Jeremy Toeman – Page 54

An hour in Akihabara

Posted on June 10, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Akihabara is Tokyo’s “electronics town”. Prior to about 2001 or so it was about the coolest place in the world to go look at gadgets, as it was often the only place to find really interesting stuff. With today’s globalization, it’s definitely lost some of its allure, but is still a must-see spot in Tokyo. Heck, even my wife got a kick out of it! Here’s a fun assortment of photos I took in my extremely rapid stop at Akihabara last week…

In-store demos actually show the insides of these machines and how they work. Of course you can only wash one sock at a time.

Here I am at the Akihabara subway station

Remember Taito? Anyone? Cool 80s video games… Well, they seem to be alive and well in Akihabara!

More English here than anywhere I saw in Japan!

How can Sega even afford the lease anymore?
(also if you look in the background of the picture you’ll see a reflection of Ishimaru – I like the effect here)

Ishimaru is a “middle tier” store in Akihabara

These Panasonic headphones have replaceable ear buds and retractable cables – nice.

Despite the popularity of the iPod, Akihabara stores are full of tiny shiny mp3 players to choose from. After which, everyone inevitably picks the iPod…

One of the better in-store demos I’ve seen, both displays had the same DVD playing, with the obvious quality difference of the HD player. And with titles like “The Brothers Grimm” I’m sure people were rushing out to buy the players!

AirEdge is a company offering various 3G connectivity options

When the Japanese do mobile TV, they do it widescreen – check out these Aquos branded phones from Vodafone

I don’t think it’s perfectly clear from this picture, but this thing is bigger than the PPC6700. From AirEdge/Willcom, this is one big honking Windows Mobile PPC phone!

When the Japanese do mobile TV, they do it widescreen – check out these Aquos branded phones from Vodafone

Laox is the 2nd biggest store in Akihabara, behind Yodabashi. It has a bit of a K-Mart feel, but is a good stop.

I know it was big in Europe (it is huge in Belgium), and maybe Japan too, but at the end of the day, MD was lame, and good riddance. But, Laox still has a shelf full of the things…

While not commonly known, it’s actually illegal in Japan to run a store with no Hello Kitty products. This doll/gadget has built-in speakers (in the feet) and … uh.. hmm..

This portable media player is nicely sized, and plays all the ‘popular’ video formats, like xvid.

Oh, so shiny!

I think this one is pretty cool. Not sure if I’d pay $700ish for it, but it’s a cool idea.

Inside Laox Bose has their own store where they show their tiny speakers that sound awful or their really really big headphones that sound good but weigh 14 pounds

Panasonic brings you full 1080p vacuuming with their new HD unit

Love the concept, love the sign.

I really like the idea of video games that have exercise themes (note: I like the idea, but I don’t want one), Xavix has a full working in-store demo

Get your bronco workout in the convenience of your home… ?

I think this is where Tom and Katie picked theirs up

Shows you which floor on Laox to find your rodeo machine

Right across from Laox is a store with all sorts of wires and cables, they’ll even make your own custom cable there!

Another view of the buildings in Akihabara

A recent addition to Akihabara is this giant-sized Yodabashi store

Aww, so cuuuute

Someone’s still trying to push keyboards in the living room… ugh.

Seems similar to the new EVDO units we have in the US

I guess a lot of people are buying these things here…

If you haven’t found a way to thoroughly embarrass and spoil your pet yet, well, here’s the answer. Print your own design then clothe your lap-dog with this kit!

Yep, all mice.

I hadn’t heard of marimekko before, but I thought these were a little distinctive…

My wife thought this Disney-themed mouse was the ‘pick of the litter’ (so-to-speak)

Fans, lights, vacuums, cup warmers – if you have USB, you can do just about anything now!

Yodabashi sells generic power supplies for virtually any laptop

Lots of routers and ADSL modems on display in Yodabashi

Yep, we’ve seen em before, but the display was nice. I especially like the touch of putting them under glass

This kids camera allows you to take pictures and instantly print them on customized little papers, some with different designs too.

