. We then watched "The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil".
A wonderful Canadian friend once said to me "You seem to be very interested in Canada". My reply to her was simply "Somebody has to be".
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Third Karamoon
I watched The Third Man again for the first time in many years. I have a feeling that I shall be watching it on quite a regular basis for the next year or so.
"You know what the fellow said—in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace—and what did that produce? The fucking cuckoo clock."
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
All I Need Is Iannucci
I found the following on the website of The Guardian, a UK newspaper:
Don't call me, I'll be wrapped up
by Armando Iannucci
So there I was, walking along the road one grey summer morning, when I espied a man, somewhat cheerless of disposition, his wife and children stringing along, all carrying boxes and an enormous amount of bubble wrap. 'We've sold the car,' said the man to my curious look. 'Bloody stupid idea. We should have sold it after we carried everything to the storage place, not before. But then we needed the money to pay for the storage place.' His four children looked at the ground, defeated by the unavoidable economics.
'I take it you're going to the storage place?' I said, trying to be friendly. 'D'you need any help?'
'We'd love some,' said his wife, and I could tell from her husband's look that he had been too embarrassed to ask but was now relieved his face's sullen begs were being answered.
'OK, I'll bring the car round and we can load up.'
I came back with my seven-seater, folded the back seats down and helped them load their boxes.
'Storing your stuff while you find somewhere smaller?' I asked, at the point where I realised we hadn't said anything for 10 or so minutes together and something needed to be said.
'Sort of,' said the man. He glanced at his wife, who nodded back. He turned to me and, staring at my nose, said: 'We were going to put all our things into storage, then we looked at the great rates they were offering and decided it would be cheaper if we went into storage as well.'
'What d'you mean?' I asked, slightly trembling.
'It's fine,' said his wife. 'We're putting all our furniture into boxes and storing them in one unit, then we'll box me, Tom and the kids up and get someone,' (she looked at me) 'to put them in a unit next to it.' She handed me some of the bubble wrap.
I've never had my gob smacked before, so don't know what it feels like, but I'm pretty sure it feels like how I felt just then. 'But, you are people,' I squawked, 'You've got heads and legs and everything. You can't just wrap yourself up.'
'Think you're clever do you?' said Tom the man. 'Not so clever you haven't missed the most brilliant money-saving scheme to stare you in the face? Sod mortgages and car insurance. Sod food bills and cavity wall insulation and buying too many lemons every week. Tell electricity and petrol and lettuce to take a flying frig. Pizzas and milk and batteries and potatoes can all go have a running crap. Plasma screens with sport, and biscuits with raisins. Dreck. All of it. Toilet duck and Vimto, all we spend on plates and flannels and marzipan and hammers and shoes.
'Why should all this cruddy dust suck at my purse? For the price of 20 rolls of bubble wrap and a hundred quid a month for two storage units, me, Judy and the kids are packaged and contented until everything outside sorts itself out.'
I drove Judy, Ken and the children to a storage warehouse in the suburbs. I guessed they were having a collective nervous breakdown and thought the kindest thing to do was follow their whims to the point where they could see they had become unsustainable. If I took them to the storage place, there'd come a point where they would realise they couldn't just wrap each other up and forget about themselves.
As I drove up, I could see other families arriving, their children all carrying unfeasible amounts of bubble wrap. Some had painted their own cardboard. The place had a carnival feel to it, but a carnival at which people hurl themselves down a log-flume without sitting on a log first. Everyone was smiling, but I could see the little tremors behind their eyes. I had to stop this.
I went over to the main office. A sign said '££££s OFF FAMILIES!!!' A man was taking money. 'This is appalling,' I said. He smiled and asked me to look at how happy everyone was. 'You want to take this one positive away from them?' he said. 'They've come up with a solution and it's brought them relief. You feel qualified to tell them they're wrong?'
I looked round. A father was Sellotaping his son into an enormous Tupperware crate. Another mother had wrapped herself in newspaper and masking tape, leaving a hand free to seal up a cardboard box from the inside. I saw an older brother push a younger brother into a poster tube. A girl was wrapping her hamster up in red paper. A boy was individually wrapping his socks and Top Trumps cards. A family of 26 were rolling a dice to see who would get to go in the crate that hadn't originally been used to carry vegetables. And all of them were smiling.
That was what I remembered most; each one of them was perfectly happy to undergo total packaging. I tried pulling them out, but the nearer I got, the more their smiles made sense. I took my decision and, tearing off a corner of wrapping paper and wrote down everything you're reading now. I've found a box I like, and Tom has agreed to seal the top. If you read this, don't open me up unless you're absolutely sure things have got considerably better. Thanks.
Don't call me, I'll be wrapped up
by Armando Iannucci
So there I was, walking along the road one grey summer morning, when I espied a man, somewhat cheerless of disposition, his wife and children stringing along, all carrying boxes and an enormous amount of bubble wrap. 'We've sold the car,' said the man to my curious look. 'Bloody stupid idea. We should have sold it after we carried everything to the storage place, not before. But then we needed the money to pay for the storage place.' His four children looked at the ground, defeated by the unavoidable economics.
'I take it you're going to the storage place?' I said, trying to be friendly. 'D'you need any help?'
'We'd love some,' said his wife, and I could tell from her husband's look that he had been too embarrassed to ask but was now relieved his face's sullen begs were being answered.
'OK, I'll bring the car round and we can load up.'
I came back with my seven-seater, folded the back seats down and helped them load their boxes.
'Storing your stuff while you find somewhere smaller?' I asked, at the point where I realised we hadn't said anything for 10 or so minutes together and something needed to be said.
'Sort of,' said the man. He glanced at his wife, who nodded back. He turned to me and, staring at my nose, said: 'We were going to put all our things into storage, then we looked at the great rates they were offering and decided it would be cheaper if we went into storage as well.'
'What d'you mean?' I asked, slightly trembling.
'It's fine,' said his wife. 'We're putting all our furniture into boxes and storing them in one unit, then we'll box me, Tom and the kids up and get someone,' (she looked at me) 'to put them in a unit next to it.' She handed me some of the bubble wrap.
I've never had my gob smacked before, so don't know what it feels like, but I'm pretty sure it feels like how I felt just then. 'But, you are people,' I squawked, 'You've got heads and legs and everything. You can't just wrap yourself up.'
'Think you're clever do you?' said Tom the man. 'Not so clever you haven't missed the most brilliant money-saving scheme to stare you in the face? Sod mortgages and car insurance. Sod food bills and cavity wall insulation and buying too many lemons every week. Tell electricity and petrol and lettuce to take a flying frig. Pizzas and milk and batteries and potatoes can all go have a running crap. Plasma screens with sport, and biscuits with raisins. Dreck. All of it. Toilet duck and Vimto, all we spend on plates and flannels and marzipan and hammers and shoes.
'Why should all this cruddy dust suck at my purse? For the price of 20 rolls of bubble wrap and a hundred quid a month for two storage units, me, Judy and the kids are packaged and contented until everything outside sorts itself out.'
I drove Judy, Ken and the children to a storage warehouse in the suburbs. I guessed they were having a collective nervous breakdown and thought the kindest thing to do was follow their whims to the point where they could see they had become unsustainable. If I took them to the storage place, there'd come a point where they would realise they couldn't just wrap each other up and forget about themselves.
As I drove up, I could see other families arriving, their children all carrying unfeasible amounts of bubble wrap. Some had painted their own cardboard. The place had a carnival feel to it, but a carnival at which people hurl themselves down a log-flume without sitting on a log first. Everyone was smiling, but I could see the little tremors behind their eyes. I had to stop this.
I went over to the main office. A sign said '££££s OFF FAMILIES!!!' A man was taking money. 'This is appalling,' I said. He smiled and asked me to look at how happy everyone was. 'You want to take this one positive away from them?' he said. 'They've come up with a solution and it's brought them relief. You feel qualified to tell them they're wrong?'
I looked round. A father was Sellotaping his son into an enormous Tupperware crate. Another mother had wrapped herself in newspaper and masking tape, leaving a hand free to seal up a cardboard box from the inside. I saw an older brother push a younger brother into a poster tube. A girl was wrapping her hamster up in red paper. A boy was individually wrapping his socks and Top Trumps cards. A family of 26 were rolling a dice to see who would get to go in the crate that hadn't originally been used to carry vegetables. And all of them were smiling.
That was what I remembered most; each one of them was perfectly happy to undergo total packaging. I tried pulling them out, but the nearer I got, the more their smiles made sense. I took my decision and, tearing off a corner of wrapping paper and wrote down everything you're reading now. I've found a box I like, and Tom has agreed to seal the top. If you read this, don't open me up unless you're absolutely sure things have got considerably better. Thanks.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Captain PUGwash
This evening I attended the Tokyo PC Users Group. There was a talk on search engine optimization. The term itself is utterly ridiculous because it concerns techniques that can be used to make a website get indexed well by search engines, and, hopefully, cause a site to get a good ranking for relevant key words. It has nothing to do with optimizing search engines.
The speaker was very friendly and tried very hard, but he knew almost nothing about his topic. As a result his talk consisted almost entirely of inaccuracies and contained major holes. It was a real shame but it is sadly indicative of Tokyo. The foreign community here doesn't really give a fuck about quality. I left the meeting very depressed. I would love to organize something truly world-class here along the lines of Google Tech Talks or the Chaos Communication Congress. To do so would involve a daily struggle against mediocrity. I guess I should get started though.
The speaker was very friendly and tried very hard, but he knew almost nothing about his topic. As a result his talk consisted almost entirely of inaccuracies and contained major holes. It was a real shame but it is sadly indicative of Tokyo. The foreign community here doesn't really give a fuck about quality. I left the meeting very depressed. I would love to organize something truly world-class here along the lines of Google Tech Talks or the Chaos Communication Congress. To do so would involve a daily struggle against mediocrity. I guess I should get started though.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Back To The R00ts
Went through some of my old issues of 2600 Magazine When I get some money together I'll buy the Best Of 2600 book. I might add that I suggested such a book to the editor of 2600 at the 21st Chaos Communication Congress.
Taught a kids' class for two lovely five-year-old girls. Afterwards I spent a long time thinking about what children should really be taught. I came up with the following list: cooking, knot-tying, hacking, throwing shuriken, phreaking, barehand killing, planning picnics, swimming, back flips and sword fighting.
Taught a kids' class for two lovely five-year-old girls. Afterwards I spent a long time thinking about what children should really be taught. I came up with the following list: cooking, knot-tying, hacking, throwing shuriken, phreaking, barehand killing, planning picnics, swimming, back flips and sword fighting.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Dear Karamoon...
Dear Karamoon,
This is just a quick note to remind you of the following: Industrial education is morally indefensible. Anyone who allows their children to enter the industrial education system is failing in their duty as a parent. There are no exceptions. Fuck school.
Yours,
Karamoon
Needless to say, my children will not be attending school.
