Picasa for Mac

Since I bought a new Mac, I have used it for everything in my life. However I still doubt whether Mac is so excellent.

One of them is iPhoto. My acquaintance said to me she can do anything on pictures and iPhoto works for her automatically more than other applications. It may be true... But I feel iPhoto hides something to users. I don't like it...

So I installed Picasa for Mac like Windows. Google may also keep something secret to users, but Picasa for Mac is the one similar to the Windows one. It's clear how to use it.

Although I'll continue to use Mac, it's a little hard to customize it and be familiar to it unlike windows as I used to use Windows and Linux.

Have you ever clicked advertisements on Lang-8?

I have not written journals on lang-8 site for a few months. Today I was surprised that there seem more advertisements than before. Lang-8 got a little ugly site...

However wait!

Ads are very precious for Lang-8 to earn money. So let's just click them if we have a little time. It's like a donation to Lang-8 site and administrators.

P.S. I'm not the administrator.

Journal? or Diary?

I didn't know the difference between journal and diary.

My tutor told me:

• Journal is for guys.
• Diary is for girls.

I guess most native Japanese don't know this like me.


However kind lang-8 users clarified more. They said

• Journal is just a more sophisticated diary.
• Diary is a kind of a personal record for the writer to read.
• Journal is a kind of what is written for other people to read.

I thank them for the meanings.

How miserable I was in May.

Finally I got fine now. However the last month was so bad to me. I wrote incidents in May, which were caused only in a month and whose sequence was like nightmare.

1. There was something wrong with my organ.
Clearly I was under bowel disease. However I didn't know what happened to me.


2. Then I had had backache for three weeks.
It was to hard to wake up every morning, and I couldn't sleep well every night.

I went to a doctor, and he made me do stool examination. However no defects were found...


3. I lost a lot of my hair.
When I went to a barber shop and I said "Make my hair short.", the barber suddenly cut a lot of my hair using barber clippers in a moment. There was no time to say anything like "Stop it!". I had to laugh at myself...


4. I had a little fever.
Three weeks later, disease about my organ and backache got lighter. Instead, I got to have a little fever. It had continued for almost two weeks.

I doubted I was under swine flu. However, when I went to the doctor and I took blood examination, the result was normal. The doctor didn't find anything again... I couldn't go to university for almost a month. I lost so much time because of disease.


5. Windshield was cracked a little.
While I was driving my car, a truck flipped a small stone to me on a highway. As the result, the windshield of my car was cracked a little. I have to repair it before I go back to Japan in this summer.


6. My bike was stolen.
While I was stopping going to university, my bike which was not used at that time was stolen at my apartment. My bike has not been found so far. It was my favorite bike which was brought from Japan...


7. I had to plan my birthday by myself.
My birthday is in June. However I had to plan my birthday by myself. I conducted my wife to Santa Cruz in two days, and then had dinner at Red Lobster at San Jose. She seemed to really enjoy my birthday. I also enjoyed the day.
By the way Red Lobster was so so. But definitely better than Red Lobster of Japan because it was cheaper than Japan.

That's all. I hope June is a good and lucky month for me!

I had three incidents at Subway - Apr 29th 2009 14:55

Today I bought a Turkey Breast sandwich at Subway in university.

When I ordered a foot long Subway Club, the waiter refused my order and said something. The reason why they refused me was that they have been unable to serve meats for a while because of swine flu. The waiter told me about the notification in front of the shop. Subway seems to have suffered from the flu.

Second, the waiters were different from those who had served so far. I remember most former waiters were from Mexico. Although I may be suspecting too much, the usual waiters may also be also at home.

And finally, when I paid it, it cost more than $5. The Subway seems to have stopped the campaign of a foot long size sandwich for $5. Oh how sad it is!

Where should foreign tourists go in Japan? - Apr 24th 2009 16:40

I am trying to tell my tutor where he should go in Japan for the next time. He has been to Japan once, so he knows about Japan much. When he asked me where he should visit in Japan if he has the next oppotunity, I had to think about what the good places in Japan are for foreign tourists...

For Japanese people, we can enjoy several places with nature and specific histories.

However, for foreign tourists, sometimes the nature in Japan may be a little small. And they don't know historical events like Boshin-Senso.

Here I have the list of places to visit in Japan for foreigners. Are there any additional tour places? Please tell me if you know or have places you enjoyed.


[Historical Places]
- Santo (Kyoto,Osaka,Kobe)
- Hiraizumi
- Nikko
- Ise
- Aizu-Wakamatsu (relatively a little small town but a quaint place)

[Nature places]
- Oze
- Hokkaido
- Yakushima
- Okinawa (I have never been there yet...)

