Being back in a cold and rainy climate reminds me of Tokyo. No, seriously. Washington has four seasons, just like Tokyo did, and just like Hawaii didn’t. I suppose that’s what has been making me feel really nostalgic these days. I’m in a place with the weather of Japan, but way less awesome. I have seriously owned around seventeen kajillion books about Japan in my lifetime, and I’ve given away, donated, or sold back almost the same amount. Some of them I bought, some of them were given to me, and I even found one or two. But the thing is that I have moved so many times that the only ones I’ve kept are those that I absolutely, positively, do not want to live without. (Well, maybe I could live without them, but then would I really be living?) Anyays! Right now, I only own three books in English about Japan, and these are them, and here is why I really like them:   1. The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insider’s Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan Disclaimer: A friend of mine wrote this, but that’s not why I’m recommending it.  Pat has written a bunch of books and papers, and they’re all great, but this is the one that I wish that every single otaku in the world could have. What is it? It’s seriously a dictionary, but not the kind of dictionary that we used when I was a little kid to look up stuff for our school essays. I never had a dictionary like this. You probably know what Hatsune Miku is, but do you know what a Heta-uma is? How about a kuchi-paku? Guess where you can find all of that information that you didn’t know that you needed to have? In this freaking book. I know a fair amount about Otaku culture. I lived and breathed it in Japan for almost a whole decade. But I didn’t know half of the stuff that Patrick wrote about in his book, and that’s why you need it. Plus, it’s got a lot of color, a cute mascot, and some really cool exclusive interviews. You can even learn about Tenimyu!   2. Tokyo on Foot So. I saw this book in the book store in Japan, even though it’s written in English. Maybe that’s because although there is a story in it, it’s mostly drawings and you don’t need to be able to read to get the gist of it. It was written/drawn by an artist that came to stay in Tokyo while his girlfriend was there for an internship. He spent almost every day of his six months there wandering the city with colored pencils and a pad of paper and drawing what he saw. Not only are his drawings aces, I absolutely love his little comments about places and people and things. Right after I bought this book (years ago), I was so enamored that I tried emulating his style with less than stellar results. Me and colored pencils don’t mix, which kind of makes this book even more cool (somehow)! Part of the reason that I really enjoyed this book was because it made me nostalgic for my own first days in Tokyo. I remembered thinking a lot of the same things. I just wish that I’d been good with colored pencils (and had enough confidence to write a book). You can read about my first year here on my blog, though! Honestly, I don’t think that this book is as much a must-have for otaku as the other two, but if art and impressions of Japan is your thing, I think you will love it as much as I do. I seriously only brought two English-language books back with me when I moved out of Japan, and this was one. The other was an ancient copy of The Mysterious Island that my father got when he was a kid and passed on to me.   3. Tokyo Geek’s Guide Aaaaalright. I was really, really skeptical about this one. I’ve seen a hundred other “guides to Tokyo” for otaku, but I didn’t keep any of them. This one, though? I am not only keeping it forever, I am going to give a copy to any of my friends traveling to Japan on their own to go otaku-shopping. Holy cow, I wish this book had existed when I first moved to Japan, because it covers things that it took me years of living there to find on my own! It’s a bona-fide travel guide, minus all of the generic stuff that you can find in a normal travel guide. It doesn’t focus on hotels or nice restaurants. Instead, it lists maid cafes, anime shops, and AWESOME stuff like Swallowtail (don’t know what that is? You need to get this book and find out because it is awesome!). The book is split into districts of Tokyo, and lists otaku-related info about each area along with detailed maps and how to get to all of these places. It’s kind of big and heavy for a travel guide, but it’s seriously the only one that I’m interested in having with me next time that I travel to Tokyo. There are places in it that I haven’t even been to. Oh, and bonus? There is a whole section in the latter part of the book talking about Geeky festivals like Comicket and JUMP Festa. I REALLY, REALLY WISH THAT THIS HAD BEEN AROUND WHEN I MOVED TO JAPAN. It’s 14 years too late for that, but not too late for my next trip, and not too late for yours! It’s also in full color. If you’re reading this, I think that you will probably want this book. GO BUY IT.   This has absolutely NOT been a paid advertisement. I am just a geeky girl honestly recommending things that she likes to you that she thinks you need. :3 See you again soon la la la!

