Rocking in Hakata

Thought I’d toss this out there to the tech savvy community. I’m looking into the possibility of buying a cheap netbook (laptop without an optical drive, geared for portability and internet type stuff). I work at a bunch of different schools, and to date I’ve been taking a USB flash drive with me that has my browser on it. The only trouble is that I still wind up sitting at a shared teacher’s computer to do whatever it is I’m up to. I hate being a nuisance. Also, I’ve been toying around with the idea of learning Linux for years and years now. The open source nature of it, the recent improvements in eye candy and user friendliness, and my basic inner geek that wants to know how it works have drawn me toward it for a while.

I think I have a good way to go about doing it now. I’ve become enamored of the Asus Eee PC series, specifically the 901. (Click the image for a larger version.) It’s pretty small, and the solid state drives make it reasonably rugged. In short, I could cart it around in my school bag on my scooter without much worry. I’m not sure it’s the best fit for me yet, though. Anybody got any better ideas for a cheaper, better netbook? Made by Asus or any other company?

Since I’m leaning towards Ubuntu as the Linux distro I’d start with, the Asus Eee PC seems to be the logical choice. Ubuntu is pretty popular, and has pretty robust community support. In short - even though the installation process due to no optical drive looks like a pain, I think I stand a better chance of figuring it out than I do of figuring out other distros. There is even a customized version of Ubuntu for the Eee PC series.

So now my question (other than whether to go ahead with it or not) is where to get the best deal, and how to time it right. Scanning the Eee User forums, I found a pretty stellar deal at this place. (The price for an Eee PC 901 White running Linux was $399.99 when I posted this article. The black one used to be the same, but the price has jumped. Sad!) Now I’m wondering if there might be even better online deals available through Black Friday (Day After Thanksgiving) sales. I’m fairly sure that I’d want to buy it stateside and ship it over, because the Japanese Asus site only lists Windows XP models.

Thoughts? This is mostly a courage-building self-convincing post. Ha ha. But still, thoughts? Sorry about the double-tap of non-Japan posts.

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This is totally unrelated to Japan, but timely. I submitted my absentee ballot today. It’s weird to watch everyone count down to November 4th. It’s not just election day - it’s my birthday, too. And this year is pretty tense. Sigh. If you’re a person willing to be persuaded, go do your homework and make your own mind up. If you’d like to hear my own, personal rationale for my vote for the McCain-Palin ticket, feel free to email me. (deas at rocking in hakata dot com) Don’t bother if you just want to yell at me for being conservative. If you’re lazy, and more prone to watching videos and reading quick, oversimplistic summaries, try this post. It’s no substitute for getting really engaged for yourself, but it might prove useful. That’s all you’ll hear from me on this topic on my blog. In any event, just hold tight - the longest presidential election in history is almost over, and it’s about time.

Eddie Izzard’s take on mikan (which he calls satsuma) differs slightly from the general opinion of Ehime folks - and yes, I count myself as an honorary Ehime-an. Let’s take a look. Fair warning - this entry contains both profanity and speedmetal in the videos. If you want to avoid it, simply don’t watch them! (But you’ll be missing out on the giggles.)

What do you think? Are mikan the awkward, social, cute, non-Das Boot version of the orange? Ha ha. I live next to mikan farmers, and as a result I love and hate them. I love eating them (the product, not the farmers). But man, when the leftovers begin to rot in the hot months, and the stench is unavoidable…different story. But perhaps my view is skewed. Most people in my area see the mikan as indispensable - and a must have for any kotatsu or spare table top.

To contrast, here’s a little ditty by the group Sex Machineguns (official site here). It’s in Japanese. And it’s fun. Don’t let the name throw you off - give the video a shot. I’ve embedded the animated flash version of the song as a self-hosted movie. You can see the guys perform it here, but I prefer the flash version.

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Would you buy a used car from this man? How about a haircut?

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If you need a haircut, especially if you’re foreign, you should go check out Opera - the new salon that my friend Shin Ochi just opened up. He previously worked at his mother’s salon, Vogue, which I also highly recommend. I’ve been getting my hair cut by Shin for more than 2 years now. He’s good. He’ll chat with you in English or Japanese, depending on the topic and your respective vocabularies. And I trust him. He didn’t ask me to write this - I just thought I’d take along my camera on my first visit to his new place. It opened last week, and I visited on the day after the opening party - hence the congratulatory flowers.

Note - when I say “especially if you’re foreign,” I’m not trying to be weird at all. The simple truth is that foreign people have different hair types, and Japanese barbers / stylists rarely get to practice their trade on foreign hair… The result of a Japanese hair style on my hair, for instance, results in a weird fluffy misshapen fro, for instance. Shin has successfully cut both male and female foreign hair, to glowing reviews. So, I’m not promising perfection, but if you live near Imabari, it’s a way better shot than anywhere else.

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Contrary to popular belief, I’m not dead! I swear! I just had 2 big presentations and 3 special events over the last 3 weeks or so. And now I’m leaving for Hong Kong this weekend, and also looking ahead to winter vacation possibilities. Anyway, I apologize for the total wasteland of a blog lately. I plan to resurface circa October 20th… Ha ha. See you then.

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