Socko in Japan

The PC finally had enough…he is under a lot of stress with the Vista release tomorrow.
Originally posted on Good Morning Silicon Valley.

With all of the Presidential candidates announcing their plans to run for election…How about Steve Jobs for President? We could all eat fruit, vegetables, and drink kool-aid. Oh, how the world would be a magical place. Apples, mushrooms, and sugar. Way cool! Start up iTunes and veg-out with the visualizer.

Dynamism.com sells the latest computers and electronic gear from Japan. Check out the Subnotebook category. I am hoping that Apple Inc. can pick up a few pointers from the Japanese notebook designers on weight savings for future MacBooks (damn, those things are heavy). Note to Apple…us business travellers want a lightweight option too. How about a MacBook Lite version that weighs under 1kg (2.2 lbs.)? Dreamer…

Formally known as The Venice Project™. Now, Joost™. Imagine having infinite choice, and TV that is truly interactive. TV anywhere, anytime…

For you Second Life fans…check out getafirstlife.com and go outside – membership is free.

“First Life is a 3D analog World where server lag does not exist”

These 2 phones are NTT DoCoMo Inc.’s new 3G handsets, N703iu, left, and P703iu. Both phones are the world’s thinnest W-CDMA clamshell models, at just 11.4-mm (0.44-inch) thick when closed. They were shown off during a news conference in Tokyo Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2006.

I want my iPhone!

(photo courtesy of AP)

I know that CES and MacWorld is going full tilt right about now, but I had to write about this…

Iwao Takamoto, the creator of Scooby Doo, passed away at the age of 81 in L.A. He worked over 6 decades in the American cartoon industry. Takamoto was born in L.A. after his Japanese parents migrated to the U.S. He first started working at Walt Disney and assisted with the original classics of Cinderella, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, & 101 Dalmatians. Than Takamoto moved on to Hana-Barbara and assisted with The Jetsons & The Flinstones before he created the famous Scooby Doo cartoon. Takamoto also directed the animation movie of Charlotte’s Web in 1973. Who would have thought that all of these classics where worked on by a Japanese man?

This is just to say “Thank you Takamoto-san for being there while I grew up in U.S.” I watched all of his works when I was a child and never would have thought that there was a great Japanese mind behind the TV shows and movies that I loved. “Rest in Peace”

Just for kicks, the next time you watch a Winnie the Pooh movie…watch the credits and you will be amazed at all the Japanese names that scroll by. Tons! Try to count them all!

Read more at The Mainichi News.

pictures from The Mainichi News

has started the first article in a series about Japan’s “Year 2007 Problem”. This year is the start of a major decline in Japan’s workforce as the baby boomers born in 1947-1949 will start to retire. This problem has been largely ignored by the past government officials.
“To ease the strain, experts say Japan must simultaneously pull off a dizzying array of feats: Encourage seniors to work longer; coax couples to reproduce; better integrate women into the labor force and considerably loosen restrictions on immigration. Failing to do this, they say, will have dire consequences.” from The Japan Times.

Where will all my tax dollars go? If I retire in Japan, will there be enough money to go around? The U.S. is also in for a similar problem. Stay tuned for more news and complaints of the outcome. I am 30 years old and have a long work future ahead of me. Of coarse I am trying to save as much as I can for my retirement, but I hope that all countries will create some kind of system to support us all. Anyways…Life isn’t fair. Who cares…the MacWorld keynote is in 7 days! New Apple tech is coming!!!

Apple’s homepage is already getting the whole Mac cult fired up for 2007 (it doesn’t take much). MacWorld San Francisco will be here before we know it! Start filing your applications for your home improvement loans, so you will be ready to buy when Steve Jobs announces the next must have gear to get us through the year. At least we know for a fact that OS X “Leopard” (10.5) will be released along with the “iTV” and updates to all the Macs. Rumors are always talking about the true video iPod and Apple phone. We will see, but it should be a pretty exciting year for the Mac community with a new OS and “iTV”, regardless of all the other rumors. 2007 will be the year that I make the jump to the Intel platform from the ancient PowerPC chips. I can’t wait!