Qoo3

Reply to You named your kid what?!? in Misc JoeUser Forums

I once worked with a guy named Quo Vadis Nabors...

Reply to Jet lag in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

Honto ni yokatta! Ki wo tsukette kudasai.

Reply to A new addition to my family... and a sad farewell in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

I'm sorry, I just can't get into naming my cellphones--I've got a family! There's the Jphone/Vodafone Sanyo J-SA06 in Jewel Black (black with gold glitter). I still wish that one worked here... Then there are 3 Samsung clamshell models in various states of clunkiness, although only the E105 has the SIM card in right now. I'm now looking for cool keitai charms for it. Right now, it's wearing a Hanshin Tigers strap. Then there's the abysmal work-issued

Reply to Is your erudition of technology all that it needs to be? in Misc JoeUser Forums

In most cases for home users, if you have Earthlink or SBC DSL, it's PPPoE, so it's pretty much "dial-up" DSL. You have to connect to it when you want to use it. It is not an "always on" connection. You may be able to pay more and get a static IP, but in most cases the least expensive connection from these providers is PPPoE. That does not mean you should not have a hardware or software firewall *and know how to use it*. You should still ta

Reply to How to annoy me in Misc JoeUser Forums

You are so right! I am often faced with correcting others' documentation. They insist that they have used some of these grammatical items correctly, but I have not come up with such a cogent and concise explanation as you have. Bravo! We have to call our office upon arrival to and departure from a client site. One colleague insists on saying "Foo and myself are leaving the client." For some reason "myself" just grates on my nerves...but I can't expl

Reply to When did it beome Ok? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

There are a number of people of my age who are parents who seem to believe that they should be friends to their children, rather than their children's parents. When their kids start hitting their teenage years, they begin to realise the error of their ways, as they have large, spoiled brats on their hands. A child is not a pet. You can't put the kid in a kennel when you want a vacation. You need to set limits for the child, have rules, teach

Reply to Browser wars in Windows Software JoeUser Forums

Well said, kingbee. I highly doubt that will happen. To paraphrase Lily Tomlin playing her telephone operator character, "We're Microsoft, sir; we don't care. We don't have to." Although a member of the Borg, I don't tend to implement their products faithfully. My mail lives on a *nix IMAP server somewhere, and I can access it anywhere through standard protocols. I use an AV software that is good but obscure (the script kiddies have thus fa

Sony stuff--factory store overpriced? in Gadgets & Electronics JoeUser Forums

While waiting for my flight home, I wandered around Narita Airport. I spied a pair of in-the-ear Sony MDR-NC11 Noise Canceling Fontopia® Ear-Bud Headphones in the shop near my gate. They were reasonably priced at JPY100,000 (about USD$92), so I picked them up. They're quite comfortable, as they have three sizes of silicon covers to fit various sized ear canals. And,

Reply to Where is Scott Adams in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

Sounds like a project I am working on: a pilot test that is 3 months overdue. It will soon be decided whether it will be killed or continued with different software. I need that email addy, too...

Reply to Run away, it's religion!!!! in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I am tired of all the churches in my area and their 'my god can beat up your god' nonsense. I do not believe that any one brand is better than any other brand or if you don't believe in (fill in the blank) brand, you are going straight to hell. I have many friends of many different beliefs (Judeo-Christian, Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu, et al). Having had a comparative religions course in uni, I like the take that Baha'ullah (founder of the Baha'i faith) pr

Browser wars in Windows Software JoeUser Forums

I read the 'Tech and You' column in Business Week the other night, and the columnist (IIRC, also a columnist for the Wall Street Journal) advised readers to install and use either Mozilla Firefox or Opera...anything you like as long as it is not IE, unless required for a specific application. The columnist pointed out the numerous security holes in IE: patched, yet t

Another JU bug, I think in Blogging JoeUser Forums

I wanted to create a custom audience, none of whom are JU users. You can't add an email addy for someone who is not a JU member to let them know there's a post for them to read. IMHO, that's a bug. Not everyone I know is going to sign up for a JU account...

Worthless in Work Reports JoeUser Forums

My employer has a certain catchphrase used to berate the humble minions, most often three or four colleagues who are in a particular role. I can't repeat it here; it will instantly identify this employer. All I can say is that it is extremely pejorative, highly unprofessional, and that this phrase is used, in one mayor's immortal words, "early and often". We

Reply to Racial diversity is all in the eye of the beholder in Misc JoeUser Forums

Japan making a claim for multiculturalism would be hilarious.. Although I do love Japan very much, they still cling to their insularity and homogeneity in ways we cannot fathom.

