Woo - back from a long holiday in Japan (and boy oh boy, is Tokyo expensive!). I'll post some pics of my trip next week but first, I wanted to share an observation I had while I was there. Japanese people have a reputation for being very well mannered and from what I could see in Tokyo, this reputation is very well deserved.
One of my pet peeves in Hong Kong is the lack of even basic manners which you regularly see on trains. One thing which I noticed while in Tokyo was that on the platform, everybody waited until passengers had gotten off the train before they got on the train. I have NEVER seen that in HK (there have been plenty of times where people in one particular section have been willing to wait but even when that happens, you will see people in another section try and push their way onto the train past people trying to get off). Granted, we were never on the trains during rush hour (I have heard enough about Tokyo rush hour to know to avoid it) so I don't know how things will change during rush hour but still - wow!
The amazing thing is that this level of manners seems to extend to other areas of their life as well. While we stayed in Tokyo, we actually spent most of our time in the countryside surrounding Tokyo and as such, we hired a car to make things more convenient. I have spent many years complaining about the lack of manners which HK people show on the road. However, this has always been based on a comparison with Glasgow which is a bit unfair to HK in that Glasgow is a relatively small city in comparison.
Tokyo, on the other hand, is a city which gets gridlocked during rush hour and is a much fairer target for comparison purposes. Unfortunately for HK, this comparison doesn't favour HK either. While driving around in Japan, it was amazing to see that people actually had good road etiquette even while we were stuck in a traffic jam.
I'm not going to comment on any other aspect of Japanese society, but when it comes to basic manners and regard for other people, Japan seems so far ahead of HK that its embarrassing.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Nike are dicks
Wow - two of my favourite ranty topics in one post!
This latest news out of Blighty not only shows that some UK laws are absurb, but that Nike are also dicks. In summary, a guy buys a pair of Nike shoes off the internet. It turns out that those shoes are counterfeit shoes and are seized at the border. Nike is notified of these counterfeit shoes and decides to sue the customer. The customer says that he wasn't aware that the shoes were counterfeit but this doesn't matter as the law says that the customers intention is not relevant.
First off, I'm operating on the good faith assumption that the buyer really didn't know the shoes were fake. With that said - wow, its like the UK is trying to kill off sales of physical goods over the internet!
Granted, this is hyperbole but this case is a pretty clear warning to anyone buying something over the internet in the UK that they need to be careful. Regardless of what you thought you were buying, if it turns out to be fake, you are liable. Particularly if you were thinking of buying Nike shoes because Nike have proven that they are willing to take you to court even if you thought the shoes that you were buying were real.
Secondly. Nike - what are you doing? On face value, this is someone who was willing to pay money for your shoes and was likely to have paid more money for your shoes at a later date. By suing him, you have pretty much guaranteed that neither he nor his friends and family will ever buy Nike shoes again (as well as any people who read this news and sympathises with they guy).
Also, how does this help Nike sell more shoes? The thing is, I actually accept their argument that they can't fight the supply side. What I don't understand is how reducing demand for your goods will help you sell more of those goods. Bear in mind, this guy thought he was buying genuine Nike shoes.
And even if you go on the assumption that this guy knew he was buying a fake pair of Nike shoes, studies show that 46% of people buying fake goods will go on to buy the real thing within 2.5 years. Of course, that number is going to be a lot lower for Nike if they sue people left, right and centre! And even if people don't buy the fake goods, studies show that this doesn't mean that they will buy the genuine article either.
All in all, I only see this kind of action as having a negative consequence for Nike.
Full disclosure - all of my sports shoes are Nike brand. Genuine too (at least, I think they're genuine).
This latest news out of Blighty not only shows that some UK laws are absurb, but that Nike are also dicks. In summary, a guy buys a pair of Nike shoes off the internet. It turns out that those shoes are counterfeit shoes and are seized at the border. Nike is notified of these counterfeit shoes and decides to sue the customer. The customer says that he wasn't aware that the shoes were counterfeit but this doesn't matter as the law says that the customers intention is not relevant.
First off, I'm operating on the good faith assumption that the buyer really didn't know the shoes were fake. With that said - wow, its like the UK is trying to kill off sales of physical goods over the internet!
Granted, this is hyperbole but this case is a pretty clear warning to anyone buying something over the internet in the UK that they need to be careful. Regardless of what you thought you were buying, if it turns out to be fake, you are liable. Particularly if you were thinking of buying Nike shoes because Nike have proven that they are willing to take you to court even if you thought the shoes that you were buying were real.
Secondly. Nike - what are you doing? On face value, this is someone who was willing to pay money for your shoes and was likely to have paid more money for your shoes at a later date. By suing him, you have pretty much guaranteed that neither he nor his friends and family will ever buy Nike shoes again (as well as any people who read this news and sympathises with they guy).
Also, how does this help Nike sell more shoes? The thing is, I actually accept their argument that they can't fight the supply side. What I don't understand is how reducing demand for your goods will help you sell more of those goods. Bear in mind, this guy thought he was buying genuine Nike shoes.
And even if you go on the assumption that this guy knew he was buying a fake pair of Nike shoes, studies show that 46% of people buying fake goods will go on to buy the real thing within 2.5 years. Of course, that number is going to be a lot lower for Nike if they sue people left, right and centre! And even if people don't buy the fake goods, studies show that this doesn't mean that they will buy the genuine article either.
