Between Random Planets

Garage Doors and the Axis of Evil

The security parking in our apartment building is quite safe. It is so secure, in fact, that it wouldn't let me leave the facility a few days ago.  I sat idling in our car wondering what I had done to deserve House Arrest, which always affords too much time for personal reflection.  This particular idle daydream led me to recall something I read a few months back about the Air Force's First Responder Radio System.

Apparently the radio frequency that most remotely operated garage door openers use is the same frequency the Air Force chose for their new radio system on 125 bases. It's also the same frequency that the Air Force will use to communicate with First Responders during a Homeland Security threat, which caused a "lockdown" of suburban garage doors all over Colorado Springs.  Bad garage door....bad!

There's a strong possibility that Rich's next duty station will be attached to an Air Force base in Denver -- if that becomes a reality maybe I should park outside?  Or maybe just bring a good book and enjoy the lockdown.

Life was so much simpler when we just had The Clapper.

With Distance, It's Relative

Much is often made about time being relative.  Contrary to what you might think on every Yahoo and Google map (where distance is noted in exact and intractable mileage), there can also be a certain relativity to geography when the geography separates you from your relatives.

I had the great fortune of being online last night at 10:00 p.m. San Diego time, returning emails and poking my nose into assorted general online nonsense.  I love my Yahoo mail, but after a small Daylight Savings snafu where I couldn't receive mail for six hours (and in the panic that ensued) I set up a Gmail account specifically for my ship bound husband to use which is also good in case of Yahoo emergencies.  They both have messenger capabilities that immediately notify me of incoming mail.

At 10:00 p.m. I sent email to my sea-faring sailor hubby somewhere in the 7th Fleet waters and another mail to our nephew Jason, stationed in Iraq.  Twenty seconds later, messenger bars popped up in response from both of them, wondering if I was still online.  Over the next 30 minutes, I kept watching my task bar light up like a Yahoo/Gmail pinball machine as the three of us mailed back and forth in real time.  After I told each of them I was mailing the other (in real time) we had a regular Happy Hour going on as if we were all in the same room, goofing off at the same time.  Well, we actually were when you think about it.  So this is the Relativity of Distance.

Considering that it was 8:00 a.m. in Iraq and roughly 2:00 p.m. in the vast waters where the USS Reagan was roaming, it's also a testament to the relativity of time when you need to spend time with the relatives.

Today's best link: 

Timeanddate.com
....because without our own personalized clock, we'd never catch our wandering families at just the right time.

Keitai Kulture

"Omigosh!  You must be so disappointed in these phones.  I used to live in Japan....their cell phones rock."
~My U.S. Verizon Cellular representative (after dialing "611" for technical assistance)

Actually, I'm not that disappointed -- mostly because we managed our expectations long before we landed back on U.S. soil.  The U.S. can take credit for being the birthplace of hot dogs and home runs, but it's quite possible that we will never adequately compete when it comes to Japanese Mobile Phone Culture.

It's not so much that we don't have some of those smaller extras here (digital cameras, text messaging, web access) -- it's just that Japanese cell technology is so advanced (and usage is astronomical) that these things simply come standard with just about every phone.  Also standard are configurable databases, high-speed video, and many can be used as debit cards with barcodes to make purchases.    We are stuck with a confusing cellular buffet of "add ons" here in the U.S., and every new addition puts your cell bill disastrously close to the equivalent of a car payment -- but at least the sales pitch is in English so I can't say that I wasn't warned.

Grandma's not sitting around at home waiting for your call, either.
During our stay in Japan we've even seen little gray-haired grannies all over the Kanagawa Prefecture madly text-messaging on their powder-pink AU phones (with Hello Kitty charms attached) about Granny Play Dates or whatever seems to be popular these days in Tokyo.  Don't forget that they're doing this on phones set up for more than the 26 letters of the English alphabet.  They scroll over a thousand characters in katakana, hiragana, kanji and English.  My thumb just went numb.

Japanese phones also have a clearly highlighted "manner" mode (which instantly transfers the phone to "no ring") so nearby folks aren't disturbed, but allows continued cell phone usage.  This easy-to-access function, of course, doesn't often appear on U.S. phones because...well...we often have no manners.

Mind Your Manners...Or I'll Mind Them For You
When a cell phone rings in a movie theatre, have a little fun with it.  Do more than tossing the offender a dirty look.  Insist that they at least pay for the popcorn you're about to dump over their head.  Or just take their phone by force and start a conversation with your brand new best phone-friend -- then pass the phone around to total strangers for their input.

This week's goal: to instill gracious cell phone manners adopted from my host country into this cowboy culture -- one movie showing at a time.

Caution: Computers Byte

(we're going under for a few days due to one moving-related crisis or another.  We've set some posts to publish for your general amusement)....

I have no idea what I'd do without this guy when it comes to hardware (yeah, there's a pun in there somewhere depending upon your sense of humor).

We mailed our computers in advance of our household goods, which can be both a good and bad thing.  My computer arrived toasty and fried, which is great for a grilled cheese sandwich but really bad for motherboards and CPU's.  Fortunately I've had my laptop all this time, but Rich was bound and determined to perform high-tech heart surgery on my tower of terror.

See this little world of wonder?  It frankly counfounds me.  Software, I can do.  I'm even getting better at HTML code.  Everytime I take one look at the guts of this thing though, my knees go weak.  When Rich looks at it, it's just a teeny tiny problem to be solved one tweak at a time.

He tweaked, he cursed, we shopped, he pondered....and he fixed it!!  There really needs to be a medal for stuff like this, but for now my undying gratitude will have to do.