[Otaku]
- Akihabara
- Nakano


My tutor has been to...
- Tokyo
- Kyoto
- Mt.Fuji and Kawaguchi-ko

Maybe I rarely recommend someone to go to Mt.Takao unlike Michelin does.

SUZUKI GZ250 - Mar 02nd 2009 01:15

It had been eight years since I rode a bike when I attended the bike lecture. The bike was SUZUKI GZ250.

Although it had been eight years, I thought I am still not good at turning tightly. The foot position of GZ250 is too forward to run standing on the bike. I didn't lean the bike so much, however I rubbed my heel during fast turn. Is this why? Because the posture was the front and back reverse to my previous bike I owned, I needed take time to get used to riding a new bike yesterday and today.

Japan Rail Pass - Feb 25th 2009 16:40

I didn't know about "Japan Rail Pass" at all. I got it from someone's blog, and he also mentioned that no Japanese knows about it.

Unfortunately, I am not eligible for the ticket. However I instead want to use "Eurail Global Pass" in the euro countries.

It was so hard for me to speak English this week, I was lucky though. - Feb 21st 2009 03:59

This week I had difficulty speaking English.

I am taking a class, and the assistant professor of the class is the one who is famous in an area related to my research.

For a few months I'd wanted to ask him about my idea. I finally did it yesterday. It started a nightmare of speaking English...

I just wanted to ask him whether or not there were papers with ideas similar to mine. However he needed to hear my motivation and the background of my research. It was natural and I felt he was gentle. That's because I've been unable to provide my coworkers with appropriate answers when they didn't give me the background and assumptions of their questions.

When I explained my general motivation, he seemed to want to know more about it. He seemed to seek the best answer for me. Though we talked on the way to our building for 10 min, we didn't finish because I couldn't use English well.

It is still very hard for me to listen to someone in English, compose English sentences immediately, pronounce them exactly and clearly. One reason is that I have a limited English vocabulary. When someone says a word I don't know, I stop thinking, Ignoring it and imagining (complementing) the meaning, I need too much time to catch up to the conversation. It is necessary for me to practice English more and more.

After walking we continued to discuss my idea in his room. I seemed to fail the explanation completely. Although he tried to understand my idea and gave me questions, I couldn't answer them appropriately and make him understand it. Unfortunately, he was busy and had a flight today. We postponed the talk until next week. He seemed a little tired because of me. I appreciated his effort because he is not my supervisor. So I wrote a document about my research and emailed it to him for better understanding.


Before sending it, I had my English tutor check the document today. Although the document is 7 pages long, he quickly gave it a thourough check. When I talked to him about what happened yesterday with the professor, he said that this document would help. And then he praised my document for being so understandable. Also he advised me to continue the conversation as the best way to enhance English conversation skills. He is always a good guy.

Today I have to thank one more person so much. I'm very encouraged, and I know I'm so lucky.

Songsmith - Feb 01st 2009 02:01

A Silicon Valley journalist wrote a journal about Microsoft Songsmith as a terrible and disappointing software. Before reading the article, I saw Youtubbed videos about Songsmith and thought it's very enjoyable probably because I am tone-deaf. I wanted to get it a little. However she is blaming Songsmith for the quality in the journal. I don't know whether it is true, or not.

Today I read Linus's blog. In the blog, he is praising Songsmith.

Which is stood by, the view of the silicon valley journalist or of the Linux developer? If anything, I think Songsmith will not be sold much. It's because the target market is not so big. Nevertheless I agree with and vote on Linus. As an engineer, I think Songsmith is interesting!

What I Should Say in a Barber Shop - Jan 29th 2009 11:55

When I went to a barber shop for the first time in the US, I couldn't explain my order well. A barber man asked me only "Long? Middle? Short?" I said something more, he couldn't get it though. After all, we agreed with each other at "longer than Middle, but not long"

One day I tried to ask my English tutor what I should say in a barber shop. Roughly, I would like to have my hair around ears cut. He gave me examples:

1. "Take a little off around ears."
2. "Give me a trim around ears."
3. "Shorten it."

I think these are enough to say because barber shops in the US don't care a little thing like Japanese barber shops do. However I am wondering how to make other orders...

This weekend I will try another barber shop and listen to others.


P.S. a lang-8 user told me another sentence: "Just a trim, please."

Many Needles in a New Shirt - Jan 25th 2009 23:57

When I opened my new shirt that I bought in the US, I discovered many needles in it. What an awful shirt it was!

I don't know if it is usual in the US to pin up shirts to sell them, or not. However it is definitely dangerous, I think. Some needles gather at the neck part of the shirt. If I wasn't aware of all needles, I would have hurt my neck.

When we buy new shirts, we have to open them carefully after coming back home.

Texty Beat, a Great TV Program - Jan 25th 2009 23:41

Today I watched a TV program named Texty Beat.

The TV program is enabling requesting musics with a message. The message seems to be displayed while the music video is being played.

