I’m not sure if the correct terminology is a Media Center TV or a PC Driven Media Player (on your TV) or…, but I would like to basically have all my DVDs and CDs on a harddrive and access them with a remote through a menu on my TV.
My requirements are:
A nice clean GUI
Allows me to rip CDs and DVDs so I don’t have to get up and manually change discs–I’m not talking about illegally downloading movies, but it is silly not to be able to store bought DVDs on one’s own computer.
Access to online content (TV shows, movies, music) to purchase
I’ve seen devices like the Mvix, and it looks very promising, but doesn’t help with #1 and #3 too much.
Basically the two major choices seem to be Windows Media Center (comes with every Vista Premium) or the Apple TV with iTunes.
As I understand it, I will need a third party program to rip DVDs for either choice. Fine, but it would be nice if iTunes or Windows Media Player would automatically rip DVDs like they do CDs.
My main computer and laptop at home have Vista Premium with Media Center. I also have an XBOX 360 which can stream content from my main computer to the TV. I haven’t played with that feature too much, but because I have the components already, I’m leaning in this direction.
But I have a few purchases from iTunes. Which makes me wonder if I should look into getting a Apple TV. I pretty much stopped buying video from iTunes after I discovered I can only download content once. That doesn’t seem very nice to me; especially since they limit the viewing of the content to a few computers.
Has anyone had any experience with either (or both) in regards to storing DVD content on your computer and streaming it to your TV? How is the user experience and video/audio quality?
I haven’t posted much here, because… we are upgrading TJP (again).
Back in January (of 2008) we completed an ‘upgrade’ of The Japanese Page. We are working hard on doing another upgrade now.
Some people have asked why I would want to essentially make a TJP 3.0 so soon after TJP 2.0. The January update was easier to manage from an administrative point of view, but frankly it was ugly, disorganized, and I hadn’t a clue about how Drupal (the backbone software) really worked. I am pretty sure for the end user, the old site was far superior.
A few months ago, a few of the site admins and myself decided it was best to start over–literally. We have taken every single page (hundreds and hundreds of them!), polished them, fixed broken links, added content & images & audio, and literally rebuilt the entire site page by single page.
Now that I know a little about Drupal, I spent an incredible amount of time setting it up so that everything is organized precisely how I want it. Now whenever an article is created, I simply choose the corresponding categories and–shazam!–the title and teaser appear in the correct categories page(s).
Drupal is very powerful and flexible–both of which mean there is a huuuuuuge learning curve. I wouldn’t recommend Drupal for someone new to it unless you don’t mind investing a lot of time learning its ins and outs–still it is an amazing CMS.
(Click for larger image)
The three column layout is only on the front page. All other pages drop the third column and expand the middle column
Hundreds of broken links were fixed (恥)
Forum is much more integrated now including new posts listed on every page
Wagawiki, our in-house wiki, will be integrated too by launch
Video, Audio, and other media is also all integrated–before we had links here and there and required separate logins…
Every article has been graded as fit for beginner, upper beginner, lower intermediate, and intermediate and above
Photo Gallery has been upgraded to the newest version
We will be working on the Groups to help people find study partners
Dozens of brand new videos, podcasts, and audio lessons
It’s all free! (except links to the store and friends of course…)
That’s what we’ve been working on. It is still a work in progress and we still don’t have a solid date for the upgrade, but it should be very soon.
Many years ago, I taught English at several elementary and junior high schools in Japan. Often the children would ask questions about living in America. One of the biggest 「うそ！」 (uso! - You’re kidding!) responses I ever got was when I explained, “in most American houses even the toilet has air conditioning.”
Central Air is almost non-existent in most Japanese houses–although I hear Hokkaido is an exception. Most houses nowadays have a stand alone unit that cools or heats a room, but on a cold January morning, going to the bathroom can be a bit like joining the Polar Bear’s Club. (The toilet thankfully has a heated seat, but you have to get there alive first.)
Anyway, this means at night the windows are often open. My parents-in-law’s house is quite old and only one sliding glass door has a screen. This is pretty much useless since a hot day requires all doors and windows to be open. This lets both the air and the beasts of the air to come in. There was the time we had a raccoon visit, but the beasts are usually flying bugs (oh, and a few crawling slugs).
But some bed bugs bite.
The 蚊取り線香 katori senkou is a mosquito coil that when lit fills the room with a stench that scares away the mosquitoes. I’d say it is about as nice as sleeping in a room with a package of natto–opened.
So usually mosquitoes are not a huge problem. But last night while making my way to the bathroom, I felt something on the top of my foot. I kicked it off, but not before it stung me. I immediately turned on the light, but couldn’t find the beast. I still don’t know exactly what it was, but having survived the night, I guess it could have been worse. My foot still hurts a little though.
