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Interesting thread... for this particular site's profile, I mean. So, "What is Deflation?" (And is it good or bad?)

Good point, yet... I don't think it's just rhetoric, I'd rather take it as a slightly (and involuntarily) deceptive use of terms. But then we're talking journalism... So, TFA defines the word "poverty" as used in the respective context as someone earning "less than half the median...

I've recently stumbled upon this AFP article by Patrice Novotny, and thought of posting the link in the Japan Discussion section of the forum. With nice snippets like "Nearly one in six Japanese lives below the poverty line", and "Temporary and part-time jobs and short-term contracts have...

Just stepping into my seventh year here... Can't remember from the top of my head, and I'm even too lazy to follow the relevant links that I, myself, provided somewhere back in this tread, but I can't seem to recall any reference to (Japanese) history. As for the language skills, it was...

According to official sources, the average monthly total cash earnings per regular employee in October 2009 was JPY 295,900. To answer the OP's question, that gives JPY 73,975 per average week of 37.4 working hours. If you care to check the price index and expenditure lists, you'll see that...

To the OP: Becoming a Japanese Citizen? Why not start getting informed here [EN] or here [JP]. Personally, I'm pretty much in the_laughing_man's stated position though I haven't applied for citizenship... yet.

If we're talking about futuristic robots, the asimovian ones then yes, that's one valid answer indeed, but I really wouldn't take it as the default one, as in "of course". More to the point, I tend to think that plain human pragmatism plays a more pronounced role in choices like humanoid shapes...

@ guy & Sakunyuusha: I've greatly enjoyed your posts, where you bring into discussion the necessity and/or inevitability of employing next generation robotics in the work force in the near future, as well as the seemingly unavoidable ethical angle of doing it. My personal take on the question...

I've come across this interesting article in Financial Times, about a Japanese company named Cyberdyne that "is building [...] an exoskeleton, which attaches to and amplifies the human body." Being an avid SF reader, I can't believe my senses at the mind-boggling pace to which old...

I Don't Know and I Don't Care I must admit that I find the course of this thread intriguing and, while I didn't bother to check out josolopSon3's posting history for trolling patterns, in this particular case I don't find him a troll, just a poor misguided poster, in that he's making broad...

he?

Really cool post, Sakunyuusha. I'm late at the party but I'll chime in, with your permission. There are several things I've learned so far involving love, sex, and fantasies, like: to keep them separated in my mind; that way I know where I'm heading to when I contemplate some course of...

Please don't take this as a piece of advertisement. This little gem from Opera definitely falls into the P2P section, so I thought I would introduce it here, on Akiba. Please note that it should be used with careful consideration and, of course, exclusively for legit purposes. Opera Unite...

Just upgraded to v.10 Beta2 and a little cool indicator appeared in the lower left corner, right next to the Sync button: Opera Unite. What could possibly go wrong? ;)

In other words: wrap it up, boys and girls, the thinkpol is just around the corner and you don't want to be accused of any thoughtcrime now, do you? ... Fuck me!

@ daredemonai Of course the world doesn't end here. I've thoroughly read The Japan Times link that you provided and which, by the way, is dated two days after this thread had been started. [START NEWS] Although the problem seems to have stemmed from a video game, now everything is...

Here are two albums of mine.

I don't know how and what's going to be but, at least for the moment, there are definitely some areas "hotter" than others that are being targeted; music and CP are two of them. (Personally, I stopped downloading music about 2 years ago. Switched to online radio stations and I'm still satisfied...

You are absolutely right. Which brings us back, full circle, to the root of the problem: network neutrality and the common carrier status of ISPs. Ergo, the smoke and mirrors nature of "think of the children". Not that k.p. doesn't exist, of course. But how convenient must be to be able to flag...

As I said earlier, it's not only Japan... and it's not funny at all either: German Parliament Enacts Internet Censorship Law

[citation needed] I know, it's a lame use of a wiki meme, but still... I wouldn't say that's a start for xenophobia. Try "My dad's car is American, because (he thinks) only American cars are good, and Japanese ones suck."

Don't Download This Song Sorry, I don't want to sound like I'm replying to myself just to generate traffic :) However, submitting this piece of news reminded me of one of my favorite Weird Al's songs. So, without bothering to re-edit the original entry, I'll express my position by letting this...

5 Japan teens arrested for file sharing (p2pnet.net, following on Billboard story) June 11, 2009: Japan is hopping smartly to it on behalf of Vivendi Universal (France), Sony (Japan), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music (US). Five teenagers, all site admins on the One Touch BB, "were...

I'd say google ハプニングバー東京 and see where it takes you... Use your judgment to evaluate the results; even if you can't read Japanese, browsing the Concept, System, and Photo BBS links on the establishments' websites can tell you a lot about quality. Look for clean presentation, clear photos, past...

guy is 100% correct. I greatly enjoy onsen and been to many such public hot springs. With one exception - that I can interpret now as darn rare luck* - I've never encountered a mixed gender one. I've heard about renting one for "parties", especially around holidays, but that of course is...