This isn’t in the photos, but it’s foggy and cold this morning in western Washington. It’s the weirdest summer I’ve ever experienced — foggy, frigid mornings, cool days, and then freezing nights! It’s not very pleasant for a desert creature like myself, but it’s quite nice to sit inside and write in my blog a least. I have to say, it sure is weird, though. It’s August and I wear a sweater or sweatshirt most of the time and then I’m still cold! ^^; There are a few sunny days here and there, though. I get out on those days, into the wilderness and bright blue beyond. Sometimes, I just drive and drive in my still-unnamed yellow bug, and other times I find something that not a lot of people know about. This is about one of them. ^^ I love to wander, to find all of the nooks and crannies of wherever I happen to be. Tourist sites? Well, they’re usually cool and I want to see them, but it’s the little, hidden things off the beaten trail that really get my soul revving. So, Johns River (no apostrophe, it was named back when apostrophes weren’t used on maps) was one of those things. I found out about it by googling and googling, thinking that someone, somewhere, must have written about something other than the two really traveled trails in Grays Harbor. I mean, this area is the gateway to the wild peninsula of Washington, where according to Stephanie Meyer and Patricia Briggs, vampires and werewolves run wild. I also loooooooove mountain meadows. Johns river is not in the mountains, so I suppose that it mostly qualifies as grassland surrounded by trees? It’s just a little concrete path, and it’s not even a mile (0.6 miles one way) long, but with the river on one side and a huge expanse of pasture to the other side, it took my breath away.   Just look at this. Elk supposedly graze around here a lot, and I didn’t see any since I went during midday, but I bet it’s really a sight at sunset. It’s not far, so I will definitely have to come back. Can’t you just imagine little river sprites lounging on the bank, cleaning themselves? And little fairies flitting through the air? I bet this is a really magical place at sunset.   The little shack in the distance is off the trail. It’s supposedly for hunters (YUCK) and photographers. It would make a wonderful place to watch the sprites from. This shack is at the very end of the trail, and the same thing. It’s boring inside. I didn’t see any geldings, but I saw a few mosquitoes and a spider. If you’re lucky enough to have a horse that loves to take you along on its adventures, you can continue. I was wearing shorts, so I didn’t go, because ticks! But I will come back. Yes, I will come back. :3 Road to nowhere. Ignore the buildings. They’re only there for magical curse removal. Here’s a panorama of wildness. I’m feeling really magical today, can’t you tell? I think it’s because I have Daniel Waples playing in the background, and it’s all foggy outside. That reminds me that I want a handpan so badly. I need to find a handpan that I can afford soooooo badly, because I think it’s a music that speaks to my inner essence. Does anyone know what these gorgeous purple flowers are? They’re not lavender. The River People watch over this creek. Be careful to please them. It’s me. Sometimes I wear bright colors, sometimes I wear pastels. I don’t think that a magical being has to stick to  neutrals. (That hand thing is a shaka, a very cool gesture that I learned during my time in Hawaii that means “hang loose.” I like to think that it also means that you should be yourself and follow your instincts.) I think that I’ll go research handpans again. I should write down how much they cost so that I can be sure to stock my Airstream with one when I get it. ???? Here’s to the future! Excelsior! (Is that a good “to infinity, and beyond!!” kind of quote? If not, what should I use instead? I feel like “banzai!” is overused) Oh, and I’ve been arting on my Tumblr lately. I’ve been writing a serial ficiton that is mysterious connected to my soon-to-come comic, Denkiki on my other tumblr. Go check them out!  I’m going to start using my mailing list soon, too, to keep people updated, so stay tuned and I’ll post the link soon! Or make it a popup, I’m not sure. But I want to offer something cool for when people sign up. ???? Chaoness!

