As per VelvetVerbosity’s challenge:

In a concrete expanse under I-95, a man trashes around wildly and hurls debris at my tripod. His cathartic howling rips through the roar of traffic.

This display is inspired by his lover’s confession of infidelity. I’m here to photograph his pain so he can show her later.

When my film runs out, he’s weeping; broken. I suggest in earnest that he leave her. He doesn’t listen.

At wit’s end, I set about to assure her next confession will specifically regard sleeping with his best friend several times.

While effective, this task proved most difficult.

She’s just not my type.

Human minds are originally unwritten and each develops uniquely. Thus each human life (like the universe itself) contains unlimited potential for developmental variation. The mind is a microcosm, its thoughts the DNA. Minds which hold some appeal to the common denominator are consumed by the masses and prosper, while those which stray too far from the norm are be considered mutations.

The Artist, for example, is a beautifully tragic freak floating above the ambient level of awareness. Misunderstood, even to himself, and all too aware of it. Unhappy and quick to escapism, mania, and suicide. Wholly unfit for the world.

Stepping out of a shaded side street, she merges with the radiant din. The surrounding human buzz presses her from all sides, numbing her unbearable self awareness, and silencing the broken record thought: “What have I done…”

A few moments later she merges completely, becoming invisible - even to herself. All that remains are the walls of neon signs, booming empty rainbow enthusiasm down upon the throngs of adult children below.

Together they drone ahead - a blind, aimless mass. For only in such mindless anonymity can they temporarily calm the wake left behind by a lifetime of forsaken dreams.

(for VV’s 100 Words)

This post is a response to JapanProbe’s article about Facebook’s recent Japanese GUI translation and privacy issues which will hinder it’s penetration rate in Japan.

A Japanese friend of mine, whose English level is higher than most, but not conversationally fluent, has been on Facebook for a while, doing her best in the native English GUI. When the Japanese translation came in, she checked it out but quickly reverted to the original, claiming the “weird” Japanese phrasing made it even harder to use. That’s something to think about.

As for the Mixi vs. Facebook in Japan debate:
Yes, a keitai interface is mandatory and more important than PC interface.
Yes, the predominantly English-speaking userbase will scare off non-speaking Japanese.
Yes, mixi’s invite-only policy makes them feel safer.

But there are some other factors which were not mentioned in JapanProbe’s article:

Another safety/anonymity factor is Google. I’ve never seen a Mixi user profile pop up on a Google search, but a Facebook profile will show on the first page for most people with an account if you search for a full name in quotes.

The Facebook Newsfeed will be seen as way too nosy for most Japanese to handle. Again, this is a feature Mixi doesn’t have, and I doubt many Japanese will find it appealing. However, Mixi’s “atoashi” (footprint) feature, which shows a log of who has viewed your profile, is an odd exception to it’s privacy-friendly feel.

A final factor that will turn the Japanese off to Facebook are the applications, a ‘feature’ that Mixi does not have. On Mixi, everyone’s profile has the same features in the same place. There’s no hunt involved when looking for someone’s info/diary/pics/etc.

Not so with Facebook since the advent of applications.　Applications make profile layouts unpredictable and hinder useability. On many Facebook profiles I’m left stumped as to whether I should post on the FunWall, MegaWall, UberMultimediaWall, or (heaven forbid) the default Wall. No such problem with Mixi, and the Japanese will notice this.

Another problem with applications is they create a new type of spam that is unique to Facebook: Application Invite Spam. This will be seen as even more of a nuisance to the Japanese than it is to American users (who are just happy it’s not gone all Myspace on us, yet).

Basically, if Facebook can’t do everything faster, cleaner, and more portable than Mixi, it’ll never make it anywhere in Japan outside the circles of Japanese who were brought in via their foreign friends.

Outisde that niche, Facebook has as much appeal to the average Japanese as Mixi does to the average American.

Today, JapanProbe posted an article criticizing the Washington Post for a recent article describing Japanese energy efficiency. Overall the Post painted a flattering picture of how Japan saves energy in the home, but it made an exception when it came to electronic toilet seats, presumably because there are very few of such seats in the U.S. This caused JapanProbe to call foul due to cultural bias.  

However, I think the Post’s article is just an example that (perhaps unintentionally) illustrates the difference between what’s considered a valuable use of energy in one culture versus another. Let’s take air conditioning as an example. 

In America, it’s common to have central air conditioning. Americans value having a temperature-regulated home so they can feel comfortable indoors (around 72*F) no matter what it’s like outside. To the average American, home should be a safe haven from the outside world. If he’s freezing or sweating balls in his own living room, he finds this to be an unacceptable problem. 

However, in Japan it’s considered normal for indoor and outdoor temperature to be almost the same year-round. Despite most Japanese homes/apartments being a fraction of the size of their American counterparts, heating/cooling the whole place at once is (rightly) seen as wasteful, so their solutions are site- and time-specific (kotatsu, heated carpets, fans, wall-mount A/C units). They’ve learned to endure the temparature changes: you’re just expected to be cold in winter and hot in summer. It’s a fact of life.  

How can we apply this towards understanding the Post’s (America’s?) stance on electronic toilets? The most obvious energy-using aspects of electronic toilet seats seem to be pre-heated water and heated toilet seats. To the American they appear unnecessary. Luxuries. Much in the same way the Japanese probably see American central A/C. 

However, Japanese residential toilets are freezing cold in winter. I’ve witnessed steam rising from my urine stream on its way to the bowl. Nobody likes the cringe-inducing sting of a frozen arse. Hence the heated toilet seat. But to the American it’s unnecessary because the central A/C keeps the room -and hence the seat- warm.  

Warm water bidets follows the same line of logic. A bidet is more hygeinically sound, and leads to less toilet paper usage. It meets Japan’s eco-friendly sensibility on that level, but you don’t want a stream of ice water aimed down there, now do you? Hence pre-heated water in the bidet. On the American side of this, a bidet is a very alien concept. I suspect this is due to many men in the U.S. considering it an act of latent homosexuality to allow one’s anus to become the target of anything. I’m only half serious about that, but I do think it’s at least a small factor. 

However, I do wonder what the penetration rate is for heated electronic toilet seats in the households of single men? What percentage of these seats are bought by/for women? After all women sit down on the seats 50% more often than men and so might find these features more appealing.

As for why the Japanese are so conscious of certain types of energy use (lights, A/C, always-on computers) and blind to others (toilet seats, hot water dispensers) has alot to do with visibility. You can SEE when a light is on. You FEEL when the A/C is working. Toilet seats are silent when not in use, even if the seat is being warmed 24/7.

If a TV or radio function, or even just a set of pretty twinkling lights were attached to toilet seats when it’s “on” I bet alot more people would notice and take extra care to turn them off.

sciencevsreligion.jpg