This is just a quick note to remind you of the following: Industrial education is morally indefensible. Anyone who allows their children to enter the industrial education system is failing in their duty as a parent. There are no exceptions. Fuck school.
Yours,
Karamoon
Needless to say, my children will not be attending school.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Can You Sing A Rainbow Bridge?
Somehow I managed to get up early enough to meet up with Christopher in Odaiba. I found Christopher with a Canadian called Aaron. Aaron, like all Canadians (with the exception of the RCMP) was lovely. We had brunch at a chain restaurant. We then walked across the famous Rainbow Bridge all the way to Tokyo Tower. Rainbow Bridge isn't very rainbow-like in the daytime, but it was still quite impressive.
Tokyo Tower was crowded and silly, like many things in Tokyo. It is going to be pulled down soon, and a new Tokyo Tower will be built in Ueno, another part of Tokyo. Scientists have predicted that the new Tokyo Tower will be slightly less crowded than the old one, but just as silly.
The three of us took a train to Akihabara. Christopher introduced us to a good Indian restaurant where I ate some Kashmiri curry. We then wondered around for a while. It was my first time to go to Akihabara since the Akihabara Massacre. At the spot where the massacre took place people had left food and drink. Aaron bought an R4 card which allows the Nintendo DS to play copied games. Playing games is probably not a good use of Aaron's time, nor is writing the second "o" every time he writes his name. Don't people know there is a war on?
After saying goodbye to Christopher and Aaron, I went to Shibuya, where I spent an unreasonable period of time trying to find somewhere quiet to have a cup of tea. In the end I gave up and went to a chain restaurant.
Tokyo Tower was crowded and silly, like many things in Tokyo. It is going to be pulled down soon, and a new Tokyo Tower will be built in Ueno, another part of Tokyo. Scientists have predicted that the new Tokyo Tower will be slightly less crowded than the old one, but just as silly.
The three of us took a train to Akihabara. Christopher introduced us to a good Indian restaurant where I ate some Kashmiri curry. We then wondered around for a while. It was my first time to go to Akihabara since the Akihabara Massacre. At the spot where the massacre took place people had left food and drink. Aaron bought an R4 card which allows the Nintendo DS to play copied games. Playing games is probably not a good use of Aaron's time, nor is writing the second "o" every time he writes his name. Don't people know there is a war on?
After saying goodbye to Christopher and Aaron, I went to Shibuya, where I spent an unreasonable period of time trying to find somewhere quiet to have a cup of tea. In the end I gave up and went to a chain restaurant.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
The Robot Man
Today I met up with a Japanese man who used to work for Apple as a hardware engineer. He is retired now but works on projects of his own including building a sophisticated robot. He has also been a radio Ham. Run DMC once said "Next time somebody's teaching make sure you get taught". Wise words, which I intend to follow.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Propaganda
One of the perks of teaching English in Japan is that you are able to spread propaganda. There is something quite refreshing about spending 90 minutes indoctrinating a group of Japanese adults during an English lesson on the evils of the G8.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Debating Fuji
Stayed up late discussing the merits and demerits of attending the Fuji Rock festival. Merits include:
(1) The fact that the Fuji Rock Festival is the best music festival in the world.
(2) Being able to see Grandmaster Flash and Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Demerits include:
(1) The ticket price of 40,000 yen. (200 quid)
(2) It's held in the sky resort of Naeba, an expensive train journey away.
It's likely that I won't go and that, as a result, I'll be mildly upset for 12 months.
(1) The fact that the Fuji Rock Festival is the best music festival in the world.
(2) Being able to see Grandmaster Flash and Lee "Scratch" Perry.
Demerits include:
(1) The ticket price of 40,000 yen. (200 quid)
(2) It's held in the sky resort of Naeba, an expensive train journey away.
It's likely that I won't go and that, as a result, I'll be mildly upset for 12 months.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
The China Syndrome
Twenty-eight years old and still packing a punch. The China Syndrome has certainly stood the test of time and has earned a place in my top ten films. Watch it, and watch it soon.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Iggy Pop's Ocelot Shop
Went to a local zoo. The zoo's main attraction is an Okapi which is related to the giraffe but looks more like a zebra. I was rather underwhelmed by the Okapi, but did see an ocelot, which I liked very much. The last time I saw an ocelot was at Iggy Pop's Ocelot Shop:
www.rathergood.com/ocelot
The zoo is owned by Yokohama city government, so it's quite cheap. Chichan and I had lunch at a restaurant in the zoo, which was reasonably priced and served great food. In the UK the restaurant would have been a complete rip-off. In the UK almost everything is a scam or a rip-off. I'm sure many Japanese business owners are just as greedy as those in the UK, but typically their pride outweighs their greed, so they tend to offer good quality products at low prices.
www.rathergood.com/ocelot
The zoo is owned by Yokohama city government, so it's quite cheap. Chichan and I had lunch at a restaurant in the zoo, which was reasonably priced and served great food. In the UK the restaurant would have been a complete rip-off. In the UK almost everything is a scam or a rip-off. I'm sure many Japanese business owners are just as greedy as those in the UK, but typically their pride outweighs their greed, so they tend to offer good quality products at low prices.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Sketching With Sketchup
Played around with Google Sketchup. I designed a table. It's quite good. So is Japan. Unlike this blog.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Starfire Revisited
I watched the Starfire video again today with one of my students. I told her it was a good example of business English in use, which it is, to some extent.
http://asktog.com/starfire
My student was really enthusiastic about the content. I think it was the first time for her to question the status quo as far as human-computer interaction is concerned...
http://asktog.com/starfire
My student was really enthusiastic about the content. I think it was the first time for her to question the status quo as far as human-computer interaction is concerned...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Three Days Of The Karamoon
For the first time in my life I watched "Three Days Of The Condor", a 1975 film directed by Sydney Pollack, staring Robert Redford. It's based on the book "Six Days Of The Condor". The film is well-known throughout the hacker community because of its realistic depiction of phone phreaking. At one point in the film Robert Redford steals a lineman's handset which he uses to beige box with. He records some DTMF tones and uses a remote computer to decode them. He also makes a call from within a telephone exchange, directly connecting to the switch. This enables him to route his call through several phone lines, thus defeating the CIA's attempt to trace his call.
Watching Three Days Of The Condor made me want to watch "The Falcon And The Snowman" and "The Conversation" again.
Watching Three Days Of The Condor made me want to watch "The Falcon And The Snowman" and "The Conversation" again.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Akihabara Massacre
There was a massacre this afternoon in Akihabara, the tech and anime area of Tokyo. Some guy drove a truck through a crowd of people, he then got out of the truck and started stabbing people. Seven people have died so far.
Akihabara is not a place I often go to because it's the opposite side of Tokyo to me, and nowadays it's far more sleazy than it used to be. When I fist came to Japan in 2001, Akihabara was a tech paradise. During the years I was away from Japan, it's changed to a scummy place full of maid-cafes, porn shops and other unpleasant places.
Like many parts of the modern world, Japan is sick. We should therefore not be in the least surprised when sick things like this happen. It is, of course, tragic when people are killed in this way, but it also highlights the many social problems here. Japan has the highest child-suicide rate in the world, something that nobody here seems to give a fuck about. Prostitution is endemic here. The yakuza control many aspects of life here, and nobody tries to stop them. There is an HIV timebomb here, but nobody talks about it. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
The Japanese here are hoping that the guy who committed the massacre was on drugs, or was mentally ill, or was a gangster. If he is, then every one will sleep soundly, knowing that Japan really is perfect, and that their are just a few rotten apples here.
Akihabara is not a place I often go to because it's the opposite side of Tokyo to me, and nowadays it's far more sleazy than it used to be. When I fist came to Japan in 2001, Akihabara was a tech paradise. During the years I was away from Japan, it's changed to a scummy place full of maid-cafes, porn shops and other unpleasant places.
Like many parts of the modern world, Japan is sick. We should therefore not be in the least surprised when sick things like this happen. It is, of course, tragic when people are killed in this way, but it also highlights the many social problems here. Japan has the highest child-suicide rate in the world, something that nobody here seems to give a fuck about. Prostitution is endemic here. The yakuza control many aspects of life here, and nobody tries to stop them. There is an HIV timebomb here, but nobody talks about it. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
The Japanese here are hoping that the guy who committed the massacre was on drugs, or was mentally ill, or was a gangster. If he is, then every one will sleep soundly, knowing that Japan really is perfect, and that their are just a few rotten apples here.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Piracy Is Good
Downloaded over 100 MP3s including stuff by Peaches, Negativland, Kraftwerk, Red Martian, Le Tigre, The Talking Heads, Sleeper, The Flaming Lips, Grandmaster Flash and Gonzales.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Hatsumi Interview
Found an interview with Ninjutsu teacher Dr Hatsumi on the Tokyo Journal website: www.tokyo.to/stories/ninja/index.html
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Meeting Wamono
I spent most of the day doing nothing. I had planned to have a haircut, do some exercise, write some of my film script and save the world, but instead I just sat around, watching anime and surfing the Net.
In the evening I met two people from Wamono, a new England-language magazine published in Tokyo. I was very nervous at first but I soon managed to relax. We went to a very pleasant restaurant in Shibuya and discussed many things. I hope to get involved with Wamono is some small capacity, for example as a proof-reader. Check out the Wamono website: www.wamono-web.com
In the evening I met two people from Wamono, a new England-language magazine published in Tokyo. I was very nervous at first but I soon managed to relax. We went to a very pleasant restaurant in Shibuya and discussed many things. I hope to get involved with Wamono is some small capacity, for example as a proof-reader. Check out the Wamono website: www.wamono-web.com
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thai Festival
An early start. I went to Tower Records in Shibuya to get the free weekly English magazines. In an unprecedented departure from the norm, I actually bought some stuff at Tower. I got a copy of Tokyo Journal and JSelect.
I met up with my friend Tomoko and we wondered around the Thai Festival in the rain. It had grown considerably since the last one I had been to, which was seven years ago. We ate various Thai foods and tried to avoid the rain. We had some coffee at a doughnut shop then Tomoko headed off to a Linux meeting.
I went round the Thai festival again with Chi-chan and Pasinee, a Thai friend. It was raining more heavily, so when I finally went home I was cold and wet.
I met up with my friend Tomoko and we wondered around the Thai Festival in the rain. It had grown considerably since the last one I had been to, which was seven years ago. We ate various Thai foods and tried to avoid the rain. We had some coffee at a doughnut shop then Tomoko headed off to a Linux meeting.
I went round the Thai festival again with Chi-chan and Pasinee, a Thai friend. It was raining more heavily, so when I finally went home I was cold and wet.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Stuff I Read And Why
M0oo...
UK-based hacker BigM000 always delivers entertaining tales of his daily life, seeking work and adventure in and around Sunny Norwich.
Tomoko's Blog
Tomo-chan candidly explores the role of women in Japan, while struggling to understand the OSI 7-layer model of networking.