Hello loyal, long-time users and readers of JiG, During this quarantine time all around the world, we would like to see JiG more dynamic with more reviews to let you forget a bit this hard period. If you like games... Tagged as:

Platform: Android, Flash, Unity — Ichima Coffeedo created a new game, and it's great! This game is a remake as their other recent installments, the original Room 7 Indigo Blue can't be played anymore. The graphics have been remarkably upgraded, pleasant tune was added and... Tagged as: android, browser, escape, flash, free, game, ichima, japanese, playthis, puzzle, rating-g, unity

Popular journaling app Day One today updated to version 4.13, adding support for trackpad navigation on iPad, a new Day View interface, and other improvements.


This release comes after the launch of iOS and iPadOS 13.4, which added support for trackpads and mice on ‌‌iPad‌‌.

After updating, Day One users on ‌iPad‌ can use various trackpad actions to interact with the app, including two-finger swipe down to dismiss, and two-finger horizontal swipe to open and close the journal drawer.

• How to Use a Bluetooth Mouse or Trackpad With Your iPad

The new Day View offers quicker access to daily entries by tapping on or clicking dates in the calendar or the timeline.

Also in this update, Daily Reminders now include additional information like the number of photos taken and locations visited on a given day, and the Settings pages now provide links to Day One feature documents.

Elsewhere, several bugs have been fixed, including one that caused video thumbnails not to display in the media timeline, and one that prevented photos in the activity feed from showing location or calendar events.

Day One is a free download for iPhone and ‌iPad‌ from the App Store with in-app purchases for premium features. [Direct Link]
This article, "Day One Journaling App Update Adds iPad Trackpad Support, New Day View, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

This week saw a couple of big announcements, led by the launch of an update for the 13-inch MacBook Pro line. Most notably, the update brought the improved Magic Keyboard previously introduced on its 16-inch sibling and the MacBook Air, with high-end models also receiving updated processors.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
The second significant announcement this week was that Apple's first all-digital Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off on June 22. Other news this week included a firmware update for the AirPods Pro, an update on Apple's Mini-LED efforts, and more.

Read on below and check out our video above for recaps of all of this week's most important stories!

New 13-Inch MacBook Pro Announced With Magic Keyboard, 10th-Gen Processors, Up to 32GB RAM and 4TB SSD, and More

Apple this week refreshed its 13-inch MacBook Pro lineup, with key features including the same Magic Keyboard as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, up to 80 percent faster Intel graphics than the previous generation, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 4TB of SSD storage, and 6K display support.


First introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro last year, the Magic Keyboard features a far more reliable scissor mechanism with 1mm of key travel. After five years, Apple has finally transitioned its entire notebook lineup away from its issue-prone butterfly keyboard.

10th-generation Intel processor options are only available on higher-end models, with the $1,799 configuration proving to be up to 16.5% faster than the $1,299 base model with an older 8th-generation processor.

Apple's Virtual WWDC Event to Kick Off on June 22

Apple has announced that its first-ever online-only WWDC will begin Monday, June 22 via the Apple Developer app and website. The weeklong event will include a virtual keynote, sessions, and labs, with more details to be shared in June. And it's free!


Apple is expected to introduce iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS 10.16, tvOS 14, and watchOS 7 at WWDC 2020, with beta testing to take place over the summer.

Student developers from all over the world can enter Apple's Swift Student Challenge by creating an interactive scene in Swift Playgrounds that can be experienced in three minutes. Winners will receive an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set. Submissions are open through May 17.

Apple Updates AirPods Pro Firmware to Version 2D15

Apple this week released a new firmware version 2D15 for the AirPods Pro, replacing version 2C54.


In recent months, some AirPods Pro owners have been complaining about reduced noise cancellation and crackling or static sounds, so users have listened for any improvements following the update.

Perhaps proving how subjective sound quality can be, feedback has been decidedly mixed, with some users noticing an improvement, some noticing no change, and some noticing further degradation to noise cancellation.

