Tag Archives: news

Goodbye, Steve Jobs

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This is the look of (I’m guessing) all of Apple Inc.’s web pages today; at least the U.S. and Japan Apple sites have this look. We learned this morning that Steve Jobs, founder and leader of Apple Computer and now Apple Inc. passed away from his fight with pancreatic cancer and its aftermath.

I have been a long-time Mac user, since the first Macintosh in 1984. That machine had 128KHz (that’s a k, as in kilobytes) and a one-sided floppy (but not so floppy) disk drive with 400k of storage. I later upgraded it to a Fat Mac with a double-sided drive and 512k of memory. I’m looking at the numbers on the MacBook Pro I’m using now and it has 2.8 GHz; that’s 7,000 times more processing speed, and I’m not even sure those numbers can be compared. I carry an iPhone, I use an iPad, and, based on Apple’s cool presentation of the new iPod Nano watch faces yesterday, I have one of those on the way to strap onto my wrist.

Virtually 1/2 of my life has Steve Jobs’ imprint on it. He truly was a genius. I am in shock, and I am sad about his death. Thank you for all your hard work, Steve. You are going to be sorely missed. Rest in peace…

The Kyushu Shinkansen

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After a looooong wait, we finally have a shinkansen line here in Kyushu. Service started the day after the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami and aftershocks. Those events put a big damper on the festivities, but the trains are running, and boy, are they nice. The above photo is at Kurume station where there are both smoking and non-smoking rooms while you wait for your train.

You’ll need to know if your train is a 6- or 8-car train, so you line up at the correct gate. It makes a difference because the trains will have a different place to stop depending on their length.

I had a reserved seat, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but, as you can see, the train I was on was not crowded. In fact I was the only one on my car. I could have saved some money by buying a non-reserved seat. You really need to know how busy a train will be at any particular time.

The seats are comfortable, and there is at least one 100V, 60Hz electrical power outlet for every two seats. The front seats at the bulkhead each have their own outlets.

I haven’t ridden the shinkansen in years, so I’m not sure about the power outlets in the other lines of the JR systems. I have to assume they also have power outlets available. I’m hoping to have more chances to ride the trains a write about those experiences.

[Editor's note: The above photos were shot with the best camera (is the one you have with you): my iPhone 4. I thought it did pretty well in both bright and dark conditions.]

Halloween in Japan

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Just like Mexico is beginning to celebrate Halloween, I noticed much more Halloween activity here in Kumamoto this year. Most of it seem to have the commercial angle. Most of the convenience stores have a Halloween corner when you walk in. Our favorite cake shop was all decked out in decorations and most of the cakes on sale had a Halloween angle. All the department stores I went to in the past month had Halloween cakes and food of some kind for sale. Even the ¥100 stores were selling something to play with or wear.

I did not see any full costumes being worn outside of any of the stores, but there was a local news report showing a Halloween parade downtown in the big shopping arcade. I saw a group of four students below my office having a picnic; they were trying on each others’ masks and having a fun time. Four of my students came to my office saying, “trick or treat,” and they got some of my stash of Hersheys dark chocolate—smiles all around.

I hope some of the commercial aspect wears off and people can enjoy the day dressing up as their favorite characters (or even teachers! :-) )

The San Diego Fires—2007

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I have had a lot of people asking about the situation in San Diego. So far, things seem to be okay with all the people I know. There are a few sources I use to keep track of what is going on there. The good folks at Channel 8 have been providing updates and maps that are useful. The latest google mashup they have there is particularly useful. Since much of the trouble that concerns me is in the North County area, The North County Times has been a good source, too. And, if you can believe it, even the City’s homepage has some useful information.

To get an idea of the devastation, I’ll link to a couple of clips that have been shown around the world. First, a little background: when I was a high school kid, I drove a 1968 VW beetle. This was back in the day when all we had were radios to listen to (man, I miss good radio…). Every afternoon, after school, and after swimming or water polo practice, I would turn on the radio and listen to “The Cruiser” on KGB. Anyone who has spent any time in San Diego knows about Larry Himmel. In fact, I kind of met him in 1979 when—silly me—I tried to refuse selling him a beer when he walked into the main bar at the Hotel Del Coronado at 1:55 am, 5 minutes before California’s law prevents the sale of alcohol. One of the cocktail waitresses (would that be ‘prepared beverage waitperson’ these days?) said I should sell him a beer, so I did.

Anyway, he is a well-known guy in San Diego, reporting on human-interest stories and cracking jokes. Here is the video of his house burning down, covered by none other than himself (I saw this video in Japan on CNN and Fuji TV’s news):

Later, after the fire was just about out, he took a walk around his house:

Larry, our hearts are with you.