Another good reason not to fly with Adam Air

1. You may remember the Indonesian Adam Air flight that crashed between Surabuya and Manado on New Years Day this year. Well, Adam Air is at it again, this time one of their planes, upon landing, snapped in half. Really.


Photo from SMH

2. Bugger.

One Reason Why The Nintendo DS kicks arse

1. 漢字ã??ã?®ã?¾ã?¾ DS楽引辞典.

2. No, I don’t know what that actually says either, but that’s the name of a Japanese-English dictionary for the DS. Having dictionaries on game consoles aren’t exactly super exciting, but when you walk down the street and you can’t read anything it’s a very handy thing to have. And while you can get similar programs on the PSP, this has something no dictionary can match — you can use the touchscreen to write the kanji character and have the program look up the word. It’s brilliant! The biggest problem you face after memorising Kana is that you still can’t read the Kanji, and you can’t even look it up because you don’t know how the character should be read (with electronic dictionaries you have to type in how the word sounds, then choose the kanji character you are looking for). The dictionary will tell you how to read the word, and even if it doesn’t have the English definition (not all words in the dictionary have the English equivalent) you can use a better electronic dictionary (or the internet) to look up the definition.

3. My life here has just got that little bit easier. Rock.

The Wired High-Def FAQK

What are the advantages of switching to high definition?

When watching actual high-definition shows, the main advantage is that you get to see more of the hallways. How many times have you been watching Grey’s Anatomy and thought, “I wonder what the sides of that hallway look like?” Well, thanks to the improved aspect ratio of HDTV, you can see exactly how spacious and open the hallways are! From the broad cornfields of Smallville to the ample starfields of Battlestar Galactica, your peripheral vision is in for a treat it won’t consciously register!

1. Awesome.

The. Awesomest. Japanese. Band. Ever.

1. Check the synchronised hair twirling! Scratch that, just check the hair!

When Money Goes Out of Fashion

1. I’ve been failing my new years resolutions miserably.

2. Losing my wallet meant money went missing, weekends away meant more money spent, and last weekend saw the double strike of a new guitar (a beautiful and not so expensive solid top acoustic with a nice thin neck and body that fits me perfectly) and a day of snowboarding. On top of which were two birthday parties. It was one of those expensive weekends.

3. First, the guitar. Ahhh, I had not realised how much I missed playing until I decided to buy it. I’ve never owned a decent steel string acoustic, so I’m rather excited about my acquisition. When it warms up a bit I’ll be heading down to the river with my friend, who plays the harmonica, to bust out some tunes, and hopefully pick up girls. We’re gonna call ourselves “The Only Guys Here Who Sing in English”.

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Penny dropping

1. You know how, sometimes, you make those really big mistakes? The ones you don’t realise until it was way too late, and dawns on you in the same way a thermonuclear bomb dawns on a city — the sudden quiet, followed by the roar of realisation that there’s nothing you can do to atone, and the only option is to suck it up a get over it. Yeah, how’s them apples?

2. Well, I guess you can’t always be smart about everything.

3. sigh

So many reasons to love Japan… here’s one

“A certified chef, she appears to savor each bite she takes, even when she’s already taken a couple hundred of them. At a women-only contest in Okinawa last year, Sone was seen reapplying her makeup after finishing first, even as the clock was still ticking.”

1. Read more about her here.

Microsoft spurns appeal in Russian piracy case

1. From News.com:

Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said Ponosov, a school principal in a village in the Urals, risked imprisonment in a Siberian camp for using unlicensed Windows software that he said was preinstalled on the computers.

“The teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children and who receives a modest salary that does not bear comparison with the salaries of even regular staff in your company, is threatened with detention in Siberian prison camps,” Gorbachev wrote to Gates in a letter posted on the Web site of Gorbachev’s charitable foundation.

2. Microsoft’s response?

“Mr. Ponosov’s case is a criminal case and as such was initiated and investigated by the public prosecutor’s office in Russia,” said Microsoft, whose European operations are based in Paris. “We are sure that the Russian courts will make a fair decision.”

“We do respect the Russian government’s position on the importance of protecting intellectual property rights.”

3. To all those at Microsoft who were involved in making that decision — I truly, sincerely, hope you die a long, slow, painful death. But Fake Steve said it best:

And you guys at Microsoft still wonder why the entire world hates you? Man oh man. You’ve got more money than God and yet you’re gonna toss some poor broke-ass Russian in prison? Evil.

Hi, I’m the Boston Civil Service, and I’m retarded

1. From the NYT:

BOSTON, Feb. 1 — Boston temporarily closed parts of bridges, subway stations, an Interstate highway and even part of the Charles River on Wednesday after the authorities found what the police described as suspicious devices at nine places.

But the devices, which included circuit boards, turned out to be part of a marketing campaign by Turner Broadcasting to advertise a cartoon television show, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.�

“It is outrageous, in a post-9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme,� Mr. Menino [Mayor of Boston] said in a statement. “I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today’s incidents.�

2. It seems all that’s necessary for them to shit their pants are a bunch of flashing lights, one of whom is a blocky cartoon character flashing them the finger. And it’s amazing how the same flashing lights has been placed in Atlanta, Chicago and New York without any reports or problems. ‘Cause, you know, if I was a terrorist I would totally put big flashing lights on my bombs, just so I can give the finger to passers-by before I blow them to smithereens. Actually, check that, they’d probably have a recording of themselves screaming obscenities in Arabic before they blow you to smithereens. So I suppose Boston Police ain’t so stupid after all.

3. (I especially love the quote “But the devices, which included circuit boards…” ’cause not many other items contain “circuit boards” either…)

January

1. Someone once told me what happens at the beginning of the year is a precursor to how it will end. Good January? Great December. Bad January? Uh-oh December. If that be the case, December ‘07 is going to suck.

2. Well, that’s not totally fair. By and large January wasn’t so bad, if you discount losing my wallet (which had all my cards and 26,000 yen in it), getting my bike towed away by the cops, having to work on Australia Day (knowing full well all my friends back home were getting drunk) and coming down with a nasty fever laden flu (I’m currently suffering from said flu). And the various bouts of intestinal troubles, probably a left over from Indonesia. But, discount those and I had a pretty good January, filled with fun and frivolity. Really.

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