"Etienne" World Premiere in Vegas on Friday June 12, 2009

"Etienne!"

A Story about the little things in Life

World Premiere at CineVegas on June 12, 2009

Please join us for the world premiere of our film. I worked as a various role (mainly post-production) for this film.

Trailer

About "Etienne!"

Synopsis copied from CineVegas BoxOffice

ETIENNE! is a timeless tale of friendship between two kindred spirits on a journey through life. The catch that makes this tale unique? One of the friends is a hamster.

Richard is a shy and boyish college dropout who has just started a new job at a hotel. His best and only friend is his dwarf hamster, Etienne, whom he cares for very well. When he finds out his pocket pet has terminal cancer, he decides to take Etienne on a bicycle road trip along the California coast so that the hamster can see the world before it dies. Along the way, the two meet various colorful characters that teach them about life, friendship, and happiness.

Evoking the spirits of films from yesteryear and enriched with a phenomenal soundtrack, ETIENNE! is a triumph of pure, innocent storytelling. Its remarkably controlled aesthetic transplants the audience to a nostalgic time free from pessimism. Richard Vallejos embodies the lovable man-child of the same name and infuses him with undeniable charm. Writer/director Jeff Mizushima's passion for cinema comes out in every frame. He has crafted a rare gem in this day and age...a G-rated art film for everyone.

Related Link

Purchase A Ticket

http://cinevegas.bside.com/2009/films/etienne_cinevegas2009

Purchase Package Ticket  (A $40 June-12th-Day Pass to get in to the AfterParty)

https://cinevegas-web.vegas.com/cinevegas/index.htm

CineVegas Film Festival

http://www.cinevegas.com/

"Etienne!" Official Web Site (More information about the additional screenings in SF Bay Area)

http://hamstermovie.com/

-------

The release of concrete5.3.0 Japanese, and the launch of its web site

Usagi Project is pleased to announce the released of concrete 5.3.0 Japanese version, and the launch of our web site on April, 17, 2009 (JST).

http://concrete5-japan.org

Due to the language barrier between Japanese and English, Usagi Project made a decision to distribute the package separately from concrete5's SourceForge account but through our SourceForge.jp account.

If you are interested in using concrete5 Japanese, please visit our web site.

We, Usagi Project, will closely keep in touch with the concrete5 core team to make sure that Japanese users continue to benefit from this wonderful CMS.

We hope that we can make the world the better place together with the concrete5 core team!

We, Usagi Project, are also an Open Source group, and keep looking for new members. If you can read both English and Japanese, and have extra time to help us, please visit our web site and submit your membership request.

http://concrete5-japan.org/usagiproject/



Kuniharu Tsujioka & Katz Ueno
Usagi Project

Usagi Project がオープンソース CMS ソフト「concrete5.3.0 日本語版」をリリース。初心者に本当に優しい無料ホームページ運用システム

Usagi Project は 4月17日、オープンソース CMS ソフトウェア「 concrete5 」の最新安定版である「concrete5.3.0 日本語版」をリリース、同時に日本語公式サイトを開設致しました。


■ concrete5 日本語公式サイト
http://concret5-japan.org


■ concrete5 動画デモ
concrete5 を紹介するために動画ビデオのデモを作成致しました。
http://concrete5-japan.org/about/screencast


■ concrete5 とは
concrete5 は、アメリカで開発されているオープンソース CMS ソフトウエアです。元は商用ソフトとして、130万円で販売されていましたが、昨年、オープンソース化、無料となりました。

concrete5 はアメリカの公共広告機構である AdCouncil が制作した「ルイス＝クラーク探検隊200周年記念祭」のサイトのために生まれ、秒間1万ヒットにも耐えうる設計となっています。

Usagi Project では、アメリカの開発元、 Concrete CMS, inc. の協力の元、日本語版の翻訳と普及活動を担当することになりました。

concrete5 は、 HP 作成ツールを必要とせず WEB サイトへアクセスするだけでページ編集・追加・削除ができ初心者でも直感的に HP がつくれる画期的な CMS ソフトです。管理画面での操作も最小限に押さえ利便性が向上してます。

