1) Japan uses 100V electricity.
2) Japan's outlets lack polarization as well as a ground (earth) socket.
3) All plumbing fixtures I have ever seen in Japan are made by Toto (a Japanese company) or sometimes Mitsubishi. They are different designs than you would have here.
Moreover, Japanese people use stamps instead of signatures, hand-write nearly all important documents, use only wire transfers--no checks... There are very few Western standards used in domestic Japanese business. The way Japanese companies function domestically and internationally could not be any more different. There are no standards.
Perhaps you should take a trip outside of the US so you stop being one of those irritating Americans who think that the rest of the world is just like you, aside from language. You'd be surprised to find that other nations and cultures have come up with some ideas as well!
Yeah, when I was at my first college, an alum I knew wanted to donate all his theatre books--books on acting, books on directing, tons and tons of scripts--so I hauled the boxes in, was thanked, and told the theatre department that there was a substantial new collection of theatre texts available in the library. Then, about a month later, the little book-selling cart was laden with books I recognized. It was the entire collection, selling ro $2 a pop. Since I was a theatre major, I had wanted all those books but had done the alum's bidding and offered them to the public. Now I found myself in the ludicrous position of having to buy back the books I donated if I wanted to read them. When I confronted the head librarian, he said that they didn't think they belonged in the collection (in a school that was well-known for its theatre department). I said that if that was the case, I'd like them back. He said no. So I stole them all and gave them to my friends. Never give books to libraries.
If you have your own car, you can usually get a discount by going at sane movie-watching times (in the evening). Oh, and check for stamp cards and special deals. Most of the big theater chains (Toho, Mycal-Warner) have showings that drop as low as 1000 yen.
Oh, and DVDs aren't always that expensive. They are sometimes to be had on sale for as little as 1900 yen, such as "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikushi" ("Spirited Away").
Finally, even if Japanese users were buying PS2s without the region lock to buy cheaper foreign movies, how many other regions include Japanese subtitling or dubbing??? How many carry Japanese films, which are mostly crap and barely even sell in Japan, let alone outside? The PS2 flew off the shelves because not owning one would be shameful. (I'm kidding--it really was for the DVD capabilities, although I got my DVD player for less than 10,000 yen, so either prices have fallen dramatically or people actually did want a game console.)
"Monkey time" for good fashion service.
Re:this shouldn't have been accepted by /.
on
Jet Turbine Locomotives
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Trains are nearly obsolete? Gee, try telling that to the rest of the developed world. Most Japanese people ONLY use trains. The way to get around Europe is on the trains. In fact, it is not TRAINS which are obsolete, but the US and Canada, who still have these ridiculous diesel engines that are just not suited to getting people around (I had the misfortune--or the adventure--of geting around China for a month on diesel trains--30 hours from Canton to Shanghai; ugh).
North America needs to jump on the railway bandwagon for a lot of reasons, most importantly to reduce energy consumption and associated air pollution. You may not realize it, but as much as gas costs now, it's STILL far, far less than what the rest of the world pays, thanks to a fossil of a fossil-fuel-hungry government. Unfortunately, this train doesn't really address that issue very well, as it still uses fossil fuel (albeit less than all those passengers driving SUVs). To really clean things up, we need electric trains, like the rest of the developed world.
From a convenience standpoint, however, this train--should it be accepted by the public, which it won't be, since we all love our farcical SUVs so damn much--would make life a whole lot easier. Instead driving hours to get up to my meeting in San Francisco next weekend, I could sit on a train, kick back, drink a beer, read some news on my PDA, watch the scenery fly by, take a nap, and wake up refreshed and ready to work. I would not have had to deal with bastard drivers, getting lost, or even paying attention to where I was going. I also would not have had to be security screened, sniffed by drug dogs, had my fingernail clippers taken away, or sit in a cramped, loud seat in a fart-smelling plane.
Trains are the way to go for short-to-medium length trips, and people like you, with your 1950's idea of the railroad, are the people who keep it from happening. Go on, spend some time abroad. Take advantage of other countries' great train systems. If you come back still thinking trains are "obsolete," I'll refund you the cost of reading this post.;)
Yeah, I agree with the nutjob who thinks that kids don't like eplosions! There is a worldwide problem of people thinking that "science" means "exploding stuff." Just put some ice in a beaker and boil it to show the tri-point. That experiment kicks ass. It's like "Whoah! Check it out!!! There's ice, water AND steam in this beaker! Thanks, science!!!"
