http://rapidshare.com/files/311899462/Ekesekusi_Mahasiswi_BudiLuhur_November_2009.wmv

*New book racks*

Book Rack from IKEA

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It had not much of happening recently until yesterday (21st of November), Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur had finally bought their first book rack to keep all the go books tidy.

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*Beginner class*

Hock Doong conducting beginner class

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Its been a while since a few beginners came, and thus Hock Doong took this opportunity to conduct a beginner class for them.

One of the new-comer, Karen.

Breaking NEWS: HO Hock Doong will be attending the Annual event of Brunei’s Go Tournament, and as the chief Judge!

Fecha: 15 de noviembre de 2009

La revista Wired ha sacado un especial con los gadgets más novedosos del año que merece la pena comentar. Para seleccionar estas tecnologías ha realizado cuatro grandes grupos: ordenadores, movilidad, casa y cámaras. En todas las categorías hay algunos artículos que sorprenden o que ni siquiera conocía, y en algunos casos se echan de menos alguno que otro.

Por ejemplo en la parte de ordenadores, destacaría el teclado profesional DAS, realizado a la antigua usanza con un exagerado nivel de calidad y precio (130$), el disco duro de Lenovo con cifrado, que resuelve la habitual falta de seguridad de los discos duros externos, y el ratón profesional logitech MX, un elemento realmente a destacar porque por fin han conseguido un ratón que funciona sobre cualquier superficie, incluido el temible cristal.

En el apartado de movilidad se echan en falta algún módelo de iPhone y de Blackberry, que no se se han incluido. Destacaría la original idea del amplificador de sonido K-Box que utiliza superficies planas para ampliar el poder de amplificación. En esta lista aparece igualmente el kindle 2 de Amazon, del que ya hablé hace unas semanas. Pienso que es uno más de los 10 o 12 buenos lectores de ebooks que existen, aunque el hecho de ser de Amazon lo haya hecho tremendamente popular en muy poco tiempo.

En el apartado de artilugios domésticos destacaría el iGo, un dispositivo de los llamados verdes que aparte de proteger contra sobrecargas realiza una gestión inteligente de la energía limitando la carga en los dispositivos que se encuentran en modo standby. Otro dispositivo a destacar es el AnyPlace-2000 capaz de  admitir cualquier fuente, incluida video VHS y convertirla a salidas como HDMI limpiando la imagen y dando una calidad bastante satisfactoria con indepencia de que la calidad de la imagen de entrada no sea demasiado apropiada. Y por supuesto el mando a distancia de Logitech Harmony 900, estéticamente impecable, capaz de contrlar hasta 15 dispositivos a la vez, preparado para 5.000 marcas diferentes y dotado de un magnífico servicio de atención al cliente (al menos en USA) que reconfiguran en tiempo real el mando para dispositivos que no estén preconfigurados. Se echa de menos en esta sección algún dispositivo multifunción orientado a reproducción de ficheros MKV como pueden ser el ZoltarTV, Popcorn C-200 o el reciente i-Cube 3000 de Woxter.

En el apartado de cámaras destacar la magnífica Canon EOS 5D, una cámara espectacular, el DataColor SpyderCube un dispositivo muy sencillo y de gran utilidad para realizar la calibración del color, y el Gitzo GM2561 un “monopod” ligero y muy compacto y completo.

A very informative and enjoyable evening was held Wednesday at the Cottonwood, CA Town Hall Meeting, hosted by Supervisor Les Baugh. Les, and the Community Committee, chaired by Mary O’Keefe, the Director of the Community Center, had an excellent line up of panelists to deal with many issues and items of interest facing the residents of the South County of  Shasta County. The panel included Shasta County Admin Officer Larry Lees, Sheriff Tom Bosenko, County DA Jerry Benito, County Resources Director Russ Mull, County Public Works Director Pat Minturn, Dan LIttle and Phil Baker from CALTRANS, and Cottonwood Fire Chief Jim Flaherty.