また、グループ管理機能も充実。企業やお店のホームページのみならず、学校のサークル、社内サイトなどに最適のシステムです。

前述の「ルイス＝クラーク探検隊200周年記念祭」のサイトは、サイト更新者が90名にのぼりましたが、3ヶ月で完成する事が出来ました。



特徴
・管理画面を介さずに、直接ページを編集
・コンクリートブロックを積み上げるようにサイトを構築
・自由自在にレイアウトを変えられる
・ユーザーごとに編集や公開権限の設定が可能

主な機能
・画像を直接編集(picnik.com のサービスを利用)
・グループ編集・権限機能
・ファイル履歴管理機能
・簡単スライドショー作成機能
・YouTube ビデオ
・アンケート機能
・RSS 表示

ターゲット
・情報サイト
・政府・地方自治体
・企業
・NPOなどのグループ
・クラブ、趣味サークル
・キャンペーンサイト
・学校、大学
・社外・社内サイト
・その他「ホームページ」と呼ばれるもの全て



■ concrete5 使用条件
・Web サーバー (Apache 等)
・PHP バージョン5
・MySQL4.1 以上



■ Usagi Project について
Usagi Project は、オープンソース SNS ソフトウェアを開発するために生まれたプロジェクトです。日本全国にいる沢山の開発者や開発協力者が、利用ユーザたちの満足度向上や新しい付加価値を求めて日々開発を行っております。また2009年2月からは、concrete5の日本語サポートを行うことになりました。

Usagi Project はボランティアグループです。メンバーを随時募集しております。



■ concrete5 資料リンク

concrete5 の紹介
http://concrete5-japan.org/about/readmefirst

concrete5 の歴史（開発秘話）
http://concrete5-japan.org/about/readmefirst/history-of-concrete5

Usagi Project と concrete5 、 MyNETS の紹介
http://concrete5-japan.org/usagiproject/about-usagi-project

Usagi Project メンバー 一覧
http://concrete5-japan.org/usagiproject/members

Usagi Project メンバー募集要項
http://concrete5-japan.org/usagiproject/wanted

concrete5 Member of the Month!

Yay~!

I was selected as the member of the month of concrete5 Community in April, 2009.

http://www.concrete5.org/community/



Thanks, concrete5 team and Franz (CEO of concrete5)~!




-----

Teigaku Kyufukin Letter has arrived

Today, my family received the letter from Yokkaichi City regarding Teigaku Kyufukin.

The letter consists three materials

1. Return envelop
2. English and Chinese instruction
3. The Form which accept or deny your Kyufukin per household member, and where to fill out you bank account

English instruction letter followed by Chinese

The actual form where you check your household member and fill out your bank account.

For more information about Teigaku Kyufukin （定額給付金）, read my related posts.

"FREE" 12000 YEN to ALL Registered Foreigners in Japan

http://katz515.blogspot.com/2008/12/registered-foreigner-will-receive-12000.html

How to Claim your 12,000 yen and Highway Holiday Discount

http://katz515.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-claim-your-12000-yen-and-highway.html

Softbank: iPhone Discount for Existing Users

Since February, Softbank began their huge discount of iPhone 3G. Now you can buy iPhone 3G 8GB model for almost free (with 2 years contract) called "iPhone for Everybody Campaign"

iPhone for Everybody - Softbank

http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/iphone_en/everybody/

"iPhone for Everybody" for Existing iPhone Users in Japan

But this is also a good news for existing Softbank's iPhone users in Japan. I called Softbank customer support to confirm, and I did renew my contract to reduce my monthly data plan today.

Effective on April 1st through May 30, 2009, the existing Softbank iPhone heavy data users will be able to benefit from this campaign.

