blackbagger's past comments

  • 1

    blackbagger

    This article sounds intelligent on the surface, but when you think about it for even a second you realize the same thing happens everywhere, and there is nothing special or unique about the ramen shop in Japan that despite being awesome sells its ramen at cheap prices.

    As a real world example, take any one of dozens of Chicago pizzeria that all sell great food or they'd go out of business because the standard of quality is so high, but most rely on world of mouth to get customers, and have fiendishly loyal fans. They, like the ramen shops in Japan, are also cheap because that's what the market dictates.

    The author is simply trying to find uniqueness when it's just the way certain elements of the restaurant (and other) industries work.

    Posted in: Quality vs cost in Japan

  • 2

    blackbagger

    If the battery life is good when you turn off these extra features, it'll be a great phone. Otherwise I say pass and get a HTC One.

    Posted in: Review: Tech in Galaxy S 4 doesn't come together

  • 0

    blackbagger

    Never mind that Japan has tons of sources of geothermal energy, but they don't bother to tap them. Nuclear power is safe in general, when there are proper checks in place by unbiased 3rd parties and when the plants are built to properly deal with local conditions. Alas, in Japan we have neither. The people doing the checking are all in cahoots with the plant builders ,and corners are cut all the time to save a few bucks.

    Posted in: Gov't to restart nuclear reactors once safety assured

  • 0

    blackbagger

    Saw it yesterday. Overall it was good, but the insistence on constant close-ups got old quick. There's a lot going on in the world but you just don't get to see enough of it. I would pay serious cash to be able to see this movie again, filmed with a little more movement and a few wider camera shots, just to mix it up a little.

    Posted in: 'Les Miserables' relies on close-ups for emotional punch

  • 2

    blackbagger

    As long as it's not Ishihara and Hashimoto I'm happy about that.

    Posted in: LDP favored to win lower house election

  • 0

    blackbagger

    Want to know the biggest difference between make and female otaku, as I've experienced it? Body odor...

    Just kidding. I agree with CrisGerSan for the most part. You can't pin down the differences in such a simple way. But I also think a lot of the anime made specifically about otaku-ism are themselves over generalizing and over simplifying things, or inventing character types and presenting them as if they are a real category of otaku.

    Posted in: Differences between men and women otaku

  • 0

    blackbagger

    Cool ideas... Until you pause and remember that fish didn't evolve to be caught by people. People found places where you can fish and returned again and again to get food. Yes, the thrill of fishing may be a part of the activity now, but the goal of fishing is to get food. Fish live to eat, reproduce and carry on their species, not to become food for anything.

    Posted in: Thoughts on nature and agriculture in Japan

  • 0

    blackbagger

    One question: did they bother to put on a 2nd dial so you can control shutter and aperture without having to switch?

    Posted in: Digital SLR camera D5200 from Nikon

  • 1

    blackbagger

    I wonder if glasses with no lenses, which are apparently popular nowadays, will enter his collection right along with the radio TV.

    I certainly hope so, tho they aren't really in the same category. I love old crazy stuff like he collects. And sometimes they do the job better than newer stuff, they just couldn't sell because of cost, size or bad luck.

    I think the era of Japanese innovation will come again. Yes, JP companies lost a lot of maneuvering room when they got too big, but look at phone makers. The best phones in the world were all made by JP companies until the iPhone came along and toppled a stagnant market. And at the moment all the phones are dominated by android or iOS, but the JP companies are starting to make good handsets again. Japan will come around in other areas, too, especially as big companies shave off the fat. Or if they don't they go under as they should.

    Posted in: Japan's gadget failures: One man refuses to forget

  • 0

    blackbagger

    I think whether subunits of a metropolis are called boroughs, wards, or are themselves separate cities depends on the culture and how the metropolis grew up. When they drew up the ku plan for Tokyo I think it was to try to unify areas that had been up till then under separate leadership. I think boroughs are more for places where the city as an entity existed long before it grew to a huge size requiring separate govt for each area.

    Oh, and I'm pretty sure Los Angeles also has the same system, right? They call the sub-units Cities. Anyone from LA want to correct me on this?