Pshaw! I have been living in Japan for the last couple years, so I was able to sit down in many a toystore (much to the chagrin of my mate) and evaluate the various tiny remote-controlled car options available. I deemed it necessary to throroughly weigh the pros and cons of each device before making a decision as important as what toy with which to fascinate both myself and my dear colleagues and cronies alike. And, after such exhaustive product research, I came to the conclusion that since only Tomica offered their car in a blue Nissan Skyline model, the BitChar-G cars were just way way radder and that Digi-Q SUCKED ASS and were for STUPID PENISLESS GIRLS!
SO TAKE THAT, ALL YOU TOMICA HAT0R2! BITCHAR-G IS IN THA HIZOUSE! BIOTCH! WOOOOOOOO!
There are 3 motors available (for the Tomica ones). The 1.0 is the slowest, but has the most torque. That's what you want to use to climb ramps. It's also very maneouverable. The 2.2 is faster, less torque, but good for most applications. Then the 2.6 is just crazy fast--it's hard to control. But fast.
So, long story short, get a different motor. Or different gears. They are customizable. That's the point.
Blarg, Digi-Qs are just cheap knock-offs of Bit Char-Gs. Digi-Qs are IR anyway, which is why they are so cheap. Real boys play with the proper Tomica Bit Char-G, which runs about 2600 yen (a little more than $20). I gots me four of them so I can amaze my friends and annoy my enemies. My girlfriend (Japanese) is embarrassed whenever I take them out to the bar with me, but if she can't handle having an infantile boyfriend, she should have thought about that a long time ago.
Uhh, I have about 10 kids in my school here who were born Brazillian and whose families have moved to Japan and become citizens. Additionally, I have 2 Korean-born kids. And finally, there was the dust up in Hokkaido between Debito (David) Arado, the Japanese citizen from Canada (I believe) vs. the local public bath owners. People move here all the time, and the citizenry requirements are not really that strict anymore. You're thinking of like 30 years ago.
Oh, and their computers... are... on topic.
Indeed. They really are gadget lovers, but I've never seen how that improved their computers, aside from making them more proprietary and complex. I use a Japanese laptop, but I bought the bottom-of-the-line so I could simplify my driver search. I have, not surprisingly, never found the drivers for the stupid wheel on my Sony, and I see now that Sony is incorportating their loathsome roller from their phones into their laptops.
Aside from size, foreign consumers don't need to fear losing out much in the way of Japanese computers, says I. Phones, yes, hell yes, but not computers. Their love of gadgets is a burden in this field.
Slashdot Mirror
1) Japan uses 100V electricity.
2) Japan's outlets lack polarization as well as a ground (earth) socket.
3) All plumbing fixtures I have ever seen in Japan are made by Toto (a Japanese company) or sometimes Mitsubishi. They are different designs than you would have here.
Moreover, Japanese people use stamps instead of signatures, hand-write nearly all important documents, use only wire transfers--no checks... There are very few Western standards used in domestic Japanese business. The way Japanese companies function domestically and internationally could not be any more different. There are no standards.
Perhaps you should take a trip outside of the US so you stop being one of those irritating Americans who think that the rest of the world is just like you, aside from language. You'd be surprised to find that other nations and cultures have come up with some ideas as well!
Yeah, when I was at my first college, an alum I knew wanted to donate all his theatre books--books on acting, books on directing, tons and tons of scripts--so I hauled the boxes in, was thanked, and told the theatre department that there was a substantial new collection of theatre texts available in the library. Then, about a month later, the little book-selling cart was laden with books I recognized. It was the entire collection, selling ro $2 a pop. Since I was a theatre major, I had wanted all those books but had done the alum's bidding and offered them to the public. Now I found myself in the ludicrous position of having to buy back the books I donated if I wanted to read them. When I confronted the head librarian, he said that they didn't think they belonged in the collection (in a school that was well-known for its theatre department). I said that if that was the case, I'd like them back. He said no. So I stole them all and gave them to my friends. Never give books to libraries.
If you have your own car, you can usually get a discount by going at sane movie-watching times (in the evening). Oh, and check for stamp cards and special deals. Most of the big theater chains (Toho, Mycal-Warner) have showings that drop as low as 1000 yen. Oh, and DVDs aren't always that expensive. They are sometimes to be had on sale for as little as 1900 yen, such as "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikushi" ("Spirited Away"). Finally, even if Japanese users were buying PS2s without the region lock to buy cheaper foreign movies, how many other regions include Japanese subtitling or dubbing??? How many carry Japanese films, which are mostly crap and barely even sell in Japan, let alone outside? The PS2 flew off the shelves because not owning one would be shameful. (I'm kidding--it really was for the DVD capabilities, although I got my DVD player for less than 10,000 yen, so either prices have fallen dramatically or people actually did want a game console.) "Monkey time" for good fashion service.