If you are

1. Bought iPhone 3G from Softbank in Japan
2. You subscribe Softbank's White Plan
3. You spend more than 5,000 yen per month for data charge
4. You think you will be using iPhone in Japan for another year.

And then, you should definitely consider to renewing your contract.

If you are NOT existing iPhone users who spend more than 5,000 yen for data plan, just don't waste your time reading this post. It'll just add some more headache :-p

Detail of The Data Plan Discount

This campaign is not really advertised much.

But if you renew your contract now, Softbank will reduce the maximum data fee from 5,985 yen to 4,410 yen.

You need to know:

1. You renew your contract (for another 2 years)
2. Your data plan max charge will be reduced to 4.410 yen (1,500 yen/mo discount)
3. You need to pay 9,975 yen cancellation fee if you decided to terminate your account within 2 years.

But 1,500 yen discount per month will add up to 18,000 yen per year.

As I am heavy iPhone App users, I've always maxed out the data fee to 5,985 yen every month. It's a no brainer. I went to Softbank today, and made the switch.

How to Join "iPhone for Everybody Campaign"

1. Bring your iPhone, your valid Japanese ID (like Alien Regist. Card).
2. Go to your local Softbank Service center
   
3. Just tell them that you want to join "iPhone for Everybody Campaign"
4. Fill out the form, your Softbank's cell phone number, name, Date of Birth, and show them your ID (Driver's License or Alien Registration Card which shows your address in Japan)
5. They will renew your contract.

WARNING: This contract will renew your status after two years AUTOMATICALLY, so if you want to quit Softbank in two years, you have to show up BEFORE your contract expires and tell them to cancel when the contract ends.

Canceling This Contract Without Termination Fee

[UPDATED on 4/7/09]

So if you are ready to pay 9975 yen, you don't have to read this section.

But shibuya246 from JapanSoc,com asked me a question about Softbank's two-year contract. So I called Softbank customer center to find out.

http://www.japansoc.com/Technology/softbank-iphone-discount-for-existing-users/

According to their explanation, this "iPhone for Everybody" contract is AUTO-RENEW at every two years.

If you don't make any action on 25th month, you will be stuck for this contract for another two years. And you will have to pay 9975 yen termination fee if you want to cancel between 26th~48th month of your contract.

OK. So this adds to more headache... so let's take my case as an example.

I signed up for this "iPhone for Everybody" contract on 4/6/2009, and my billing cycle starts on every 11th day of the month.

If I want to cancel my contract without paying the termination fee (9975 yen), I will have to call Sofbank on 25th month which is between 4/11~5/10/2011....

But since I'm already saving 18,000 yen for a year.. I am ready to pay 9975 yen. So I won't care about the termination fee at all.

Japanese for Dummies

For those of who cannot really speak Japanese, I am just leaving this text for you. You are welcome to print this out and bring it to Softbank store to show it to them.

*DISCLAIMER:  You understand that I, Katz, will not be responsible for any of loss by using this examples.

(Although I am 100% sure that you can use my Japanese, I still need to protect myself :-))

• 既存のiPhoneユーザーですが、iPhone for Everybodyキャンペーンの定額データプラン割引に加入したいと思って来ました。
• I am an existing iPhone user, and I would like to renew my contract to reduce my maximum charge of the data plan

• 私は、再び、今日から2年間の契約を締結する事を了承しています。
• I understand that I am making another two-years contract starting today.

• 今日から2年以内に回線を解約する場合、9975円の契約違約金が発生する事も理解しています
• I understand that I will pay 9,975 yen penalty fee when I terminate the contract within two years.

----------

Save your money~.

BANDAI is planning to hire more foreigners for its worldwide expansion

From today's (Monday April 6) news of TV Tokyo, "E Morning".

BANDAI, the one of the major toy and TV game company, is looking to hire more foreigners.

According to TV Tokyo, BANDAI is seeking to expand their toy and TV game business towards international market more, and they think that hiring more foreign people is one of their plan.

The news did not say any details such as what department, what nationalities, or which regions.

