We have a bunch of tech conferences and events in Tokyo from the end of last month to the middle of this month. It is very hard to cover all in a limited time. Japan PHP User Group[J] is now holding PHP Conference 2009 in Tokyo, an annual tech-oriented conference for Japanese PHP programmers and community.… Continue reading Live Event: PHP Conference 2009 Is Now Underway In Tokyo
Category: Community
Users groups, meet-ups, conferences, unconferences, community-disputes, etc.
First China, then the US: Japan’s No. 1 online shopping mall Rakuten (again) outlines plans to go global
Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and president of Japan’s leading online shopping mall Rakuten, has never made a bis secret of his seeing Rakuten as a global brand (here is some detailed background). This is especially interesting since Rakuten is the biggest “purely” Japanese web company there is (its market cap exceeds $8 billion currently and SoftBank… Continue reading First China, then the US: Japan’s No. 1 online shopping mall Rakuten (again) outlines plans to go global
Ultimate Localization: Twitter Gets Japanese Nickname And Theme Song
Japanese pop singer and song-writer Kohmi Hirose[J] (@kohmi), who has released a number of popular songs in ’90s and been singing winter dating stuffs for young couples, is also one of the celebrity twitterers. Kohmi exchanged many tweets with Kazuyo Katsuma[J] (@kazuyo_k), a friend of her, economist and the best-selling business book author in Japan,… Continue reading Ultimate Localization: Twitter Gets Japanese Nickname And Theme Song
Local Heroes Sing A Song For Reducing Crime
“Bakuon Sentai Sumpu Ranger[J]“, or the roaring squadron Sumpu ranger, is a popular local rock band originating in Hamamatsu City which is well-known as the birthplace of Honda Motor, Suzuki Motor, Yamaha and Kawai Musical Instruments. The band composed a song to call the local people’s attention to the dangers of phishing scams, and the… Continue reading Local Heroes Sing A Song For Reducing Crime
Japanese-made “Extra” Film Gets High Popularity In S. Korea
A certain type of brand new film product, which can change a camera built in your cellphone to infrared fluoroscope, is on sale at the e-commerce site of an Akihabara-based detective tool shop, and now it gets an explosive popularity among Korean Internet users. The e-commerce site has an evidence picture that allows you to… Continue reading Japanese-made “Extra” Film Gets High Popularity In S. Korea
MCF Announces This Year’s Award-Winning Mobile Projects (1/2)
Last Friday, Mobile content forum (MCF)[J], a consortium of many Japanese mobile device developers and mobile app developers, announced this year’s award[J] winning projects, which were chosen from brand-new innovative projects that were released in the last twelve months. ———- Excellent Award (Mobile Content Category) Won by Weathernews, the world’s largest private meteorological company headquartered… Continue reading MCF Announces This Year’s Award-Winning Mobile Projects (1/2)
Mail Order Giant To Release Wardrobe iPhone App
Osaka-based catalog mail order giant Senshukai[J] is going to introduce an iPhone/iPod app allowing you to check up showcases filled with fashionable clothes. It is now under Apple’s consideration for upcoming release and will be available at AppStore next week. Senshukai has an experimental website, which is called Bellmaison Lab[J], developing and demonstrating new services… Continue reading Mail Order Giant To Release Wardrobe iPhone App
Twitter & Politics: Can Tweets Change Our Society?
On Tuesday in Roppongi, Tokyo, Glocom (Global Communication Center, International Univ. of Japan) held a workshop focusing on how we can take advantage of Twitter for improving our politics. Invited panelists are: Fumi Yamazaki(@Fumi), freelance researcher and former project manager for Joi Lab, Digital Garage. Daisuke Tsuda(@tsuda), freelance IT journalist and recently reporting on Twitter… Continue reading Twitter & Politics: Can Tweets Change Our Society?
Ezo Red Fox May Also Celebrate Firefox’s Upcoming Release
Mozilla Foundation is now working on the final phase for FireFox 3.5 official release which has a development codename of Shiretoko. The codename was named after a popular forest area and a national park located in the north-eastern end of Hokkaido island, also registered as a World Heritage. In connection with the meet of the… Continue reading Ezo Red Fox May Also Celebrate Firefox’s Upcoming Release
Teachers’ Concerns Vault Website Watchdogs To Thriving Business
We’ve got a social issue of clandestine school weblog sites on which children slander their classmates by posting anonymous messages. For school teachers are too busy to resolve these issues, education boards of several local authorities tend to outsource website patrol operations to watchdog experts. Tokyo metropolitan government put its patrol work on public bid… Continue reading Teachers’ Concerns Vault Website Watchdogs To Thriving Business