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.

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.

JapanToday: Japan News and Censored Discussion

It's always nice to have an audience for one's work, so I'm happy that a photo of mine selected to appear on JapanToday's Picture of the Day. But after I posted some comments of their site, about the photo I took, the editor ask me not to please not comment anymore. Saying:

...some readers have already challenged you with insults, which I have removed.

I'm afraid we cannot allow a direct dialogue between readers and yourself because it will get nasty. We wish readers simply to discuss what is going on in the photo.

I only wish you not to participate on discussions where you took the photo. If you hadn't identified yourself, it would have been OK. We apply the same rule to writers as well.

Chris

Personally, I can't think of a single better use for a website forum than as a place for the authors to engage in discussion with their readership. But apparently JT only permits reader-to-reader discussion. Am I the only person who thinks that is a bit odd? Seems like they let the bad apples spoil the cart. Just get rid of the abusive accounts instead of prohibiting your own contributors from engaging in discussion with the readership...

It gets stranger. Yesterday's Picture of the Day, a photo of girl crying at the site of Sunday’s stabbing spree in Akihabara, someone made this comment:

...Then there are all the people taking photos of the three victims as they die in the streets ! Question ! What exactly are you going to do with those photos ? I mean how sick is that !... Sick folks ! Really sick !!!

To which I replied:

Many of those amateur photos made it into the mainstream news. Only so many people can help a victim. Do you know how to stabilize someone and provide first responder medical care?

You never know what purpose an image might come to serve. Perhaps they document the valiant efforts of rescuers. Perhaps they could be useful in court. Do you suppose that photograhy of war atrocities is equally sick?

You could make the same criticism of journalists in China after the earthquake...taking pictures instead of helping with search and rescue. But that isn't their job. If no one plays that role, the stories would not get out.

On April 16, 2007, a 23-year-old man shot and killed 32 people at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. As the shootings were taking place students reported what was taking place on blogs, mobile phones, instant messaging, Flickr, Wikipedia, and social networks.

Is taking a photo of a crime scene inherently wrong? I don't think so."

Then I got this email:

This is to inform you that your message on JapanToday.com has been removed for the following reason:
Off Topic

">there are all the people taking photos of the three victims as they die in the streets ! ...

On April 16, 2007, a 23-year-old man shot and killed 32 people at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. As the shootings were taking place students reported what was taking place on blogs, mobile phones, instant messaging, Flickr, Wikipedia, and social networks.

Is taking a photo of a crime scene inherently wrong? I don't think so."
--
JapanToday.com Moderator Team

Good grief! I don't understand the logic of that...

My reply to the JT Editor:

How can comments about taking pictures at a crime scene be deemed "off topic" on a Picture of the Day page about a recent killing spree?

As a small business owner myself, I thought I should tell you, that based on my experience having my recent comments edited and removed I don't plan to comment again on your site. It's simply a waste of time for me to spend any time engaging in discussion and constructing thoughtful comments when they might instantly disappear for no clear reason. It's impossible to even guess what you might deem as "off topic" considering what was just deleted and considering what does get past your moderators.

When visiting your site to check the progress of discussions, I'd spend time reading news articles which caught my attention, so having a comments section is definitely a way to make a site "sticky". But your moderation policies are too frustrating. I don't mean to sound unpleasant, but just wanted to let you know--as someone who knows how hard it is to run a business--that you just lost a customer.

I'm flattered that you're selected to post my photos, and you're welcome to continue, but asking that I don't engage in discussion regarding my own photo seems very strange to me. I can't think of a single better use for a website discussion section than for the readership and the authors to engage in dialog.

I think a better way to deal with trolls is to give them a warning and site the specific Terms of Use which they are violating and kindly remind them to read the Terms of Use. If they don't get the message and continue, just delete them.

You're Terms at JapanToday are over 3000 words. Do you think people actually read them? The Terms of Use at TED.com--a favoriate site of mine--are about 200 words (9 and 10 don't count).

Sincerely,
Max

We Come in Peace (to sell expensive handbags)

Chanel Mobile Art Container Site with artist profiles and vid

(thanks to Spencer for heads-up)

the effects of expectations

Expectations have long been a topic of psychological research, and it's well known that they affect how we react to events, or how we respond to medication. But in recent years, scientists have been intensively studying how expectations shape our direct experience of the world, what we taste, feel, and hear. The findings have been surprising - did you know that generic drugs can be less effective merely because they cost less? - and it's now becoming clear just how pervasive the effects of expectation are.

The human brain, research suggests, isn't built for objectivity. The brain doesn't passively take in perceptions. Rather, brain regions involved in developing expectations can systematically alter the activity of areas involved in sensation. The cortex is "cooking the books," adjusting its own inputs depending on what it expects.

Although much of this research has been done by scientists interested in marketing and consumer decisions, the work has broad implications. People assume that they perceive reality as it is, that our senses accurately record the outside world. Yet the science suggests that, in important ways, people experience reality not as it is, but as they expect it to be.

Read the article here

Do you know HUMAX?

All clear now?

PauseTalk Photo Pool

We recently setup a flickr Photo Pool for our PauseTalk design group.



What is PauseTalk?
PauseTalk is a monthly meeting of Tokyo-based creatives. We meet on the first Monday of each month starting at 20:00 in Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro. The idea is to create a forum where Tokyo-based creatives can share and discuss their current projects, meet other creatives for potential collaboration, and keep their thumb on cultural currents. PauseTalk was founded by Jean Snow who writes about design in Tokyo and works at White Rabbit Press where he is co-producer on a top-secret project.

Greed Sucks.

Interesting video from Oliver Stone on the WGA at this new Voices 4 Action site.