 

They might have wanted to announce their plan only.

But this could lead to a good news for those of who love Japanese toys and games under this recession economy.

BANDAI - Corporate Page Explaining their Worldwide Expansion plan (Japanese only)

http://www.bandai.co.jp/corporate/world.html

DISCLAIMER: No other online news sources reported this, but only TV Tokyo, as on 4/6/2009 12pm (JST)

US Embassy Japan warned Roppongi partying

On March 17th, 2009, US Embassy warned the US citizens who hang out clubs and bars in Roppongi for the drink-spiking incidents.

Warden Message – Roppongi Security Notice
http://tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-warden20090317-01.html

I've been witnessing in the last 10 years that Japanese students in LA were intoxicated and deported. And an American friend had cardiac arrest and passed away in Roppongi.

Self-controlling could be one of the big issue for the people who lives in a foreign country, especially the city where there are a lot of fun stuff to do.

Now, some bad-mind people had spotted these people and US Embassy noticed the potential danger.

Although Tokyo is cool place, and Roppongi is the cool place.... just be careful.

Japan Highway Holiday Discount Partially Delays

Today (March 11, 2009), NEXCO (Nippon Expressway Company Limited) Group announced that they will not be able to complete the system upgrade fully.

Therefore, they will start discount on March 28th. This delay mainly affect the driver who will go through Tokyo, Osaka area, Honshu-Shikoku Bridges and/or Tokyo Aqua Line.

Overview of Japanese Highway Holiday Discount Program

As the part of Japanese government economic stimulus program, they passed the law to approve the budget in order to execute the discount of Japanese regional expressway.

The weekends and holiday discount includes

• 1,000 yen all-you-can-drive in regional area (Partially starting on Mar 28)
• 1,000 yen discount rate of Shikoku-Honshu Toll Bridges and Tokyo Aqua Line Tunnel (starting on Mar 20)
• 20-30% discount for Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan highways

*If you drive short distance, and the the price will be less than 1,000 yen.

This discount program is only effective if you:

• Drive regular passenger cars, or motorcycle
• Install Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) device in your car or motorcycle
• You must make at least two payments a year

Very Complicated Charging System

I got confused at the beginning about this pricing system.

So let me explain to you.

If you drive from Aomori to Kagoshima and avoid Tokyo area, you will have to pass Osaka metropolitan area where they only have 20-30% discount.

So the pricing will be....

• Regional Area [Aomori- Subarban Osaka + Subarban Osaka-Kagoshima] = 1,000 yen
• Metropolitan Osaka Area = 1,500 yen
• The Total 2,500 yen
  

So as long as you don't exit the highway, the charge of regional area will be fixed to 1,000 yen. And if you drive through Tokyo, Osaka, Bridges and Tokyo Aqua Line Tunnels, you will be charged additional discounted rate.

What's Late

However, due to the delay of the system upgrade...... the temporary pricing will be like this

• Regional Area [Aomori-Suburban Osaka] = 1,000 yen
  
• Metropolitan Osaka Area = 1,500 yen
• Regional Area [Suburban Osaka-Kagoshima]= 1,000 yen
• The Total 3,500 yen

So currently, whenever you passed Tokyo, Osaka, Bridges or Tokyo Aqua Line, the charge will be reset to zero. And it will start calculating again.

They said they will try to finish upgrading the system by Golden Week season in May.

How to Claim your 12,000 yen and Highway Holiday Discount

Yesterday, the controversial budget finally finally passed the Japanese Parliament yesterday. The major bills were controversial Teigaku-kyufukin (定額給付金), and holiday discount of highway.

12,000 yen Teigaku-Kyufukin

So it is now official that the everybody who legally resided in Japan on Feb 1, 2009 are eligible for 12,000 yen (the 18 and younger, and the 65 and older will receive 20,000 yen).

To check your eligibility, look at my older post.
http://katz515.blogspot.com/2008/12/registered-foreigner-will-receive-12000.html

The majority of Japanese people are already tired of this topic.

