JPop: Discovery Of Asian Music

As most of my friends and family know, I'm a big fan of Asian music. The biggest problem I encounter with introducing Asian music to somebody is that they balk out right away because it's in another language. Anyways, I was listening to Olivia, a Japanese singer and I realized that most of her songs are in English. I was thinking about it and a lot of Asian singers have songs in English.

So I will introduce all of you to some Japanese music. :)

OLIVIA (Olivia Lufkin) [ Taken from Wiki.ThePPN ]

She is an artist on the avex trax label that had a highly acclaimed debut album Synchronicity in December of 2000. Her captivating songs and offbeat personality has attracted many fans. Her second album The Lost Lolli was released in February 2004.

She is a favorite of mine and it's nice that most of her songs are in English.

I recommend!





Utada Hikaru [ Taken from Wiki.ThePPN ]

Utada Hikaru is one of Japan's most successful artists of all time, and has sold over an estimated 40,000,000 records. She is completely bilingual as she was raised in both New York and Tokyo. Utada Hikaru is also known in the west under her English language project name 'Utada'.

You can buy some North American albums of her. She sang the main title song for the game Kingdom Hearts.

[ Links ]
Wiki.ThePPN

Funny: Eye-Fi

A commercial on a product that enables the user to download porn directly to his brain.
Quite funny

[ Links ]
Eye-Fi

Funny: Dr. Tran

Oh my god, what the hell was that!

Possible NSFW.

[ Links ]
Dr. Tran Video

Gadget: Origami

So information is trickling down the pipe about Microsoft's project called Origami. Basically a smaller form of a a Tablet PC. A lot wonder why would Microsoft invest in the Tablet PC technology when it's spiraling down a drain? Well the Tablet was a failure and a success. It proved that it is possible to expand on the pen computing by recognizing your written language. It failed because the Tablets were so expansive and did not offer good computing power for the price and size.

Now let's say Microsoft or another company managed to shrink down the operating system to something similar to the Pocket PC but with the capabilities of the Tablet PC. You also shrink down the size of the unit to something bigger than a Pocket PC but smaller than a laptop. I'm sure you can also bring down the price of the unit, compared to a Tablet PC anyways. Now you have a highly protable system capable or recognizing your written notes, has the computing power to do most of the mundane things we do on our computers. Something you can carry with you easily.

In my opinion, the Tablet PC was just too big, it tried to replace the laptop but couldn't. Microsoft knows it failed there, but there is another market, the compact computing. Right now known only to the Pocket PC and Palm. But lately, you'll notice that even those systems started to grow, they now have bigger screens. People want bigger but not too big, they want to be able to put in their purses or bag.

I believe this was the only course of action for Microsoft, the Tablet PC is not doing good and they needed something else to save all the development done on the Tablet PC OS. Hence the arrival of the Origami system, a small factor computing system with capabilities resembling what the Tablet PC is capable of.

Not much is known about this device, but word on the street is that we'll know more next week.

Stay tune for more on this.

Oh and by the way, I always wanted a Tablet PC but found it too big and expensive. With the arrival of the Origami device, I believe I could come to buying one if the price is reasonable. It's what I've been waiting for and I'm sure a lot of you also.

[ Links ]
Source - Engadget
Teaser Website
Leaked Video

WoW: Interesting Night

I was playing along when I get this private chat from low-level warlock asking for some help to do a class specific quest. Since I'm a high level warlock, I've already done the quest so helping her would be easy.

While we were doing her quest, we started talking. I find out that she started playing because her son was telling her that she was not doing anything he liked. So she started playing World of Warcraft and she is now hooked. :)

I found it really cool how she tried something her kid liked to be closer and to have something to talk about that is common. Let's face it, when you are a kid, there is not much you can talk about with your parents. I hope (but I know) that I will be able to try things with my future kids that they like, to better understand them.

Movie: Spider-Man 3

What you are looking at is not a black and white picture... I'll let you draw your own conclusion... This image makes me a very happy man!

[ Links ]
Spider-Man website

Image: The China You Don't Know About

When we think of China, we think of big cities, bustling with action, or temples.

But there is things and places in China that most of us don't know about.