This is indeed so cool. I really don't know anything at all about Gundam (sorry, just an old Bugs Bunny fan here) but I can understand the feeling of its fans. Now if I could only walk through a full size replica of NCC-1701-D!

Thanks. Didn't know about this one, so I checked out the link you provided. Might prove useful some day, who knows ;)

No offense, but the only instances of slippery slope that I can see is in your post are the broad and at best disingenuous generalizations plus the straw man you're trying to set up here. First of all, you can't exactly control imagination and its manifestations (e.g. fictional depiction)...

Sure, thanks for offering. Here's my question: Chances are slim, but do you know any good happening bar / SM club in Osaka? (Me and my wife we have tried like 3 of them in the Umeda area, but we found only one that we like more or less.) If not, could you recommend me a good online starting...

I don't know for how long this particular trend has been going or, for that matter, how long it will last. This kind of political pressure is less about kiddie porn and more about information flow control. It is happening all across the world and for any given medium of expression, and one...

I'm on Opera 10 beta now in full production mode and I gotta say man, it's slick!

Ah, faith and religion in action again... Anyone with good hand drawing skills to depict some really cool scenes from the bible or the qur'an and make'em into an eye-opening manga? Let's see what they'll think of banning then, fuckers!

@ chibi-san: Excellent point. I was just thinking the same yesterday, while watching "Okuribito". Don't want to roll out any spoilers, I'll just say that if you're going to watch this Oscar awarded movie, there is a particular scene in there where you'll understand the connection I made.

Man, I don't know. I had my fair share of drunkness in an earlier period, almost a decade ago. Barely keeping on my feet, usually throwing out quite quickly after I reached the not-a-drop-more point, and then finding myself a place to pull over. But never, not once in all those episodes did I...

"But they still face prejudice, based almost entirely on where they live or their ancestors lived. Moving is little help, because employers or parents of potential spouses can hire agencies to check for buraku ancestry through Japan's elaborate family records, which can span back over a hundred...

For those interested in documentaries related to the main topic of this board, here are some links to a handful of them as I grabbed'em from Demonoid: Pornography: The Secret History of Civilization http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1423045/9574145/ Porndemic: Sex in the Digital Age...

Opera user here too :) Don't understand why, but it's an extremely underrated piece of software, IMHO. Some of its features are somewhat hidden - like the ability to block ads - but surprisingly versatile.

"Use and throw away" That should sum it up, I guess. These workers, didn't they produce wealth for the Japanese economy? In many ways, Japanese official's attitude toward foreign residents is worrysome, shortsighted and, it appears to me, sometimes outwardly insolent. Hmmm... wonder if I...

OK. Got this request for help in a translation in my inbox and found it interesting. I have no interest whatsoever in Maria Ozawa's videos, but somehow i had to follow through with this "task". I downloaded the clip, but I was lost: never been good at understanding women talking and crying - or...

Monkey see, monk(ey) do... I find this kind of overreaction so typical on these islands, that I could almost employ a favorite /.-ism of mine: "Nothing to see here, move along." Not to mention that they should really pay tribute to Obama's speech writer, Jon Favreau (26). Now that's what I call...

This is such a shame to be happening anywhere, not only in Japan. Yet I've been seeing much more active and, apparently happy elders here than in my country of origin. Personally, I admit that the personal and social implications of getting old and poor scare the sh*t out of me.

I only played two PC games in my life: Shogun - Total War (Warlord Edition) and Perfect Sudoku. Otherwise, I rather enjoy having a live game of chess, Go, or Reversi with my wife. That is, when we don't play rope games ;)

What is "normal"? Then, what is "weird"? More, what was / will be "normal" and "weird"? History and Science-Fiction both come up with all sort of facts and speculations. To my humble knowledge, there aren't clear-cut answers to the questions above, and generalizing the problem surely doesn't...

@ aquamarine How come it doesn't change the facts? You can't look at this kind of social aspects from the point of view of absolute numbers. So you've got X number of performers for Japan's 127.43 million and a Y number for USA's 305.75 million and you tell me that there are twice as many porn...

Been noticing the same in the last couple of weeks or so, more often in the past few days... Service unavailable & Database Error messages quite a lot. Is everything alright down there in the basement? ;)

And the U.S. population is like what: more than double than that of Japan?

So I've just stumbled upon this BBC (very) short documentary made in 2000 and thought I would make its availability known to those who might be interested in watching it. At only 13'45" and 139.4M it's still well worth the watch for foreigners trying to catch a glimpse of the way sex and...

Starting to think out of the box I find your suggestion most interesting and I'd like to propose it to the admins for further consideration. If a balance between quality, usability, and return could be achieved, every one would be happier. No matter what people say, community members...

I'm not sure about it, but I think that once this piece of code is inserted in the proper places on a forum like this, it should do the trick automatically, for all the URLCash/LinkBucks posted before and after. Any chance for admins to take a look at the problem from this angle?

Interesting approach. However, no matter how valid it may be in real life -- and I'm sure it can prove to be -- I despise having to recourse to such acts, for they're nothing than another form of bribery. First of all, it reminds me too much of the state of affairs in my native country, an...