Apple has offered some help in the form of two new support documents for users to troubleshoot noise cancellation or crackling sound issues.

10 Tips and Tricks for the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard

Have you recently picked up a new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro? Here's a list of our favorite tips and tricks that you need to know.


The tips and tricks relate to adjusting the backlight brightness, customizing the cursor's behavior, enabling tap-to-click on the trackpad, other trackpad gestures, accessing the Emoji keyboard, and more.

Apple's Mini-LED Product Roadmap May Have Been Pushed Back to 2021

Disappointed that the new 13-inch MacBook Pro was not the rumored 14-inch model? That may be due to a slight delay in Apple's plans to release a range of new products with Mini-LED backlit displays.

Kuo believes Apple's first Mini-LED products might not launch until 2021. The analyst has previously said these products would include a new 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and more.


Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED displays will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays used on the latest iPhones, including good wide color gamut performance, high contrast and dynamic range, and local dimming for truer blacks.

NFC-Based Digital Key Specification Released Ahead of Apple's Rumored CarKey Feature on iPhone

Amid rumors that Apple is working on a digital "CarKey" feature for iPhone, the Car Connectivity Consortium has announced that its NFC-based Digital Key Release 2.0 specification has been finalized and made available to its members, which includes Apple.


"CarKey" will allow an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock, lock, and start an NFC-compatible vehicle. Just like credit cards and boarding passes, users will be able to add a digital car key to the Wallet app, eliminating the need to use a physical car key or key fob.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!
This article, "Top Stories: New 13" MacBook Pro, WWDC Starts June 22, AirPods Pro Firmware Update, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The Ursa Majors are ready for votes and the nominees have been revealed. Voting can be found at their website and is open throughout the month of March. Two categories, however, received no nominees due to being an insufficient number of nominations and will not be put up to vote for a winner. Those two categories being Fursuits and Non-Fiction.

If you enjoy film, fiction, art, or any other of the many items that are up for selection as the best of the best for the year of 2019 be sure to vote this month. If you like non-fiction or fursuits, well, you can always be sure to nominate next year.

The nominees are:

read more

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Is your standard charge for a speech $300,000?  According to an article appearing on the website of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and a May 31, 2013 email, Clinton’s standard contract usually includes: Round-trip transportation on a chartered private jet “e.g., a Gulfstream … Continue reading →

A year ago this month the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the banking giant JPMorgan Chase would avoid criminal charges by agreeing to pay $13 billion to settle claims that it had routinely overstated the quality of mortgages it … Continue reading →

JONES: You talked about the person we always talk about, Donald Trump. Let's talk about the person we never talk about, we just heard from. Bernie Sanders has incredible momentum. He's had almost a media blackout. We -- I mean, he's almost never the subject of the main conversation. But out in the country, you see a lot of Bernie Sanders support. He got more contributions, individual donors, than anybody in American history. That by itself lets you know something's going on. I think he's going to win Iowa. He may win New Hampshire. Continue reading →

The evidence is adding up that this election is a SHAM! Exit polls do not add up on the Democratic side and regularly predict better results for Bernie than the voting machines are telling us! The mainstream media won't even come close to touching this, and in fact they're even attacking Lee Camp for bringing it up. Don't miss this segment of Redacted Tonight! Continue reading →

Green Party's Jill Stein says that what we Fear from Donald Trump is what we have already seen from Hillary Clinton. Continue reading →

we know how politics works in the United States. Whoever—whatever political party gets into government is going to merge with the bureaucracy pretty damn fast. It will be in a position where it has some levers in its hand. And so, as a result, corporate lobbyists will move in to help control those levers. So it doesn’t make much difference in the end. What does make a difference is political accountability, a general deterrence set to stop political organizations behaving in a corrupt manner. Continue reading →

"Well, reducing the election to personalities is kind of infantile at this point. The fact is, we live in a system that Sheldon Wolin calls inverted totalitarianism. It’s a system where corporate power has seized all of the levers of control. There is no way to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs or ExxonMobil or Raytheon." Continue reading →

