The Mayor

The old url I had accidently expired when I was having issues in Japan, so I’ve moved the wordpress over to my other domain 4r10r5.com.

A few weeks ago I wrote a simple perl script that would download youtube videos that I liked and convert them to avi so I could watch them on my television or laptop. I got the golden idea to create a odeo-style (podcast aggregate) that would retrieve your youtube videos via RSS, convert them to mpeg4 (iPod format), and deliver them as a video podcast to iTunes or whatever service you wish. This would allow you to use the simple functionality of youtube to create and upload videos and easily deploy the videos and people can watch them wherever they wish.

I need your help though! Below are a list of things I could use to make this idea real:

1) A name for the service

2) Graphics designer

3) Alpha testers..
… more ideas to come.

Welcome to the new webserver I have setup.  The old server was an older pentium doing double-duty as a fileserver/torrent server and webserver.  Man, downloading 15 movies at one time sure creates a load on the servers and you could tell as the systemload was affecting the the performance the websites.

From yahoo news, “researchers at the University of Tokyo are exploring just that. In a demonstration this week, a humanoid with camera eyes made by Kawada Industries Inc. poured tea from a bottle into a cup.” [more]

For no good reason I have migrated the site over to Wordpress from Movable Type. I think I like Wordpress better so far, seems easier to use and has a really easy plug-in system. However, in the end does this really matter on a blog that is never really updated?

I’ve always loved taking pictures, but beyond that most of the time that is where it ends. However, every once in awhile I get this urge to try to do something with them. This happens to be on of them, I have installed the gallery2 plug-in and I like it so far. Although, i’ve realized that I think I want to continue to use gallery as a dump for all my photos and perhaps move the good photos over to flickr. This will take time and I am sure this urge will pass, but hopefully in a few months it will come back again and I will get this taken care.

I think I am going to try to update this site more. I think I will be better able to once I graduate in the spring.

two days in Japan so far…

The flight over went well. I normally fly well, but this time I neglected getting up to stretch and walk around. I think that resulted in me getting a bit of a headache, but nothing too nasty. Rose and I requested different seats before the flight, the flight was pretty booked, but our request was granted and we got the emergency exit . I’ve never sat in the emergency exit before, so I was a but nervous at first. However, I turned out really nice because I could stretch my legs and not get frustrated about someone putting their chair back on me.

Once off the flight we didn’t rush, but we were able to make it immigration before the majority of the crowd. Last time we were in Japan we were in immigration for easily an hour. After signing the back of the immigration card saying that we did not have any firearms or drugs, which I think its odd that we have to sign a back of a card saying we don’t have these things, we picked up our bags.

We had discussed how to handle ourselves once off the plane, planning out what we would do to ensure that things went well. First thing was to exchange some travelers checks. Next we need to pickup our JR rail passes from the JR pass office. We a few issues finding this office, but, while Rose sat and rested for a few moments, I asked information in my amazing … japanese and was directed downstairs. ….About my Japanese, despite years of lessons I can say every word I know in one sentence…. Anyway, we picked up the JR pass, which was down by the subway platforms, proceeded back up stairs. Up stairs we purchased very expensive limo bus tickets to Tokyo Station, the busiest station in the world, least Japan, and by expensive $60.00… We had 2 minutes to get to the bus so we rushed out the door to see a bus at the place we need it. I am carrying the luggage so Rose rushes ahead, but is unable to stop it, despite her best, and perhaps over enthusiastic, efforts.

The limo bus took us on the hiway that goes through the southern part of Tokyo and took about an hour of a very cramped trip to Tokyo station. Cramped because we only checked two of our bags to go under the bus well the other two went on our laps… These were our first sights of Japan and it was very beautiful trip despite other frustrations.

We got Tokyo station a little information from the bus limo ticket lady on how to get to the station for our hotel, but little else. We were very tired at this point and just wanted to drop off our heavy and big luggage, but our trip had just began. We found our trains pretty easily, having to lug around our bags up and down several long flights of stairs. Once at the station our Hotel was at, Sakura Hotel, we began walking down the street we thought was the direction of it. However, it turned out that we were walking the wrong way for several blocks. Fortunately, a very friendly business man came to our rescue and walked us all the way to our hotel, easily 20minutes from where we were last lost at.

Another quarter over… 3.5gpa for the last and hardest quarter of the year. One more year of stress left. However, before that stress can be allow in, it is now time to be stressed out about the upcoming adventure.

This trip has been in the works since at least December… Purchased tickets around April… Booked all the hotels in April as well.

Depart tomorrow!

Nothing overly planned in Japan, don’t want to constrain us and compound, or worse yet over look something interesting. We do have a few things planned:

1) Tokyo
a) Baseball Game
b) wander aimlessly

2) Kyoto
a) rose dresses up like a geisha
b) wander aimlessly

3) Nara
a) wander aimlessly

4) Sendai
a) Utada concert

All that wandering will amount to a lot of adventures and hopefully we can find interesting things. We’ve purchased a video camera to document the journey. I hope that we can put up video posts on a nightly basis, but who really knows. The craziness that I feel right now is certain to become overwhelming, but that is not a bad thing. I hope to just allow it to envelope us on this trip and just be part of it.

Utada Hikaru - Deep river (Japan Gold Disc Awards)
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