WAMONO BLOG
Wamono Magazine aims to take Japanese culture "from Japan to all the places in the world". This is the Wamono staff blog.
Sungypsy
Damon Coulter is a professional photographer who happens to live very close to me. His photos and insights are well worth checking out.
Citizen Reporter
Bicycle Mark reads news from around the world so I don't have to bother.
UK-based hacker BigM000 always delivers entertaining tales of his daily life, seeking work and adventure in and around Sunny Norwich.
Tomoko's Blog
Tomo-chan candidly explores the role of women in Japan, while struggling to understand the OSI 7-layer model of networking.
WAMONO BLOG
Wamono Magazine aims to take Japanese culture "from Japan to all the places in the world". This is the Wamono staff blog.
Sungypsy
Damon Coulter is a professional photographer who happens to live very close to me. His photos and insights are well worth checking out.
Citizen Reporter
Bicycle Mark reads news from around the world so I don't have to bother.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Whining About Wine
I'm starting to enjoy teaching a lot more recently. I had a discussion lesson this morning which went pretty well. In Japan it's always hard to get good class interaction. When I asked the class to suggest a topic for the next lesson they remained silent so I just said "Plan a bank robbery". I look forward to seeing what they come up with.
My next lesson was with a new student who works as a wine waiter in a famous Italian restaurant in Tokyo. I couldn't bring myself to tell my student that I don't drink. Instead, I pretended to be interested in issues such as plastic-cork technology, emerging markets for Australian wines and the amount of alcohol Japanese people are able to consume in a typical evening.
My last lesson of the day was to coach a university student for the TOEIC English exam. TOEIC is a stupid exam, but the lesson was still fun. Cynical readers may wonder how two hours with an 18-year old Japanese cheerleader can be anything other than fun...
My next lesson was with a new student who works as a wine waiter in a famous Italian restaurant in Tokyo. I couldn't bring myself to tell my student that I don't drink. Instead, I pretended to be interested in issues such as plastic-cork technology, emerging markets for Australian wines and the amount of alcohol Japanese people are able to consume in a typical evening.
My last lesson of the day was to coach a university student for the TOEIC English exam. TOEIC is a stupid exam, but the lesson was still fun. Cynical readers may wonder how two hours with an 18-year old Japanese cheerleader can be anything other than fun...
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Best. Book. Title. Ever.
"If You Liked School, You'll Love Work" by Ivine Welsh. It says it all. I haven't read the book, and I'm not going. Fuck work.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Video Killed The DVD Star
VHS is so cool and retro, like my beard. I bought 4 ex-rental videos from a stall outside a supermarket today:
(1) Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1989)
(2) Roger And Me (Michael Moore, 1989)
(3) The Way Of The Gun (Christopher McQuarrie, 2000)
(4) Gummo (Harmony Korine, 1997)
Please watch all four films if you haven't already done so and post your comments here.
(1) Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1989)
(2) Roger And Me (Michael Moore, 1989)
(3) The Way Of The Gun (Christopher McQuarrie, 2000)
(4) Gummo (Harmony Korine, 1997)
Please watch all four films if you haven't already done so and post your comments here.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Open The Pod Bay Doors, HAL
Watched "2001 Seconds", which is the film "2001: A Space Odyssey" with the boring bits removed and a new soundtrack added. It's very, very good. You too can watch it, just download it from 2001 seconds - the Swith Edit
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sexy Beijing
Found a professional video podcast from China called "Sexy Beijing" while aimlessly wondering around Youtube. It's rather light, but still worth watching. Just search Youtube or check out the website: www.sexybeijing.tv
I'm still crazy about China and Chinese culture. Once my Japanese is better I'll start learning Mandarin properly. If I can get the cash together I will spend a month in Beijing studying Mandarin at a language school.
I'm still crazy about China and Chinese culture. Once my Japanese is better I'll start learning Mandarin properly. If I can get the cash together I will spend a month in Beijing studying Mandarin at a language school.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Ups And Downs
Walked up and down Takao-san twice today as part of my training for climbing Fuji-san later this year. Takao-san is a very small mountain, just 600 metres tall. Fuji-san is about 3700 metres tall, so I must do a lot of training. Going up the second time I spotted this tiny shrine.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Keepin' It Real In Da Tokyo Hood
Went for a walk in my 'hood. Found my local telephone exchange. W00t. Spotted some other cool things including this roadside shrine. I also found a very tempting storm drain...
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Just Walk Away
During one of my classes today a student was very disrespectful. Although she was actually expressing the opinion of another student, it still pissed me off. I will probably quit the class or at least make them feel bad. I feel very lucky to know that I can essentially just walk away from any class I don't like and still be able to just find some more students and get enough money to live on.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Full On Sunday
Got up at 7am to help old people clear up the cherry blossom in the streets around my town. Networking is very important here as most things are based on personal relationships. That is what I was telling myself as I sleepily wondered around my neighborhood with a witch's broom and a rubbish bag full of blossom.
At 10am I queued up to get free trees. Every year since 1975 free trees are given out by the Tokyu train company to people living on Tokyu train lines. The idea is that this will make the areas along the train lines nicer, so more people will live along the lines and use the trains. I got a peach tree and a grape vine! Sometime Japan is just too damn cool.
In the afternoon I went to a "Tea Salon" event. It was organized by an international association in a nearby city. It was embarrassing, silly, childish and fun, just like many events in Japan. I met a couple of cool people, and the event was free, so I guess it was worthwhile.
On the way home I bought a couple of dumbbells to use for Crossfit training. I plan to do dumbbell thrusters, which are very evil, but also very effective for improving your fitness. I will blog my results...
At 10am I queued up to get free trees. Every year since 1975 free trees are given out by the Tokyu train company to people living on Tokyu train lines. The idea is that this will make the areas along the train lines nicer, so more people will live along the lines and use the trains. I got a peach tree and a grape vine! Sometime Japan is just too damn cool.
In the afternoon I went to a "Tea Salon" event. It was organized by an international association in a nearby city. It was embarrassing, silly, childish and fun, just like many events in Japan. I met a couple of cool people, and the event was free, so I guess it was worthwhile.
On the way home I bought a couple of dumbbells to use for Crossfit training. I plan to do dumbbell thrusters, which are very evil, but also very effective for improving your fitness. I will blog my results...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Wink Or Swim
Swimming in Japan is very strange. In most public Japanese public swimming pools, half of the people walk up and down the pool instead of swimming. At the end of each hour, everyone has to get out for a rest.
I went swimming at a school swimming pool near my house. The staff seemed really pleased to have a non-Japanese customer. One of the lifeguards rushed up to me as I entered the pool, and asked where I was from. When I told him I was English, he got very excited and started talking about Mr David Beckham, a British footballer. I tried to explain that football was the opium of the people etc, but I'm not sure I was able to fully get my point across.
I went swimming at a school swimming pool near my house. The staff seemed really pleased to have a non-Japanese customer. One of the lifeguards rushed up to me as I entered the pool, and asked where I was from. When I told him I was English, he got very excited and started talking about Mr David Beckham, a British footballer. I tried to explain that football was the opium of the people etc, but I'm not sure I was able to fully get my point across.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Fallen Cherry Blossom, Strange Party And Film Editing
At 8 am I met up with some old people to sweep up the fallen cherry blossom. After an hour, we had some tea and I was formally introduced to the others. In Japan it is common for old people to be fit and active until they die. I don't think it has anything to do with genetics, it's just that Japanese people have a very healthy diet and lifestyle.
At 11 am some of my students came over for a party. It was rather strange. We ate cold squid and spoke in a mixture of Japanese and English.
At 2 pm my good friend Ando-san arrived. Ando-san is going to edit my film. She has had 10 years experience working in TV. Although TV sucks, needless to say, Ando-san rocks. In the evening we went for ramen.
At 11 am some of my students came over for a party. It was rather strange. We ate cold squid and spoke in a mixture of Japanese and English.
At 2 pm my good friend Ando-san arrived. Ando-san is going to edit my film. She has had 10 years experience working in TV. Although TV sucks, needless to say, Ando-san rocks. In the evening we went for ramen.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Murder On The Orient Express
It rained all day today. I stayed inside reading "Mastery Of Hand Strength" and watching "Murder On The Orient Express". Both are very good, like life.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
2001: A Lunch Odyssey
Arthur C. Clarke has died.
In the afternoon I had lunch with Scott Lockman. We intended to go to are usual restaurant, an Egyptian place that does an excellent buffet lunch. Sadly they restaurant in no longer doing lunch, so we ended up in an Indian restaurant. The food was good, and it was reasonably priced. After lunch we went to a expensive coffee shop here we ate expensive cakes and talked about Second Life.
In the afternoon I had lunch with Scott Lockman. We intended to go to are usual restaurant, an Egyptian place that does an excellent buffet lunch. Sadly they restaurant in no longer doing lunch, so we ended up in an Indian restaurant. The food was good, and it was reasonably priced. After lunch we went to a expensive coffee shop here we ate expensive cakes and talked about Second Life.
Friday, March 07, 2008
The Expedient Distribution Of Soup
Scott of Tokyo Calling, and Christopher of Finding Japan came to the Tokyo 2600 meeting. Christopher brought his girlfriend along. Her name escapes me, but I do remember her being American. The four of us discussed many topics, including, but not limited to, assassination, steam tunnel exploration, nanotechnology, risk management, voting machine insecurity, side channel attacks, clock skew and TCP timestamps,
quantum cryptography and soup distribution.
Although it was the most successful meeting by far of Tokyo 2600, there was something lacking.
quantum cryptography and soup distribution.
Although it was the most successful meeting by far of Tokyo 2600, there was something lacking.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Monday, December 24, 2007
On Learning Japanese
For about the 50th time, I've started to put more time and effort into learning Japanese, with a view to improving my comprehension and also passing the level 2 Japanese Language Proficiency Exam in December.
It would seem that all over Japan free(or very cheap) Japanese lessons are provided for non-Japanese. When I lived in Japan previously, I attended lessons run by the local government. The lessons were very bad, but at least I didn't have to pay.
Anyone learning beginner's Japanese should watch the anime series "Ocha Ken". Each episode if 3.5 mins long, and 26 were made. Ocha Ken means "tea dog". All episodes can be downloaded here: www.teapuppies.com/episodes/download/
It would seem that all over Japan free(or very cheap) Japanese lessons are provided for non-Japanese. When I lived in Japan previously, I attended lessons run by the local government. The lessons were very bad, but at least I didn't have to pay.
