The Japanese economy is quite sad. A (w)hole nation of Enrons. They only hope that the can let the hot air out slowly, and that it doesn't burst.
The Japanese economy is only sad by Japanese standards. Japan does have a whole stack of bad loans, but no major strategic industries (like Worldcom or Enron) have gone bankrupt. The vast majority of the bad loans went to truly questionable real estate ventures like theme parks. (Soooo many bankrupt resorts and theme parks...)
Also, Enron was a scam from day one, and made all its money by working against the public interest. Japan doesn't have any companies like that.
The trend of the 80's for American companies to bring in Japanese consultants has been reversed. Japanese corporations are now bringing in American consultants to show them how to emulate American prosperity.
Well, all the cool stuff in Akihabara isn't in the flashy storefronts right on the street. Those are mostly just nationwide chains.
The cool stuff is in the dark wet alleys between the department stores, where you can buy "parts" -- surplus chips and cables and circuit boards and random pieces of bizarre hardware that the big computer companys dump there.
Oh, and it's the only place in Japan you can buy uncensored porn, forgot to mention that.
1. The Japanese have a national obsession with gadgets. They just can't get enough of them.
The gadgets Japanese have an obsession with are the ones that facilitate social life and personal correspondence. Cel phones that can handle email are a godsend in this arena. This way it is possible to juggle work, family, and a potentially unlimited ammount of mistresses at once in secrecy.
How do real life societies of humans and animals protect their communities from invasion? I will assume that the number of "legitimate" users vastly outnumbers the invaders.
Could it be possible to mark or remember hosts who pass around bogus files, and then pass that information to other users on the network?
For example, I download a file from a user or group of users. When the download completes, I naturally check it. The P2P client then pops up a window asking me whether the file was valid or not. If not, I hit "no". This "no" could then be associated in some sort of metafile that inclues the IP address and other identifying information about the host, and this metafile can be shared with all other users on the network. Like a virus, I could merge my metafile with the metafiles of other users on the system. On subsequent searches, the client will check the host results list against my metafile and warn me who the probable invaders are. I could also set filters that automatically exclude hosts from uploading and downloading if they have more than say, 5, black marks against them, effectively blackballing them from the network.
I realise that the invaders could easily change their IP address, but after passing 5 bad files they'd be off the network again.
IANAEconomist, but I would think that that money would benefit the world economy more if it was in circulation, and not sitting in Bill's bank account.
The original "Revenge of the Jedi" only appeared on some pre-released action figures and posters and such. The name was changed to "Return of the Jedi" prior to its first theatrical release.
Well, sure. Ep IV was made as a standalone movie because Lucas wasn't sure if it would make back enough money so he could make the rest of the series. He had to get his audience hooked first.
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Wow, seven companies consulted with one US company.
Trust me, Japanese companies aren't lining up to hear the US's advice.
Especially not since last week.
YahooBB?
Lucky bastard. You must be in Tokyo or thereabouts.
Japan stiffs manufactured imports and does NOT allow immigration.
They don't? How the hell did I get in?
You're absolutely right.
Funny, I never thought of OSS as similar to kaizen.
+1, insightful.
The Japanese economy is quite sad. A (w)hole nation of Enrons. They only hope that the can let the hot air out slowly, and that it doesn't burst.
The Japanese economy is only sad by Japanese standards. Japan does have a whole stack of bad loans, but no major strategic industries (like Worldcom or Enron) have gone bankrupt.
The vast majority of the bad loans went to truly questionable real estate ventures like theme parks. (Soooo many bankrupt resorts and theme parks...)
Also, Enron was a scam from day one, and made all its money by working against the public interest. Japan doesn't have any companies like that.
The trend of the 80's for American companies to bring in Japanese consultants has been reversed. Japanese corporations are now bringing in American consultants to show them how to emulate American prosperity.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAAAAAAA (gasp) AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!
No.
All that stuff debuted in Japan at the same time it did in the US, too. I don't get it.