    Posted in: Some interesting tidbits about Tokyo's 23 wards

  • 4

    blackbagger

    It may seem like boasting or showing off or trying to ingratiate yourself with new markets, but who cares? Son has donated so much the past two years first after 311 and now to New York. It helps people. That's all that matters. And publicizing donations may seem to be in bad taste but it also raises awareness.

    Like in the case of AKB48 giving after 311. Say what you want about the group, but they gave huge donations in comparison to their individual salaries, and their donations could easily help shame bigger stars into being more giving and being more aware that help is needed.

    Posted in: Softbank CEO embroiled in Twitter war after donating $500,000 to Hurricane Sandy relief

  • -1

    blackbagger

    Ugh, just think about the roads that could've been fixed and jobs that could've been created if all the money spent on courting an Olympic bid would've been spent on something that actually benefited the city.

    Posted in: Tokyo 2020 says public support for Olympics rising

  • 2

    blackbagger

    Ah, gaijinfo, you beat me to it. Study after study always show that the big illegal downloaders are also people who spend money on legitimate music. Just look at the stats the article cites: "analysts suggesting that just one in 10 downloads were legal." 1 in 10 tho still results in a profit. 0 downloads = no money made by anyone.

    Posted in: A month after download law, consumers spending less on music: survey

  • 3

    blackbagger

    OK. He may have gotten only 20 millisieverts in that situation, but the people who were in the water got much much higher, especially someone who got enought radiation to cause beta burns. Fortunately for them, exposure would be mainly on their legs and feet. If they'd been in the water up to their waists it would've been a lot worse. My gut, though, says whenever they mention how much rads a certain worker gets it is almost always rounded down significantly. Truly tragic.

    Posted in: Worker says Fukushima nuclear plant crisis crew not told of danger

  • -1

    blackbagger

    I'd like to think when they tear down my old apartment building they'll probably find a few.

    Posted in: Skeleton found in closet of house being demolished

  • 0

    blackbagger

    I have to agree with Thomas Proskow completely, animatronics are always better. Can you imagine how awesome Grievous might have been if he'd been all real pieces on stage (and given a better end, sheesh)? I think somewhere along the line people got drunk on CGI, whereas really, for a robot there are so many ways you can do it for real and cheaply and still look great. I mean, a close-up of a robot only requires a remote controlled head on a stick and it's fine. Maybe add CGI for lights, force-fields and coloring touch-ups but that's all. And if cutting back on CGI forces you to make fights without fake ninja moves, then even better.

    Posted in: New 'Star Wars' movies - dream come true, or cosmic yawn?

  • 0

    blackbagger

    I just hope someone finally realizes this old fool needs to be sent out to pasture and we can all forget about him and his racist comments, money wasting quest to get the Olympics and strange crusade to make Japan swing to the right.

    Posted in: Ishihara resigns as Tokyo governor to launch new political party

  • 7

    blackbagger

    It's just like Joseph Garrett Baxter said, measuring radiation is simple. The quality of the machine determines the results, tho in actuality now it's not so hard to get a machine that produces excellent results.

    The thing that scares me most, tho, is not the hot spots we focus on so much. Yes, they are dangerous but not many people will be sleeping in a gutter in Fukushima City.

    What is really scary is that right around Fukushima Station and the eastern part of Date City I got measurements over 1 microsievert/hour just walking around town, at waist level. And many other people and organizations have got the same readings. These are the levels of radiation people living in Fukushima are being constantly exposed to, and are more of a concern IMO. These are the levels that will contribute to people getting vastly higher doses than they should be exposed to.

    Posted in: Japan's radiation monitoring unreliable: Greenpeace

  • 0

    blackbagger

    Yeah, can you say awesome for an undercover cop, detective, or gang member for that matter.

    Posted in: Knife-resistant shirt presented at anti-terrorist convention

  • 0

    blackbagger

    So if the same percent of people in their 30s, 40s and 50s are all using chopsticks incorrectly, how does that imply correct usage is declining?

    Posted in: It’s never too late to change bad chopsticks-holding habits

View all