Need a telescope? Binocular? Yodabashi’s got it!

Last I checked the local Best Buy has about 3 different varieties… Yodabashi has… more.

I like Canon cameras. That’s it.

8-in-1? got it. 11-in-1? got it. 13-in-1? got it.

Just follow the simple chart and display

Not sure why, but I’ve enjoyed taking escalator pictures recently.

This is the best way to train your children how to use a remote control, a skill they will need much later in life.

They sure do look nice

When you get to Yodabashi, just go to the 7th floor and take the escalators down from there.

In a rare sunny moment, here I am outside of Yodabashi

Small cubes and other tiny non-competition for Apple

Sigh, couldn’t Walt have inspired more in his team?

Never heard of it, but it’s iPod-white, so it must be good.

See, it’s red! Sharp’s iPod non-knockoff

I like the form factor AND the blue, but I’m sure Panasonic has otherwise messed up this small mp3 player

Yodabashi has about 400 different MP3 players to try out. And then you go buy an iPod (you know, to stand out from everyone else)

For all those times you’ve dropped your TV in the bathtub, fret no longer, thanks to this portable Casio unit

Yodabashi has all your stereo and home theater needs

Yes, that’s right, it says Rodeo Boy. How do you get to the Alamo? Practice, practice, practice.

The Japanese sure love their toilet seats. At $900, this Passo unit even has a built-in iPod dock! (just kidding, but it IS $900!)

Yes, the title is accurate, these are demos of high-tech toilet seats in Yodabashi. I wonder if anyone else has used “toilet seat” as a Flickr tag before?

Perfect fun for all the kids. My favorite part is the screen shot of the ‘fun’ game (red circle added for effect)

This is somewhat neat, this little kit has your favorite Peanuts characters playing along with your music. Not sure what you need it for, but, hey, there’s Linus!

Another kit to play along with your music, just in case you are bored of a peaceful looking mantle.

In the Tokyo metro system, just 15 minutes away from Akihabara!

JT: Meet Your Delight

Posted on June 8, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Was getting into the subway in Tokyo yesterday when this sign caught my eye. don’t really know what its for, it could be a bank, a soccer team, a high-energy drink, or just about anything. But I like to think there’s an off-chance it’s an ad for yours truly, and all I can say is “thanks, Tokyo, but I am taken.”

Tokyu Hands: Crafts, Gizmos, and Toys, oh my!

Posted on June 4, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Imagine taking the coolest aspects of Toys R Us, Best Buy, Target, and hmm.. Home Depot(?), throw em together, and weed out anything really mundane. Now have lots of interactive displays, spread everything out onto 7 floors (each with its own checkout line unfortunately), and turn it Japanese. Next, put the store in downtown Tokyo (right by the Shinjuku station), and you have my favorite store in all of Tokyo.

Tokyu Hands: Creative Life Store.

My friend Yuichiro (we call him Woody, don’t ask) took me here about 4 or 5 years ago, and I’ve been craving it (and Ippudo ramen) ever since. Its a very fun place, with lots of different types of appeal.

On the first floor I really liked the Let’s Play TV demonstrations, featuring 80s classic arcade hits like Xevious and Mappy (ok, so the premise and storylines weren’t as polished as today’s games, but you could pick up a controller and play the damn thing without learning the 14-button sequence to get your guy to jump!). In the US we have some retro TV-based gaming systems, but these seemed like a bit more fun, I think because they were just less polished-looking.

Also featured on the first floor was a huge section devoted to customizing your cell phone, with stickers, studs, jewels, beads, and I think even raw fish. There were also a few interesting carrying cases for iPod nanos in the mix.

Other highlights in the ‘bizarre gizmo’ section included: ifish and idog (some type of music-reactive iPod accessory), about a dozen different digital Sudoku games, and something called Cube World, which really just seemed like a collosal waste of money for the pure sake of LCD screens… ifish was my favorite piece of silliness.

