Thursday February 16, 2012

jonobugs's past comments

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    jonobugs

    Whether people like it or not, cell phones are here to stay and I doubt anyone will be successfull at taking them away from students. But like any bad behaviour improper use should be dealt with. If their excuse is that they are using it for a calculator a friend if mine suggested the following: if it's a Mary class give them an equation to solve on their phone and time them. Chances are that most kids won't be able to even use functions beyond simple addition and multiplication. Any class that requires a calculator will need more than that. The only real reason kids want to have a cell in class is to text their friends, share photos and music. Not a requirement for any class that I know.

    Posted in: Do children need to have cell phones with them at school?

  • 0

    jonobugs

    It sounds like a nice idea that will be ignored like the rest. I'm not sure how many of you realize that another law was made several months ago that changed the law for running red lights to a criminal offense in Japan. In fact a bicyclist will face heavier fines than a car driver...in theory at least. Personally I do follow the rules of the road which state that bicyles use the roadway unless the signs state otherwise or it is unsafe to do so. In fact road crews ALWAYS point me to the sidewalk when they see me biking on the road. I find it humourous that they don't even know the rules when they are supposed to be directing traffic. I admit that I occasionally use my keitai when I'm biking but I also use a headset so that I can use both hands. Also I go quite slowly and pay a lot more attention to traffic and other bicylists. I think the real problem is that too many people just don't pay attention to what's going on around them, which includes pedestrians.

    Once I was biking quite fast (on the road, not sidewalk) when this woman decided to cross a busy street where there was no cross walk, light or even corner. To make things worse, she didn't even look before she started to cross. Basically she stepped right out in front of me when I was going in excess of 30km/hr. Fortunately for both her and myself I have excellent brakes and I was able to come to a screeching halt although my back tire came up and my bike almost flipped over me. She was quite surprised to see me stop in time and at least had the presence of mind to apologize for stepping out in the middle of traffic.

    So I rarely bike on the sidewalks unless it's really unsafe. It's the law, but I also find it much safer as pedestrians are way more unpredictable than cars. At least car drivers had to pass a test!

    Posted in: Cyclists using phones to be fined up to Y50,000

  • 0

    jonobugs

    Sounds pretty cool for campers anyway.

    Posted in: Real flatware

  • 0

    jonobugs

    Yikes...so how do you check out dentists anyway? Ask for credentials? Doesn't seem like that would do much good unless you knew what the credentials meant. I've noticed that there seem to be a lot of dentists around too! I haven't been brave enough to go, but I know I need to get a checkup!!

    Posted in: The whole tooth and nothing but the tooth

  • 0

    jonobugs

    As much as I'd like to believe it means something, I doubt it will have any impact on spammers other than shutting down the 'legal' operation of this particular spammer. I still receive an average of 10 spam messages a day on my junk account...and that's after they've been filtered. I really wonder who the heck answers those ads?

    Posted in: Facebook welcomes court ruling against Canadian spammer

  • 0

    jonobugs

    This is a very tricky question since there are so many different levels to it. First of all, I think the first thing to take note is that people should be responsible for their actions. Putting the onus on bar staff and owners is really not a fair deal, but there should be some level of responsibility for people who deal with these types of legal drugs. The way things are currently, it's not feasible. There needs to be some sort of check and balance going on otherwise you're suggesting that bar owners (and the like) need to know whether or not their clientele are a) sober enough to drive and b) actually have a car. What if they ask them and they just lie. Are they still responsible? How can anyone even know any of this information about their customers unless they question them about it. What about bars and pubs that are really busy. Do they have to keep tabs on every customer they serve? Is that even possible?

    Also, concerning the passengers, it's just not feasible. First, it's easy to see that when someone is so drunk they can barely walk that they shouldn't be driving. But there is no real way to determine how intoxicated some people are just by looking at them. Even police need to use a breathalyzer to determine how intoxicated someone is. So, how can a passenger (who may be drunk themselves) be held responsible for those types of decisions.

    There is also a lot of grey area in this question. What about minors? Are they responsible for when their elders drive drunk? Or what about someone who is a of a lower status (ie employer and boss). There need to be more options available before there is a blanket of accusations being brought down. Like what actions are considered to be a minimum before they are not held responsible.

    Just to be clear, I DO not condone drinking and driving on any level. I don't approve of anyone doing that, and I think that reasonable measures should be taken when someone knowingly drinks and drives after they have been asked to stop. Getting into fights, putting yourself or someone else in danger are not reasonable.

    I think that for too long drunk driving has been an excuse for accidents when it should actually then be considered criminal. Let's put the blame where it belongs, however, on the person(s) doing the actions. It's ridiculous to put that kind of responsibility on young staff members who probably make 1000 yen an hour. They probably have neither the experience nor judgment to know how to deal with those situations. Of course they should be educated on what to do in these situations, and perhaps that can be some sort of first step. Maybe pass a by-law that all establishments that serve liquor go through some sort of training to deal with those situations.

    As for making passengers responsible, I think question needs to be more clear as it's just too vague the way it's posted.

    Posted in: Should bar owners who serve alcohol to customers knowing they are driving be liable for prosecution if the customer is involved in a traffic accident? Should passengers in cars driven by drunk drivers be also liable for prosecution?

  • 0

    jonobugs

    BlackFlag: nice one :-D

    Posted in: Here it is welcome to have kids screaming.

  • 0

    jonobugs

    The days when Hollywood could charge $40-$50 dollars are quickly coming to an end I think. Perhaps serious collectors are willing to pay that for a movie, but I haven't spent more than $10 on ANY movie in a long time and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

    Posted in: Can Blu-ray save Christmas for Hollywood?