The topics ranged from public safety to subdivisions, from downtown traffic to developments in the planning stage, and from Gas Point Road congestion to expanding the lanes on Interstate 5 into Redding. In addition to the “purely local” concerns, the panel addressed more far reaching questions, such as the status of the local and state economy and how that situation will impact Shasta County. Discussion was held on current public works projects for the south county, and many expressed interest in more parks in this section of the county.

The audience of 150 were encouraged to write down their questions and Supervisor Baugh received them and distributed each question to the panel member that was involved in that issue. And, Baugh also had a number of questions addressed to him that he handled very well.

I was there to ask some questions and observe, for as a candidate for the County Assessor-Recorder office in 2010, I think it is crucial that I become as aware of community concerns and issues as I possibly can. What I found in this Town Hall was a very interested and informed group of citizens that all want to make Cottonwood one of the very best rural residential areas in which to live. Their issues and questions were well presented and received.

This is democracy in action, and it was very encouraging, for even in these difficult economic times, citizens want to do their part to “make things better” knowing that the economy will turn around and when it does, they want to be prepared for the future by planning and considering future issues now.

 Hats off to the organizers; to Supervisor Les Baugh; and to all of the participants, for together they all made it a great night. If the various Teaparty organizations want to see how “citizens participate in local government”, just take a look at Cottonwood, CA….a small ranching and farming community in Northern California where the quality of life is about “as good as it can get”….and where the “citizens have a voice and are heard”.

I sure am glad I went to the meeting…well worth it, and a refreshing moment in a busy week.

Ron Largent – Candidate for Shasta County Assessor-Recorder     www.largent2010.com

Go (碁) is a strategic board game for two players, more commonly known as Igo (囲碁) in Japan. On October 11, 2009, an Igo Festival was held in the Roppongi Hills Arena in Tokyo.

Go originated in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago.

In Japan, the game became popular at the Japanese imperial court in the 8th century, and among the general public by the 13th century. 

The game is played by two players who alternately place black and white stones on the vacant intersections of a grid of 19×19 lines. 

The object of the game is to control a larger portion of the board than the opponent. 

A stone or a group of stones is captured and removed if it has no empty adjacent intersections, the result of being completely surrounded by stones of the opposing color.

Today, Japan has some of the best professional Igo players in the world.

Ponerle un nombre poco afortunado a una empresa puede que no sea bueno para los negocios, aunque quizá te garantice algo de publicidad gratuita en internet. Pueden encontrarse muchos ejemplos buscando en Google tanto texto como imágenes, aunque probablemente uno de los sitios donde registran un mayor número de casos sea en Microsiervos: Hormigones Transex, Funeraria Siempreviva, HATRACO, Constructora CAE o las chucherías islandesas Polla son sólo algunos ejemplos de lo que nos podemos encontrar.

Desde PYG (buenas siglas, por cierto XD ) queremos aportar nuestro granito de arena al mundo de los nombres poco afortunados con el siguiente:

Instituto Ginecológico Onubense (IGO)

El efecto es mayor hablado que escrito, ya que en este caso tendríamos una falta de ortografía grave. Pero dadas la temática del negocio y la sonoridad de las siglas, supongo que no he sido el único en caer en la cuenta de que este no es un nombre de empresa desafortunado, sino especialmente afortunado. Es más, diría que es el negocio con un nombre mejor puesto desde que descubrí el desguace de motos MOTOSTIÓN.

Nota informativa: sabemos que buena parte de los lectores de Pifias y Gazapos no son españoles, así que debemos explicar que, entre otras cosas, “higo” es, en gran parte de España, una de las muchas formas soeces de referirse a los genitales femeninos…

*Return of Azam*

(left) Azam - (right) Anthony

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Azam, who used to attend Japan Club and last seen in May, had finally came! After resting for few months, Azam tried to play against the new-hope representative of Malaysia, Anthony. It is pretty amazing of how many of the new-comers who used to attend Japan Club in May and April had all gone [not at visual in Japan Club]…

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*Creepy come-back*

1st Round 五番碁 between Philip - Xinwen

[Recorder credit: Suzzane D'bel]

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(Black) Philip - (White) Xinwen

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The first 五番碁 match of Philip against Xinwen was played on the 17th october, 2009. The game went quite tough for White, until Xinwen got to play the KO on the diagram shown, which narrow the gap of the game points. Eventually Philip made a very careless mistake resulting losing the game.

