gonemad said...

gonemad at 01:59 AM JST - 15th September

What if someone wants to listen to his music and has no reception? What if the server is down? What if the server doesn't know your music (any more)? How do they distinguish between music that has been downloaded illegally and music that has been ripped from a legally owned…

Posted in Cell phones are used to illegally download about 400 million songs each year in Japan, exceeding the number of songs legitimately downloaded by about 70 million songs. Legitimate downloads cost about 300 yen per track. at 01:59 AM JST - 15th September
gonemad at 11:52 PM JST - 9th September

As some posters here have said, Japan is still ranked in the very top when it comes to surveys of education level. The conclusion then should be that the Japanese education system is top in terms of efficiency. Good news for the Japanese taxpayer. Or not...?

Posted in Japan 2nd lowest among 28 OECD nations in education spending at 11:52 PM JST - 9th September
gonemad at 08:05 PM JST - 3rd September

When you buy the same Panasonic cameras outside of Japan, they come with menus in English, Japanese and a zillion of other languages. Obviously they do the translation anyway. Selling a Japanese-only version in Japan actually increases the cost, as they have to handle different kinds of firmware.

The most…

Posted in World's smallest digital single-lens reflex camera at 08:05 PM JST - 3rd September
gonemad at 09:39 PM JST - 2nd September

Why does he want to form a coalition at all? The DPJ has a comfortable majority by itself. They have a majority in the upper house as well, so he won't need a 2/3 majority to to push through any laws, as the LDP governments had to do in recent…

Posted in Hatoyama to be voted in as premier in special Diet session Sept 16 at 09:39 PM JST - 2nd September
gonemad at 10:20 PM JST - 1st September

So this guy was responsible for recruiting in the Kagoshima region but could access the personal data of almost all GSDF members? It seems the GSDF has some more fundamental problems than just the breach of trust of one of their officers.

Posted in GSDF officer arrested for leaking data on 140,000 GSDF troops at 10:20 PM JST - 1st September
gonemad at 11:05 PM JST - 28th August

@JT: thanks for this article. It explains one of the big mysteries of Japanese election campaigning.

Posted in Internet campaigning arrives cautiously in Japan at 11:05 PM JST - 28th August
gonemad at 11:07 PM JST - 17th August

Japan protects it's agricultural sector through high import tariffs, while the US do something similar through heavy export subsidies. For the farmers, on average, a FTA shouldn't change so much if those systems are kept. The question is rather whether the US taxpayers are willing to subsidize the Japanese government...

Posted in Prospects elusive for Japan-U.S. FTA at 11:07 PM JST - 17th August
gonemad at 08:31 PM JST - 12th August

Am I the only one who can't even list a single one? I prefer to waste my time on other things ;-)

Posted in Name your 10 favorite TV shows of all time. at 08:31 PM JST - 12th August
gonemad at 02:53 AM JST - 12th August

The multinational talks only work when NK thinks that they are slipping or when they are backed into a corner.

I'd say the opposite is true. The only progress that was ever made in the 6 party talks was when the Bush administration cut down on it's aggressive tone…

Posted in Kissinger accuses Bill Clinton of helping N Korea get int'l acceptance at 02:53 AM JST - 12th August
gonemad at 06:02 PM JST - 10th August

ban on use of the internet during the official campaigning period

Does anybody know when and why they introduced this law? Absolutely strange...

Posted in Bringing politics to the streets at 06:02 PM JST - 10th August