Reached a major mile stone on the road less traveled November 11, 2009
Posted by Matsu in History, Information Technology, News, Technology, Web, Weblog.add a comment
I am reaching the end of my fourth year blogging on WordPress.com and I just realized, or actually discovered, that this off-the-beaten-track blog site just reached a major accomplishment: over 100,000 page views (visits?). However you slice that statistic, it’s far more visitors than I expected, ever.
Granted, the past year I have not posted as often I had in the previous years. Life has just gotten too busy and keeping a digital presence with friends and family is accomplished with posts to Facebook and Twitter. But, now that I am less active, I have more followers than ever. In fact, I average about 120 visits per day. As you can see by the stats, my best day ever was only 1,000 hits, but that’s not bad for a guy that is on a less-traveled (and hard to find) road. It amazes me that the less active I am, and the more time that passes, the greater the number of hits to this site. I can’t say why that is, exactly. As far as I know, my mom is not running up the stats by visiting throughout the day hoping that I will have posted some new and fresh content.
Not that the number of visitors or page views matters, but at the current rate this site will reach 200,000 page views in only two years (half the amount of time it took to reach the first 100,000 visits/page views). I guess I should put something useful up here so people won’t regret dropping by from time to time.
If you are a new visitor to this blog site, welcome! And, if you are one of the readers that browse this way from time to time, thank you for your attention and interest in what I have to say. I hope that I have both amused you and informed you over the past several years. And, I hope to continue do that for several more years.
Best Photo of Obama Presidendial Inauguration January 25, 2009
Posted by Matsu in History, News, News and politics, Photography, Technology, Web.4 comments
Click photo to be able to pan or zoom into image
At first glance this appears to be yet another photo of the historic presidential inauguration on January 20, 2009. But, there’s much more to this than first meets the eye.
The best part about this photo is the website behind it. If you click on the photo it will take you to this cool website where you can zoom in and pan and each time you do, it will show you more detail. The shortcut for zooming is done by just double-clicking the area of interest.
Try it. Zoom in on the capital building dome. There are people on the dome balcony. At first I wondered if they were Secret Service agents but they turn out to be (or look like they are) just camera men.
Another thing that amazed me was the wall of photographers on the opposite side. I imagine that where this photo was taken (where the photographer is standing) it pretty much looks the same as the other area full of press photographers.
I think it’s pretty cool. Have fun!
See your reflection in others July 2, 2008
Posted by Matsu in Family, Friends, History, Humor, Japan, Photography, Weblog.3 comments
It is interesting how much one learns of themselves by interacting with others. Yes, by interacting with people around you it helps you see yourself better and therefore you end up knowing yourself.
In the past several years I’ve worked with a person who has brought into focus the amount of influence my upbringing has affected my personality and character. I grew up in Japan. In fact, I spent most of the first 18 years of my life there, with the exception of three times when we lived in America for a year each time while on furlough. Well, the oriental influence on me is inescapable. And, this co-worker has been like a highly reflective mirror and given me a better view of myself and how I’ve been shaped by the oriental influences of my childhood.
One of the characteristics of oriental society is subtle communication. So, when I saw this photo posted on the Kyoto Daily Photo blog, I laughed out loud. It typifies how subtle the Japanese people can be, and by extension, how I am at times. The theme for the July 1st daily photo blog photos is “no.” The assignment is to take photos of signs that say “no” or “not permitted.” So, the photo of a walking path of large stepping stones with a single smaller stone sitting atop the first step means, “do not enter,” in the social language of Japan. That is a wonderful example of how small and subtle communication is in Japan — and while it’s subtle, I find it also to be crystal clear and almost obvious. But, that’s just because I think in those same terms.
So, thank you Bert for giving me a better view of myself and through that awareness, making this photograph that much more meaningful and amusing.
Disclaimer: The photo used in this post has nothing to do with the Kyoto Daily Photo blog. I wanted to use the stone path photo, but I didn’t have permission. Therefore, I found a good friend’s photo on the Wilmore Daily Photo blog site and used it without his permission. Hey, what is a friend going to do, sue me? Oh, oh! He seems to be tight with the local police. Maybe I should reconsider my attititude!
Darwin’s complete volume of work online April 25, 2008
Posted by Matsu in Education, History, Information Technology, News, Technology, Web.add a comment
This morning during an informal coffee break at work (well, it’s Friday so it was during the donut break) I mentioned the recent release of all of Charles Darwin’s works online by Cambridge University. That seemed to be news to the group of people I work with so I thought I’d post the information here for them to easily navigate to information about this new online content.
If you want to read about the project and the release of Darwin’s work, check out this Wired magazine article.
Or, you can just go straight to the Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online and begin reading digitized copies of his many writings.
It’s Christmas in August… the new iMacs arrive! August 22, 2007
Posted by Matsu in Apple, Christmas, Fun, History, Humor, Information Technology, Mac, Technology.2 comments
You would not believe the commotion the new iMac “Slim” created in my department when the first shipment arrived yesterday. (Do you call it iMac Slim or iMac Silver?)
I was in the conference room working when one of my staff walked in hugging a largish brown cardboard box. In tow was about 10 of his fellow IT guys and gals who knew what was in the box. They had come down to unbox the new iMac where they could all see it and experience the moment, together.
Recognizing the magnitude of this historic moment, I reached for my digital camera, but I had taken it out of my laptop bag the other day, so I swooped up my cell phone and snapped this photo of the team of Apple fans as they posed with their new best friend.
I should also point out that Chris J. Davis is standing to the right, just outside the frame. He did not want people to know he was part of this event. I thought about drawing him in with a pencil, but decided to grant him his wish and leave him out of the photo so nobody would know he was there.
(Note: I decided to make the second photo a black & white pic. It just looked better without color.)
