That is not really true. There was a period of (planned) rolling blackouts, but in the end energy conservation (and increased generation) meant that, except for immediately after the quake, the lights didn't go off.
However, many buildings (and stations) reduced lighting and took some escalators out of service. However, even those measures have mostly been abandoned, with escalators and the like operating as before (partly due to the fact that it wasn't practical to block off escalators in many of the busier stations). Many stores and offices, however, continue to turn off some of their lights.
That said, even at "reduced" lighting, most Japanese stations are still incredibly well lit. We aren't talking about platforms half shrouded in shadow so much as a slight reduction in the overall brightness level.
It will be interesting to see, however, what happens as we once again approach summer (and the increased energy demands due to A/C) combined with the current shut-down of nuclear power plants.
"l. A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company's dormitories, and then each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames"
Of course having next to no labour laws or enforced practices, combined with a workforce housed on site results in amazing results when last minute changes (or ramp ups in production) need to happen.
I'm sure there are many areas of expertise and scale where overseas factories outperform their American counterparts, but is this really the best example to use?
I was on this train last night, actually, at it was a pretty wild experience once you realized the entire train was outfitted in Star Wars ads. The lightsabers are definitely a nice touch. That said, trains occasionally get the all-car treatment, and I remember one Yamanote line train being made up in Meiji Chocolate-bar wrap (as part of an anniversary event, being used as a call back to the lines original brown colour), and another time when a train was made out for a breath mint add where all the handlebars were shaped like mint packets!
One note, however, is that it is actually a Sobu Line Local (JR) train, not the subway.
I know my AU phone stopped automatically receiving push e-mail, but would still respond to manual queries no problem. Were you unable to send/receive mail at all?
As a resident of Japan, it strikes me as far more productive to donate the money I would use to buy a Geiger counter to disaster relief aimed at helping those more directly affected by the quake and tsunami. The government has been strictly monitoring levels in food and has been quite quick to prevent shipments of any food which might present even a small risk.
except that the type of BBS/Bulletin-Board page you linked to in the second link remains fairly common and popular today.
Why? Because it's easy to have it and a cell-phone version. As a lot of internet-browsing gets done on cell-phones, this has meant that many sites create their cell-phone version first and the PC version second.
There is certainly a lot more aural stimulation in Japan.
Actually, the advertising cars (not just for politicians, but also often for second-hand stores and garbage recyclers), at least for elections came about partly due to the wording of Japanese election law as I understand it.
But you are certainly right that there are far more audio-visual displays (and giant advertising screens) even in smaller cities here in Japan than elsewhere. Interestingly though, I had to think about whether one actually existed in my city... you sort of tune them out.
I also think Mixi is a good example... though I think it has a fairly clean design, it also illustrates how important (picture) emoticons are -- something which has been inherited from the cellphone culture.
Heck, even a few steps from Ueno (towards Ueno-park or Asakusa) can lead you to a relatively quiet area. I think that attempting to ascribe Japanese web-design layouts to the city layouts betrays a lack of familiarity with Japan as a whole (Japan != Shibuya. Tokyo != Japan), and simply "others" Japan as an easy way to explain difference.
I think there does exist a certain "do-it-yourself" attitude within Japan which favours home-grown solutions (especially in the technological/mobile area -- look at how closely the carriers control development of cell phones). Mixi, for example, created their own version of twitter (and, made it linkable with twitter, but only for twitter->Mixi, not the other way) and emulated what they saw as the best parts of facebook (the "like it" / "ii ne" button anyone?).
At least if you keep in plugged in it can be a doorstop *and* space-heater.
Still, it will be interesting to see how Sony's handling of this will progress... it seems like an amazingly big hole to miss in QA testing.
I wonder why they suddenly felt such a rush to "plug" this "hole".... did some new hack allowing pirated games to be played recently come out which utilized the "install other OS" function?
Although I must say I can't see this as being done on purpose -- no matter how much Sony might like to see the "fat" PS3s be cycled out of use.
Though I certainly think that the ACTA treaty does not qualify, can you not imagine any instances where it might be necessary for a government to debate something in secret?
Are there issues where the public at large should trust their elected officials to make the decisions which best suit the needs of a populace as a whole? Are there perhaps situations where the populace as a whole knowing might lead to worse decisions being made? I'm honestly not sure as to the answer to these questions, but I do think that there are probably issues (for example pertaining to national security and military intelligence -- again, both areas into which I do not think ACTA falls) where the populace as a whole is best served by not being informed.
The point of debate is certainly to discuss -- that isn't the issue... the question is how wide an audience should participate in the discussion.
Except that that isn't really true anymore anymore. Phones cost around $500, but the major carriers break that out into monthly payments, and give subsidies for agreeing to a long term contract -- generally 2 years (the system variest from Carrier to carrier, but that is basically the situation with AU, Docomo, and Softbank).