[ Links ]
More Photos here

Image: Pongour Falls

Pongour Falls, or Seven-Layer Falls, is an annual destination for pilgrims in the Central Highlands. These falls are located in the province of Lam Dong, Vietnam.

One of the most amazing pictures I've seen.

Cool: New Cave Found In South American Jungle Paradise

View from inside Cueva del Fantasma, Aprada tepui, Venezuela. Note the size of the two helicopters at the entrance. This is the first geographic report and photograph of such a huge cave.

Science: New Material Could Turn Walls Invisible

A new optical effect has been created in a London laboratory that means solid objects such as walls could one day be rendered transparent, scientists report today in the journal Nature Materials.

This could be used used to look thru rubble from earthquakes.

[ Links ]
Source - PHYSORG

Personal: Computer Problems

So I've been having a lot of problems with my home computer as of late. It turns out it was bad memory... Go figure.
Now that it's repaired, it's time to start updating the blog again. :)

Movies: The Dark Crystal Sequel

That's right! There is a sequel to a great movie coming in 2007. Here is a bit on the story:

Set hundreds of years after the events of the first movie when the world has once again fallen into darkness, Power of the Dark Crystal follows the adventures of a mysterious girl made of fire who, together with a Gelfling outcast, steals a shard of the legendary Crystal in an attempt to reignite the dying sun that exists at the center of the planet.

I have to admit I'm quite happy to see that a sequel is in the works. It's going to be directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, who created the hit series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Samurai Jack and Dexter’s Laboratory.

[ Links ]
Source - The Movie Blog

Trip: The End

So my trip is now over. I have survived Japan. It's funny, at the beginning, I did not think I could move and live there but my last week, I had a lot of fun and I realized that I could actually live there. It's such an interesting country, lots of culture.

My last night in Japan, the companies that we were working with took us out. It was a really great night, beer, sake, Japanese vodka. We were all drunk! It's then that I realized that I would miss Japan, the last time I would see all these wonderful Japanese women in short skirts and high boots. The last time I would walk thru a temple. The last time I would see monks in ceremony. The last time I would watch their crazy TV programs.

Goodbye Japan...

Trip: Day ??

God, I lost track of how many days I've been here. Anyways, sorry for not updating too much lately but we've been working long hours and I just want to go to bed when I arrive at the hotel.

My weekend was good. I went to Kyoto to see some temples and I saw some Japanese gardens. Very nice. I also went back to Akihabara in the afternoon of Sunday. That day I was moving hotels so I did not have much time to visit. There were more stores opened that day and I found some really cool stores that had a lot of animé and games.

I'll try to get more pictures up on the blog later tonight.

Trip: Thursday - Back to Kamakura

So today I woke up pretty late because of my cold and my adventure last night. I decided to go back to Kamakura to visit some more.

I stopped at Kita-Kamakura first. I went to the Engaku-Ji temple.



As you can see, it does not look like much from here. But once you get up those stairs...



This temple is very big, it has many buildings and imagery to die for. The great thing about visiting during the week, there is a lot less people around. It was very quiet and it felt good to be away from the city.



The cemetery was just amazing to see.



If you ever come to Kamakura, stop in Kita-Kamakura first, it's worth it.

I later went to Kamakura to shop but there was not much interesting. I was quite happy with my day today. Tomorrow? Probably Kyoto.

Trip: Wednesday - Earthquake

So yesterday was a normal work day, but after work, while coming back to the Hotel, I got stuck. There were a lot of talking in the intercom of the train, more than usual. When we got to out stop, everybody got out and onto the other one. I decided to follow since I had no clue what was going. But 2 hours , I was still waiting on the bus when somebody on the intercom mentioned something and yet again everybody got out. I must of had a look of a very lost person because this Japanese came up to me and asked me if I understood what was going on. He tried to tell me that there had been an earthquake and the line was closed.

So I got out of the train and there was one heck of a lot of people. I got out of the train station and went for some grub. I ate and waited a bit until most of the people had left by bus. I went back in to see if I could find some answers. None in english. I called our english contact here in Japan and gave the phone to the police officer for him to explain the situation to my contact.

In the end, I managed to get to the hotel by bus, 4 hours later.