On the remaining floors were other treasures, ranging from blocks of wood for your carving needs, small furniture, cooking supplies, and just about any type of gadget or gizmo related to any hobby or pastime you may have. I spent some time looking through travel gadgetry, but unfortunately didn’t find anything particularly new to waste money on.

Got a few days in Tokyo? Sure, go to Akihabara and Yodabashi, but you pretty much know what you are going to see there. Head to Tokyu Hands for a lot more fun. Who knows, maybe you’ll even get to comparison shop electronic toothbrushes?

Mangosteen: the perfect fruit

Posted on May 30, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

When my cousin introduced me to the Mangosteen several years ago, he described it as the best fruit on Earth. We were in Harrod’s (yes, in London) and found it in their wonderful fresh produce department. We bought a few of the admittedly-odd-looking fruit, and he began to peel it prior to exiting the store. He pried out a pale, whitish fleshy wedge, and handed it to me.

In a single word: absolute delight.

Upon returning to San Francisco, I sought out this heavenly treasure, but alas, have never found it (other than in preserved format, which doesn’t hold nearly the same appeal). On subsequent trips to the Netherlands, London, and Vietnam, I’ve managed to find and consume the delicious fruit on each trip.

I recently visited http://www.mangosteen.com/ to try to find out why I can’t get the darn things in the US. Turns out that due to some types of Asian insects combined with a lack of irradiation ability, the mangosteen is not available. Although a recent update to the site implies that the US department of agriculture is working to get the fruit importable (is that a word?) sometime this year! Joy!

Personally, I describe the taste as “somewhere between a kiwi, mango, and raspberry” but I don’t think that’s quite right. Wikipedia says “underripe strawberry, with hints of sweet orange” which is also off in my opinion. All I can say is when given the chance, seek it out. It’s worth it.

More photos of the mangosteen in action.

ps – no, it is not a Jewish mango.

Rant: They call it basic math for a reason!

Posted on May 28, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Went out for dinner the other night with my wife and some colleagues. Had a great meal at a decently pricey restaurant, and pretty much the moment I hit about $30 or so per head, I expect good service. While it wasn’t bad, it certainly wasn’t good service. But overall, all was well until the bill came. Then we agreed to put it on two of our cards, splitting it 40/60 (you know, one of us paid for 2, the other for 3 – but if this didn’t make sense, nor will the rest of my story). The waitress (if stewardesses are now flight attendants, why aren’t waitresses food or restaurant attendants?) came by, we said 40%-60%, she wandered off.

About 5 minutes later she returned, needing a reminder as she recalled us saying 80-20, but didn’t think that was accurate. We reiterated the split, and she expressed her confusion on it. I made a quick guess at the number, but really wasn’t in a “calculating mood” and honestly wanted the service – at this point it was clearly an issue of principle (its the principalities of it!). Several minutes later she returned with the bill split exactly at my guess number (wrong by about 5%). Ugh.

At this point, both myself and colleague were annoyed. We reiterated the split, and she complained “but you told me something different!” I disagreed and she then said, and I quote, “we don’t have any calculators here, just the computer”.

Are you kidding me?!?

First of all, there’s the audacity to complain that the restaurant can charge $10 for a bottle of still water, but doesn’t have the capacity to do basic math. Second of all, does she mean to say that not only is this type of math beyond her, nobody else at the restaurant could do it? While my colleague did the work on PAPER, I pulled out my mobile phone to show the built-in calculator it included.

The worst part was yet to come, as the restaurant’s new computer system didn’t allow cancellations (yeah, sure), so they had to issue a second check, one with a refund to my card and and additional charge to the others. Pathetic to the nth degree.