The $30 voice plan does cost $30, but then you add in the data plan and you add $10~$42 / month depending on use. And e-mail useage counts towards data use (there are systems analagous to text messaging, but phone e-mail basically plays the role that texts do in America/Canada/Europe).
There is of course still tax and the Universal Access Fee. But, there aren't any "system access fees".
Certainly the plans are generally better and more clearly advertised in Japan, but the situation has changed coinciderably in the last few years.
(For those who don't know the seishun 18 kippu is a ticket which normally costs 11,500 yen and which allows you to ride on any local (non shinkansen, non-express) JR owned trains for any 5 days during the tickets period of validity. It is only available during certain seasons, however)
I will certainly agree that the Shinkansen is a wonderfully fast and generally convenient way to travel (especially since it, for the most part, connects seamlessly to the "local" trains for transfers).
However, it does suffer from one problem -- it is, generally speaking, more expensive than the equivalent plane ride. While it rocks on the rail pass to take the Shinkansen from Tokyo --> Hiroshima and back... that trip alone costs about as much as the rail pass!
When the great grow-house minds from Surrey combine with the scientists from Vancouver... actually I'm not sure what will happen, but I'm reminded of the advertisement for the New Westminster Condo that read "Living here means never having to say you're Surrey"
Seriously though, I wish them all luck. If Canada wins this it will be an nice addition to producing the Canadarm.
However, NHK has now filed several lawsuits with the aim of collecting unpaid fees. The government is apparently also looking at making in mandatory under the law, with garnishing of wages (or other sticks) being concidered.
To be fair, the 100Mbs fiber for $36 / mo refers to fiber connections which are shared among a set number of users in a given apartment building (I believe either capped at 6 or 8, but I don't recall the actual number).
Slashdot Mirror
This blog discusses the case and its ramifications briefly
Significance: Under this Supreme Court ruling, consumer contracts that require binding arbitration and prohibit participation in classwide arbitration are allowable.
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/banking/2011/05/us-supreme-court-okays-binding-arbitration-clauses-prohibiting-consumers-from-joining-class-actions.html
That is not really true. There was a period of (planned) rolling blackouts, but in the end energy conservation (and increased generation) meant that, except for immediately after the quake, the lights didn't go off.
However, many buildings (and stations) reduced lighting and took some escalators out of service. However, even those measures have mostly been abandoned, with escalators and the like operating as before (partly due to the fact that it wasn't practical to block off escalators in many of the busier stations). Many stores and offices, however, continue to turn off some of their lights.
That said, even at "reduced" lighting, most Japanese stations are still incredibly well lit. We aren't talking about platforms half shrouded in shadow so much as a slight reduction in the overall brightness level.
It will be interesting to see, however, what happens as we once again approach summer (and the increased energy demands due to A/C) combined with the current shut-down of nuclear power plants.
"l. A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company's dormitories, and then each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames"
Of course having next to no labour laws or enforced practices, combined with a workforce housed on site results in amazing results when last minute changes (or ramp ups in production) need to happen.
I'm sure there are many areas of expertise and scale where overseas factories outperform their American counterparts, but is this really the best example to use?
I was on this train last night, actually, at it was a pretty wild experience once you realized the entire train was outfitted in Star Wars ads. The lightsabers are definitely a nice touch. That said, trains occasionally get the all-car treatment, and I remember one Yamanote line train being made up in Meiji Chocolate-bar wrap (as part of an anniversary event, being used as a call back to the lines original brown colour), and another time when a train was made out for a breath mint add where all the handlebars were shaped like mint packets!
One note, however, is that it is actually a Sobu Line Local (JR) train, not the subway.
Meiji Yamanote Train: http://www.japantrends.com/ride-the-meiji-chocolate-choo-choo-yamanote/
I know my AU phone stopped automatically receiving push e-mail, but would still respond to manual queries no problem. Were you unable to send/receive mail at all?
Well, both AU and Docomo reliably delivered consistent data reception throughout the earthquake period, for what it's worth.
As a resident of Japan, it strikes me as far more productive to donate the money I would use to buy a Geiger counter to disaster relief aimed at helping those more directly affected by the quake and tsunami. The government has been strictly monitoring levels in food and has been quite quick to prevent shipments of any food which might present even a small risk.
except that the type of BBS/Bulletin-Board page you linked to in the second link remains fairly common and popular today.
Why? Because it's easy to have it and a cell-phone version. As a lot of internet-browsing gets done on cell-phones, this has meant that many sites create their cell-phone version first and the PC version second.
There is certainly a lot more aural stimulation in Japan.
Actually, the advertising cars (not just for politicians, but also often for second-hand stores and garbage recyclers), at least for elections came about partly due to the wording of Japanese election law as I understand it.
But you are certainly right that there are far more audio-visual displays (and giant advertising screens) even in smaller cities here in Japan than elsewhere. Interestingly though, I had to think about whether one actually existed in my city... you sort of tune them out.