This is one of the best interviews on American politics ever to be broadcasted. Ralph Nader and Jill Stein discuss our corrupt government and corrupt media controlled by corporations, and explain how we no longer have a democracy but corporate tyranny. Continue reading →

Jimmy Dore says that voting your conscience means voting for Jill Stein if you are a progressive. Continue reading →

Jill Stein thinks that Hillary Clinton is scarier than Donald Trump: "On this issue of war and nuclear war, Hillary is much scarier." Continue reading →

The Brainwashing Of Hillary Voters Is Complete. Hillary Clinton voters are either getting paid or have been brainwashed into defending her pro-corporate status quo policies. Jimmy Dore breaks it down on his broadcast, October 20, 2016. Continue reading →

Unlike Hillary Clinton, Jill Stein would not continue to expand our military budget and presence in the world but would curtail both, saving American taxpayers trillions of dollars and saving the world millions, if not billions, of lives. Listen to her present a rational, humane foreign policy in this interview on The Young Turks Town Hall meeting held October 21, 2016. Continue reading →

In an interview with Cenk Uygur on The Young Turks TYT show on October, 21, 2016, Jill Stein was asked what would she do to ensure the protection of Estonia from an invasion from Russia. I found her response to … Continue reading →

Julian Assange says Donald Trump would not be permitted to win. All of the establishment--Wall Street, Corporate America, the elites, the media, career politicians, et al--is united behind Hillary Clinton. Continue reading →

"Trump didn’t hijack the populism, the Democratic Party made a gift of it to him. And he simply accepted it. … that elite … made a decision that in the midst of a global insurrection against political corruption and economic oligarchy that Hillary Clinton’s 'pay to play' politics in global finance capitalism would somehow play better than Bernie Sanders Democratic Socialism. … they ignored every poll they had, all the data they had, and even all the anecdotes they could possibly have accumulated in order to reach the conclusion that Hillary was a stronger candidate than Bernie. … And I remain certain that if anyone other than Clinton - and certainly if you accept for just one moment that when all the polls said the right things by such wide margins for so long they might be right - Bernie Sanders could have won this had he been the nominee, like Roosevelt took out Landon." Continue reading →

There's got to be a reason for the Democrats to suppose to exist. And the reason the Democrats are supposed to exist is to be an opposition party to the Republicans. If you're in bed with the same people, taking money from the same people, you're no longer an opposition party. There's no reason for you to exist. And guess what? Don't be surprised that people don't vote for you. Continue reading →

Grow a spine. Bernie Sanders, when are you going to risk losing your friendship with the Democrats to help your country? When are you going to risk doing that? You had a stupid secret agreement not to attack Hillary Clinton, and you stayed by it, and then when the country needed you to do something with your movement, you told them to go work for the Machine. And now you're telling them to back Chuck Schumer. Continue reading →

The Democratic National Committee is controlled by its big corporate donors. Tom Perez was recruited to defeat progressive Keith Ellison to keep the Democratic Party in the coffers of its corporate donors. Ellison's defeat as head of the DNC was a hit job by the corporate machine within the DNC. Continue reading →

Connecticut General Assembly Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz speaking at the 2014 CEUI Convention. Joe Aresimowicz, in speaking to a governmental employee union group in 2014, assured governmental union employees that he would be looking out for them: "You guys have one of your own that sits in the caucus room of the General Assembly. You cannot replicate that." "I will never allow an anti-collective bargaining bill to be called to the House floor. I'm the majority leader. I can make that guarantee." "Please, stand together, stand as brothers and sisters, and be a family. And make sure we are looking out for our own." Continue reading →

Tucker Carlson: Elizabeth Warren's enemies on Wall Street and Big Tech are not really her enemies. Elizabeth Warren is really just this season's Hillary Clinton -- faithful party robot, stalwart defender of the prerogatives of the establishment. Continue reading →