  • 0

    jonobugs

    I can understand some of the hesitations. In Canada there were rampant problems with fraud, especially with people using bank cards. Using a special code didn't help much either because thieves found ways to counter that. Small readers would be substituted for the real reader and would steal the password as well as the electronic signature which would allow the thieves access to that persons bank account without them ever knowing. So, until that problem is solved, it's safer NOT to use magnetic cards.

    Posted in: The plastic revolution continues

  • 0

    jonobugs

    Er, I hate to be anal about this, but shouldn't the title read "drug haven"? Drug Heaven sounds like someplace where drugs go after they 'die'.

    As for the content of the article, I don't believe that a proper survey or study was done as it seems to focus on Tokyo and maybe the seedier parts of town. Personally, I haven't seen any drug use anywhere and I DO know the signs quite well. However, I don't frequent 'red light' districts and I don't live in Tokyo. Perhaps it's the overactive imagination of paranoid Japanese extremists.

    Posted in: Is Japan becoming a 'drug heaven?'

  • 0

    jonobugs

    What are you talking about?? I've already pre-ordered about 20 of these babies for Christmas presents back home!! :-p

    Posted in: Gold calendar for 2009

  • 0

    jonobugs

    whoa...talk about a Pandora's box!

    Posted in: Riken researchers make brain tissues from stem cells

  • 0

    jonobugs

    Just curious...what about the people he sold his 'private collection' to? Will they be questioned, or whatever as well? Or maybe there was no buyer...not really clear.

    Posted in: Prep school owner arrested for selling child pornography through online auction

  • 0

    jonobugs

    So where are the pics so we can judge for ourselves?? :-)

    In any case, people like to look at people. If you're annoyed or upset by that, then you should dress accordingly. Get over it already.

    Posted in: Japanese girls go sexier in their fashion styles

  • 0

    jonobugs

    So what's the "downloaded question"? At first I thought this article was about the man who was arrested only to find out it was a nostalgic trip down movie lane.

    Yup, things change...sometimes better, sometimes not. The thing about change is that you only remember what was good about yesteryear and not what was bad. Sure, I remember going to the cheap movie matinees as a kid for only 50 cents and heading out to the drive-ins where there was at least one car that had someone sneak in by riding in the trunk or hiding low in the back seat.

    They usually even had a playground just under the big screen so that parents could bring their children to play before the movie started. It was also sad when I heard that the last drive in theatre was taken down many years back, but I also seem to remember that no one ever really went anymore. It just wasn't profitable. Up went all the multi-plex theatres which could cram more people into a smaller area, thus driving up the profits.

    As for the "good ol' days" in the movie theatre? Um, yea, I do remember them being $5 dollars, but don't forget the bad things. First, I lived in a smaller town (not a city) so maybe I can't compare, but there was only ONE movie per week. You had maybe two or three chances to see it. Yes, it played all week, but as a kid, I had to be in school and of course wasn't allowed out on weekdays. I had to go on weekends like every other kid so it was super crowded. As for the seats, they were small and usually in quite bad shape. Oh, did I mention that there was only ONE movie...so no choice on what to see. Yup, popcorn and pop were usually all over the floor and some people would never shut up!! (oh...wait that was me).

    Nowadays, the theatres are usually in much better shape and the seats are way more comfortable. Also, they are set up much better so you can see in front of you even if the guy in front is kind of big. I don't know how many times I had to almost stand when I was younger just to see over some tall guy's head. (the seats were not really raised properly).

    Yes, the cost is 1800 yen, but I almost NEVER go during the expensive times. In fact, it's much more convenient for me to go to the late show which is less expensive. Anywhere from 1000 to 1200 yen. With smaller crowds it really works out for me. When you take in the cost of inflation, it's way cheaper than when I was younger!

    So, yes, I can download movies if I want to. I even have a large screen to watch them on, but you can't really beat going to the theatres to watch movies in my opinion. Nice to get out, maybe go to a coffee shop afterwards to sit and chat with your friends.

    I think movie theatres are much better than way back then, but sadly, I have to agree that they will probably come to an end sooner or later if they can't find ways to survive in today's techno world of internet.

    Posted in: A downloaded question

  • 0

    jonobugs

    Molenir, I have to side with Caveman on this. Using your logic I can simply state that most women in Japan resort to prostitution so they can buy gucci bags. It would then be up to you to prove me wrong. Sounds silly doesn't it?

    Posted in: Two arrested for forcing woman into prostitution to pay back debts

  • 0

    jonobugs

    Here's the link...

    http://www.exitreality.com/plaza.html

    Posted in: Australian company launches 3D Internet tool

  • 0

    jonobugs

    While the intentions of this particular photographer may be have been unsavory, I can't think of any law that he broke. It's understandable that the author just acted on his parenting instincts to protect his child, but the plain truth is that he is the one that broke the law and even admitted this. Just ask any star hounded by paparazzi. As much as you want to, retaliating is not in your best interests.

    That said, unfortunately, it's not even against the law to take photos of anyone in public, with or without your permission. Personally, I don't want people taking photos of me in public, but there isn't a thing I can do about it as long as I'm walking the streets. Once in my house (or another non-public area) I have a right to privacy, but that's it.

    Maybe in this day and age, it's time that some privacy laws were created, but that really opens a whole new can of worms and I doubt that will happen any time soon.

    Posted in: Stalking the predators

  • 0

    jonobugs

    Mm, I guess it's not as many as you think since it works out to less then once a week over that time period ... assuming he took holidays, etc. ;-)

    Posted in: Arrested man charged with more than 400 bag snatching cases in Yokohama

  • 0

    jonobugs

    Methinks it was time to kick the chick out of the nest a long time ago.

    Posted in: Man arrested after taking mother hostage in Tokyo

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