I also think Mixi is a good example... though I think it has a fairly clean design, it also illustrates how important (picture) emoticons are -- something which has been inherited from the cellphone culture.
Heck, even a few steps from Ueno (towards Ueno-park or Asakusa) can lead you to a relatively quiet area. I think that attempting to ascribe Japanese web-design layouts to the city layouts betrays a lack of familiarity with Japan as a whole (Japan != Shibuya. Tokyo != Japan), and simply "others" Japan as an easy way to explain difference.
I think there does exist a certain "do-it-yourself" attitude within Japan which favours home-grown solutions (especially in the technological/mobile area -- look at how closely the carriers control development of cell phones). Mixi, for example, created their own version of twitter (and, made it linkable with twitter, but only for twitter->Mixi, not the other way) and emulated what they saw as the best parts of facebook (the "like it" / "ii ne" button anyone?).
At least if you keep in plugged in it can be a doorstop *and* space-heater.
Still, it will be interesting to see how Sony's handling of this will progress... it seems like an amazingly big hole to miss in QA testing.
I wonder why they suddenly felt such a rush to "plug" this "hole".... did some new hack allowing pirated games to be played recently come out which utilized the "install other OS" function?
Although I must say I can't see this as being done on purpose -- no matter how much Sony might like to see the "fat" PS3s be cycled out of use.
Though I certainly think that the ACTA treaty does not qualify, can you not imagine any instances where it might be necessary for a government to debate something in secret?
Are there issues where the public at large should trust their elected officials to make the decisions which best suit the needs of a populace as a whole? Are there perhaps situations where the populace as a whole knowing might lead to worse decisions being made? I'm honestly not sure as to the answer to these questions, but I do think that there are probably issues (for example pertaining to national security and military intelligence -- again, both areas into which I do not think ACTA falls) where the populace as a whole is best served by not being informed.
The point of debate is certainly to discuss -- that isn't the issue... the question is how wide an audience should participate in the discussion.
And admire their resolve to make the treaty public -- indeed I am curious to see what it contains.
However, I wonder if parliamentary decorum doesn't traditionally restrict public discussion of issues currently up for debate...
Just because it is an unwritten rule does not mean it should be casually ignored... as much as we might disagree with the end results.
Except that that isn't really true anymore anymore. Phones cost around $500, but the major carriers break that out into monthly payments, and give subsidies for agreeing to a long term contract -- generally 2 years (the system variest from Carrier to carrier, but that is basically the situation with AU, Docomo, and Softbank).
The $30 voice plan does cost $30, but then you add in the data plan and you add $10~$42 / month depending on use. And e-mail useage counts towards data use (there are systems analagous to text messaging, but phone e-mail basically plays the role that texts do in America/Canada/Europe).
There is of course still tax and the Universal Access Fee. But, there aren't any "system access fees".
Certainly the plans are generally better and more clearly advertised in Japan, but the situation has changed coinciderably in the last few years.
*cough* yeah, reading my own post my be smart :p
Err... couldn't you?
(For those who don't know the seishun 18 kippu is a ticket which normally costs 11,500 yen and which allows you to ride on any local (non shinkansen, non-express) JR owned trains for any 5 days during the tickets period of validity. It is only available during certain seasons, however)
I will certainly agree that the Shinkansen is a wonderfully fast and generally convenient way to travel (especially since it, for the most part, connects seamlessly to the "local" trains for transfers).
However, it does suffer from one problem -- it is, generally speaking, more expensive than the equivalent plane ride. While it rocks on the rail pass to take the Shinkansen from Tokyo --> Hiroshima and back... that trip alone costs about as much as the rail pass!
Telus also does not use GSM AFAIK, meaning that the only GSM users are the rogers owned companies.
But, even if you unlock it, what will you do with it in Canada? Take it to Fido, which is also owned by Rogers?
When the great grow-house minds from Surrey combine with the scientists from Vancouver... actually I'm not sure what will happen, but I'm reminded of the advertisement for the New Westminster Condo that read "Living here means never having to say you're Surrey"
Seriously though, I wish them all luck. If Canada wins this it will be an nice addition to producing the Canadarm.
However, NHK has now filed several lawsuits with the aim of collecting unpaid fees. The government is apparently also looking at making in mandatory under the law, with garnishing of wages (or other sticks) being concidered.
Not that it's entirely related, but at least in Canada and Japan subsidized cell phones are also the norm.
And Tucows was part of the supposed crime how exactly?
I can see Spamhaus being at possible fault, but Tucows?
I mean, is Spamhaus bought a gun from Tucows in Canada, took it to Illinois, and then shot someone, would Tucows be bound by Illinois law?
Where exactly was the supposed crime commited exactly?
It does exempt them from Illinois law if the act never happened in Illinois.
To be fair, the 100Mbs fiber for $36 / mo refers to fiber connections which are shared among a set number of users in a given apartment building (I believe either capped at 6 or 8, but I don't recall the actual number).