Well, all the cool stuff in Akihabara isn't in the flashy storefronts right on the street. Those are mostly just nationwide chains.
The cool stuff is in the dark wet alleys between the department stores, where you can buy "parts" -- surplus chips and cables and circuit boards and random pieces of bizarre hardware that the big computer companys dump there.
Oh, and it's the only place in Japan you can buy uncensored porn, forgot to mention that.
1. The Japanese have a national obsession with gadgets. They just can't get enough of them.
The gadgets Japanese have an obsession with are the ones that facilitate social life and personal correspondence.
Cel phones that can handle email are a godsend in this arena. This way it is possible to juggle work, family, and a potentially unlimited ammount of mistresses at once in secrecy.
Think I'm joking?
The only stuff that comes first to Japan is the stuff that is made in Japan. Everything else gets here way late, or never gets here at all.
I'm still waiting for the concept of office LAN's, firewalls, and relational databases to really catch on here.
Al Qaeda comes and farts in the elevator in my building before I come to work every day.
Clever bastards.
1. Worldcom's telecom business has been losing money for a long time now. It's almost a lock that it will be sold off.
Ooo! A telecom business with hundreds of milions in debt that has been losing money for a long time now? I'll buy one! No, make it two!!
[...]will not "go dark under any circumstances"
Um, yeah...
Didn't @Home and Nortel say exactly the same thing?
With cheap American bandwidth and an increasingly cheaper dollar, I would expect foreign interests to start buying this stuff up real cheap.
Heck, it's already happening.
Here's a wild-ass idea.
How do real life societies of humans and animals protect their communities from invasion?
I will assume that the number of "legitimate" users vastly outnumbers the invaders.
Could it be possible to mark or remember hosts who pass around bogus files, and then pass that information to other users on the network?
For example, I download a file from a user or group of users. When the download completes, I naturally check it. The P2P client then pops up a window asking me whether the file was valid or not. If not, I hit "no". This "no" could then be associated in some sort of metafile that inclues the IP address and other identifying information about the host, and this metafile can be shared with all other users on the network.
Like a virus, I could merge my metafile with the metafiles of other users on the system.
On subsequent searches, the client will check the host results list against my metafile and warn me who the probable invaders are. I could also set filters that automatically exclude hosts from uploading and downloading if they have more than say, 5, black marks against them, effectively blackballing them from the network.
I realise that the invaders could easily change their IP address, but after passing 5 bad files they'd be off the network again.
This is the way it should be. I fully and heartily support this business model.
Hardware is, after all, hardware. It is meant to be manufactured and sold. It is the software that must be free.
IANAEconomist, but I would think that that money would benefit the world economy more if it was in circulation, and not sitting in Bill's bank account.
One enemie at a tyme.
Whaen the hydra Microsoft hath been slaine, wee can worrie about the others.
The motivation was to create a slapstick character that would appeal to very small children, people who are stoned, and the Japanese.
Someone should get Jar Jar a role on the Teletubbies, that would be perfect.
Minor nitpick:
Leia said she remembered images and feelings. That her mother was "...kind, but sad."
Now, Leia being very very strong in the force as we know she is, couldn't she have picked up these images as an infant, or even while in the womb?
She had "always known" that Luke was her brother, after all.
The original "Revenge of the Jedi" only appeared on some pre-released action figures and posters and such. The name was changed to "Return of the Jedi" prior to its first theatrical release.
He loses his workman's comp. if he's seen outside without it.
Lucas draws heavily on older movies. Lord of the Rings, 1950's Westerns, The Seven Samurai (and other Kurosawa films),... the list goes on.
Why does everyone seem to think this is a bad thing?
Remember? Great artists steal!
In another 15 years Lucas will be about 73 years old. Hope he hangs in there.
Well, sure. Ep IV was made as a standalone movie because Lucas wasn't sure if it would make back enough money so he could make the rest of the series. He had to get his audience hooked first.
You want emotion and feeling? Read Anna Karennina. This is a Star Wars movie.