Anyone learning beginner's Japanese should watch the anime series "Ocha Ken". Each episode if 3.5 mins long, and 26 were made. Ocha Ken means "tea dog". All episodes can be downloaded here: www.teapuppies.com/episodes/download/
Sunday, December 23, 2007
The Dead And The Dying
I gave in to the 'flu this morning. Basically I took some medicine, sat in a chair and waited for time to pass. Although I was doing almost nothing, the time passed quite quickly. After a few hours I got bored of watching my life go by so I watched a talk given by Kathy Wang on the HoneyClient project. Later I watched a talk on hardware reversing given by Bunnie Huang.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Documentaries
Watched a bunch of hacker documentaries:
Hippies From Hell
New York City Hackers
Unauthorised Access
Some videos can be found at www.phreakvids.com others can be found at video.google.com
Hippies From Hell
New York City Hackers
Unauthorised Access
Some videos can be found at www.phreakvids.com others can be found at video.google.com
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Circuit Training Is Amazing
Did a little bit of circuit training this morning. Felt great all day. I've been greatly inspired by Crossfit and Parkour and shall be working towards regular training in both disciplines. My current aim is to be able to run a marathon in the summer. I have a LONG way to go, but I know Crossfit is the only way I'll get there.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Going To Ginza
Attended the Apple User's Group meeting in Ginza. There was a talk on podcasting again. It was pretty good although the guy got carried away a bit. There was also a great talk on basic network hacking which I enjoyed greatly.
After the Apple meeting I hung out with Scott Lockman, which is always time well spent.
After the Apple meeting I hung out with Scott Lockman, which is always time well spent.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
The Quake Is Coming
Friends came over for a meal. It was my first chance to do some real cooking. The food turned out well, and the conversation was fantastic. You know the company is good when the topic of conversation moves effortlessly from high protein diets to marathon running to earthquakes to offshore bank accounts to gold.
It's strange to think that one day Tokyo will be completely destroyed by an earthquake, which will cause the collapse of capitalism. It's not a case of if, but when. The big quake is 30 years late already...
It's strange to think that one day Tokyo will be completely destroyed by an earthquake, which will cause the collapse of capitalism. It's not a case of if, but when. The big quake is 30 years late already...
Friday, December 07, 2007
Tokyo 2600
This evening I attended the first meeting of the new Tokyo 2600 group. In attendance were myself and one other person. We talked for several hours on topics ranging from hacking to cracking. Not a great start, but not a complete failure.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Trout Mask Replica
A large desk arrived for the reception area of the language school. The delivery guys were clueless. They gave the impression that they had never dealt with large furniture before.
I received a copy of "Trout Mask Replica" by Captain Beefheart for Christmas. I'm sure that when I get used to it I'll love it. Until that time, it's a rather challenging album to listen to.
Watched the Woody Allen film "Bananas". Definitely one of his best.
I received a copy of "Trout Mask Replica" by Captain Beefheart for Christmas. I'm sure that when I get used to it I'll love it. Until that time, it's a rather challenging album to listen to.
Watched the Woody Allen film "Bananas". Definitely one of his best.
Friday, November 02, 2007
England, Nineteen Eighty-Four
I stumbled upon this while reading news.bbc.co.uk:
What the fuck does it mean?
Policeman's rape charge dropped
A police officer accused of rape has had the charge dropped.
Court proceedings against Sgt Carl Woodall were discontinued following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, Sussex Police said.
The 45-year-old officer had been on conditional bail ahead of a scheduled court hearing on 13 December.
Sgt Woodall was suspended from his post in Eastbourne pending the outcome of his case, but he is now believed to have been reinstated.
What the fuck does it mean?
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Meeting The Lock man
Tomorrow I shall be meeting podcasting celebrity Scott Lockman. Scott's podcast, "Tokyo Calling", is one of the few podcasts I regularly listen to, and is probably my favourite. Listen to it now at www.TokyoCalling.org
As Scott is an American, I feel I must be on my best behaviour. Americans don't swear in normal conversation, and don't usually use sarcasm. Scientists believe that up to 95 % of what I say and write is sarcastic, and almost 1 in 3 words I utter are considered obscene by a typical member of society...
As Scott is an American, I feel I must be on my best behaviour. Americans don't swear in normal conversation, and don't usually use sarcasm. Scientists believe that up to 95 % of what I say and write is sarcastic, and almost 1 in 3 words I utter are considered obscene by a typical member of society...
Bicycle Mark Interview
The second episode of the Karamoon podcast is finally here. It's much better than episode one as it consists almost entirely of someone else talking. Enjoy:
karamoon_episode002.mp3
Bicycle Mark's blog and podcast are here: www.CitizenReporter.org
More info on the Chaos Computer Club can be found here: http://events.ccc.de
Dengue Fever's website is here: www.denguefevermusic.com
Please comment on the podcast. Suggestions for future podcasts would be most welcome.
karamoon_episode002.mp3
Bicycle Mark's blog and podcast are here: www.CitizenReporter.org
More info on the Chaos Computer Club can be found here: http://events.ccc.de
Dengue Fever's website is here: www.denguefevermusic.com
Please comment on the podcast. Suggestions for future podcasts would be most welcome.
Friday, October 19, 2007
On My Hands And Knees
I spent a good chunk of the day on my hands and knees, scrubbing the floor of what will become my language school. The only scrubbing brush available was one designed for cleaning pots and pans. Such is the life of the entrepreneur...
Unsurprisingly, I have very little money and lots that must be bought. Somehow I have to obtain 6 ceiling-mounted spotlights, 17 folding chairs, six folding tables, a wireless intercom system, 3 desks, 2 sets of bookshelves and a filing cabinet in the next two weeks.
I am, of course, confident that by the end of the year the language school will be making enough money to pay for the printing of the first few issues of Tokyo Robotnik magazine, as well as pay my new hobby: the collection, cataloging and preservation of false moustaches.
Unsurprisingly, I have very little money and lots that must be bought. Somehow I have to obtain 6 ceiling-mounted spotlights, 17 folding chairs, six folding tables, a wireless intercom system, 3 desks, 2 sets of bookshelves and a filing cabinet in the next two weeks.
I am, of course, confident that by the end of the year the language school will be making enough money to pay for the printing of the first few issues of Tokyo Robotnik magazine, as well as pay my new hobby: the collection, cataloging and preservation of false moustaches.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Pulp Fiction
This morning I started reading the novel "Pompey" by Jonathan Meades. It quickly became clear that I am in no fit state to read such a mighty tome, so I read Patchwork Girl by Larry Niven instead. When I had finished that I started reading Pebble In The Sky by Isacc Asimov. I believe it was the great Bard himself who once wrote "There are many a reason to read sci-fi, all of them crap".
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Hirsute You Sir!
The night bus arrived early, just before 6 am. It was amazing to walk around Shinjuku in the early hours of the morning. Shinjuku is the central business district of Tokyo, and its train station is the busiest in the world. At 6am it was a ghost town, and I was tempted to write my blog address in 12-foot letters on one of the buildings. I didn't, due to a lack of the requisite materials. Had I had a ladder, some paint and a paint brush, a better thing to write would have been:
In the afternoon I got my hair cut for 980 Yen, which is jolly cheap indeed. Just over 4 quid, in fact. When I lived in Japan before I would always get my hair cut at a chain of barbers called QB-House. I think QB stands for "Quick Barber". It cost 1000 Yen and took 10 minutes. When the hair cut was finished the hairdresser would vacuum your head. It's the future, and resistance is futile.
"Yields falsehood when proceeded by its quotation" yields falsehood when proceeded by its quotation.
In the afternoon I got my hair cut for 980 Yen, which is jolly cheap indeed. Just over 4 quid, in fact. When I lived in Japan before I would always get my hair cut at a chain of barbers called QB-House. I think QB stands for "Quick Barber". It cost 1000 Yen and took 10 minutes. When the hair cut was finished the hairdresser would vacuum your head. It's the future, and resistance is futile.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Beached In Kochi
After weighing up many pros and cons, and several hours of debate, we decided to stay another night in Kochi. [Surely you just couldn't be arsed to leave... -Ed]
Kochi castle is similar to all the other castles in Japan, of which there are 400. Only 12 of the castles in Japan are original, most of the others were built in the 1960s. Coming from the UK, I find it very hard to get my head round the fact that almost nothing here is over 100 years old. Japanese castles were built of wood, so they often got burnt down several times before finally being built from concrete in the sixties. In the UK, however, we still have stone castles, stone houses, stone computers and even stone people. Everything is built to last, except for stuff you actually want, which tends to break after a few days.
In the afternoon we took the bus to Katsura-Hama beach. Like most beaches in Japan, it sucked. The beaches in Japan are pebble, not sand, and it's usually unwise to swim, either because of dangerous undercurrents, as is the case with Katsura-Hama, or because of pollution. We managed to catch a bit of the sunset, and we saw a Japanese girl practising the tuba, which was fucking hilarious so, in the end, going to the beach was time well spent.
We had an hour to kill before we could get the bus back to Kochi so we bought some Japanese chocolate from a tiny convenience store. Like most chocolate in Japan, it sucked.
Kochi castle is similar to all the other castles in Japan, of which there are 400. Only 12 of the castles in Japan are original, most of the others were built in the 1960s. Coming from the UK, I find it very hard to get my head round the fact that almost nothing here is over 100 years old. Japanese castles were built of wood, so they often got burnt down several times before finally being built from concrete in the sixties. In the UK, however, we still have stone castles, stone houses, stone computers and even stone people. Everything is built to last, except for stuff you actually want, which tends to break after a few days.
In the afternoon we took the bus to Katsura-Hama beach. Like most beaches in Japan, it sucked. The beaches in Japan are pebble, not sand, and it's usually unwise to swim, either because of dangerous undercurrents, as is the case with Katsura-Hama, or because of pollution. We managed to catch a bit of the sunset, and we saw a Japanese girl practising the tuba, which was fucking hilarious so, in the end, going to the beach was time well spent.
We had an hour to kill before we could get the bus back to Kochi so we bought some Japanese chocolate from a tiny convenience store. Like most chocolate in Japan, it sucked.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The Ryugado Caves
Visited a large cave called Ryugado, near the city of Kochi. I doubt the name means anything special, probably something like "sponsored by Disney", or "no dry-cleaning facilities available here". The part that is open to the public is about 1 km long. I've been to hundreds of caves all over Europe, but Ryugado was still very impressive. The only bad thing about the cave was that every 10 metres or so you would come to a Japanese woman sitting on a stool who would shout a bunch of crap in Japanese. This was utterly pointless because everything they said about that particular part of the cave was written in the leaflet anyway.
The cave was discovered about 70 years ago. The people who discovered it decided to leave a vase under a stalactite to see if, over a period of many years, it would become completely covered with limestone. The rather obvious answer to this question is yes, things do get covered in limestone if you leave them for 70 years under a stream of dissolved limestone. Fuckwits.
The cave was discovered about 70 years ago. The people who discovered it decided to leave a vase under a stalactite to see if, over a period of many years, it would become completely covered with limestone. The rather obvious answer to this question is yes, things do get covered in limestone if you leave them for 70 years under a stream of dissolved limestone. Fuckwits.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Hiroshima-bound
Decided to take the night bus to Hiroshima. The journey is 12 hours and likely to be very uncomfortable. The ticket is only about 40 quid and at least the passengers of the night bus a young, unlike the high speed Shinkansen train which tends to be full of old people, the kind I hate...