As a favor to other diners, I hereby provide JT’s guide to calculating something as blindingly simple as 40% of anything else. For your convenience, I will do it with none of that complication division stuff. I will leave it somewhat condescending, as I feel that’s how it should be described to one who needs this kind of help:

Take your target percent, for this case we’ll call it 40%, and get rid of the “0”. This gives our example the number 4.
Multiple the bill by this number. If your bill is, say $150, and your target is 40%, you are doing 150 * 4. Yes, it’s 600.
Now, remove the last “0” again. In our example, we are at $60
That’s it!
Advanced topic: how to figure out the balance for the other card…

Subtract the 40% number from the total. In this example, it’s $150 – $60, for a total of… uh… hmm… I dunno, something carry the zero?

Go laugh at a geek!

Posted on May 26, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Back when I was in school, being geeky was only comedy to those around me. I was fairly geeky, but then I went to college, found a life, made some friends, and eventually got married to a very beautiful woman. I also work for a cool company (Sling Media – geeky, but cool in geek-dom), and only really out myself as a geek here on the LD. Okay, there are other times too (like uttering obscure quotes from Fletch), but this is probably the top of the proverbial heap.

Anyhow, back to high school (was the above a digression, or me avoiding the topic?). Geeks get laughed at. It sucks. We like to think that we can pull a Gates-like maneuver and ‘show them’ one day, but odds are pretty good if we move out of the geekosphere, we’ll tend to put it all behind us. Not me of course, as I am a bitter, bitter man.

Erikka Innes (yes, a former blogger here on LD!) is trying to make the laughing at part more like the good kind of laughing at (more “ha-ha” funny, less “you are such a loser” funny), with her new comedy show focusing on, you guessed it, geeks! Erikka apparently got the idea for her event, the Geek Comedy Night, while watching other comics use geeky material interwoven in their routines. She decided there was enough meat on them 98-pound-weakling bones to have a monthly event.

Geek Comedy Nights start on June 14th at Rooster T. Feathers in Sunnyvale, California. Innes and her coproducer Daymon Ferguson plan to make the show “as geeky as possible” and will even include a “best geek” costume contest (the true winner, of course, would not wear anything abnormal). If you have a little closet geek left in you, Erikka promises “the event will feature tons of jokes about technology, gadgets, video games, science, sci-fi, comic books, d&d, etc.”

The event is $10, and I believe they might take Federation credits, if you can calculate the current exchange rate, that is. So go ahead, laugh at a geek, and this time, you won’t even harm one of our extremely fragile egos.

This Spam I Don't Understand…

Posted on May 23, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Ok, so I get the numbers, and I understand that it only takes about one hit per billion emails sent to make it worthwhile to send spam. I don’t like it, but I get it. Personally, I’d like to at least opt out of the lists that don’t make any sense for me to be on (I will never buy Office XP for $79.99, nor do I need another University Diploma, and I am pretty sure that the Gap has enough secret shoppers already), although I guess that’s wishful thinking.

I also understand using crafty subject lines such as “Fw: this is something you had to see” when sent to me by someone with a slightly unusual name, like Gretchen Tinsley. I also thought “Thanks for being a good friend” from Morton Ruiz was clever enough to take a look at (read: I was duped). But recently I’ve received numerous emails with subject lines such as “Re: my VALLtvUM” or “Re: before the be11 news”.

In fact, the VALLtvUM email body started like this:

A M B B / E N
V A L L / U M
C / A L L / S
V / A G G R A
X ^ N N A X
M E R / D D / A
S O M M ^
P R R O Z ^ C
L E V V / T R A

And then had a link to http://www.ruewunsuereion.com, and despite knowing it was going to be bad, I figured I had to take a look. Turns out it’s a site offering tons of the above drugs (although spelled correctly, for the most part) at discount prices. By the way, A M B B / E N is killer for long-haul flights.

You know, it’s one thing to trick me into opening porn, or maybe buying crappy software or a fake university diploma. Furthermore, I can understand looking for and purchasing discount drugs on the Internet (remember, I said I can understand, that doesn’t mean I plan to do it). But here’s what I don’t get:

Who on Earth would even consider buying medication from someone who can’t spell it right? This stuff can kill you, man!

