Comments on J-List side blog: Needing a sixth sense to communicate with people f...

Yes, he can be rough sometimes. The EEE PC is good...

2007-12-14T18:19:00.000+09:00

Yes, he can be rough sometimes. The EEE PC is good, although only get one if you type on no other notebook computer. It will take a long time to train your fingers, but once you do you'll be okay (not good, but okay). It probably is better with one hand, hadn't thought of it that way. One area the thing shines in is, viewing movies. I threw 16 gb of movies on there and it plays them beautifully. It'd be such a waste to get a PMP when this thing can do just about everything, if you spend on the SD card and all that.

Not a Dave Barry fan, don't find him funny, and I ...

2007-12-14T08:45:00.000+09:00

Not a Dave Barry fan, don't find him funny, and I especially disliked his book on Japan.

So you bought one of those EEE PC things? I was going to as well, although they missed the price that originally caught my attention. So did the OLPC folks, but I bought one of those for some weird reason.

With a smaller keyboard, that is the keys are closer together (not the same distance apart on a smaller tray) you can more easily type with one hand.

http://www.aboutonehandtyping.com/video_other.html

Eric, yes, gestures are very important. I'll never...

2007-12-14T03:22:00.000+09:00

Eric, yes, gestures are very important. I'll never forget Dave Barry talking about the International United Nations Gesture for Ketchup. (Banging the bottle against your hand to get the ketchup out).

Hi, Peter.
Hope your stay in New York was plea...

2007-12-13T20:07:00.000+09:00

Hi, Peter.
Hope your stay in New York was pleasant. It is quite a unique city. Even though I live right next door, (long island) I can never get used to the New York city subway smell. :)

Understanding people of different languages is quite a fascinating and daunting experience indeed. You realize that people have generally similar desires, creativity, mental imagery, and word associations. On the other hand, you have to pay attention individual character traits as well as their unique cultural codes, views, and values which could be solar systems apart. The more important things are the patience, room for understanding, humility, the willingness to learn and teach, and good sense of humor. With these, even the worst slip ups become very rewarding experiences, both enjoyable to the host and the idiot.

I loved my one visit to Japan, partly due to the lack of gestures of the Japanese. Anyone whoever traveled outside their language barrier will attest to the power of gestures. When all language devices fail, (including barking like a dog) drawing big circles with your arms or using over-the-top animated facial and hand expressions like a deranged idiot will get the meaning across and a good time had by all. (at your expense) The Japanese I met not only did not respond to gestures, they didn’t employ any gestures back to me even when they understood what I was originally saying. There was no question of their kind-hearted sincere motivation to help. They would stand there repeating “so-das-ska ?”, meaning “What?”, and only respond back in Japanese knowing full well I would not be able to understand what they were saying. Responding back with gestures never even crossed their minds. No flying hands, mangling faces. No where near the spectacular show I had shown them in the name of communication. From getting a train ticket to picking up women was hard and fun experience.
I particularly remember the only person who had the creative mind to use gestures. It was a cute cashier girl at a bakery who kept repeating something over and over again after I placed an order. After becoming exhausted repeating the same Japanese words she used for over 7 minutes, she actually thought long hard. She then picked up my order and imitating walking out with it. ‘Oh, she meant if I wanted take-out ?” I was so happy of a successful gesture communication after several days of failure; I hugged the cashier girl and gave a big kiss on the cheek. This must have been a big no-no, since she was terrified as I stayed and enjoyed my food with a big smile. A good time had my all.

Eric

Forgot to reply to you Timo. Strangely, I found my...

2007-12-13T09:57:00.000+09:00

Forgot to reply to you Timo. Strangely, I found myself grabbing my iPhone to browse rather than the EEE PC, which is saying a lot. Of course, the EEE PC would be better if I used only it, with no Macbook to make me type funny. If I forced myself to get used to the smaller keyboard I know it'd be good, if not great.

Izzy, please mail me at peterpayne, domain name gm...

2007-12-13T09:33:00.000+09:00

Izzy, please mail me at peterpayne, domain name gmail.com and I'll see that you're removed. Most likely you've got some odd email address that's not working with our system (for example a + character in the email).

Tudza, interesting art. I'll certainly check if there's an artbook or anything.

Timo, itsuwari is just a fancy way of saying falseness. Nise is the more common reading, which just means "fake."

Think J-List can find a source for prints by this ...

2007-12-13T07:47:00.000+09:00

Think J-List can find a source for prints by this artist:

http://pingmag.jp/2007/12/05/yuji-moriguchi/

all the links you get from Google ultimately point back to this same article in PingMag

itsuwari, nise: they mean "lie, or deception" ?

2007-12-13T03:26:00.000+09:00

itsuwari, nise: they mean "lie, or deception" ?

is it as hard to work as the iPhone keyboard? the ...

2007-12-13T03:15:00.000+09:00

is it as hard to work as the iPhone keyboard? the tutorials show using it with the two thumbs; I have better luck with the index finger, heh.

Oh, and I wrote the kanji of the year as 'itsuwari...

2007-12-13T02:31:00.000+09:00

Oh, and I wrote the kanji of the year as 'itsuwari' but the more common reading is 'nise.'

Timo, wow, nice and warm... Hopefully it will warm...

2007-12-13T02:30:00.000+09:00

Timo, wow, nice and warm... Hopefully it will warm up here.

(Typing ths, or trying to, on an Asus EEE Pc. This thing is small... If anyone is interested in one, I recommend you use one before buying just in caase)

Sneb, yes, fork also has the long vowel, which I can't type since I don't have Japanse input set up on this thing.

Finally, a good explanation for the "smorking" phe...

2007-12-13T00:52:00.000+09:00

Finally, a good explanation for the "smorking" phenomenon! Thanks! I figured there was some correlation with other words like "fork". I also had the same confusion with first/fast kitchen.

nice here in the carolinas: 80°F. (that's 26C., I ...

2007-12-12T20:54:00.000+09:00

nice here in the carolinas: 80°F. (that's 26C., I think) was the high for three days now. This is a record for any day in december, as far back as records go. Too dry, though; we need rain here.

Man, I hate to be the complaining type, but it's a...

2007-12-12T17:56:00.000+09:00

Man, I hate to be the complaining type, but it's actually cold here in San Diego. WTF? It's supposed to be 70 degrees Farenheit by law. It's in the 40s right now, any colder and I'm heading back to New York.

So is it cold where you are now?

Comments on J-List side blog: Needing a sixth sense to communicate with people f...

Yes, he can be rough sometimes. The EEE PC is good...

Not a Dave Barry fan, don't find him funny, and I ...

Eric, yes, gestures are very important. I'll never...

Hi, Peter. Hope your stay in New York was plea...

Forgot to reply to you Timo. Strangely, I found my...

Izzy, please mail me at peterpayne, domain name gm...

Think J-List can find a source for prints by this ...

itsuwari, nise: they mean "lie, or deception" ?

is it as hard to work as the iPhone keyboard? the ...

Oh, and I wrote the kanji of the year as 'itsuwari...

Timo, wow, nice and warm... Hopefully it will warm...

Finally, a good explanation for the "smorking" phe...

nice here in the carolinas: 80°F. (that's 26C., I ...

Man, I hate to be the complaining type, but it's a...

Hi, Peter.
Hope your stay in New York was plea...