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*not-serious*

(Black) Xinwen - (White) Alex Chan

[Credit recorder - Mr.Chyn)

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According to the rules from the MWA forum, the second game for any of the 五番碁 will be called Jo-sen, whereas the loser of the first round will take Black while the White has no Komi given.

Xinwen had black this time, and Alex is White. Not being serious the game went quite well in Fuseki for Xinwen but losing behind in Yose, shown in the diagram and when white played "7" invasion, the deciding move.

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*Suzzane Joining*

Alex - Suzzane

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On the same day, Suzzane had decided to join the 五番碁, and already gotten the first 2 wins against Alex!

Ron Largent announces his candidacy to run for Shasta County Assessor-Recorder in 2010. Mr. Largent will address the local press and media to outline his platform: “Keep Our Assessments Fair, Timely and Equitable” Please join us at this historic event. Our friends from The Cafe’ at Turtle Bay will offer a Patriotic Lunch Special. In addition, we will honor our country with a Flag raising, music and of course the press conference Thursday, Oct 15th at 12 noon at Sundial Bridge adjacent to Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, CA. Y’all come! For additional details, please look at www.largent2010.com

[Taylor]

Well, the big Aomori Go Festival has come and gone.  I ended up on a five person team composed of people who work for an electric company in a nearby town.  If I had to sum it up concisely, I would choose three words;  humbling, exhausting, and fun.  Humbling because I realized how much I need to improve.  I won one game out of four and the mistakes I made in the games I lost were pretty embarrassing.  But it was also a lot of fun and I learned a lot from my mistakes.  With that said, it was exhausting in part from all the Go playing, but mostly on account of dealing with the language barrier all day.

It was especially nice to see some familiar faces at the tournament and meet other people around the prefecture who play Go.  A few of the people I met helped us out on Friday at Culture Day; a day long seminar for participants in the JET Program to learn more about Japanese Culture.  This year our prefectural organization decided to give a Go presentation.  Three high level Go players, including one of the top 2 or 3 players in the prefecture, gave introductory presentations while my friend Aaron translated their words into English and I provided some analysis during demonstrations.  Pictures below.

Playing a game at lunch before the presentation.

Getting myself into trouble against a 4 dan (a player 12 ranks better than me).

There was obviously more to Culture Day than just Go.  While I was helping out with the Go presentations, Julie learned about Japanese ceramics, taiko drumming, traditional dance, and even got to wear a kimono.

Taiko drumming

Traditional dance

Julie preparing to try traditional Japanese dancing.

Traditional ceramics

So the day after Culture Day I ended up playing in another Go tournament.  This one was much more low key as it only included six people from the Go Club in Noheji.  I won two games out of five.  One of those wins was a significant milestone for me as I beat a player who was given two stones on the board against me.  Usually it’s the other way around and I get the extra stones.

Biju ciemos pie IGO viņa autorraidījumā “Izvēlies un stāsti”.

Sarunas par dzīvi no interesanta skatpunkta. Un, protams, mūzika.

KLAUSIES ŠEIT

07.10.2009 03:23AM @ 44,47132N & 26.10492E, 124 m altitudine. Calea Floreasca nr 224, Bucuresti, Romania , UE (?!) . Momentul si locul “actiunii” multumita iGo-ului de pe iPhone.