I've never been to Hiroshima, and am looking forward to it as my good friend Megumi lives there. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of being irradiated; I have seen no mention of Hiroshima's background radiation levels in any guidebook etc., presumably the radiation level is still higher than average.
I've never been to Hiroshima, and am looking forward to it as my good friend Megumi lives there. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of being irradiated; I have seen no mention of Hiroshima's background radiation levels in any guidebook etc., presumably the radiation level is still higher than average.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Very Brief Update On Karamoon
1. I've arrived safely in Japan.
2. I've got Internet access at my house.
3. I'm going to be traveling for the next 3 or 4 weeks, and won't have much Internet access on the road.
4. Blog updates will appear as and when, as will podcasts...
5. In October look out for an interview I did with Bicycle Mark at the CCC camp.
6. In the meantime, check out Bicycle Mark's great podcast: www.CitizenRepoter.org
7. Please comment if you are reading this!
2. I've got Internet access at my house.
3. I'm going to be traveling for the next 3 or 4 weeks, and won't have much Internet access on the road.
4. Blog updates will appear as and when, as will podcasts...
5. In October look out for an interview I did with Bicycle Mark at the CCC camp.
6. In the meantime, check out Bicycle Mark's great podcast: www.CitizenRepoter.org
7. Please comment if you are reading this!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Chaos Communication Camp 2007, Day 4
There was a brief rain shower in the morning. Although Chichan and I were outside eating when the rain came, we were able to get in to a bunker being used as the "Art And Beauty Area" before getting too wet. While we waited for the rain to stop we played virtual air hockey on a multitouch screen. It was sufficiently interesting that I shall describe the set up below.
Air hockey is a game that was popular before my time. It consists of a table with hundreds of hole drilled in, through which come jets of air. A small plastic disc floats on the air, and two players each use a larger plastic disc to knock the small disc into each other's goal, located at either end of the table.
Multitouch screens are touch screens which can recognise several points or even sets of points at the same time. They typically work by using a camera to see where the points(eg. your fingers) are, and a projector to provide the display.
After a few games of virtual air hockey we went to the hackcentre, where we found Mitch Altman catching up with his emails. Mitch kindly said he would get one of his "Brain Machines" for us to try out. We tried it. It rocked.
Mitch Altman's Brain Machine consists of a pair of glasses with an LED mounted in each eyepiece, and a pair of headphones which plugs into a small circuit board on the side of the glasses. The Brain Machine runs a 14 minute program of flashing lights and strange sounds. The lights and sounds are emitted at brain wave frequencies. Your brain syncs up to the light and sound, but as the brain waves are external it doesn't know what to do, so you can get some very nice hallucinations...
Air hockey is a game that was popular before my time. It consists of a table with hundreds of hole drilled in, through which come jets of air. A small plastic disc floats on the air, and two players each use a larger plastic disc to knock the small disc into each other's goal, located at either end of the table.
Multitouch screens are touch screens which can recognise several points or even sets of points at the same time. They typically work by using a camera to see where the points(eg. your fingers) are, and a projector to provide the display.
After a few games of virtual air hockey we went to the hackcentre, where we found Mitch Altman catching up with his emails. Mitch kindly said he would get one of his "Brain Machines" for us to try out. We tried it. It rocked.
Mitch Altman's Brain Machine consists of a pair of glasses with an LED mounted in each eyepiece, and a pair of headphones which plugs into a small circuit board on the side of the glasses. The Brain Machine runs a 14 minute program of flashing lights and strange sounds. The lights and sounds are emitted at brain wave frequencies. Your brain syncs up to the light and sound, but as the brain waves are external it doesn't know what to do, so you can get some very nice hallucinations...
Friday, August 10, 2007
Chaos Communication Camp 2007, Day 3
Woke up at 8 am, full of energy and ready for a full day and night of hacker fun. Foolishly I went back to sleep and woke up again at 11:10 am, missing the start of the first talk and feeling very tired. I bumped into Mitch Altman and asked him about someone I saw yesterday who seemed to have become ill from using the meditation mask that Mitch has been showing people at the camp. It seems that the guy had epilepsy but thought it would be ok because his last seizure had been a year ago. It must have worried Mitch a lot at the time, but the guy was ok in the end.
Chichan and I met up with Richard and the three of us decided to walk to the town to eat brunch and go to the supermarket. We got some take away Chinese food and then bought lots of water and Haribo at the supermarket.
In the evening we attended a live talk show-style presentation given by Monochrome, an Austrian artist collective. The presentation consisted of interviews with three guests, a couple of presentations, a film, a music performance and a bunch of other random things.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Chaos Communication Camp 2007, Day 2
Managed to get to the first talk of the day called "21 st Century Digital Bikes". It was essentially a talk on battery-powered bikes. Good, but not great.Attended a very dry talk on Signaling System 7, the most common telephone system in the developed world. I struggled to follow it, partly because SS7 is a very complex set of protocols and partly because the speaker's English was hard to understand.
In the evening we went to a talk called "Life And Complexity" which was about how emergent complexity and the relationships between complexity, energy and information.
Got a free book from the Bookcrossing village for Chichan to read. Almost all of the books available were in German so our choice was extremely limited.I may try to do some interviews tomorrow for my podcast. People I'd like to interview at the camp include Mitch Altman, Emmanuel Goldstein, Jacob Appelbaum, Bicycle Mark, Dan Kaminsky, English Glen, Tim Pritlove, Rop Gonggrijp and BigM000. Even if I just interview one or two of them it would be very cool.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Chaos Communication Camp 2007, Day 1
At 11 am Chichan and I attended the opening ceremony. CCC ceremonies are always very moving because there is a deep shared culture among hackers, particularly those in Europe.Chichan and I had lunch with Mitch Altman, inventor of the TV-Be-Gone. We discussed the effects of television on the human psyche and how deeply TV invades every aspect of our lives. Mitch claims that the average person in the western world spends 13 years watching TV, a very frightening statistic.
We went to a talk on Sputnik, an open RFID platform. Although the speaker spoke good English, it was hard to understand because he spoke quickly and not very clearly. I got the impression that he spoke his native language in the same way. The Sputnik project is very popular at the CCC. At the conferences and this camp you can buy a Sputnik RFID badge which you register online, allowing people to track your location at the camp.
We took a "Power Nap", as my good friend Edward Pacman would say, and then went to a fantastic talk called "Dungeons And Hyperlinks" which was all about interactive fiction and text-based adventure games. One of the speakers has written a text adventure based around the Chaos Communication Camp called "Reconnaissance at Finowfurt" You can download the game here. Please play it and post some comments here.
We spent some time looking at all the beautiful lights of the camp, and saw some people releasing homemade hot-air balloons, which was truly magical.
At around 1 am we brushed the fairy dust out of our hair and went to bed, leaving at least half of the camp wide awake.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
One Day Of Waiting
The Chaos Communication Camp officially starts tomorrow, but already loads is going on and there are a couple of thousand people here. I've almost got to the point where I can ignore the Migs and other aircraft that are scattered around the site...
Chichan and I happened to be present when Hackers On A Plane arrived, a group of 38 people from the USA who had traveled to the camp together from DefCon, a commercial con in Las Vegas. The Americans looked really funny; it was obvious that many of them had never been outside before. When I organise a hacker camp in Japan there will be exercise sessions each morning and no doughnuts...
Chichan and I happened to be present when Hackers On A Plane arrived, a group of 38 people from the USA who had traveled to the camp together from DefCon, a commercial con in Las Vegas. The Americans looked really funny; it was obvious that many of them had never been outside before. When I organise a hacker camp in Japan there will be exercise sessions each morning and no doughnuts...
Monday, August 06, 2007
Arrival At The Chaos Communication Camp
Chichan and I checked out of our industrial hostel at 9:50 am and went in search of fuel for my camping stove. It was only at the third shop that we managed to find some. We also got some spare tent pegs and a collapsible water carrier.
At around 5 pm we got on the train to Eberswalde, the nearest train station to the camp. There were no seats on the train but the journey was less than one hour so it wasn't too uncomfortable. After quite a bit if delay we managed to get on the correct bus to the camp. The walk from the bus stop to the camp is about 4 km, so we were very lucky to get picked up by a couple of hackers who were traveling to the camp by car.
The camp site is actually an aviation museum on the site of a Russian military airbase. There is an airfield next to the site with light aircraft taking off and landing during daylight hours. Five large aircraft hangers are being used for the camp, two of them are for talks, one is the hackcentre, one is the art and beauty area and one if for the Chaos Emergency Response team which provides firefighting and medical services for the camp. The hangers are about 40 foot high, and although they are above ground they are covered in several feet of earth so they are cool in the day and warm at night, a lot like Earthships.
When the sun starts to set the lights start to come on at the camp. Many people have decorated their tents with coloured rope lights, there are search lights on top of the hangers and coloured neon lights lining the roads. Most impressive of all is the glitter ball hanging in a tree...
At around 5 pm we got on the train to Eberswalde, the nearest train station to the camp. There were no seats on the train but the journey was less than one hour so it wasn't too uncomfortable. After quite a bit if delay we managed to get on the correct bus to the camp. The walk from the bus stop to the camp is about 4 km, so we were very lucky to get picked up by a couple of hackers who were traveling to the camp by car.
The camp site is actually an aviation museum on the site of a Russian military airbase. There is an airfield next to the site with light aircraft taking off and landing during daylight hours. Five large aircraft hangers are being used for the camp, two of them are for talks, one is the hackcentre, one is the art and beauty area and one if for the Chaos Emergency Response team which provides firefighting and medical services for the camp. The hangers are about 40 foot high, and although they are above ground they are covered in several feet of earth so they are cool in the day and warm at night, a lot like Earthships.
When the sun starts to set the lights start to come on at the camp. Many people have decorated their tents with coloured rope lights, there are search lights on top of the hangers and coloured neon lights lining the roads. Most impressive of all is the glitter ball hanging in a tree...
Saturday, August 04, 2007
A Man Walks Into A Pet Shop
A man walks into a pet shop and says to the girl behind the counter "I'm very lonely, and I have a small apartment. Can you recommend a pet that would be suitable for me?". The girl replied "We have a cute hamster which would be perfect for you!". So the man bought the hamster and a cage and took it home.
The hamster certainly was cute, and the man spent a very pleasant evening feeding and stroking the hamster, knowing he would never be lonely again.
When the man woke up the next morning he was shocked to see that the hamster had died. He took the dead hamster back to the girl at the pet shop after work and asked for a replacement. The girl said that they had no more hamsters but that they would order another one for him. "It will take a few days to arrive. While you are waiting, just pop the dead hamster in a blender, and spread the blended mixture over your garden." The man thought that this was a very strange suggestion, but he followed the girls instructions.