I think it may be similar to NicoNico Douga. Though the reality of Texty Beat is less than NicoNico Douga, I think the program is great because it works on TV. I have thought for a several years that they would be exciting everyone if TV programs such like football game programs with audience realtime messages appear.

Scary English Lesson - Jan 22nd 2009 12:22

Today I tried to attend an English class. The class is about vocabulariy and pronunciation, and is held at the International Center of my university once a week. I went today for the first time.

I don't know why, but the teacher strongly said to everyone that "This class is an advanced class of the university that has many foreign students. Beginners have to go to town schools."

There were Asians (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese), a European, and a South American (maybe). Everyone except for me could speak English very well and could understand the teacher's English. Honestly, it was so hard for me to keep up with her. I had to work my brain very, very hard.

Suddenly she asked a Japanese lady a question. Though it was a trivial question and I forget what it was, the student couldn't understand it. Then the teacher got angry, and said that they had to talk about classes held outside of the university after this class. What awful words she said!

The student was ashamed, got angry, and left the room. I sympathize with her... However, the teacher seemed to reflect on herself a little bit after that.

I also had difficulty understanding English because the teacher forbid students to use their dictionaries. Because it was she that had forbidden dictionaries, I asked her everything I couldn't understand. A French guy helped me, but the teacher answered my questions to help me understand. I thought she must have regretted what she said to the lady earlier...

I think the class is definitely an advanced one, and the teacher must be a professional. Even though it was hard for me, the level might have been adequate for me. I guess nobody could enjoy it, though. I want to learn English while enjoying it. I am wondering if I should stop attending the class.

Unfortunately, I don't have any contact information for the Japanese student who left the class. I hope she doesn't stop learning English.

Additionally, I wonder if Japanese lessons are also so scary and awful, or not.

It was a little rainy day. - Jan 21st 2009 22:43

In California, we rarely have rainy days. But there was a light shower today.

I used to always have a small foldable umbrella in Japan. But now I seem durable to rain as other Californians are. I rode my bike in the rain just as before.

And people in the US tend to put on the hood of their outer wears when they feel cold. Although I thought that the hood is for decorative purposes, I want to try it as others do when it is cold.

How Quickly TOYOTA Hollywood Repaired My Car. - Jan 19th 2009 11:27

TOYOTA of Hollywood repaired my car in half a day. Japanese auto garages could learn a lot from them.

My car's engine check lamp began flashing on the way from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Because it was right after I refilled gas in South Las Vegas, I though the gas might have been bad.

I called AIG road service, but it couldn't help us enough. The road service only offered to call the towing service which could cost up to $75. They told me that we should find a car repair shop and the best solution while repairing by ourselves. When we tried to find TOYOTA dealers in Las Vegas with Tomtom PND, there didn't seem to be any dealers.

I wanted to have a TOYOTA dealer check my car (TOYOTA Corolla) because it can check the ECU (Engine Control Unit = a computer on the car) with PC which can exactly detect what is wrong on the engine. Usually, I think, car repair shops without dealership can only adjust the tuning of the engine. So I needed a dealer shop.

Fortunately, my car seemed nothing wrong except for the lamp at the moment. My wife and I decided to go to Los Angeles where a TOYOTA dealer exists near the hotel whose reservation I had.

As soon as we arrived directly at the dealer shop TOYOTA of Hollywood, a service agent asked me what was wrong. When I explained the symptom (and our travel schedule) to him whose name is Alex, he could understand me well in spite of my bad English pronunciation. Because it was after 5 PM, he scheduled to check my car early morning the next day.

He said to me that he tried to call me 10 AM, but I got his phone call before 9 AM the next day. He explained the report of the diagnostics by phone, I couldn't understand him because I am not good at speaking English by phone. I had him wait for me by my arrival.

When I arrived at the shop 10 AM, he showed me the report. There were many things to be repaired.

The most important trouble was the electrical breakdown of the air flow sensor, which caused the engine check lamp. Additionally the engine belt got almost broken, and the drive shaft boots had a crack. They need have been replaced as soon as possible, but not immediately. He explained symptoms and costs to me very carefully, but he never forced me to repair all of them. It totally cost $1600 to repair all, and he said it must have been really expensive and depended on me.

However we decided to do according to him because we wanted to use the car without anxiety and we didn't want to have any troubles in the desert between states of the US.

The cost seemed to the same to in Japan. But what surprised us was the time to repair. He offered that he could return my car by 5 PM! At first I thought that it took at least 2 or 3 days to repair all, and I suppose it is usual in Japan. But he said the incredibly period. It didn't affect out travel schedule at all. I asked him immediately.

When I came to the dealer after 4 PM, my car was repaired completely. The engine check lamp was turned off. I wanted to thank him, however he was not there because he had back problem and had gone back to home already. I appreciate his quick repairing.

