japan « Rick Martin

Brainstorming TokyoSocial on Google Wave

The discussion below is from Google Wave, and it’s mostly just me and some friends discussing a new Tokyo related project I’m thinking about (ok, it’s mostly just me and Alex). It follows along the lines of the kind of brainstorming that me, Alex and Chris have always done over email. Again, I like the idea of [...]

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7 Tips for Building Local

Since working on a city-specific website with Chris and Alex, I’ve been occasionally wondering about the best way to create websites that showcase local content. Now that I’m here in Japan, it’s kind of natural to ponder what could be made here (in English).
Here are a few points that I think any good local (Tokyo? [...]

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Pop-up Translations in Safari with Apple’s Japanese Dictionary

I’ve never really thought that OSX’s dictionary app was very useful. I mean, I’m not going to open up that application whenever I want to check a word. I’ve always preferred mouse hover screen-tips like Firefox’s Rikai plugin. But even that isn’t a perfect solution. I don’t really like having to toggle it on [...]

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Musical Tesla Coils in Japan: Nicola would be shocked…

There was an abundance of NicoNico Tech at the Make Tokyo Meeting this past weekend. Among all of the Hatsune Miku projects, the musical tesla coil had to be the best. I managed to shoot a little video so you can see – and more importantly hear – what’s going on.
The project was created by [...]

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A Day of Sumo

The other day I got a chance to check out some sumo for the first time since arriving in Japan. Besides having to wake up at 4:30am in the morning to head out to the stadium to stand in line with hundreds of wrinkled Japanese senior citizens, it was a pretty cool experience.
We had awesome [...]

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Sakura in Tokyo

This past Sunday I managed to get out to Yoyogi Park to check out the sakura (or cherry blossoms) which are starting to bloom right now. The place was pretty packed with people seeking their own private patch of grass on which they could eat, drink and be merry.
I hooked up with the guys from [...]

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