Felines Gone Wired

Surfing from one chaotic international-household-move-related emergency to another can be tough without friends.  Every time I get a little too overloaded, my U.S. counterparts always somehow seem to psychically tune in and send visual funnies to lighten the load.  In keeping with what's turning into Tech Week around here....

After being surrounded by 15 relentless months of Hello Kitty, this cat-and-mouse gamer shot landed in my mail (thanks,WendySue). 

This is definitely my kind of cat, although trying to teach my own cat to do this has only earned me ScratchThreatCon 3 (where your cat wildly waves his paw over your head, claws extended, psychotic eyes glaring, but no blood is actually drawn...yet).

Our cat also finds excessive company distasteful and his curiosity quotient drops -- which can be a good thing during a military move.  I've heard stories about family pets being accidentally boxed in with the kitchenware, and somehow surviving the month-long storage process.  Of course, living on a military base (never universally considered "Optimism Central") you also eventually hear most of the pet stories without the happy endings. 

At this point in any move, it's handy to activate the military spouse's all-purpose tool called Selective Reality in order to simply ignore the horror stories (and the often horrible people who choose to tell them at wildly inappropriate times). 

Just to be on the safe side, I'm double checking those boxes.

Girls Gone Wired

We're being watched, and it's a good thing.

My 4:30 wake-up call and subsequent long, slow grind of appointments and arrangements that needed to be accomplished in order to PCS was put on hold yesterday, after 10:00 a.m.  Official moving inspections over, I logged onto World of Warcraft to spend a little time with 40 friends from around the world, bashing digital evil things about and sliding in for a save when my pixillated team had only slivers of health left (I'm a healer in game, go figure.  Apparently I can't get enough of that in real life).

Technological Allergens
The relentless duties of the Seventh Fleet often keep Rich from playing (or from getting much free time at all).  To give my guy a boost, I'll often play his character in game instead of mine.  I log onto ventrilo, adjust my outbound, check my ping, double-check his mods, temporarily adjust his macros and sync up his Saitek keyboard.  If you have no idea what the hell I just said, well...there was a time that I didn't know either.  The point is, I wanted to know so I figured it out. 

For the gaming-allergic out there, grab a Benadryl and fast forward....but that would be a shame.  Because this post isn't only about gaming, it's about technology.  It's about the practical nature of women.

Women Watching What Men Do
When Rich came home yesterday, he was amazed at how much I had accomplished for him and for our team of gaming friends.  Before I break my right arm trying to pat myself on the back, just know that I didn't simply wake up one day magically knowing this stuff.  He is definitely the digital guru in this household, and fields every rookie question I've thrown at him for years. He was also the one who pointed me in the right direction for this post, by informing me that some brand new studies just popped out about women and technology.

Men Watching What Women Do
From cell phones to PDA's to laptops to (horrors!) the male-dominated world of online gaming -- we're here to stay, and here's where you can read all about it:

"Women's Watch: Girls Gone Wired"

Finding that we love technology as a "means to an end" shouldn't surprise women watchers everywhere.  Yes, I love my shoes...every one of the expensive little monsters.  I still fall under the category of women who "would rather spend the big bucks on a media center PC than on a pair of designer stilettos".  Never forget, though, that being technologically savvy means that one can just purchase shoes faster, easier and more affordably....online.  I told you we were practical.

Show me your digital side, ladies.

Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Google....it's a VERB!

The Google Family gave legitimate birth to their verb ("to google") as Merriam-Webster officially (and finally) put their stamp of approval on the term to be included in their next dictionary printing.  I'm sure the family is doing fine and couldn't be any prouder.

"Googling" someone has been a common verb for years, but it's nice that all the mouse potatoes get some recognition for spamming the term relentlessly, thereby culturally forcing a new word into our lexicon.

Oh yeah.  "Mouse potato" made the dictionary cut as well.  That would be people who spend an unusual amount of time at a computer.

*cough-cough* 
(rolls her eyes and whistles....)

Ooooh. Pretty. Shiny.

Technologically, I'm still such a n00b.

I'm only now getting around to updating some shiny new add-ons to my categories here at Between Random Planets, so hopefully the links will make the read a little easier.

• Email subscription (bottom right) for those who would like email notification on new posts
• RSS feed link (bottom right) streamlined for those who use newsreaders for new posts
• A really fun "kanji of the day" in the left column.  I'm hoping my Japanese friends will let me know if there's anything really incorrect with any of these.  My friends are my best test-market.

Where Do They Find Such Tiny Newscasters?

They may not be the first to do it, but knowing the incredible technology in this country they're definitely going to make it the best, the fastest, and (with a range of designer colors to choose from) the most fashionable.

Digital TV Broadcasts for mobile phones started here in Japan last weekend, and the phones are flying off the shelves.  Look for the itty bitty Hello Kitty versions soon.  Anxiously awaiting Meg Ryan's Nescafe commercial in a teeny tiny format that I could actually stomach.

Mobile Media Manga

"Manga" artists are now starting to bypass the traditional publishing houses here in Japan in favor of "keitai" (cell phone sites) according to a new report in The Japan Times.  (Taiga Uranaka Photo).

Even when the trains are packed in ass-end-to-elbow around here, you'll still see someone sneaking a peek (a really close one during commuter rush) at their favorite manga, eventually getting newsprint on their little noses.  This should make train-reading a lot easier, not to mention more private.  Some manga is...well...not exactly PG rated.  So now they can fog up their own cell phone windows instead of breathing heavily on their fellow commuters.