Ruts cut in roads, or slightly raised areas are all over the place in Japan, with the former usually to provide better traction in ice/snow, and the latter to warn of sharp curves, etc. They are annoying as hell, and noisy. They also have a tendency to wake up my toddlers in the back seat, even when driving quite slowly. Sure, use them for better grip on slippery roads, but just for novelty value? Yet another waste of public funds in a country that is notorious for it...
Speaking as someone who translates from Japanese to English for a living, the quality of the so-called "translation" spat out by Babelfish make me feel a lot better about my long-term job security...
I can't open the article (link down?), but I would not be surprised if this is yet another shady deal between the Japanese government and major manufacturers to keep people buying new products.
The compulsory registration fees already make it expensive enough to run a car here, and suspect this is more of the same - "keep people purchasing, and keep the economy afloat." After all, it has worked for the last 50 years here.
iiNet is forcing customers to take their long distance phone service as well to get access to the 8Mbit/s speeds
With speeds such as these, users may be able to avoid the long distance phone service with something by using services such as Skype's paid service, which is bound to be a lot cheaper.
Yep, but even the concept of debit cards is pretty well unknown here in Japan.
And what about using ATM cards instores?
I've been using my regular cash card at pretty well every store that I go to in New Zealand for many years now, with no hassles. Everything from a bar to a supermarket to a car dealership. This idea is only just starting to catch on in Japan.
Actually, infants' first crap (tm) is green / black. Meconium. Horrible stuff to clean up. It turns that attractive mustard color after a couple of days. </pedant>
Indeed, a great idea for new products, but the system has only been around for a couple of years. Anything bought more than 2-3 years ago is not covered, and you are supposed to bring the appliance to an electronics store, and pay them to get rid of it. That is why people chuck them off mountain roads, or in rice paddys.
It covers most electronics of any size, but a lot of people don't want to spend the ~$50 to get their old TV recycled, so they just dump it in a field, or by the side of the road.
This is a great idea in principle.
However, I live in Japan, and mountain biking here is a great opportunity to see enormous piles of industrial waste. More than a few companies use this system to make a few extra yen, by charging for recycling, then simply getting some small-time trucking company to either landfill the items, or as is often the case, to drive up into the mountains and dump the load off the edge of the road.
There is significant opposition to the new legislation, which has also covered most major electrical appliances for a couple of years. Getting the store to take your old TV off your hands can cost, IIRC, something like 5000 yen. Instead of paying that, many individuals will just chuck an old TV into a rice field, or leave it somewhere. This extends to dumping cars, as it is cheaper than spending the couple of hundred dollars to get them properly trashed.
The idea that public littering is bad is still a bit of a foreign concept in Japan. The "Japanese love of nature" thing is a bit of a bad joke to anyone who has spent more than a few days in the country.
All-you-can-eat deals are not your friends. In the west, we have this habit of eating until we are full. If you can get used to the idea of eating until you don't need any more, that can be enough to make the difference.
This is one reason the Okinawans life so long, and are so annoyingly healthy - they practice "hara hachi-bu" meaning eating until you are 80% full.
I have found that a lot of losing weight is a paradigm shift. Instead of thinking "Shit, I'm hungry," try thinking "I feel light and energetic."
Cutting out snacks, and not gorging worked to get rid of 12kg (25 pound) in a couple of months, without any increase in exercise.
Also, more or less everybody travels by train so there are more opportunities to get some work done while commuting to and from work etc
People travel by train In 2-3 of the major cities, but in those areas, trains are often far too crowded to work, let alone sit down. In large parts of Japan, people drive to work, ride bicycles, or take buses.
probably in wireless up to their eyeballs out there
Uh, no. Nowhere near as much as the US or Europe.
Japan is a fantastic place. You haven't spent very much time here, have you?;-)
Good comments, but with a correction - both Win 2000 and XP have full Japanese support out of the box, with no addons or extra purchases required. I'm a Japanese - English translator, using just English XP, and all my Japanese programs work as they were intended to.
98 and ME are terrible in multilanguage support, but that's another story...
Multilingual support used to be the main selling point Macs, for people wanting to use different languages, but I have to say that with 200 and XP, Windows has finally got Japanese support right, and working beautifully.
Slashdot Mirror
Ruts cut in roads, or slightly raised areas are all over the place in Japan, with the former usually to provide better traction in ice/snow, and the latter to warn of sharp curves, etc. They are annoying as hell, and noisy. They also have a tendency to wake up my toddlers in the back seat, even when driving quite slowly. Sure, use them for better grip on slippery roads, but just for novelty value? Yet another waste of public funds in a country that is notorious for it...
Speaking as someone who translates from Japanese to English for a living, the quality of the so-called "translation" spat out by Babelfish make me feel a lot better about my long-term job security...
I can't open the article (link down?), but I would not be surprised if this is yet another shady deal between the Japanese government and major manufacturers to keep people buying new products.
