America: “A Horse with No Name”

Temporary workers make-up one-third of the workforce

What an amazing lack of social stability we have here:

The numbers of casualised [temporary] workers grew from 10 million, or 20.9 percent of the workforce, in 1995 to 17.3 million or 33.7 percent in 2007. Among them, 41 percent were women, one of the highest ratios in the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Part-time workers’ average hourly rates are 40 percent lower than for regular employees.

Japan had a workforce of 51.2 million last year, but only 66.3 percent were regular workers—compared to 83.6 percent in 1985. The leading Japanese manufacturer of cameras and printers, Canon, for instance, now employs 70 percent of its factory workers on a non-regular basis, up from 50 percent in 2000 and just 10 percent in 1995.

Woman Fatally Stabbed at Train Station in Tokyo

Woman Fatally Stabbed at Train Station in Tokyo, Kyodo Says
By Taku Kato

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- A woman was stabbed to death by a man in a train station in western Tokyo last night, Kyodo News reported, citing police.

The 22-year-old woman, an employee of a bookstore inside the Hachioji station building, was knifed in the chest last night, the news service said. Another customer at the store suffered cuts to her arm and chest, the report said.

A 33-year-old man was arrested by police about 400 meters from the train station, Kyodo said. The suspect was quoted as saying he wanted to stab someone because he was suffering from difficulties at his work.

The incident follows a stabbing spree in Tokyo's Akihabara district on June 8 that left seven people dead. Japan's National Police Agency is seeking a ban on daggers and double-edged knives, according to an earlier Kyodo report.

TED: Chris Abani: Telling stories of our shared humanity

Really powerful TED Talk. Enjoy!

Interesting article on habit formation

Warning: Habits May Be Good for You
By CHARLES DUHIGG
Published: July 13, 2008
Social scientists have learned that there is power in tying certain behaviors to habitual cues through relentless advertising.

...as much as 45 percent of what we do every day is habitual — that is, performed almost without thinking in the same location or at the same time each day, usually because of subtle cues....

...In another experiment, conducted by researchers studying smokers, those wanting to quit were more than twice as successful if they started kicking the habit while on vacation, when surrounded by unfamiliar people and places.

"Habits are formed when the memory associates specific actions with specific places or moods,” said Dr. Wood, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke. “If you regularly eat chips while sitting on the couch, after a while, seeing the couch will automatically prompt you to reach for the Doritos. These associations are sometimes so strong that you have to replace the couch with a wooden chair for a diet to succeed.”

read the rest here Warning: Habits May Be Good for You

Licensing photos from flickr

I never understood why Flickr doesn't just have their own opt-in program which would allow licensing of one's images a la Corbis or Getty.

Great Photo on Flickr? Getty Images Might Pay You for It
By Miguel Helft

If you are a photographer with high-quality images posted on Yahoo’s Flickr service, you may soon get an e-mail message inviting you to become a paid contributor to Getty Images, the world’s largest distributor of pictures and video.
Yahoo and Getty Images said Tuesday that they had entered into a partnership under which Getty editors would comb Flickr in search of interesting images. They will then invite photographers to participate in the program and ensure that their images have the proper releases to be licensed legally. Those who are included in the program will get paid at the same rates that Getty pays photographers who are under contract with the company.

more details here at NYT

Apple and the future of the computer

I just bought my first Apple product--a 32GB iTouch. Well, it's true that I already owned an iPod Nano, but I didn't buy it because it was given to me.

I bought an iTouch for two primary reasons: White Rabbit Press is planning to develop a Japanese language app for it, and I also thought it would be a nice way to tote around my photography so I can show it to others (several photographer friends of mine are already using their iTouch as a mini-portfolio).

I really wanted to like the iTouch, but--while the fanboys seem to have lost their ability to think critically about all things Apple-branded--I find the device to be very disappointing.

First and foremost: you can't save any files on it. Well, of course you can save stuff you buy from the iTunes store...but this state-of-the art touch-screen digital audio player with built-in wi-fi and Safari browser cannot save an mp3 file, a picture or any other file from anywhere else on the web. I'm flabbergasted. I have 30 GB of space, I have an audio player, a video player and a photo album app, and I can browse the web, but I can't save anything? You've gotta be kidding! I was able to navigate to my flickr account and thought I'd download some of my photos into my album, but I couldn't figure out how to download the images. I thought I just needed to learn the right multi-touch technique, but nope, it can't be done.

This is CompuServ all over again: corporate controlled network access which diverts you toward proprietary fee-based services.