It's been over half year since the government started talking about it.

The Japanese people are sick and tired of these already non-sense-and-super-late policy after seeing Taiwan and China executed the similar plans within a month.


Anyhow, the bill has passed.

So it's now final that ALL people who lived in Japan on Feb 1, 2009 including the registered foreigners, are now eligible to receive the 12,000 yen.

BUT YOU NEED TO CLAIM IT. BUT THE PROCESS MAY VARY DEPENDS ON THE CITIES YOU LIVE.

The Japanese government passed this task to the local government to give out the money.

The problem is... now it's Tax season.

Most of the city official are overwhelmed with tax stuff. So it may be some delay.

Only about 5 towns and villages which don't have much population, are giving out the money this week.

However the most of the local agencies just don't have enough man power to execute the distribution quickly enough.

According to the survey of TV-Tokyo "World Business Satelite" on March 4, the majority of cities and towns are planning to distribute the money in April.

Here is the article from Mainichi Shimbun
http://mainichi.jp/enta/photo/news/20090305k0000m040089000c.html

One of the worst cities is Nagoya.

Nagoya doesn't have time until June~!

So I'm sorry to the people who live in Nagoya.

But the city officials are overwhelmed already. It's just too many people lived in Nagoya. And the city officials are already busy with tax, and bad economy.

And if you are planning to move out from Nagoya.... The letter will be sent to the address you lived on Feb 1, 2009..... The city never mentioned how to take care of movers.... If you are lucky to have a roommate or family, and then it may be ok. But if you don't..... you may have to give up 12,000 yen.


How to Claim Your 12,000 Yen

Anyway, here is how you can claim the money.

The small towns may give out the money at the local city hall with valid ID.

But if you live in a large city, the process may be like this.

* They will usually distribute the money per household basis.

1. You will receive the letter from the local government
2. You will confirm how many people are in your household, and accept or refuse this Teigaku-Kyufukin
3. You reply the mail to the local government with the bank account info
4. You will receive the confirmation mail to notify when the money being deposited to your bank account
5. And you finally receive money.

[CAUTION!!!!] BUUUUT, the Japanese government completely let the local government to decide how to distribute the money, so you will have to consult with the local city hall to confirm....

Ahh.. it's pain in an a**.


Toll-way Holiday Discount is Coming

So another bill that passed yesterday was weekend and holiday discount for toll-ways. They are planning to start this discount program on March 28th for two years.

(March 11, 2009) They announced that their pricing system will not be able to finish updating fully. Therefore, they will start partial discount on March 28, and plan to engage full discount at the end of April.

If you drive more than 100km on the Japanese highway on a weekend... the fee will be only 1,000 yen~!

Well, this is not that easy. Here are the catch.

1. Your car must have ETC device (electronic toll collection (system))
2. If you passed any metropolitan area and toll gate, the charge will be reset.

So you cannot go from Hokkaido to Kyushu with 1,000 yen.

For example, according to Mainichi Shimbun's article
http://mainichi.jp/enta/photo/news/20090305k0000m040089000c.html

From Aomori to Kagoshima, you need to avoid Tokyo area, and since you may have to go through Osaka metropolitan area.

1000 yen (Aomori to Kagoshima except Osaka area) + 1500 yen (Osaka Metropolitan Tollway) = the total 2,500 yen.

With the regular pricing, it will cost 39,250 yen. So it's still a huge discount (and then, of course, you need to pay your gas)

They will have the online fee calculator soon on their web site... but they are only Japanese.

Nexco East
http://www.e-nexco.co.jp/
Nexco Central
http://www.c-nexco.co.jp/
Nexco West
http://www.w-nexco.co.jp/


So unless you are an ALT who have the contract not to drive in Japan, it may be a good time to travel around Japan on the weekend with your friend... But I still recommend to get JR rail pass though.

---------
Since I know that there are soo many foreigners living in Japan who do not know about this... I will release this blog post to anyone under Creative Commons License.