The compulsory registration fees already make it expensive enough to run a car here, and suspect this is more of the same - "keep people purchasing, and keep the economy afloat." After all, it has worked for the last 50 years here.
Maybe even some like this...
http://www.repenetrator.com/
(not safe for work)
iiNet is forcing customers to take their long distance phone service as well to get access to the 8Mbit/s speeds
With speeds such as these, users may be able to avoid the long distance phone service with something by using services such as Skype's paid service, which is bound to be a lot cheaper.
Does this mean that we are going to see even more Bollywood movies on file sharing networks?
Yep, but even the concept of debit cards is pretty well unknown here in Japan.
And what about using ATM cards instores?
I've been using my regular cash card at pretty well every store that I go to in New Zealand for many years now, with no hassles. Everything from a bar to a supermarket to a car dealership. This idea is only just starting to catch on in Japan.
I can't even begin to imagine what sort of heat this thing would put out, or what sort of power requirements it would have.
Actually, infants' first crap (tm) is green / black. Meconium. Horrible stuff to clean up. It turns that attractive mustard color after a couple of days.
</pedant>
Oh the irony...
I particularly enjoy the "Ads by Google" in the banner at right of the article, for
Bulk Mailer
Reach 500,000 opt-in recipients
and Bulk Email List
Low Cost Bulk Email Marketing Full Email Reports.
Am I the only one that thinks this could be a useful way to keep stable a base from which to broadcast all sorts of stuff?
Tethered balloons have long annoying (and heavy?) tethers for planes to run into, but this seems to stay above that height.
Covering the gas bag with solar cells or the like could mean the thing could stay up there for ages.
...because they go faster....
Indeed, a great idea for new products, but the system has only been around for a couple of years. Anything bought more than 2-3 years ago is not covered, and you are supposed to bring the appliance to an electronics store, and pay them to get rid of it.
That is why people chuck them off mountain roads, or in rice paddys.
It covers most electronics of any size, but a lot of people don't want to spend the ~$50 to get their old TV recycled, so they just dump it in a field, or by the side of the road.
This is a great idea in principle. However, I live in Japan, and mountain biking here is a great opportunity to see enormous piles of industrial waste. More than a few companies use this system to make a few extra yen, by charging for recycling, then simply getting some small-time trucking company to either landfill the items, or as is often the case, to drive up into the mountains and dump the load off the edge of the road.
There is significant opposition to the new legislation, which has also covered most major electrical appliances for a couple of years. Getting the store to take your old TV off your hands can cost, IIRC, something like 5000 yen. Instead of paying that, many individuals will just chuck an old TV into a rice field, or leave it somewhere. This extends to dumping cars, as it is cheaper than spending the couple of hundred dollars to get them properly trashed.
The idea that public littering is bad is still a bit of a foreign concept in Japan. The "Japanese love of nature" thing is a bit of a bad joke to anyone who has spent more than a few days in the country.
Just imagine a Beowulf cluster of these.
Just imagine the noise of them.
From here in Japan, heading west, we run into the USA, most of which appears pretty wild.
Of course, Bush is only adding to that impression...
All-you-can-eat deals are not your friends. In the west, we have this habit of eating until we are full. If you can get used to the idea of eating until you don't need any more, that can be enough to make the difference.
This is one reason the Okinawans life so long, and are so annoyingly healthy - they practice "hara hachi-bu" meaning eating until you are 80% full.
I have found that a lot of losing weight is a paradigm shift. Instead of thinking "Shit, I'm hungry," try thinking "I feel light and energetic." Cutting out snacks, and not gorging worked to get rid of 12kg (25 pound) in a couple of months, without any increase in exercise.
I live near Tohoku Dai, and this robot is the closest most of the male students are ever going to get to holding a woman.
Because most of the world (i.e. outside the US) has beer that actually has significant alcohol in it. In the region of 5-13%.
NASA should call on (and pay lots of money to) the inimitable Bruce Simpson.
Yep, and you can buy vegetables, eggs, porn videos, rice, and software from machines in Japan...
Early adopters, most definitely.
;-)
Also, more or less everybody travels by train so there are more opportunities to get some work done while commuting to and from work etc
People travel by train In 2-3 of the major cities, but in those areas, trains are often far too crowded to work, let alone sit down. In large parts of Japan, people drive to work, ride bicycles, or take buses.
probably in wireless up to their eyeballs out there
Uh, no. Nowhere near as much as the US or Europe.
Japan is a fantastic place.
You haven't spent very much time here, have you?
Good comments, but with a correction - both Win 2000 and XP have full Japanese support out of the box, with no addons or extra purchases required.
I'm a Japanese - English translator, using just English XP, and all my Japanese programs work as they were intended to. 98 and ME are terrible in multilanguage support, but that's another story...
Multilingual support used to be the main selling point Macs, for people wanting to use different languages, but I have to say that with 200 and XP, Windows has finally got Japanese support right, and working beautifully.
Radio controlled tanks are nothing new - my neighbor had one 60 years ago.
He sat inside it, a radio signal came in, and in response to that message, he shot at Germans.