O sosea pustie in aparenta dintr-o zona selecta a capitalei (?!). Merg cu cca 20 km/h — ma intorc de la o lucrare de noapte, ascult o muzica lenta si mananc o ciocolata … unul dintre acele momente in care te simti bine … greu de explicat in cuvinte. Brusc , constat ca soseaua nu e pustie . Nu, nu sunt extra-terestri, sunt maidanezi comunitari. Se reped spre mine… Din toate partile, cam 20-30 … Noroc ca sunt in masina … Altfel , nu cred ca as avea vreo sansa…

In prima faza, franez si opresc. Maidanezii practic ma inconjoara … sunt vreo 20-30 , daca nu cumva mai multi. Termin de mancat ciocolata. Aprind faza lunga si pornesc avaria. Bag intr-intaia. Accelerez repede spre grupul cel mai numeros, aflat la ora 11. Maidanezii respectivi bat in retragere, latrand puternic. Ceilalti pornesc dupa mine. Franez, virez dreapta si accelerez. Cei de la ora 1-2 bat si ei in retragere. Pentru scurt timp, am spart blocada . Maidanezii latra de la distanta. Eu stationez pe banda intai, cu avariile pornite si motorul la relanti.

Ma loveste entuziasmul, si spiritul civic. Imi zic: “sun la 112″. Zis si facut. Dupa cca 10 secunde, raspunde o duduie obosita si plictisita — deee, lucreaza la STAT si are voie … Ii explic situatia : “sunt pe Calea Floreasca, este plin de maidanezi care “ataca” masinile, pot avea loc accidente din cauza lor, nu mai vorbesc de ce s-ar putea intrampla daca trece vreun pieton / biciclist prin zona”. Replica vehementa vine imediat: “Dom’le, cainii sunt problema hingherilor, nu a Politiei. Sunati maine , ca acum nu au program , la hingheri, sa se ocupe ei”.

O masina vine din sensul opus — sens blocat in totalitate de maidanezi, care ma supravegheaza de la distanta — si incetineste, claxoneaza si ii ocoleste trecand peste linia dubla continua de pe mijlocul drumului. Ii povestesc duduii de la STS ce se intampla, da’ nu e impresionata. Imi recomanda inca o data sa sun maine la hingheri, ca nu e treaba politiei. Imi aduc aminte ca auzisem de un text de Lege care spunea ca Politia poate impune sactiuni administratorului drumului daca acesta nu este intr-o stare functionala, incerc sa ii explic , fara succes insa. Intr-un exces de zel si probabil ca sa scape de mine, imi da numarul de la hingheri (021.345.27.40) si imi recomanda sa sun dimineata intre orele 9-18. Depun armele, notez numarul si conversatia se termina aici.

Ce vroiam de la duduia respectiva: sa ma transfere la Politie, sa fac o sesizare cu privire la maidanezi si mai apoi sa ia legatura Politia cu hingherii. Nu de alta, da’ am un coleg de birou care s-a chinuit ceva sa “scape” de niste maidanezi pe cai oficiale, adica apeland la hingheri … Dar nu, in Romania nu se poate …

Mai privesc o ultima data haita de maidanezi care intre timp nu mai latra si pornesc. Brusc, parca revin la viata. Latra si alearga dupa mine … Renunt la alte ostilitati si accelerez… Cativa se tin dupa mine … 200-300 de metri mai in fata, inca o haita de maidanezi. Acelasi tratament. Unii m-au insotit pana la intersectia urmatoare… Estimez ca in total, pe Calea Floreasca, sunt “cantonati” cca 70-100 maidanezi … si nu dintr-aceia prietenosi …

Opresc la semafor si astept verdele. O masina a Politiei Comunitare tocmai parcheaza. Se face verde, fac dreapta si dupa 50 metri opresc. Pun avaria si ma duc pe jos la Politia Comunitara. Ii explic problema cu cainii. Imi spune ca a sesizat si el ca sunt un pericol si a venit oarecum in zona tocmai pentru a-i asista pe eventualii pietoni cu probleme … Il intreb daca se poate face , imi spune ca va face o sesizare dimineata si ca spera ca hingherii (se cheama de fapt acum Politia Animalelor) vor interveni prompt.