All in all, I only see this kind of action as having a negative consequence for Nike.
Full disclosure - all of my sports shoes are Nike brand. Genuine too (at least, I think they're genuine).
Monday, December 13, 2010
Gerry and Gordon down the local playground
Time for some more picture updates of the kids! In particular, I'm going to Japan next week and I need to get some of the older pictures out of the way before I start posting holiday pics!
What do you think we are doing in this picture? Despite appearances to the contrary, we are not waiting for a taxi. Gordon just wanted to look at the cars and all I'm doing is making sure he doesn't jump out into the street.
In hindsight, that sounds really boring. Next time, I'll make up a story!
Gordon is now at the age where he is fascinated by the camera. Ah, this brings back memories of giant close-ups of Gerry...
A rare family photo where Gordon is actually looking at the camera. You would be surprised how difficult it is to get kids to actually look at the camera and smile. Unless you have kids of course in which case you are probably wondering when I learnt to use Photoshop.
I don't know why but this picture makes me think of a movie poster.
Mummy and baby with a cheesy grin - tons of photos like this but its still good to see Gordon with a smile.
What do you think we are doing in this picture? Despite appearances to the contrary, we are not waiting for a taxi. Gordon just wanted to look at the cars and all I'm doing is making sure he doesn't jump out into the street.
In hindsight, that sounds really boring. Next time, I'll make up a story!
Gordon is now at the age where he is fascinated by the camera. Ah, this brings back memories of giant close-ups of Gerry...
A rare family photo where Gordon is actually looking at the camera. You would be surprised how difficult it is to get kids to actually look at the camera and smile. Unless you have kids of course in which case you are probably wondering when I learnt to use Photoshop.
I don't know why but this picture makes me think of a movie poster.
Mummy and baby with a cheesy grin - tons of photos like this but its still good to see Gordon with a smile.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Newcastle United FC
By now, you will probably have heard that Hughton got the sack. This is despite him having managed to get Newcastle promoted to the Premiership at first go while also managing to get Newcastle in mid-table in the Prem. Granted, they aren't that many points clear of the relegation zone but considering that Liverpool, who have had a dreadful start to the season, are only 7 points off the CL palces (which amounts to just 3 games), its not a surprise that Newcastle are close to the bottom.
It's worth mentioning that he has achieved this with what is arguably a sub-standard group of players considering that a lot of pundits were predicting that Newcastle would struggle this season (with some people predicting relegation). Despite this, they have managed to pull off some impressive wins when they had a fully fit squad. But even more than this, the most incredible thing that Hughton had managed to do was bring stability to a club which seemed to careen from crisis to crisis (and have done so again now that Hughton has been removed).
With Hughton's removal, this means that, according to wikipedia, Newcastle will have changed managers 7 times over the course of a 3 year period. That's an average of just over 2 sacking's per year. Is it any wonder that this club struggles to do anything? Or that Mike Ashley is possibly the most hated man in Newcastle?
In a way, its a shame that this club is once more plunged into turmoil (although I'm sure that the owners would disagree, from the player and forum comments, it certainly seems that this is a club in crisis). Having said that, for such a ridiculous sacking, I hope NUFC get relegated.
It's worth mentioning that he has achieved this with what is arguably a sub-standard group of players considering that a lot of pundits were predicting that Newcastle would struggle this season (with some people predicting relegation). Despite this, they have managed to pull off some impressive wins when they had a fully fit squad. But even more than this, the most incredible thing that Hughton had managed to do was bring stability to a club which seemed to careen from crisis to crisis (and have done so again now that Hughton has been removed).
With Hughton's removal, this means that, according to wikipedia, Newcastle will have changed managers 7 times over the course of a 3 year period. That's an average of just over 2 sacking's per year. Is it any wonder that this club struggles to do anything? Or that Mike Ashley is possibly the most hated man in Newcastle?
In a way, its a shame that this club is once more plunged into turmoil (although I'm sure that the owners would disagree, from the player and forum comments, it certainly seems that this is a club in crisis). Having said that, for such a ridiculous sacking, I hope NUFC get relegated.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Munchkin
If you have been a nerd as long as I have, then the name Steve Jackson will bring back many happy memories. Steve Jackson is one of the premier develop of geek games and one of the most succesful games he has developed is a card game called Munchkin.
I was first made aware of Munchkin through a post of Wil Wheaton's blog. Although I've never played the game myself, the game sounded really interesting as it was the kind of game where most of the fun seems to derive from the hilarious and ridiculous situations that you can inflict on other players. Having said that, based on just that blog post, I never had a clear idea of how the game actually played.
Good thing then that the clever people at SJ Games have put together a flash demo of the game so that you can get a feel for how it plays! Now all I need are some nerd friends...
I was first made aware of Munchkin through a post of Wil Wheaton's blog. Although I've never played the game myself, the game sounded really interesting as it was the kind of game where most of the fun seems to derive from the hilarious and ridiculous situations that you can inflict on other players. Having said that, based on just that blog post, I never had a clear idea of how the game actually played.
Good thing then that the clever people at SJ Games have put together a flash demo of the game so that you can get a feel for how it plays! Now all I need are some nerd friends...
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