Trains are nearly obsolete? Gee, try telling that to the rest of the developed world. Most Japanese people ONLY use trains. The way to get around Europe is on the trains. In fact, it is not TRAINS which are obsolete, but the US and Canada, who still have these ridiculous diesel engines that are just not suited to getting people around (I had the misfortune--or the adventure--of geting around China for a month on diesel trains--30 hours from Canton to Shanghai; ugh). North America needs to jump on the railway bandwagon for a lot of reasons, most importantly to reduce energy consumption and associated air pollution. You may not realize it, but as much as gas costs now, it's STILL far, far less than what the rest of the world pays, thanks to a fossil of a fossil-fuel-hungry government. Unfortunately, this train doesn't really address that issue very well, as it still uses fossil fuel (albeit less than all those passengers driving SUVs). To really clean things up, we need electric trains, like the rest of the developed world. From a convenience standpoint, however, this train--should it be accepted by the public, which it won't be, since we all love our farcical SUVs so damn much--would make life a whole lot easier. Instead driving hours to get up to my meeting in San Francisco next weekend, I could sit on a train, kick back, drink a beer, read some news on my PDA, watch the scenery fly by, take a nap, and wake up refreshed and ready to work. I would not have had to deal with bastard drivers, getting lost, or even paying attention to where I was going. I also would not have had to be security screened, sniffed by drug dogs, had my fingernail clippers taken away, or sit in a cramped, loud seat in a fart-smelling plane. Trains are the way to go for short-to-medium length trips, and people like you, with your 1950's idea of the railroad, are the people who keep it from happening. Go on, spend some time abroad. Take advantage of other countries' great train systems. If you come back still thinking trains are "obsolete," I'll refund you the cost of reading this post. ;)
Yeah, I agree with the nutjob who thinks that kids don't like eplosions! There is a worldwide problem of people thinking that "science" means "exploding stuff." Just put some ice in a beaker and boil it to show the tri-point. That experiment kicks ass. It's like "Whoah! Check it out!!! There's ice, water AND steam in this beaker! Thanks, science!!!"
Pshaw! I have been living in Japan for the last couple years, so I was able to sit down in many a toystore (much to the chagrin of my mate) and evaluate the various tiny remote-controlled car options available. I deemed it necessary to throroughly weigh the pros and cons of each device before making a decision as important as what toy with which to fascinate both myself and my dear colleagues and cronies alike. And, after such exhaustive product research, I came to the conclusion that since only Tomica offered their car in a blue Nissan Skyline model, the BitChar-G cars were just way way radder and that Digi-Q SUCKED ASS and were for STUPID PENISLESS GIRLS! SO TAKE THAT, ALL YOU TOMICA HAT0R2! BITCHAR-G IS IN THA HIZOUSE! BIOTCH! WOOOOOOOO!
There are 3 motors available (for the Tomica ones). The 1.0 is the slowest, but has the most torque. That's what you want to use to climb ramps. It's also very maneouverable. The 2.2 is faster, less torque, but good for most applications. Then the 2.6 is just crazy fast--it's hard to control. But fast. So, long story short, get a different motor. Or different gears. They are customizable. That's the point.
Blarg, Digi-Qs are just cheap knock-offs of Bit Char-Gs. Digi-Qs are IR anyway, which is why they are so cheap. Real boys play with the proper Tomica Bit Char-G, which runs about 2600 yen (a little more than $20). I gots me four of them so I can amaze my friends and annoy my enemies. My girlfriend (Japanese) is embarrassed whenever I take them out to the bar with me, but if she can't handle having an infantile boyfriend, she should have thought about that a long time ago.
Uhh, I have about 10 kids in my school here who were born Brazillian and whose families have moved to Japan and become citizens. Additionally, I have 2 Korean-born kids. And finally, there was the dust up in Hokkaido between Debito (David) Arado, the Japanese citizen from Canada (I believe) vs. the local public bath owners. People move here all the time, and the citizenry requirements are not really that strict anymore. You're thinking of like 30 years ago. Oh, and their computers... are... on topic.
Indeed. They really are gadget lovers, but I've never seen how that improved their computers, aside from making them more proprietary and complex. I use a Japanese laptop, but I bought the bottom-of-the-line so I could simplify my driver search. I have, not surprisingly, never found the drivers for the stupid wheel on my Sony, and I see now that Sony is incorportating their loathsome roller from their phones into their laptops. Aside from size, foreign consumers don't need to fear losing out much in the way of Japanese computers, says I. Phones, yes, hell yes, but not computers. Their love of gadgets is a burden in this field.