The next day the man went downstairs and checked his garden. To his surprise the garden was full of beautiful yellow flowers. The man rushed to the pet shop to tell the girl what had happened.
"I did what you told me to, and now my garden is full of the most beautiful daffodils I've ever seen!" The girl stared at him in disbelief. "Daffodils! Daffodils! That's very strange! You usually get tulips from hamster-jam."
The hamster certainly was cute, and the man spent a very pleasant evening feeding and stroking the hamster, knowing he would never be lonely again.
When the man woke up the next morning he was shocked to see that the hamster had died. He took the dead hamster back to the girl at the pet shop after work and asked for a replacement. The girl said that they had no more hamsters but that they would order another one for him. "It will take a few days to arrive. While you are waiting, just pop the dead hamster in a blender, and spread the blended mixture over your garden." The man thought that this was a very strange suggestion, but he followed the girls instructions.
The next day the man went downstairs and checked his garden. To his surprise the garden was full of beautiful yellow flowers. The man rushed to the pet shop to tell the girl what had happened.
"I did what you told me to, and now my garden is full of the most beautiful daffodils I've ever seen!" The girl stared at him in disbelief. "Daffodils! Daffodils! That's very strange! You usually get tulips from hamster-jam."
Friday, August 03, 2007
The Karamoon Podcast Has Arrived
After what seems like an eternity, the first episode of the Karamoon Podcast is finally here. You will, I promise, be disappointed. Things will improve very soon though. The link to episode one is here Right click and choose "Save target as" or something similar.
Please post comments!
You can subscribe to the podcast by putting http://feeds.feedburner.com/karamoon into iTunes or whatever podcatching software you are using. I'll sort out a subscribe button soon.
Please post comments!
You can subscribe to the podcast by putting http://feeds.feedburner.com/karamoon into iTunes or whatever podcatching software you are using. I'll sort out a subscribe button soon.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Departure To The Continent
Chichan and I got up at 5 am and took the train to the port of Harwich, a journey of 1 hour 30 minutes. We got on the ferry to Holland without any hassle at all. No customs, no immigration control.
On the ferry I recorded quite a bit of material for my podcast using the Edirol R-09 mp3 recorded. It will be posted soon.
When we arrived in The Netherlands we took the train to Amsterdam. The walk to our guest house seemed really far because of our heavy bags. After dumping our stuff we went out in search of food and found a good Indonesian restaurant.
On the ferry I recorded quite a bit of material for my podcast using the Edirol R-09 mp3 recorded. It will be posted soon.
When we arrived in The Netherlands we took the train to Amsterdam. The walk to our guest house seemed really far because of our heavy bags. After dumping our stuff we went out in search of food and found a good Indonesian restaurant.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
In Fairy Dust We Trust
Every few years a spaceship called The Heart Of Gold lands somewhere in Germany. The arrival of the ship is usually announced quite a few months in advance, and therefore there is always a large group of people to welcome the ship. Hackers, phreaks and geeks cluster around the landing site and organise talks, workshops, parties, film screenings and meetings in celebration. This is known as The Chaos Communication Camp.
Tomorrow Chichan and I begin our journey to welcome The Heart Of Gold.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Kuro Neko
I telephoned a Japanese shipping company to arrange the collection of my many boxes of books etc. which will be sent to Japan. The company said shipping my stuff to Japan will take 8-10 weeks, so I may have to hang around in Tokyo for my stuff to arrive. This will be really annoying as I want to spend a month or so traveling round Honshu(the main island of Japan) before I get settled in Tokyo.I really like the shipping company's logo, which is why I am going to entrust them with everything I own...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Mugged!
I got attacked this evening in the park. It was just after 10 pm, so it had been dark for less than an hour. I was practising some jumping and rolling on my own, near some skateboarding ramps. I heard 2 men arrive somewhere behind me, and felt it was time to move on.
I walked a few metres away from the skate park and did some stretching. All this time my back was to the skatepark so I couldn't see the two men. I heard one of them shoult, presumably to get my attention. Then he walked up behind me and shouted again. As I turned round he punched me hard on the jaw. I think I must have been moving away from him at the time because I didn't get the full force of the strike. In any case, I've been hit far harder by my martial arts instructors both in the UK and Japan.
He tried to punch me quite a few times and may have kicked me as well. Each time I was moving back so I don't think he actually managed to hit me after the first strike to my jaw. While this was happening I asked what it was about. He just kept trying to hit me so I moved back again and started running.
The man chased me, shouting "Just wait until we catch you". His friend joined the chase as well. I've been jogging in the park almost every day for the past couple of weeks, so I knew exactly how far it was to the park exit, and what running speed I could maintain. I looked back at one point about 20 seconds after I started running, and saw the guy a couple of metres behind me. For some reason I knew he and his friend wouldn't be able to catch me, so I just kept running.
When I got home I had a glass of water and looked in the mirror. My jaw was red and slightly shiny where I had been hit, but there was no bruising. My left leg hurt a lot, maybe the guy landed a kick or punch there, or maybe it was just from the running. My left knee is often a bit sore after running, so that may be the cause of it.
All in all, a strange experience but not a terrible one. I'm so glad for the hours I've spent running and for all the martial arts training I've done.
I walked a few metres away from the skate park and did some stretching. All this time my back was to the skatepark so I couldn't see the two men. I heard one of them shoult, presumably to get my attention. Then he walked up behind me and shouted again. As I turned round he punched me hard on the jaw. I think I must have been moving away from him at the time because I didn't get the full force of the strike. In any case, I've been hit far harder by my martial arts instructors both in the UK and Japan.
He tried to punch me quite a few times and may have kicked me as well. Each time I was moving back so I don't think he actually managed to hit me after the first strike to my jaw. While this was happening I asked what it was about. He just kept trying to hit me so I moved back again and started running.
The man chased me, shouting "Just wait until we catch you". His friend joined the chase as well. I've been jogging in the park almost every day for the past couple of weeks, so I knew exactly how far it was to the park exit, and what running speed I could maintain. I looked back at one point about 20 seconds after I started running, and saw the guy a couple of metres behind me. For some reason I knew he and his friend wouldn't be able to catch me, so I just kept running.
When I got home I had a glass of water and looked in the mirror. My jaw was red and slightly shiny where I had been hit, but there was no bruising. My left leg hurt a lot, maybe the guy landed a kick or punch there, or maybe it was just from the running. My left knee is often a bit sore after running, so that may be the cause of it.
All in all, a strange experience but not a terrible one. I'm so glad for the hours I've spent running and for all the martial arts training I've done.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
To Live And Die In LA
This afternoon I watched the 1985 film "To Live And Die In LA". Before I go any further, I must say that I love Los Angeles. I know that many (most?) Americans hate LA, but to me it's an amazing city of contrasts and adventure. Also, the lead role in the film is played by William L. Peterson, possibly my favourite actor due to his perfect performance in the film Manhunter. It is therefore unsurprising that I loved To Live And Die In LA.
The plot is pretty formulaic: a Secret Service agent hunts for a counterfeiter who killed his collegue, with hilarious and violent consequences. The soundtrack, by UK New Wave group, Wang Chung, adds a lot to the atmosphere of film and also helps to set the pace. To Live And Die In LA is essential viewing for anyone interested in 1980's culture and/or quality cinema.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Podfast
Had a restful day at home. No run, just packing, throwing stuff away and listening to various podcasts from Japan. The three I've been listening to regularly are Tokyo Calling, Finding Japan and A Year In Japan.
The three podcasts are very different and it's great to listen to all three on a regular basis. Each time I listen to a podcast I remember that I have, thus far, failed to produce a podcast of my own.
Tokyo Calling is a very personal podcast by Scott Lockman, an American living in Tokyo with his wife and three young daughters. Most episodes detail Scott's daily struggle with work in Japan, as well as his experiences watching his daughters grow up. Scott often includes audio in his podcasts that he has recorded outside with an Edirol R-09 MP3 recorder, which helps the listener feel that they are actually in Japan.
Finding Japan is by Christopher, a young American man who is in Japan as part of an international program organised by his university in the US. Christopher doesn't hesitate to dive in to any situation so he often has quite interesting tales to tell.
A Year In Japan is by a young British man called Joseph Tame who is in Tokyo as part of his degree in Japanese Studies. Joseph's opinions on Japan are very similar to my own, which means he's right...
There are two other popular podcasts from Japan "Herro Flom Japan" and "Kobe Beef" but I haven't listened to either of them yet.
The three podcasts are very different and it's great to listen to all three on a regular basis. Each time I listen to a podcast I remember that I have, thus far, failed to produce a podcast of my own.
Tokyo Calling is a very personal podcast by Scott Lockman, an American living in Tokyo with his wife and three young daughters. Most episodes detail Scott's daily struggle with work in Japan, as well as his experiences watching his daughters grow up. Scott often includes audio in his podcasts that he has recorded outside with an Edirol R-09 MP3 recorder, which helps the listener feel that they are actually in Japan.
Finding Japan is by Christopher, a young American man who is in Japan as part of an international program organised by his university in the US. Christopher doesn't hesitate to dive in to any situation so he often has quite interesting tales to tell.
A Year In Japan is by a young British man called Joseph Tame who is in Tokyo as part of his degree in Japanese Studies. Joseph's opinions on Japan are very similar to my own, which means he's right...
There are two other popular podcasts from Japan "Herro Flom Japan" and "Kobe Beef" but I haven't listened to either of them yet.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
The Perfect Saturday?
Had a very good Japanese lesson with my teacher Takako. It's great to be learning Japanese again even though I'm constantly reminded of my low ability.
When I switched my mobile on after the Japanese lesson I found a text message from my friend Anwar. We decided to have lunch at a Malaysian buffet restaurant.
Anwar has just self-published a novel that he wrote and will probably become a local celebrity over the next few months. Maybe I can be his manager...
When Anwar noticed I had a cold he gave me a large bottle of organic carrot juice. Not sure if it will help, but it's the sort of thing I feel I should be drinking as part of my new, healthier lifestyle.
Had a good run in the evening and did some circuit training as well.
When I switched my mobile on after the Japanese lesson I found a text message from my friend Anwar. We decided to have lunch at a Malaysian buffet restaurant.
Anwar has just self-published a novel that he wrote and will probably become a local celebrity over the next few months. Maybe I can be his manager...
When Anwar noticed I had a cold he gave me a large bottle of organic carrot juice. Not sure if it will help, but it's the sort of thing I feel I should be drinking as part of my new, healthier lifestyle.
