Introducing Paul Pott

A longer version of the clip my brother recommended. Enjoy.



Update: This clip comes from ITV's programme Britain's Got Talent. The winner will perform for The Queen in a variety show. In his debut performance above, Paul sang a part of the aria "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's Turandot. Nessun dorma means "Let no one sleep." I think Simon Cowel was wide awake.

Update #2: Paul won.

10 Reasons Why the Mainframe is Growing in Importance

CA offers a useful list describing the biggest reasons why mainframes are becoming more relevant to today's businesses. I like this list, although I'd make clear that the numbers don't imply a ranking.

Which City Now? Redux & Updated

Here are the cities currently in the running:

Tokyo
Hong Kong
an Australian city (Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne...)
Seoul
Taipei

Of course, cities in the United States are still open. The Asia-Pacific cities are roughly in order of likelihood. If anyone has any opinions on these various cities, by all means feel free to comment.

Spring 2007 in Tokyo

We have had several weeks of glorious spring weather here in Tokyo, with seasonable temperatures, limited rain, and considerable sunshine.

Just thought I'd mention that.

Which City Now?

This past week my employer decided to split one part of the world into two parts. Thus I have to choose one of the two parts, or I can return to a third (the Americas). My options are:

1. Stay in part #1 (Tokyo).
2. Move to part #2 (pretty much anywhere in Asia-Pacific, except Japan).
3. Move back to part #3 (pretty much any U.S. city).

I'm not sure what I want to do. Living in another city is much different than visiting. Which cities treat general aviation well?

Essential English

Last week I taught some "business English" to several colleagues, and they seemed to enjoy the lesson. It was a way to combine work with some bonus language practice.

Meanwhile, here's a look at the important English young women need most. Be patient and watch the whole video: this aerobics class takes some time to warm up.



Are these women really getting any exercise?

I Did Not Steal the Gold

The news anywhere else in the world would be that a museum encouraged visitors to touch a 100 Kg gold bar.

I wonder how the four men will manage to convert the gold to something a little more spendable.

"Mac v. PC" in Japan

Expect Early Cherry Blossoms in Japan

January, 2007, was our planet's warmest January in recorded weather history, smashing the old record set in 2002. Global warming is upon us, and how. For what it's worth, the average American is responsible for about 2.5 times the greenhouse gas emissions as his counterpart in Japan.

One side effect is that Japan's famous cherry blossoms will open much earlier than usual. The plum blossoms are already way ahead of schedule.

Update: The official forecast is that Tokyo's cherry blossoms will open on March 23, 2007.

Later Update: Officially the first blossoms opened in Tokyo on March 20, 2007. Forecasters apologize profusely for the imprecise estimate.

Shake, Rattle & Roll

About nine minutes ago there was a small earthquake here in the greater Tokyo area. There's a terrific Web site (http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake) which immediately provided extremely accurate data: earthquake at 20:59 JST 04 Feb 2007, location 35.6N 140.1E, depth 80 Km, magnitude 4.2....

....Ah, now the Web site has more sensors reporting. In my part of the city it was magnitude 1+ or 2+, depending on the exact location. This technology is amazing.

Update: The numerical magnitude numbers used in Japan are based on the JMA Seismic Intensity Scale, which ranges from 0 to 7.