Maybe it’s time to head to Walgreens to buy B3n^dryl or ad/1L, and while you are there, don’t forget to pick up some extra 5c0pe and |

He is the Guru of Seat

Posted on May 20, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Seat Guru logo It’s mid-May, and I’ve flown roughly 75,000 miles this year, on track to hit 100K by late June. This is a lot by my standards, more than I’ve flown in any other given year (other than once). Virtually every trip I seek out a few little tricks to make my travel a little easier. I found my favorite neckrest at SFO in the “oh crap I forgot to buy someone a gift so I’ll pick up a cool San Francisco t-shirt” store (located near the useful Zoom Shop). I learned to carry two carry-ons, my Slappa Velocity Pro backpack for my laptop, DVDs, and other electronics, and a second small bag with my books, magazines (which I’ll of course leave behind), Ambien and a couple of bottles of water. Recently, I was introduced to www.seatguru.com, and it’s changed the way I travel.

Sample map SeatGuru has seat maps for most of the airplanes (and each of their various configurations), chock full of advice on a seat-by-seat basis. A sample “map” is on the right. In a nutshell, green means good, yellow means beware, and red means don’t sit under any circumstances. Their seat maps also include lavatories, galleys, AC power ports, and even the windows. The best part is the seat-by-seat guide, which has some very practical information. Here’s an example:

Seats 23G,H are standard Business seats, but the proximity of the galley can be bothersome. It tends to get very cold in this area during flight.

The site is great, and all thanks to Matthew Daimler, a frequent flier who started the site himself a few years back. He recently launched a mobile version as well, http://mobile.seatguru.com/, which makes the last-minute seat changes at the check-in counter a little easier to do with confidence. Can’t recommend it highly enough (although he doesn’t have China Airlines yet, so if you are flying them and are sitting back with the cattle like I usually do, get the aisle exit row seats, they’re great)

Another handy site I’ve recently been turned on to is www.bodyclock.com, if you have some international travel ahead, give it a visit.

GfG Reviews Mvix MV-5000U

Posted on May 16, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Mvix box There’s a whole lotta convergence goin on these days. A big push (one I used to spearhead while working for Mediabolic) is getting digital media from a PC to a TV set. I for one have a few thousand digital pictures, about 100GB of ripped music (did it myself for about 700 CDs!), and some digital videos. Products like the MV-5000U are designed to let me playback this digital media at the TV set with a handy remote control, rather than at the PC with a keyboard. I could go on for some length about the “10-foot” experience compared to the “2-foot” experience, or “lean-forward” versus “lean-back” activities, but I think we’ve all heard enough already. Personally, I love my Sonos for the music around the home, but it would be nice to be able to do photo slideshows on the LCD TV.

Anyhow, the Chief Gizmateer over at Gizmos for Geeks (oh that’s what he meant by GfG) had some hands-on time with the MV-5000U. A short excerpt of his review:

What’s Groovy: The Mvix MV-5000U has a decently high grooviness factor and as my wife mentioned several times… this is “pretty cool!”

What’s Sucky: The only part of the gizmo that was frustrating was the remote control. The navigation arrow keys were small and close together and I kept hitting the down arrow key by accident while trying to hit OK. Also, the manual was quite basic, but who uses manuals anyway?

For the rest (and it’s thorough!), read more here.

Rappin my Rep

Posted on May 9, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Rapleaf logo Ok, that’s about the worst title for a post, but I’m jetlagged in Amsterdam and it made me chuckle. Anyhow, Rapleaf is a new Web 2.0 startup (a topic I’m trying to avoid these days, but couldn’t help it here) from the SF Bay Area focused on, and this part I like very much, trying to make the world a better place. Amen!

Think I’m just kidding around? I’m not! From their about page:

Rapleaf’s Goal: To make it much more profitable to be ethical

Whether they succeed or fail, I’ll give them props for trying. Effectively, Rapleaf is offering a Web-based service that lets anyone rate anyone else by email address or phone number. Think of an eBay rating, but now take it to encompass ALL online buying and selling. Auren Hoffman, the company’s founder (and a swell guy) is using it already in conjunction with a posting he made on craigslist.