Had a good run in the evening and did some circuit training as well.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Blood, Breathing, Bones, Be Safe
Attended a first aid course for work. The instructor was quite good and improved greatly throughout the day. In the morning he stuck to the prescribed course, but in the afternoon he spent most of the time telling stories about his many experiences as a first-aider for the Royal Air Force. Over the years I've done quite a few first aid courses but I still think I need far more training. Sometime next year I'd like to do some battlefield first aid training and also a wilderness first aid course.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The King Of Hearts
I had lunch with my friends Mai and Sora at a cafe called The King Of Hearts. It sucked. No surprises there. The service was dire and the main courses were over-priced. The only redeeming feature was that the desserts were great. They were made even better by the fact that the waitress fucked up our bill and didn't charge us for them.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Oh Mr Sandman, Meme Me a Meme
My good friend Dr Edward Bearskin forwarded me an meme-mail which summarised various economic systems in terms of cow ownership. Here are some choice selections:
COMMUNISM: You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.
ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the
majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new President of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.
JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
IRAQI CORPORATION: Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them
that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the fuck out of
you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now
you are part of a Democracy....
BRITISH CORPORATION: You have two cows. Both are mad.
My favourite is:
ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.
COMMUNISM: You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.
ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the
majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new President of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull.
JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
IRAQI CORPORATION: Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them
that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the fuck out of
you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now
you are part of a Democracy....
BRITISH CORPORATION: You have two cows. Both are mad.
My favourite is:
ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Bad Dreams Are Made Of This
I had a very bad dream this morning, or it may have been a series of bad dreams. I woke up around 8:00 am but then went to sleep for another two hours. At one point in my dreak I found some phreaking notes that had been left in a public phone box. I was so excited at knowing that someone else in the area was exploring the phone network. For some reason or reasons I was in fear for my safety. There were several layers of stuff going on. Often I had to ask people "how do I know you?" because it was so difficult to trust anybody and I had met so many people recently. I felt utterly alone.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Living On A Train
Today I went to Cambridge with a bunch of friends. The weather was great and everything worked out well. Or almost everything...
Sora and I walked to the station via the supermarket. At the station we met up with my friend Richard and Mai, a friend of Sora's. The journey to Cambridge was much longer than usual, due to engineering works. We had plenty of snacks and drinks with us so the journey was great fun. Most of the other people in our carriage were traveling alone or in pairs and seemed to be dead. They just sat there as their lives slipped away.
We had Dim Sum for lunch near the train station. Eating Dim Sum (Yam Cha) always reminds me of my student days as my the Japan Society at university often ate at Dim Sum restaurants.
We spent the day walking around the city of Cambridge, relaxing by the river, standing on bridges, taking photos, complaining about England, teaching and learning Japanese, looking at phone boxes(ok, that was just me!), watching tourists, walking among trees and flowers, eating Bombay mix(described by Mai-chan as "chotto hoto!"). Above all we spent the day not being in Norwich, and feeling better for it.
I walked Mai home and as a result I got to my own home at around 1 am. It was a clear and warm night, and I felt incredibly lucky to be able to look at the stars and dream of space adventure. I am so fucking lucky.
Sora and I walked to the station via the supermarket. At the station we met up with my friend Richard and Mai, a friend of Sora's. The journey to Cambridge was much longer than usual, due to engineering works. We had plenty of snacks and drinks with us so the journey was great fun. Most of the other people in our carriage were traveling alone or in pairs and seemed to be dead. They just sat there as their lives slipped away.
We had Dim Sum for lunch near the train station. Eating Dim Sum (Yam Cha) always reminds me of my student days as my the Japan Society at university often ate at Dim Sum restaurants.
We spent the day walking around the city of Cambridge, relaxing by the river, standing on bridges, taking photos, complaining about England, teaching and learning Japanese, looking at phone boxes(ok, that was just me!), watching tourists, walking among trees and flowers, eating Bombay mix(described by Mai-chan as "chotto hoto!"). Above all we spent the day not being in Norwich, and feeling better for it.
I walked Mai home and as a result I got to my own home at around 1 am. It was a clear and warm night, and I felt incredibly lucky to be able to look at the stars and dream of space adventure. I am so fucking lucky.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Catching Up
I was determined to spend today catching up with emails, chat, organising my many possessions etc. I always seem to be drowning in administrative tasks. It's not a good way to be.
I managed to spend a little time on the aforementioned activities, but far less than I had intended. In the afternoon I met up with Richard and we went to Ben And Jerry's to eat an exquisite blend of sugar and ice cream (mainly sugar...)
I managed to spend a little time on the aforementioned activities, but far less than I had intended. In the afternoon I met up with Richard and we went to Ben And Jerry's to eat an exquisite blend of sugar and ice cream (mainly sugar...)
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Fighting Vista
Went to Takako's home where I spent most of the day trying to get Vista to stop being so rubbish. It was my first time to see Vista, and unsurprisingly it's not even worth talking about. Once Vista was in a usable state I taught Takako some HTML. We ate Japanese curry for lunch and talked about life. One day I hope to know whether curry is better than life or whether life and curry are the same thing.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Brum 2600 meeting
Took the train to Birmingham to meet my friend Bal. The train service was dire and part of the journey was by bus. In the evening we went to the Brum 2600 hacker meeting. It wasn't great, but wasn't as bad as it could have been. One issue was that we were in a busy pub on a Saturday night. Pubs are crap and Saturdays don't exist.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Pizza Tech
In the morning I gave an English/tech lesson to Takako. Takako bought us pizza and salad for lunch at an over-priced pizza restaurant. After lunch we were given a lesson on design and typography by a friend of mine. It is very clear to me that design and typography are going to play a big part in my life over the next couple of years: working on what is going to be the most important website about Japan and publishing the most important magazine in Japan. I have a great deal to learn.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Never In My Wildest Dreams...
I woke up on Dr Edward Bearskin's sofa at about 6 am. A short time later I was eating breakfast, and not long after that we had all left the apartment as Dr Bearskin and his girlfriend had to be at work.On the recommendation of Dr Bearskin and his girlfriend I went to visit The Barbican, a development I didn't know what to expect, but what I found was the stuff that dreams are made of: Concrete and tile, the like of which I could never have possibly imagined. (Photo from Wiki-Fucking-Pedia)
I started reading "Heart Of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad on the train home but I was so tired that I slept for most of the journey. Sleeping on trains is something that I increasingly find myself doing, which can't be a bad thing.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
London Lives
Took my friend Keiko to Heathrow airport. She's flying back to Japan for an serious operation so it was rather an emotional goodbye. It's strange to think that when I see Keiko again we will probably be in Tokyo, and I'll be slimmer:)
I took the tube to Farrigndon, where Dr Edward Bearskin lives. He met me outside the tube station, wearing he work attire, which looked very smart. We went to a bar/pub where the good doctor bought my a drink, something called "smoothie" (note the -ie ending, WTF?) It was jolly good, as one might hope considering it cost what I would usually spend on lunch out...
When we got to Dr Edward Bearskin's apartment, he cooked us some simple, but awesome bachelor food, which is surprising as he is living with his girlfriend. We spent the evening building furniture and looking at books together.
Before going to bed I watched a Japanese anime film about a WWI pilot, who happened to be a pig. The Japanese are very strange, and very silly.
I took the tube to Farrigndon, where Dr Edward Bearskin lives. He met me outside the tube station, wearing he work attire, which looked very smart. We went to a bar/pub where the good doctor bought my a drink, something called "smoothie" (note the -ie ending, WTF?) It was jolly good, as one might hope considering it cost what I would usually spend on lunch out...
When we got to Dr Edward Bearskin's apartment, he cooked us some simple, but awesome bachelor food, which is surprising as he is living with his girlfriend. We spent the evening building furniture and looking at books together.
Before going to bed I watched a Japanese anime film about a WWI pilot, who happened to be a pig. The Japanese are very strange, and very silly.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
A Photo Finish
Spent the evening at a friend's house, struggling with Photoshop. We were trying to produce a leaflet on climate change, showing what a well-known road in Norwich would look like underwater. The end result wasn't too bad, but I must have aged quite a few years, due to not understanding how to do even the most basic things in Photoshop. I'm sure Adobe software will make sense to me one day, but at the moment everything I use for Adobe seems to be counter-intuitive. A lot like life...
Monday, April 02, 2007
Fired!
My boss fired me this morning. It came as quite a surprise to me, but such things happen. For various reasons, I worked the rest of the day and got un-fired towards the end of the afternoon. I certainly won't spend much more time working here, it's unhealthy and annoying.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
New Star Broadcasting
For reasons I cannot possibly comprehend, I suddenly had to listen to some recordings of Numbers Stations. Numbers Stations are short wave transmitters that send encoded messages to field agents such as spies, terrorists, special forces etc. I did some Googling and found loads of mp3's that people had recorded from shortwave receivers. My favourite ones were of New Star Broadcasting, a Numbers Station based in Taiwan. The station broadcasts numbers being read in Chinese although I'm not sure which dialect they are in. Go do some Googling, you will not be disappointed.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Not Waving But Frowning
Met Keiko at the swimming pool. For various reasons we were both late. The swimming pool was being used for "aquafit" so we had a Japanese lesson instead. I'm not swimming as much as I feel I ought to be.
Today I read the magic words: "Released Firmware Version: v1.20 - Resolved Web e-mail issue under PPPoE (ADSL) Internet connection" on the Linksys webpage. I downloaded the latest firmware and now have wifi. After owning a wireless router for about a year...
Today I read the magic words: "Released Firmware Version: v1.20 - Resolved Web e-mail issue under PPPoE (ADSL) Internet connection" on the Linksys webpage. I downloaded the latest firmware and now have wifi. After owning a wireless router for about a year...
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I'm A little Concerned With Your Teaching...
The tutor for my college course was away so the class was taken by an "expert on spelling pedagogy". During the break I took him aside to have a go at him about his teaching, or lack there of. It worked quite well.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Escaping The Trap
Went to a friend's house to the last episode of Adam Curtis's groundbreaking documentary "The Trap". There were 24 of us watching it together in my friend's living room. The atmosphere was amazing. I still think TV sucks though.
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Cost Of Living
Had Keiko and Emily over for lunch. I was determined to cook something decent, so I bought the ingredients for mushroom risotto at the supermarket. Lots of the ingredients were expensive but the result was more than worth it. I think Emily and Keiko were quite impressed...
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Breaking Windows
When I got home from work I found "Hacking Exposed: Windows 2000" waiting for me. I bought it second-hand from Amazon Marketplace for just two quid. An utter bargain as I'll be able to have hours of fun using the information it contains...
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Have Your Cake And Eat Him
I didn't get up as early as I intended, so I had to rush to the supermarket to buy things for today's party. When I got back I baked a moist chocolate cake, using I recipe I found on the web. I also made a pasta salad using tartare sauce, which I believe to be the best pasta salad in existence. Rumour has it that scientists are attempting to create a better one. Those crazy boffins!Keiko came over at 1 pm to help me prepare some food. She wasn't massively helpful, but at least she tried. By 3 pm, Ayana, Yoshimi, Takako and Sora had arrived. Takako cooked okonomiyaki, a famous dish from Osaka using some ingredients she had prepared in advance. Okonomiyaki is an egg and batter-based pancake, containing cabbage and sometimes other vegetables, seafood and meat. It's served with bonito flakes, mayonnaise and a sweet-and-sour sauce.