First there was Obama fever–Of course I’m talking about the excitement in the small Japanese town in Fukui called 小浜, obama. Now that that fever has turned to a cold sweat, we have a new and updated reason to be proud here in Fukui–Governor Palin’s glasses:
The local television news just reported her glasses were designed and made in Sabae (鯖江) City. Sabae is famous for glasses as one can tell from my blurry picture:
They interviewed the designer of the glasses. He said the demand for that design has gone through the roof. Evidently that company was facing some economic slowdown …An economic slowdown no more.
Here is Sabae’s city website. No mention of Governor Palin’s glasses yet. Some webmaster is slacking… This could be big.
He loves it when I squat, put one fist to the mat, and then suddenly stand erect while slapping my belly. He laughs and laughs and laughs.
About the third time around I do a two-fisted ground touch and then rush to grab Makoto who squeals with joy at being held mid-air while driven out of the ‘ring.’ (押し出し?)
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We also discovered Makoto can survive without Apple Juice–his favorite drink. We were honestly out of Apple Juice all day yesterday; after a brave show of defiance that lasted several hours, Makoto eventually drank his ocha.
This morning (with Apple Juice in the refrigerator), he demanded Apple Juice. It wasn’t easy, but we brokered a deal with him. Basically if he first goes pee-pee, he can have a cup of Apple Juice. If he doesn’t go pee-pee, he has to drink ocha.
Yumi, ever thinking of the next meal, asked me over breakfast:
今日の昼ごはんは台風カレーはどう？ kyou no hirugohan wa taifuu kare- wa dou?
How about ‘hurricane curry’ for lunch?
Well, at least that is what I heard. With Gustov (a hurricane heading toward the Southern US) about to make landfall and Florida having just said good-bye to a Tropical Storm called Fay, it seemed a logical thing to ask.
But… what could “hurricane curry” be? Something extra spicy? Or maybe so (temperature) hot, it still bubbles and spins like a typhoon while you eat?
Turns out she said:
今日の昼ごはんはタイ風カレーはどう？ kyou no hirugohan wa tai fuu kare- wa dou?
How about Thai style curry for lunch?
Out of boredom, I bought a few DS games the other day.
I bought 人生ゲーム平成のデキゴト (Game of Life: Heisei) thinking it would be a great way for me to learn more about recent Japanese popular culture. I was very wrong. For someone like me who knows very little about Japanese personalities, hit novels or movies, etc, there isn’t much hope. In other words, you either know the answers or you end up broke and broken hearted very quickly.
In retrospect, I guess it is obvious the game wouldn’t have a ’study mode,’ but oh well.
But I did find an excellent game called ゼルダの伝説： 夢幻の砂時計 Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - (Found the Japanese version at Play Asia and the English version at Amazon)
?
Well, I haven’t gotten far enough in the game to say I love the game play, but here’s why I think it makes a great reader (probably for Intermediates): Tap on any kanji and furigana appears.
Sorry for the fuzziness, but maybe you can see what I mean. Just tap and hold any kanji to get the furigana. Neat!
Musouka pointed to a PDF in a comment earlier about the changes to the JLPT in 2010. See here. (Thanks Musouka!)
Some juicy information includes:
Starting in 2009, the current JLPT will be held twice a year
JLPT 1 and 2 (current levels) will be held in July 2009
JLPT 1-4 (current levels) will be held in December 2009 as it has in the past
Testing in July will be conducted in Japan as well as in a limited number of locations in China and elsewhere overseas
Apparently the test will be created with a more communicative approach in mind; one complaint some have with the JLPT is the student ends up studying for the test–but this is true for all tests, I’m sure.
To reduce the 3 to 2 gap and increase level 1 difficulty, the test levels will be reorganized into a 5-level format
The new test will have 5 levels: N1, N2, N3, N4, and N5; the “N” may stand for both “Nihongo” and “New.”
N1: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 1 test, but designed to
enable slightly more advanced abilities to be measured as well.
N2: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 2 test.
N3: Positioned at a level bridging existing Level 2 and Level 3 tests.
N4: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 3 test.
N5: Approximately the same passing level as the existing Level 4 test.
All the tests, N1 through N5, will consist of both a Reading Section (covering Writing-Vocabulary as well as Reading and Grammar) and a Listening Section.
This round of revisions will not extend to the introduction of tests of oral and compositional ability
leaving it as future challenge.
I think a lot of people will be happy about the test being offered twice a year. Having it only once a year made failing all the more painful.
The test now has an official website: http://www.jlpt.jp I wasn’t aware of this website, but I could have just been a little behind the times on this one.
One of Makoto’s favorite new words is ‘Combine.’ A month or two ago while at his cousin’s house he had an opportunity to sit on their combine harvester tractor. He declined the offer preferring instead to cower behind his daddy.
He has grown in courage but only at a distance. This is probably a good thing considering the danger of a close encounter.
Here is Makoto yesterday watching (or was watching) a combine harvesting the rice crop:
Shortly after this photo was taken, Makoto made his first 親父ギャグ. He said, “コンバインは.” I couldn’t have been prouder.