I like when people actually use the technology they build. It always gives me a personal warm fuzzy when I use the Slingbox to watch my home DVR (like I did this morning starting at 4:12am, when Ambien failed me for the first time). If you are at some company and never, ever use your own products, I’d suggest looking for something different to do with your time. But, again, that’s just my opinion (but since you come to my blog, you must endure my opinion until such time as you continue on your merry Internet-surfing ways).

Now I do think most Web 2.0 stuff is a bunch of junk, Web toys and tools being built by bloggers, for bloggers, and will never, ever go anywhere (and yes, back in 1996 I thought an online bookstore was a goofy idea, I admit it, but I was right that it didn’t take 400 people to run an online pet supply store and people in Baltimore weren’t likely to order DVDs and ice cream at 11pm over the Internet for instant delivery). I think the concept behind Rapleaf is sound, and I’m actually surprised the folks at MSN Passport (or Live) never incorporated something similar. Honestly, I’d like to see the company take it a notch further: what if they could expand the concept to stick with an individual external to the notion of buying and selling?

Continue reading →

The ultimate traveler's accessory: a new iPod

Posted on May 7, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

I flew to Amsterdam today (or was it yesterday?) and couldn’t help but notice the friendly Zoom Shop, a vending machine full of the hippest, coolest techie gadgets. The compelling blue signed called out to me, and I came over to see what I could buy to ease my flight. A ha! iPods! iPods are sure popular, I’ll bet the marketing guys over there couldn’t wait to stock them at airports around the nation, just ready to lure in the frequent travelers. After all, planes are a great place to enjoy some music, so, hey, how about a brand new iPod?

I can almost picture the wonderful experience I could have. I’d probably savor every moment of it, waiting to open the packaging much like a 6-year-old boy about to open birthday gifts (please let it be an Xbox and not a sweater…c’mon Xbox… c’mon Xbox… Nintendo Gamecube??? Am I being Punk’d or what???). I’d have to be a little patient though, and actually wait until I sat down. Who knows, maybe I’d even save it until after take off.

But then, the iPod will be mine to have (and to hold, and to cherish until death do we part, or three months from now when Steve Jobs makes a smaller one with more storage and everyone runs off to the ~~Gattaca set~~ Apple store). I can already smell that “new-iPod scent” wafting through the cabin, blending with the orangey goodness that is Wal-borne (not sure, but I think it may have actually saved my life when I flew China Airlines to Taiwan).

I begin to salivate as I plug in the headphones, then power up the unit. I close my eyes, and exhale slightly as I put the “I’m so cool because they are white and I am SUCH an individual” headphones on (JT to everyone: when you own a product that has roughly 90% of the market and is available in Wal-mart, to say it is no longer ‘super-trendy’ is to put it mildly).

A smile forms, and I even giggle as I set my index finger on the fancy white disc controls, and push Play.

Nothing happens, of course, because I’m on a 10-hour flight with an empty friggin iPod.

Moviebeam HD: the second chapter

Posted on May 5, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

As I wrote about last week, Moviebeam is a consumer electronics device that gives you a whole movie rental store in your living room. For details on how the system and service work, please take a moment to re-read my original review. Late last week I received the Moviebeam HD Cable Kit, which has opened up a whole new experience with the product.

One important note: while many of you may use component video cables to connect your DVD player or digital cable/satellite box to your HDTV set, it’s important to know that you are only getting part of the HD picture! Component video, while better than composite and s-video, is still analog, and does not carry a perfect digital signal all the way to your set. Furthermore, component video does not include any digital copy protection technologies, so if a manufacturer or content provider wants to offer protected-only content, they must use a secure technology, which IS provided through digital cable connections such as HDMI and DVI. Most important for you: if you HAVE the option to switch from component to either HDMI or DVI cabling, go to the store and get the right cables immediately! To quote a true genius, “you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!”