Speranta moare ultima … asta daca nu esti pieton, la ora 03:23, pe Calea Floreasca 224… Atunci s-ar putea sa mori inainte de ei … Intr-un mod ingrozitor …

PS: Si ca sa fie clar: NU am nimic cu cainii — chiar in seara asta m-am jucat cu un catelus adorabil si jucaus pe nume Bruno — dar maidanezii in Romania sunt o problema scapata de sub control. Cred sincer ca trebuie facut ceva …

Dupa cum am scris mai jos mi-am petrecut o vacanta adevarata in Tenerife. Pentru ca totul sa fie OK am ales sa iau cu mine in iPhone, iGO si TomTom. Dupa cate auzisem TomTom este foarte bun pentru occident.
Am ajuns acolo, am data drumul la TomTom. A gasit semnal destul de repede, mi-am setat destinatia si am plecat. Pe parcurs am constatat ca hartile nu prea mai coincideau pe alocuri. Baietii refacusera autostrazile, exit-urile. Nu pe toate dar indeajuns sa ratez o iesire care avea la fata locului o alta configuratie.

Imbecilitatea cea mai mare de la TomTom acum vine. Va reproduc ce mesaje imi dadea cand intram in sens giratoriu:

1. “Intrati in sensul giratoriu si parasiti-l IN STANGA la a 3 iesire” WTF!!! Circulam pe dreapta, deci cum sa il parasesc in staga!!!

2. “Parasiti sensul giratoriu la a 3-a iesire!”. Toate bune aici. Doar ca pentru TomTom era considerata iesire si contrasensul. Astfel incat daca intalneai o iesire din sensul giatoriu cu un drum cu sensurile despartite de un squar cu verdeata, saracu’ TomTom numara contrasensul ca iesire. WTF!!! Am ratat o iesire sau doua din cauza asta.

Am zis sa incerc si iGo. Mai praf la capitolul strazi. Si in plus de asta manaca memorie ca dracu. Ajungeam cu iGo la 12MB in timp ce cu TomTom stateam pe la 25 sau chiar 32 MB!

Si apoi surpriza. A doua zi nu am mai putut sa prind semnal GPS. Nici cu iGo nici cu TomTom. L-am lasat asa sa vad cat dureaza. In 45 min nu reusise sa se conecteze. Am resetat “Location warnings”/ “Network settings”.  Nimic!!! Incepusem sa ma enervez.
M-am gandit ca o fi de la faptul cu nu am roaming (dar functia de tel. era pornita) si am luat o cartela a Laurei. Tot nimic. Intr-un final a reusit sa prinda. Si nu l-am mai inchis pana nu mi-am facut treaba cu el.
Va dati seama cat de imbecil trebuie sa fie sa nu mai inchizi gsp-ul de frica ca nu mai prinzi semnal?

Mai tarziu am observat ca prind mai usor semnal cu iGO. Il deschideam pe el primul, asteptam sa prinda semnal si il inchideam repede ca sa pot utiliza TomTom. WTF!!!

Prin urmare, voi cauta sa imi cumpar un GPS dedicat ca sa nu ma mai enervez cu KKT de iPhone…

[Taylor]

On the second Saturday of every month, my local Go club holds a tournament at the community center.  It’s a low key event.  At the most we have eight people show up and they’re all pretty much club regulars.  First place gets a plastic shopping bag full of tissue boxes.  People who take second and third get the same prize just with fewer boxes and if you participate at all you get two boxes of tissue.

Because of my low ability I was never able to play during these monthly tournaments, that is until last Saturday.  After attending the Go club regularly for about a year, I was finally invited to participate in the tournament.  Of the four games I played, I only won one.  This is partly because I’ve moved up a stone (or rank) again and thus didn’t receive as many stones on the board against some opponents as I normally do.  I’ve had a lot of success in Go the past month, but now that I’ve become a little stronger it looks like I’m going to have to learn through making mistakes again.  Which is fine.

On Sunday I’ll be attending a Go festival in Aomori City.  About 400 people from various parts of Japan will be there, too.  I managed to snag a spot on a five person team with a local electric company.  After the tournament we’ll be treated to a lesson from a professional Go player.  I’m stoked to say the least.

Anyway, once the tournament is over I’ll let you know how it went.  I’ll also include a picture or two.