I have a couple of issues though:

1. When AwesomeScreenshot is enabled, my Safari seems to have trouble loading some Javascript powered pages. A big inconvenient example is Google Reader, where the entire view pane is blank and some buttons on the page are not responding at all. Also I have trouble viewing live statistics in Woopra.com.
2. When saving the file to desktop by dragging, the filename is always named “Unknown.png”. It would be helpful if you can automatically name it the source URL, domain name or page title.

Foundation for Personal Mobility and Ecological Transportation – Barrier Free Initiative contains a useful library of Japanese standard public information symbols. Here are some useful subpages:

• Standard information symbols – Main page
  • Public Facilities (公共、一般施設)
  • Transport Facilities (交通施設)
  • Commercial Facilities (商業施設)
  • Tourism, Culture, Sport Facilities (観光、文化、スポーツ施設)
  • Safety (安全)
  • Prohibition (禁止)
  • Warning (注意)
  • Mandatory (指示)
• Symbols for priority facilities
• Communication Board – a set of cards for people who can’t speak Japanese or with disabilities to communicate simple ideas, such as “what time is it”, “I need help”, “I have lost item”…etc.

Please refer to their terms of use (in Japanese) to learn about the licensing issues.

via @crema

Earlier in June I blogged about mygengo.com and their online tweet translation service Twiyaku. I argued that the service was not ideal for Corporate Japan to depend on, since it is difficult to translate technical terms and maintain a consistent image of the corporate identity.

Apparently I underestimated the demand and how much people like the idea. According to Asiajin’s report, myGengo has raise 50 million yen (or $583,000 USD) from a group of angel investors. That shows the confidence that these investors have on the growing demand in human translation service for micro-blogging systems. Since the introduction of API (application programming interface) in April, which allows companies to programmatically integrate tweet translation into their software and operation workflow, the daily request has gone to 10,000 per day.

Source: 人力翻訳「myGengo」、国内外の投資家から5000万円の出資

Want more info and get coupons for the restaurants in this building? Simply snap the QR-code (or manually enter the website address) and you’ll be brought to a webpage when all that. Use your cel-phone as a coupon book!

Resume of Calvin C. Chan

I am looking for a job as:

• web designer
• graphic designer and illustrator
• interaction designer
• user experience designer
• volunteer in local UX/design events

If you know any related job opening, please kindly let me know! I can work on site as well as remotely over the internet. You can learn more about me at the About page, or see my resume for details about my formal background:
link to my resume

YASUKAWA-KUN (やすかわくん), created by Yaskawa Electric Corporation, is a Dual-arm robot that serves you soft ice-cream while smiling at you. You can choose different combinations of flavor from the touchscreen, then the robot will slowly and joyfully follow the sequence and fix you a perfect cone of ice-cream.

According to it’s Youtube description, YASUKAWA-KUN will be working at Tokyo Summer Land from 2010-July-25 to Aug-22. Make sure to run there if you want to see this smiling robot happily serves you a cone of soft cream.

You can follow KASUKAWA-KUN on Twitter.

Navigating in Tokyo is very different from North America. In Japanese addressing system, an address is based on block (CHO,町) rather than street. For example, the address of the Sony Building at Ginza is 5-3-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 Sony Building. Here the 5-3-1 means the District #5, Block #3, Building #1. Since the allocation of block number does not often follow any rules, it is essential to consult a map before getting out of a train station.

e-NAVITA (http://www.navita.co.jp) is a private company that provides map service and local business directory for mobile devices. Now with growing usage of サイフ携帯 (SAIFU KEITAI, mobile phone wallet), user can easily download a district map with just a touch to the sensor. A secondary access way is to use the QR-code if you do not own a compatible phone.

SAIFU KAITAI is using Sony’s FeliCa technology. You can see my other blog posts about the FeliCa technology here.

For more information about Japanese Addressing System please visit this Wikipedia page.

An animated road work ahead sign that looks like a worker waving a growing stick at the drivers. Taken in Japan.

Thoughts: Does Japanese drivers response to humanoid signage better than wordy ones? What is the history of Japanese road work signs? How well does it work in day time vs. night time? Weather? Low visibility conditions?

You are sitting alone in this confined space. Except occasional distant noise from late night trains, the house is simply dead silent. The bathroom door next to your elbow is loosely shut, you can hear your breath echoing inside this space. The dim light above your head can barely light up the room, as well as the paper you are holding. But it casts an annoying shadow of you head onto the paper, making it even hard to read the small print. You move the paper closer and closer to your nose, tracing every line of the horror novel, and your heart beat is mixed with your ever faster breathing.

Can you picture this experience in your head? I am trying to describe a Japanese product: a horror novel that is also a toilet paper roll. The name of the novel is called ドロップ (Drop) written by 鈴木光司 (Suzuki Koushi). Mr. Suzuki also wrote the famous horror novel リング (Ring).

From User Experience point of view, the combination of toilet paper and horror novel is a brilliant idea.

• Time condition: People are usually free for 3-5 minutes (or longer) in bathroom. They would find all sort of things to kill the time, such as handheld gaming device, magazine and book.
• Emotional condition: When a person is alone in a confined, quiet space (the bathroom), he/she is more emotionally vulnerable to horror stories.
• Convenience: toilet paper is always placed in a bathroom, there’s no doubt about it. It is right at the place of reach, doesn’t require battery, and you don’t need to bring a book in and out of the bathroom. Even better, after reading a page you can simply use it for it’s primary purpose: toilet paper.

SPAM Japanese Package

On the classic SPAM luncheon meat can, there is a burger made with a slice of SPAM. However on the localized Japanese version of the package, it is a luncheon meat sushi.

This is an example of branding for culture, where the designer acknowledges the different food consumption habit, that in Asia SPAM is more often served with rice than burger buns. However this SPAM sushi package is only available in Japan, perhaps because the company figured that the Japanese market is more sensitive in cultural difference and would be more receptive to special localized branding? I lived in Hong Kong for years and have never seen similar localized branding in the supermarket.

Wikipedia discribes various SPAM eating habit in Asia in this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)#Asia