Photoclubalpha

Paying people to influence discussions in social media is big business in China and the U.S.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39304/

I hope this doesn't annoy the people who still deny any of this stuff ever happens.

By the way, I am sorry to be away for so long, but we left Hawaii last month and are in Japan now. We were both pretty busy. I hope everyone is well here!

Geez nobody offered me tens of cents to influence opinion on websites…I bet those guys a just raking in the kopeks.
Good to see you are ok Henry everyone was getting sort of concerned, in the meantime Dusty has been over and had a holiday here and took home some frozen Barramundi…Yildiz is married now with three kids…and I think Birma was taking up skydiving last I heard…but I’m not sure on that one.
Greg

Nice to have you back Henry!

Hey Henry! Great to see you back. Hope all is well with the family in Japan. We hear nothing here about the aftermath of the Tsunami and Nuclear disaster - how is the country recovering?

Interesting article. Just adds weight that you shouldn't take anything on the internet at face value. I'm also amazed at the corporate dash towards Facebook at the moment (in the UK anyway). Who cares how many "likes" a Nissan car has on Facebook? The marketing people obvioulsy think it is worth something. Or perhaps it is just one marketing firm selling the same message to big business - get on Facebook or you will look "lame" to the Facebook generation.

Greg Beetham wrote:…and I think Birma was taking up skydiving last I heard…but I’m not sure on that one. ...

Too scared of heights Greg!

Oh well, I guess I heard wrong Birma. I almost forgot about DA, he went off on another of his fishing trips, some time ago now actually….this was from his last trip.
Greg

Ps Birma we had a report/doco recently on one of the local channels, the camera crew got special permission to go into the town near the reactor and see what it was like; after getting special protective suits etc. and a local tagging along to go to his house to get some personal items, everything in the house was left just as it was, even a meal that had only been half eaten. They filmed the deserted town, eerie it was, like in the movies where there has been some outbreak that’s killed everyone, things were getting overgrown already. They did find one old guy that was still there on the outskirts, he either refused to go or they didn’t find him, he was there with a large collection of animals, he said someone had to stay back and look after them, he and the animals will most likely get sick at some point…The town itself didn’t appear to have been affected by the tsunami at all, but it’s certainly been affected by something very dangerous and has destroyed it just as effectively.

Hi Greg - sounds similar to things I have seen on TV for the towns around Chernobyl. Eerie indeed.

Nice sea picture - stiff breeze and occasional white horses ?

Nice to see you back Henry.

It is good again to see all of you here. It is 7:00 AM here in Japan. At the moment we are staying in Matsuyama (on Shikoku) so we are far from the Tohoku area up north where they had the tsunami and are still having the nuclear problems. Probably next year we will head up to Tokyo.

I have been taking photos, of course, and they even have a free Japanese language class that I have joined. It meets for 7 hours a week (3.5 hours on Tuesday afternoon and 3.5 hours on Thursday afternoon) so I have been going to it for the last couple of weeks. Generally, it is a bit below my level, but is a very good review because I am quite out of practice. The other students (Australia, Philippines, China, Thailand, Sierra Leone, etc.) are generally a bit quiet so I often get the class into a discussion of some sort. Sometimes it is just me and the teacher though. This is the first time I have taken a free class, but for my current purposes it is fine. Very little homework and not very intense like all my previous non-free schools were. The teachers are 2 older Japanese ladies who are retired Japanese language teachers. They have years of experience and are quite good. I would have been very happy to have them, especially the first one, as my teacher in one of my earlier expensive classes in Tokyo -- as a matter of fact, she is from Tokyo and that is where she taught when she was working -- I get the impression she may be teaching this class at the Matsuyama International Center as a volunteer.

I think I’m in trouble…..again,
sorry Yildiz I was only jokingly ‘telling whoppers’ illustrating that lots of things that could have happened while Henry vanished for a long time without saying anything….
Greg

Greg Beetham wrote:I think I’m in trouble…..again,
sorry Yildiz I was only jokingly ‘telling whoppers’ illustrating that lots of things that could have happened while Henry vanished for a long time without saying anything….
Greg

Hi Greg, : )

Sorry, I actually lost track of where I saw Henry's post and could not return the joke!
At this age and with the new biotechnical facilities, anything is possible within 45 days; conceive triplets, give birth and raise them to the age when they start the university too. : )) I'm sure many ladies would feel happy with the whole light-speed kid plan...

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Welcome back, Henry. : ) We missed you. Glad you're enjoying yourself in free Japanese classes and have plans on going up to Tokyo..

Keep us posted on odd and interesting bits on the tsunami aftermath.

Take care.

Yildiz

Phew! that's a relief Yildiz, I thought you might be mad at me, I do get carried away by the moment sometimes.
Greg

Greg Beetham wrote:Phew! that's a relief Yildiz, I thought you might be mad at me, I do get carried away by the moment sometimes.
Greg

I wonder what gave you that idea.
I'm pretty flexible and open minded... and courageous enough to take a joke from a friend!

The first time I came by Henry's post and read your response I laughed out, admiring your imagination. : ))
Everything in science starts with imagination, remember? Even Einstein once said that imagination was more important:

Albert Einstein: "To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything".

Greg, you wouldn't be the same you if you acted differently now, would you? : )

Yildiz

Greg Beetham wrote:I think I’m in trouble…..again,
sorry Yildiz I was only jokingly ‘telling whoppers’ illustrating that lots of things that could have happened while Henry vanished for a long time without saying anything….

Yes, I knew you were kidding.

aster wrote:Welcome back, Henry. : ) We missed you. Glad you're enjoying yourself in free Japanese classes and have plans on going up to Tokyo..

The autumn colors in Matsuyama were pretty good when we arrived a few weeks ago and there are still some, but the colors are fading a bit now. It is certainly colder here than Hawaii, but I am sort of enjoying the change of weather. Also, it is rather interesting to wear shoes, jeans/trousers, and a jacket. For the last 18 months before arriving here I wore just flip-flops, shorts, and a short-sleeve shirt everyday. Even while traveling in Vietnam, Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize I mostly wore pretty much the same sorts of clothes. The first few days it really felt weird to have shoes on, but I am getting used to them again now.