If you can add the hyperlink and credit to my blog, that would be great... but not required... I just want to help as many people as possible for this.



How to Claim your 12,000 yen and Highway Holiday Discount by Katz Ueno

http://katz515.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-claim-your-12000-yen-and-highway.html is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.1 Japan License.
----------

Open Source SNS made in Japan

I am currently working on translating a Japanese Open Source Social Networking engine called MyNETS.

This system was developed by volunteer group called Usagi Project.

And I am one of the developer team as well.

And I have done translating most of the mainframe except mobile mode.

Now I open the door to the public to test drive.

Please help me test the system, and see if I have any errors and/or Japanese left-over.

=================================================
About MyNETS
=================================================

MyNETS is a Japanese open source Social Networking engine run on Apache, PHP and MySQL environment.

If you know Mixi, which is the Japan's largest social networking site, MyNETS is the clone program of Mixi.

This is very simple and easy to use system.

And you can run this system on your own web hosting server which meets certain requirement.

If you can set up other CMS system like WordPress, you can probably install this.

Currently, we have some issues of internationalization, so this version is not available to the public at this moment..


------------------------------------------------------------
Basic Functions
------------------------------------------------------------

> Blogging
> Messaging
> Community Discussion (called Topic)
> Event Listing
> Calendar
> Product Reviews using Amazon


------------------------------------------------------------
Features
------------------------------------------------------------

> Embed Google Map to create a social map
> Twitter-like short messaging
> Supports Japanese mobile's picture icons
> Supports PC and mobile access (Japanese mobile only)
> Easy to embed YouTube video by copy and past the URL. (not those object tags)


------------------------------------------------------------
Ideal Users
------------------------------------------------------------

> People who shares the same common (like a hobby)
> Companies which want to use SNS as an inner-communication tool




=================================================
MyNETS Requirements
=================================================
Required
1. Apache 1.3 or 2.0
2. PHP 4.3, 5.0, 5.1 (SAPI is recommended)
3. MySQL 4.0, 4.1 or 5.0 or newer

PHP Extensions
a. GD Library and etc...

Optional
1. Cron Jobs (php) - to send daily updates and etc.
2. Catch-All email - for Japanese mobile's email posting




============================================
History of MyNETS
============================================

MyNETS was first released on April 2007 as the derivation of another Japanese Open Source SNS system called OpenPNE.

And it is developed by a volunteer group in Japan, and we called ourself "Usagi Project" (Project Rabbit)

------------------------------
Usagi Project web site - Japanese Only
--> http://usagi-project.org
------------------------------
Currently, the version is designed for Japanese internet users. And it needs a lot of database customization in order to use each country.

------------------------------
This English version was translated by deerstudio.
--> http://deerstudio.com
------------------------------

We are currently working on version 2.0 with CodeIgniter.

And we are planning 2.0 to be more internationally friendly version.

If you have any questions, please contact deerstudio.

------------------------------
Contact deerstudio
--> http://deerstudio.com/inc/contact-us.html
------------------------------

I want to see how many people are actually interested in this system.



============================================
The Progress of MyNETS Internationalization
============================================

Currently, I have only translated mainframe of the system.

There is an installer for this system, but we are not planning to translate them into English due to the following reasons.


>> Right now, localization is very complicated
>> We are currently working on ver 2.0 which will be released soon
>> Version 2.0 will be written in CodeIgniter which is very easy to compile internationalversion


We, deerstudio, needed to launch the English SNS site ASAP, and could not wait for the MyNETS 2.0 which is scheduled to be released in Feb 2009. All of our staff can read Japanese. And the system will be used in Japan.

So we didn't have to create the English installer, and the region setting is still fixed the use in Japan only (e.g., the address has no country code.)

Please try the test drive and let us know how many people are interested in using this system.



============================================
For More Information
============================================

If you would like to test drive this system, please contact me.

I have not yet translated mobile site version yet... so I don't want to publish...