Candi comic for Thursday, June 9, 2016

Candi comic for Thursday, June 16, 2016

Candi comic for Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Candi comic for Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Candi comic for Monday, July 4, 2016

Candi comic for Monday, July 18, 2016

Open source SVG emoji from Twitter 2-Bit Mario: A physical Mario Brothers game The most important device in the universe, built by prop designer John Zabrucky Video made from photos of Comet 67p taken by Rosetta A Conversation on Microbiomes mostly focused on the Sourdough Project Cat Coat Genetics 101: A Tweetorial Thermochromic 7-segment display … Continue reading Linkdump: January 2020 →

Once again the calendar rolls to December 16, also known as Jane Austen Day. We celebrate every year with our fellow Janeites, remembering the author who has given us so much joy. We have a few links to share with our Gentle Readers. Firstly, an article in the TLS from Devoney Looser about how we…

Gentle Readers, here is another treat for us while we are confined to our homes. We may even be able to lure Dorothy away from her garret for this one. Streaming Musicals will present a free streaming event of Paul Gordon’s musical adaptation of Pride and Prejudice on Friday, April 10, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.…

Today, IBM announced that it achieved two major commitments four years ahead of schedule in its effort to help combat climate change.

Plus more ways to support comics creators and new authors launching their books worldwide while social distancing!

The post Social Distancing Roundup: JOHN WICK Livestream, Neil Gaiman reads CORALINE, and an X-MEN ’92 watchalong appeared first on The Beat.

The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 will feature an all-star creative team including James Tynion IV, Dan Mora, Tom Taylor, and many more

The post PREVIEW: The origin of Punchline is revealed in the JOKER 80TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL appeared first on The Beat.

Taking place tomorrow 1:00PM PT/4:00PM ET

The post WB announces a watch party for JL DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR, the endgame of the DC Animated Movie Universe appeared first on The Beat.

DC made a good choice in moving away from Diamond.

The post The Coronavirus Journal: Alternative Distribution Will Help Us Survive appeared first on The Beat.

ENGIE, a global leader in energy transition, today announced a new initiative with IBM. This nonexclusive, technological and commercial alliance is designed to improve the management of cities by looking at patterns, event correlation, anomaly detection and real-time data across all parts of cities.

Take two - Queensland Premier re-enacts a flu shot for the cameras giving birth to a conspiracy.

IBM today announced two significant milestones in making the on-premises IBM Cloud Object Storage System much more accessible for customers with new compliance-enabled vaults and concentrated dispersal mode capabilities.

Walmart, JD.com, IBM, and Tsinghua University National Engineering Laboratory for E-Commerce Technologies announced today they will work together in a Blockchain Food Safety Alliance that will kick off with a collaboration designed to enhance food tracking, traceability and safety in China, to achieve greater transparency across the food supply chain.

Earlier this week I predicted the demise of conventional IT caused by the wide adoption of SD-WAN and SASE, accelerated by the emergency demands of everyone working from home. Now that Congress has passed a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 bail-out, let’s throw-in the implications of that legislation to see what effect it is all likely to have on what used to be IT. The short version is to expect an even bigger bloodbath as IT employees at all levels are let go forever. Please understand that some version of this bloodbath was going to happen anyway. What matters right now is how we respond to it. While my previous column was generally about turning lower-level IT nerds into Uber drivers, this one goes a little further […]






Digital Branding
Web Design
Marketing

Last weekend I participated in two investing panels for my friend Anina.net’s global online fashion conference. Anina is the pretty girl next to me in the picture atop this page. My second panel was the final event of the conference, so Anina and I stayed on the line to talk a bit afterward. She had been up for 72 continuous hours. Oddly, what we discussed were N-95 respirator masks, which are in such short supply thanks to COVID-19. Anina lives in Beijing and China is starting to get back to work as the country slowly backs-off from its draconian coronavirus shut-down. Some businesses are retooling to address global coronavirus needs and one of those retooled factories is owned by a friend of Anina’s. His garment […]






Digital Branding
Web Design
Marketing