Of course I could download the images on my PC, then import them into the iTunes App and then sync my iTouch, but why do I have to go through all that hoopla when I have all the necessary and required elements: free memory, a web broswer, an image viewer app, and wi-fi access?!

You can't save email attachments either. What if I'm on the road and I want to email a PDF document to someone? Guess you also need to carry a real touch-screen handheld computer for that.

OK, so moving on...

* No copy-and-paste: got a mail from my friend Kenn and wanted to add this info into my Contacts. His address and phone number is in his signature, but you need to have pen and paper handy because there is no way to copy-and-paste this information into the contact form

* limited web-based user experience: two words: no flash. Also, there is a YouTube app which allows you to search and view YouTube videos over the wireless network, but you can't login to your account in order to access your favorites. You can bookmark YouTube videos that you find, but those bookmarks can only be access from your Apple iPod...

* doesn't support many popular video formats: Only quicktime, MPEG4 and h.264 videos. No "live" video or audio streams (it can play "streamed" archival media as it is downloaded).

* can't upload: guess this goes without saying, but mp3 files, images or any other files cannot be uploaded (to flickr or basecamp for example) or attached to an email.

* predictive text seems to have a learning disability: I'm getting tired of typing things like "whiterabbitpress.com" over and over...my mobile phone does much better plus it allows you to keep a list of phrases which can be pasted into an email message or memo.

* Browser doesn't seem to be extensible: no way to access my Google Toolbar bookmarks?

* Apple Tax: Hadn't had it for 24 hours before I get hit with my first Apple Tax. An iTouch 2.0 firmware update was released today. I called Apple to explain that I just purchased my iTouch the day before. So new customers are effectively getting a $10 discount. I asked if I could get a $9.95 gift certificate so I could download the update for free. Sorry Charlie, no money no honey. Yeah, I know, it's only $10, but isn't the $500 I paid for this thing already enough? I've never had to paid for a firmware update for any audio interface, computer, camera or mp3 player I've owned. Besides, it's a penalty for buying these devices ahead of others, because future customers get it for free.

* doesn't come with any kind of case: my nano did, why doesn't the iTouch? Had to spend another $15 so that the metal doesn't get scratched to shit in my bag or pocket.

* if Apple is the first company to "get the interface right" then why can't you use the keyboard in landscape mode? That would make it much easier. Bigger keys = less mistakes. Guess no one at the Genius Bar thought of that one...

* wish the designers also thought of drilling a strap hole in the frame. There's nothing to attach a strap to, and this thing is pretty slick on a hot and sweaty crowded Tokyo train...

* the headphones could have benefited from a little plastic nub on one side, so that you can distinguish the left and right by touch alone because it's faster than looking and also possible to do in low-light. My Sennheiser cans have this feature.

* no voice-over-ip: for obvious reasons

* Devices like Microsoft's XBox, Apple iPhone and Amazon's Kindle are designed to lock you in to business model which funnels more-and-more money back to the gadget provider. I worry that if everyone has a gadgets like Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPhone then they start to become a barrier to alternative ways of communicating and distributing digital goods. For example, if the PC were as locked-down as the iPhone, then you might not be able to install Skype and you’d have to use some Microsoft fee-based voice-over-IP service.

Imagine if Microsoft said that for every application that runs on Windows, we get a copy of the source code? Or if Microsoft took 30% of the revenue for each and every Windows application sold? You'd think they were greedy monopolistic sons of bitches, and you'd be right.

Furthermore, would-be iPhone application developers — at least those who aren’t well connected — can be waiting up to six months to be accepted into the Apple iPhone developers’ program. Only those in the program can submit apps to be distributed through the iPhone Apps Store, and with several minor exceptions the Apps Store is the only way to get an iPhone app distributed to the public. And once an apps is submitted, there’s still a review by Apple — which can reject it for any reason or no reason at all. No there's no guarantee that the $30,000 you just spend to develop an app will even be able to see the light of day.

If these devices are 'the future of the computer' as some people suppose then I really worry because they completely lack the sort of hands-on openness and limitless possibility which inspired young people (like myself) to think and learn and create.

Now Playing: Booka Shade

Fresh beats


SeeqPod - Playable Search

Decoding Body Language

Science Out of the Box
Decoding Body Language
[6 min 2 sec]

All Things Considered, June 28, 2008 · Crossing of the arms, biting of the lower lip, a change in breathing rate — all of these body movements can communicate a wide range of things. But what do they mean? Retired FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro, who made a career out of "reading" the body language of spies and criminals, offers insight on what our bodies say without our permission.

Decoding Body Language