Ayana and Yoshimi decorated the cake I had baked. For some reason they decided to draw my face on the cake using green, white and blue icing. I found it rather touching.
In the evening we all met up again for the Third Thursday lecture on Japanese culture. While there I talked to my friend Hirano about the changes that I've been noticing in the UK over the past few years. I told him that I would be moving to Japan, and that I would probably be staying there for good. He was quite surprised and possibly a bit upset. On the other hand, I think he is happy for me as he knows how much I want to get out of this sick country.
I took tea afterwards with Keiko and Sora. I'm really starting to dislike Pulse, one of the few cafes open in the evening in Norwich. It's slightly over-priced, and there's just no real atmosphere there. Being in Pulse made me remember how wonderful the cafes in East Village were last summer when I was in New York for the HOPE conference.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Caffeine Buzz
I've been avoiding caffeine recently, so as a result of drinking a cup of tea when I got home from work, I was awake and alert until about 2 am. I could/should have used the time wisely but somehow I frittered it all away doing nothing. I see a pattern developing...
Monday, March 12, 2007
The Game Of Life
Here is an article I found in the Adbusters magazine I was reading last Saturday. I wrote it out on a notepad while on the train, because I wanted to give the magazine to my friend Bal. I then typed it up late at night, so there may be a couple of errors. The issue was called The Game Of Life, and was published in Jul/Aug 2005. Before getting to know Mitch Altman, and seeing him work his magic in Berlin, I wouldn't have believed the following was anything more than a well-written short story.
Last week I had an extended layover at the Los Angeles Airport. The waiting area was pretty sizable, yet because of the noise of two mounted TV sets, there was nowhere to escape the inane banter from the local Fox News station. No matter where people sat, the ended up staring at the screen. One middle-aged couple sitting nearby caught my attention. The man's shoulders were slumped as he stared at the dirty carpet in front of him. The woman's face was a grimace of blank agitation as she kept her eyes on the television. Every now and then the man would glance at her as if to say something, but seeing he didn't have her attention, he'd sigh and look back at the floor. Suddenly, I remembered the TV-B-Gone I'd received in the mail the day before I left home. Pointing it at the TV, I pushed the button and the screen went blank. Noticing the television was off, the man glanced at his wife and asked her a question. She stopped staring at the blank screen and turned toward him. He smiled and leaned his face closer to hers. Later, as I headed out the gate to my plane, I glanced back at the middle-aged couple I'd freed from TV. The man had his hand on his wife's knee and a playful smile on his face. She too was grinning, almost shyly, and I imagined that I could see how they had fallen in love in the first place.
- Lott Hill
Sunday, March 11, 2007
A Solid Sunday
I feel my Sunday this week was particularly well-spent. Early in the morning I went for a swim with Keiko. We spent several hours at the pool, swimming, chatting and relaxing. We then had breakfast in a pub and Keiko taught me Japanese. Later we went to another pub for lunch with Emily, Shujing and Sora.
In the evening I met some friends for dinner and we watched the new Adam Curtis documentary, "The Trap". It will be on Google Video soon and is essential viewing for anyone and everyone.
In the evening I met some friends for dinner and we watched the new Adam Curtis documentary, "The Trap". It will be on Google Video soon and is essential viewing for anyone and everyone.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Chaos Communication Camp Call For Papers
The call for papers has been announced for the Chaos Communication Camp. Talk submissions on the following topics are encouraged:
* flying and non-flying autonomous robots
* security, encryption and anonymity
* software projects
* technologies for the day after the climate change
* rapid prototyping and fabbing
* software and hardware for disaster-resistant infrastructure
* bringing broadband to the countryside
* politics and propaganda
* anti-crowd-control tactics and technologies
* lock picking
* alternative energy systems
* citizen surveillance, data mining technologies, and social networks
* data forensic methods
* all things radio (preferably digital)
* self-sustaining and -reproducing hardware
* pollution free transport systems
* hacker anthropology and sociology of the scene
* flying cars, saucers and carpets
* 42
* tesla generators
* telecommunication technologies
* FPGA based analysis
* military technologies
* all kinds of voting computers
* ebooks
* satellites and rockets
(and countermeasures against all of the above).
I doubt I'll submit a talk but instead I'll try to be a very active volunteer during the camp. I'm going to go a couple of days early, and will stay a day or two afterwards. Are you going? Please add a comment if you are.
When There's Something Strange In Your Neigbourhood...
I went to London to meet my friend Bal and, because Keiko wanted to go to some art galleries, she came along.
For some reason, I had been issued a first class ticket, instead of the second class one I had ordered from the One Railway website. The ticket collector seemed very surprised that I didn't want to sit in first class. I thought it best not to explain that I would have thrown several of the "first class" passengers off the train as soon as we had picked up enough speed to make it worthwhile.
The carriage that Keiko and I were in had a snack shop at one end. Once the train was going there was a long queue of fools rushing to buy the sugary drinks and chemical-laced sandwiches. Adults living as children. Moths attracted to the hot lamp, not realising that it will burn them to a crisp. It was both fascinating and heartbreaking to watch them.
On the train we read a copy of Adbusters magazine from a couple of years ago. Every square inch of every page of Adbusters is pure genius. Subversive spoofs of adverts, intelligent and moving articles and fantastic artwork make Adbusters a joy to read. Subscribe now: www.adbusters.org
On arrival in London we travelled to Trafalgar square. There's a cheap cafe nearby so we had a drink there before going to the National Gallery. Keiko showed Bal and I some of her favourite paintings. Most were pretty poor.
After the National Gallery we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Soho. We then went to a Chinese bakery. Keiko and Bal were too indecisive while choosing baked goods so I pulled rank and chose six things at random.
Finding somewhere to sit down and eat was very difficult. After randomly wandering around for a while we found Soho park. In the park a girl was chalking "Should all the information on the web be controlled by one company?" on some steps. Within seconds a cop appeared. Someone monitoring the spy cameras in the park must have seen the girl and then dispatched the cop. I wonder whether a cop would have been dispatched to arrest a girl drawing a hopscotch grid on the pavement.
Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar-man, Thief
Two old beggar women were sitting in one a sprawling megacity, watching the chaos and insanity around them. One turned to the other and asked "What is it all about? Did anyone ever know?" The other beggar woman replied "A long, long time ago, when I was a young girl, a beggar man came to where I was sitting, watching the world go by. I'll never forget the calmness in his eyes as he gently touched my arm and said "We fucked it all up".
I think it's safe to say that the old Karamoon is back, and is here to stay.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Norwich, A Fine City
This morning I had to look after my Japanese teacher's niece, Ayana and her friend Yoshimi. The usual stuff; make sure they don't die, show them some exciting sights etc. This might sound like a very minor hassle except for two issues. Firstly, I'm becoming increasingly insane, and secondly this city sucks.
Yoshimi and Ayana are students from Osaka, I think it was there first time to visit the UK although they had both spent a year living in New Zealand. They seemed to enjoy Norwich and somehow found things that were of interest to them. We ate lunch at my favourite restaurant, visited some quaint shops selling crappy stuff, drank over-priced tea in a trendy coffee shop but mostly we chatted about random stuff.
Yoshimi and Ayana are students from Osaka, I think it was there first time to visit the UK although they had both spent a year living in New Zealand. They seemed to enjoy Norwich and somehow found things that were of interest to them. We ate lunch at my favourite restaurant, visited some quaint shops selling crappy stuff, drank over-priced tea in a trendy coffee shop but mostly we chatted about random stuff.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Fucked Up Lah!
While eating lunch in the Thai restaurant near my office, I overhead a woman from Singapore talking about the 5 C's that all Singaporeans are said to desire: Cash, Car, Credit card, Condominium, and Country club membership. I've always considered Singapore to be more of a sick experiment than a country, and it's the sort of place that makes me ashamed to be alive. Having said that, some of the Singaporeans I knew at university were reasonable people, and they finished every sentence with "lah", which I find quite sweet.
"Let's get the fuck off this planet and nuke the site from orbit"
"Let's get the fuck off this planet and nuke the site from orbit"
Thursday, March 01, 2007
The Security-Industrial Complex
Had a good swim this morning. Slightly disheartening to notice that the woman in the lane next to be was swimming better and faster than I was. The issue wasn't that she was a woman, it was that she only had one leg.
In the afternoon I wrote the following for a newspaper in London:
In the afternoon I wrote the following for a newspaper in London:
What does the HP printer on my desk have in common with the war on abstract nouns, your neighbourhood watch scheme and ID cards? The answer is, the "Security-Industrial Complex", 9/11's grown-up version of the Cold War's military-industrial complex. Instead of western economies and jobs being dependent on huge government contracts to produce nuclear missiles, tanks, military uniforms and port-a-loos for soldiers, western economies and jobs are becoming largely dependent on fear-fuelled obsession with "security", whatever that may mean.(gotta love those abstract nouns!)
The examples are all around us: the CCTV that just about every neighbourhood watch scheme is trying to get hold of (usually with help from the National Lottery), the little bits of plastic whose embedded computers will keep our biometric data safe in our pockets, not to mention prisoner tags, RFID shirt collars, number-plate recognition systems, security guards outside supermarkets and metal detectors at public buildings. Which just leaves my HP printer...
At the recent Netevents European Press Summit, held in Evian, France, many of the big names in networking and computing were making a fuss about the changing nature of IT and communication, and the demands that the police state are putting on it. A police state requires that data about everything is held until the end of time, the public, however, expect to be able to surf the Web and check their email while out and about, buy stuff by credit card on eBay and generally take advantage of wireless networking coupled with cheap broadband. The problem is that secure computing and mass surveillance don't exactly go hand-in-hand.
For computer systems to be secure, they must hold the minimum amount of data possible, and the data they do hold should be hard to access. For computer systems to be useful in the context of fighting imaginary enemies in the war on terror, they must hold records of every transaction they carry out, and must be able to provide those records to the very select group of government agencies and tens of thousands of companies across the globe who may have "legitimate" needs to access it.
Fortunately, help is at hand from the security industry. According to companies such as HP, trust is at the heart of the problem. By buying hardware that is "trustworthy", and buying computers and software which will only work with such hardware, we can sleep safely in our beds. For readers unfamiliar with this use of the term "trustworthy", here's a possible definition: "US-made, certified by Microsoft and Intel. Certainly not cheap hardware from Asia."
As for printers, many will reject refilled ink cartridges, or ink cartridges made by third-party companies. Such cartridges, we are told, are interpreted as counterfeit by the printer. Counterfeit goods, from ink cartridges and pirated DVD's to perfumes and fake Gucci handbags fund terrorism, or rather the security-industrial complex. Which is what allows us to have the money to buy the printer in the first place.
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