I Successfully Upgraded My Room at a Las Vegas Hotel for $20. - Jan 18th 2009 22:08

I was able to get a better hotel room with the upgrade trick.

My friend told me about the trick. The way described in detail at http://www.thetwentydollartrick.com/FAQ/ and http://www.frontdesktip.com/ is to pass $20 with a credit card to the front desk and say "Do you have any complimentary upgrades available?".

I was worried about embarassing myself because my English pronounciation is bad. So I prepared a memo of the words in advance. And I passed it with my credit card saying "Do you mind if I say?". The front desk person received the tip, and he tried to find the best room for a few minutes. He offered two rooms, a room that had a nice view with a king size bed. I chose the king size bed one because he recommended it to me when I asked which is better. After all, I could stay two nights in front of the BELLAGIO fountain show.

By the way I have one tip and one question. The tip is that the longer the stay is the more effective the upgrade trick is. Though I stayed two nights, for 20$, the longer I stay, the better the benefit.
And my question is whether $20 was absolutely needed, or not. It's because the front desk person didn't check the amount of the bill and put it into the pocket of his pants. Wouldn't it have worked for $10?

I Drove a Big Pick-up Truck at the Silicon Valley Motor Show. - Jan 08th 2009 20:04

I drove a TOYOTA Tundra at the Silicon Valley Motor Show today. The Tundra is a big pick-up truck from TOYOTA USA, which isn't sold in Japan. It was my first time.

When I got in the truck, I seemed to be in a room because the cabin was soooooo wide! And surprisingly, the buttons of the radio/cd player were also big, twice the size of my index finger.

Although the car has a 5.7L engine, the sound was not very loud when I started it up. But I didn't feel the power because the gear was fixed to first, though I was surprised that it had a sports shift gear.

The test ridding course had several bad roads. When the road inclined, I saw even less of my surroundings.

Anyway, I was VERY VERY excited by the American car.
There were other cars such as Tacoma (maybe with Hybrid engine), FJ Cruiser, etc all provided by TOYOTA behind the wheel campaign though I was fully satisfied with Tundra.

Prepared for Las Vegas

Today I received the entrance ticket to the International CES (Consumer Electronics Show).

Although I wanted to see the exhibition, I couldn't go because I had a lot of work to do.

Now I'm at the west coast of the U.S. and I can go the CES if I wish. I submitted the entry to the CES by myself, not through the company I work for. I registered my university as my mailing address and organization. So my business associate indicated that the CES is restricted only to people related to the consumer electronics and that I could not enter the exhibition. Umm, maybe... But I'm still a worker of a consumer electronics company. Even though I am on a visiting scholar program sent by the company, I still have my own company business card. So my admission was denied, I will show it. If my admission ticket is not accepted, I will just go to casinos right away.

At the moment, I think there is no problem because my ticket arrived at my office at the university by mail.


By the way I don't know the reason CES is held at Las Vegas. Why does the place have to be Las Vegas? Is it because there are so many hotels? After all, I wonder that might be the reason because people attending there want only to play at casinos over the nights. That is my secret reason : to check it while playing together:).

No Osho-gatsu Events in the US? - Jan 03rd 2009 22:35

I found that I had spent heavenly Osho-gatsu events in Japan.

Osho-gatsu means a short season at the beginning of the year, at least January 1st through 3rd. I used to go to a shrine to wish happiness for everyone I know, and I also used to eat Osech-Ryori, a traditional Japanese food for Osho-gatsu, with family and relations. It is usual custom in Japan.

Now I live in the US, and it was the first time for me to spend Osho-gatsu out of Japan. The US, of course, has new year events like the New York count down. This year I got a new year while I was watching TV programs because my living area including San Francisco didn't seem to have a big new year count down and because I thought it was safe to be in the house.

Here are no shrines where I could go like in Japan, and people in the US seemed to not go to their churches like Christmas. So I was curious about what people do these days.

Watching TV programs, I could know how the New York count down event was in realtime. Additionally TV showed me several new year festivals all over the world. The number of programs and time introducing world's events was more than in Japan. I think it is because Japan is one of nations which have the first day of the year earliest all over the world and Japan cares about itself rather than sees other subsequent countries once Japan has a new year.

I could see Sydney, China(Hong Kong?), Singapore(maybe), London, and NY events on TV. But It was all... There were no events after that. TV programs turned into football games and movies. Some channel had news programs, but they were not many.


Although it was January 2nd, my professor sent an e-mail to lab members on having lunch with his visitor that day:) He was ready at the university and having a meeting with someone!

This year I had spent lazy days in the US while eating Osechi-Rryori my wife cooked. Although it is January 3rd today, I went to my office and read a paper which became the first one I read this year.