Other Gaijin Really Scare me

You know, its weird, but I hardly get scared of Japanese people, but foreigners, so many foreigners, are really freaky. I see them walking down the street in their gaijin way and i just run. Not really though, I have more of a life then that but I do imagine running, while I hide my face in a magazine. They always stare at you with eyes so freaky. Im sorry. I need to rant. Good Day!

The Freak is here

Hi ppl, this is Tokyofreak! YoYo has been so nice that he has let me share Juice with him. So first i so totally want to thank him. Well enough about him and on to the important subject and the real reason I’m writing this ME ME ME ME!!

As the name suggests I’m a complete freak, I also live in Tokyo and go to the same school as YoYo, which btw has the strangest dress code you have ever heard of. I mean who still tucks in their shirts anymore!!

BTW i love the colour pink

I live in Tokyo with my sister and crazy cat( who never shuts up). Before Japan I lived in Switzerland which is the most boring place ever imaginable, except for the skiing that is.

I am originally a Limey( which is English for all the people who aren’t in my science class) and still have the accent to prove it. Though right now everyone seems to try to be turning me Japanese.

Juice has another meaning?

Today I googled juice to see if I showed up. I skipped to the last pages only to find the only sites were, err… inappropriate sites. Does juice have a meaning I don’t know??? (besides a real tasty drink)

Apple TV vs. PS3

I have both the Apple TV and the Playstation 3. If you take the game playing part out of the playstation, they both have similar functions. A cool media center function. In this very interesting blog post, I am going to compare each product and determine which is the best media player. If the Apple TV wins, then I recommend buying one and looking at the Wii, if the PS3 wins just buy one of those. ☺ If there are any typos or bad grammar or something similar, please comment and tell me. I want to improve my writing.

Setup: Setting up both of the products is very easy. With the Apple TV simply connect the cables (Standard analog, HDMI, power, etc.) and then pick your TVs resolution. Then a very cool introduction movie will play and it will help you set up the Apple TV with iTunes, which is usually straightforward. The PS3 is also very easy. Connect the cables and turn it on. The first PS3 we had was a Dud, turned on and immediately shut off while beeping and flashing its red light. The second one we had worked fine, but the set up process had many more steps to it, partly because it is a game console. It will then take you to the home screen where you will see options for Music,Photos,Movies,Games etc. If you select one of the media player options the only option will be “search for media server” or something. You will have to set up a media server on your computer. If you have a Sony Vaio computer it should have one installed, but we found that the PS3 picked up TVersity from my dad’s Dell rather then Vaio media center. After a couple of tries we got Vaio media center to work. I will post a tutorial on how to set up a media server later. Setting up the PS3 is easy, but not as easy the Apple TV. This round goes to Apple.

Interface: Apple TVs interface, is, well, Apple-ish. Very simple with cool reflections and very very easy to use. It also comes with a really cute 6 button remote. The Menu button takes you back in the menu or to the homescreen where there are options for all of the functions. Select one and you go to it. Duh. It is very nice and easy to use. The only real problem is that your music or whatever you have playing will stop when you go to the homescreen. The PS3 interface is also cool, but, for some people not as easy to use. It has a cool splash of water like thing moving in the background changing colour with the time of day and the menu options slide across the screen. It looks really nice but like I said hard to use for some people. I can use it fine, but my dad can’t. And, o. My dad it not hopeless with these kinda things. Most of the time. Imagine what it is like for a person who can hardly work their cellphone. ☺ Once again this round goes to Apple.

Movies: When you select movies on the Apple TV it will take you to a menu which will show you all the movies that you have bought on iTunes and it will also have option for Theatrical Trailers and trailers for the top bought iTunes movies. That’s all. Unfortunately, iTunes movies are not HD, yet. Even so the videos just look great. Also, streaming My Neighbor Totoro from my mac down the hall on our network was VERY VERY fast. Video playback was fantastic, but you could not fast forward to much. You can convert your own home movies to Apple TV format (or your DVDs) but that can take a LONG time.
Selecting movies on the PS3 you need to connect to your media server, and navigate through all your folders until you find the video you wanted. I don’t know how to save videos to the PS3 yet, but the streaming was still pretty fast though we had the occasional skip. Working videos on the PS3 is very hard without the PS3 remote (which is butt ugly compared to Apple’s) but you get used to it. But, what makes up for the hard to use interface is that the PS3 can play all sorts off formats right out of the box, no conversion necessary. Cool. Seems like a tie.

PART 2 COMING SOON

Friends and Family only!

Yep, our new family blog, done with wordpress

Every post is password protected if you did not get the invite, do not cry! Email gaijinmama@gmail.com or myself with your name and stuff (to make sure we know you) and you will get sent the password!

So, here is the webaddress!

Fergalicous Paradoy

Um…Okay? Don’t worry Fergie, somepoeple still like you AFTER you left Black Eyed Peas

TPN

I remember when I just watched Steve Jobs talk about the new podcast store and I got interested. I was searching around on how to do it and I eventually found out about the teenpodcastersnetwork (TPN). It looked cool, but just seemed like some thing a bunch of kids made. And made well to

But it started growing. I am not sure, but I think they have sold out. Is the TPN even doing teen podcasts anymore. Looking at their site it looks like no. More like 20+

To get in you have to sign some contract thingy, agree to all this legal mumbo-jumbo and much more. I don’t even know why! I am thinking about starting a podcast, but now I don’t think I will with TPN, unless anybody can convince me it is worth-it.

OH!!! One last thing! I am thinking about setting up a blog, podcast, picture, video, etc. sharing website for teens. I am gona talk to my teacher when I get back to school to see if he can help. He made www.iskool.net. Check it out!

SoftBank’s new phone

iPhone will not be in Japan for quite some time, instead I have found a temporary alternative! Everybody meet the FULLFACE SoftBank 913SH, brother to the popular (and expensive) 912 series. The brochure (which is attached) is all Japanese, but I can understand a little bit. If you read and speak English and Japanese please translate this. But only if you want to ☺.

This phone is much like iPhone in MANY ways. Like all Japanese phones, it plays music, and like most Softbank phones it streams from Yahoo! Music Japan. Cool, but not as cool as iPhone. It also has a really nice big screen on the front which I guess compares to iPhone. It can display the REAL Internet, even if it is squashed, has Yahoo! Mocoa, supports EDY, and I think it even has TV. When I know that all this is true, I will compare to iPhone.

brochure.jpg

New Photos

Wii are playing the PS3

I got a Wii, in Japan, just to find that it is not region free and does not ‘talk’ in English . GRR! I returned it for a PS3. The first one was a dud, so we returned it to the store (yodabashi) who took back the wii, and sold us the PS3. Actually, it was the same guy to! LOL. Anyways, we bought another PS3 from the same guy at the same store. They must be short of employes. Its great. Reviews of both soon!