Archive for May, 2008
How I used an iPhone in Japan
No, I don’t have the super secret version 2 iPhone that is supposed to work on Japanese mobile network. Japan is one place where the current version of iPhone does not work as it is not a 3G phone.
Still I was able to make calls on my iPhone. I used this mobile software called Fring.
Fring is an amazing service, it is a multi-platform chat client supporting Yahoo, MSN, Skype, Gtalk etc. All this works on the Edge network.
I am finding that I am using Fring chat feature a lot, mostly IMing while I am commuting.
On a Wi-Fi network you can make a Skype voice calls too.
I was using an early version of Fring last year on a Nokia phone. I was so impressed with this software that I promised a Fring employee I met that I will write about it. Never got around doing that as I stopped using the Nokia soon after I got the iPhone.
A few weeks back Fring released an iPhone client. You must have an hacked iPhone in order to install Fring. I hope they will release an official version once iPhone 2.0 is out.
BTW Fring works on several other mobile platforms.
Tagging Real World Objects
From my presentation at Chiang Mai and Singapore Barcamps, an idea to tag (and sustaining discussion about) real world objects. Thanks to the organizers and the attendees of the bar camp for providing a great venue for discussion and brainstorming.
How to Keep Your Workshop Attendees Up To Date
I am always traveling conducting workshops and courses. And almost all the topics I cover, things keep changing at a rapid pace. There are new case studies, new materials get posted online and my attendees themselves might end up making interesting use the stuff I have introduced to them.
What I am increasingly doing is creating my notes using Google Document. It works like a wiki, I keep adding new examples, links etc.
I used to forward this document to the organizers to print the notes.
These days, the first thing I do is get the email addresses of the participants and then invite them to become collaborators for the document.
This way even after the course, the participants have access to my updates. I also encourage them to add links and examples that they encounter. What I hope to do is build a little community around my notes. I could have used a wiki but I feel the Google doc look and feel is more user friendly for most of my course participants.
Across the Sea of Japan
I went to Niigata because I wanted to see the Sea of Japan. I had never been to the western part of Honshu. it was good that I went there as it was warmer and the sky was clear.
Japan sea seems bluer and more rough. There was hardly anyone on the beach.
Mousan found this plastic bottle on the beach.
There was Korean text on the bottle. It says “Elite”. Looks like sunscreen,
Wow, it must have drifted from the East coast of Korea. Almost 900 KM.
Daruma Bento
I always look forward to the snack lady in Japanese trains. They always have interesting food box or bento set. This time I got Daruma bento on the train to Niigata. Daruma figures are popular in Japan. Daruma is known as Damo in China is said to be an Indian monk who traveled to China.
Here is something I tried in Niigata, kuzira sashimi or whale meat sashimi.