Reply to Suggestion for Michael Moore's next movie in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Can't tell you how many times I've seen this one before

How I spent my summer vacation #6 in Travel JoeUser Forums

Ok, if you have only taken the bus or rail system in a city that really doesn't have addresses, and you aren't completely fluent in the native language, how do you explain to a taxi driver where you want to go? I gave him the name of the major intersection, then told him to turn left, go across the Enoden line railway tracks, then turn right at the street just before

How I spent my summer vacation #5 in Travel JoeUser Forums

From JR Osaka Station, I took the teal-colored local to Kyoto Station. So as not to have to deal with my bags, I skulked around, finding that the large coin lockers were all full. No worries...I headed down to the B2 floor baggage check and gladly paid the station staff to babysit my bags. Sometimes, it's good to know your way around the train station! Aft

How I spent my summer vacation #4 in Travel JoeUser Forums

From the heart of Japan, it was off to the heart of Kansai, Osaka! Cue up Shonen Knife's song "My Favorite Town Osaka", which (roughly translated and heavily condensed) goes something like "I've been to Tokyo, I've also been to Chicago, I've been to all these other places, but Osaka is the number one place anywhere...My Favorite Town Osaka"... The title is pretty mu

How I spent my summer vacation #3 in Travel JoeUser Forums

From Tokyo, it was off to the heart of Japan, to a small town in Gifu-ken, to visit my friend Piano Teacher. She had been a relatively famous concert pianist with a well-known orchestra, but retired after a mysterious event. I don't know many of the details, but it's just one of those things you don't ask about... She'd been on numerous NHK Radio and TV broadcasts an

Reply to Modern Cartoons Vs. Their Retro Counterparts... in Blogging Stardock Forums

Flaming_Rose, I think the OP is referring to one of the later Sailor Moon series that was edited by the US distributors because the two older Sailor Senshi were lesbians. You can get the uncut, subtitled version from Pioneer (now Geneon). I don't watch tv, but I *do* watch anime on my PC (mostly in Japanese...I use it for listening comprehension). I remember seeing a lot of what we now know to be anime--Astro Boy, Tobor the 8th Man, G

Reply to How I spent my summer vacation #1 in Travel Stardock Forums

I had a wonderful vacation, although it was way too short. I am not from Japan originally. I study Japanese for a hobby. I find it fascinating, although it is difficult. I also enjoy learning about the various aspects of Japanese society and culture, so I've done quite a lot of reading on those topics, too. (You'll find out why later on...)

Reply to One of the two things not to discuss in Business Stardock Forums

Ack! I meant to add to this, but I hit the wrong key and it got posted instead. Guess which part of this I most identify with?? Anyway, not necessarily my favorite place to go, but it's the only place outside the public library where I am able to read such erudite publications as The Economist and Harper's. I am not particularly religious, but I did like being included in a prayer (and more than once, I might add!). Although I admit this

Reply to How I spent my summer vacation #2 in Travel Stardock Forums

Nope, didn't get soba in Kamakura. I was too busy wandering around, trying to figure out how to buy a noshibukuro. I ended up asking the ten'in at a store that sells the most beautiful handmade paper I have ever seen...it's almost like going to a fabric store (or looking through Otosan's 'hagi de', for that matter). She leafed through the selection, pulled out a few and asked me which one I liked best...matsu (pine trees), very favorable. More abou

One of the two things not to discuss in Business JoeUser Forums

I found this in a copy of Harper's whilst waiting for an appointment: T.G.I.F, Amen The following prayers were distributed by the Industrial Christian Fellowship, a "cross-church Christian think-tank" based in Croydon, England. The Fellowship claims that "surveys have revealed that accountants, those in manufacturing, banking, and commerce, stockbrokers,

How I spent my summer vacation #2 in Travel JoeUser Forums

This exciting story left off as I headed to Kamakura, a day trip on the JR Chuo-Soba line. Although I'd already seen the Daibutsu ("Big Buddha") at Nara's Todaiji temple (and wormed my way through the hole in the temple pillar said to be the size of Todaiji's Daibutsu's nostril...this is said to guarantee one a space in Buddhist heaven), but Kamaku