Digital Digest May 2005

The Monthly Newsletter of DigitalEveJapan. Promoting women's digital lifestyles by offering a supportive community and programs tuned to women using IT in their workplace and in their everyday lives.

 /:/:/:/:/ THE DIGITAL DIGEST /:/:/:/:/:/

 The Monthly Newsletter of DigitalEVE Japan.

 Promoting women's digital lifestyles by offering a supportive
 community and programs tuned to women using IT in their workplace
 and in their everyday lives.

http://www.digitalevejapan.org

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  1 May 2005

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 This monthly newsletter is a membership benefit of DigitalEVE
 Japan and is sent through our mailing list, de-japan. If you wish
 to cancel your membership with DigitalEve Japan, please follow the
 unsubscribe instructions at the end of this issue.

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 FROM THE EDITOR
 It's time once again to reach out--in digital, no less--to everyone in
the
 DigitalEve Japan community and say "thank you" for being a part of this
 dynamic organization. It is only by networking and supporting each
other
 that we can develop our community into a place where women of all ages
and
 from all backgrounds can share their knowledge, their creativity, and
their
 experiences with technology.

 In this issue we bring you news about a networking event in May (mark
your
 calendars now so you don't forget), a workshop opportunity, and an
interview
 with one of our members, Sugiko Obata. Read on to find out what Sugi, a
 translator, has to say about being a part of the DigitalEve Japan
community.

 Lynn Fujino, English Newsletter Editor.
 <newsletter@digitalevejapan.org>


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 NOTES FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE

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 ROTA LEADER
 Debra B. Foster

 DigitalEve Japan is an organization that is geared towards helping
women achieve all
 that they want to in IT, both personally and professionally. To do
that, we need to do
 what women do best - come together and help each other out.

 DigitalEve is in need of volunteers of all kinds. From Web Content and
Programming,
 to Workshops and Sponsorship, I'll bet that there is something that
you are good at
 that help this organization out.

 Please contact us and let us know what you'd be willing to contribute
to help
 DigitalEve be a continuted source of support and encouragement for
women in Japan.


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 MEMBERSHIP TEAM NEWS

 Misao Kajiro, Membership Coordinator.
 <membership@digitalevejapan.org>

 Total membership is 718 as of April 25th, 2005.

 The number seems correct though Yahoo doesn't know why
 it has changed and there is no old site to check. Now we are
 quite a big group, aren't we?

 It is my belief that one of the greatest things in this group is that
 the members have the freedom to choose to volunteer for their level
 of involvement and their time commitment. The group, through
 all activities by volunteering, improves the quality of our life and
 people get know each other and to understand other nationalities.
 This large membership number has no meaning without member's
contributions
 and will.

 We had two more volunteers for the Event team and Newsletter team.
 Thanks for those who decided to volunteer your time.

 Thanks Sugiko-san for your all efforts on the newsletter team.
 Let's talk via Skype as usual and hope to see you at DEJ events.

 Hoping you all have a nice time in Golden Week.


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 WEB CONTENT TEAM NEWS

 Debra B. Foster, Web Content Coordinator.
 <web@digitalevejapan.org>

 Nothing to report.


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 TECH TEAM NEWS

 Nothing to report.


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 MEDIA TEAM NEWS

 Chiharu Kawai, Media Coordinator
 <media@digitalevejapan.org>

 Nothing to report.


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 DETAILS OF UPCOMING EVENTS

 There will be a special joint party event held by both DigitalEve and
 another IT-related association in Tokyo, ICA (International Computer
 Association) in May.

 This will be a great opportunity to meet international IT professionals
 in a casual atmosphere. There were around 60 - 70 people last time,
 and we all had good time. Please come and join with your friends.

 Date: May 27th, Friday, doors open from 19:00 - 21:30
 Fees: 4000 Yen/person includes party food and unlimited drinks
 (including cocktails, beer, etc...)
 Venue: Cosmo Cafe in Omotesando,
 www.cozmocafe.com

 Registration: Send an email to <events@digitalevejapan.org>
 Registration deadline is May 20 (Friday)

 About ICA: http://www.icajapan.jp/


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 Q & A: INTERVIEW WITH A DEVA

 Interview conducted by Louise Mackay
 Newsletter Team.
 newsletter@digitalevejapan.org

 This month DEJ is pleased to interview Sugiko Obata. Sugi will be
telling
 us about her digital life as a translator in Saitama and will impress
most
 with her collection of computer hardware. Sugi is a NL editor who
will be
 leaving the newsletter team this month; we would like to thank her for
all
 her work.

 1) Where are you from? Is this the same location as you are from
 originally? If not, when and why did you relocate there?

 I was born and grew up in Wakayama, spent student days in Nara
 and in England, then worked for a while in Tokyo, and finally
 settled down in Saitama where nature is rich. Hopefully, I would
 like to create an IT learning place here.
 
 2) How long have you been a member of DigitalEve Japan?

 I don't remember exactly, but almost 3 years.

 3) How did you find out about DigitalEve Japan and why did you
 decide to join?

 One of my friends, who is a foreigner, had told me that she could
 get help for her computer problems from this group. The combination
 of English, Japanese, and computer seemed to fit me perfectly and
 I wanted to learn a lot of new things at the workshops.

 4) What DE-J activities/resources have you participated in? What
 did you think of them?

 Once at the Digital Evening, and twice at the Meet the Devas.
 People were open and friendly, and after attending these
 activities, I felt closer to the members.

 5) Are there any other activities and resources you would like to
 see offered by DigitalEve Japan?

 I would like to see IT spread to other areas of Japan, not
 limited to Tokyo. The solution to many of the problems is
 decentralisation.So if DEJ could support workshops and other
 events in local areas, it would be very useful.

 6) What are your interests in digital technology?

 As I love reading books as a translator, I am always looking for new
 horizons in on-demand digital publishing. Plus as I like learning
 a lot of things, so I am also interested in distance learning.

 7) What kind of computer do you use?

 I have one desktop, one notebook(Vaio), one subnote(IBM), and a PDA
 (HP). There are a lot of other computers at my home, all connected
 by LAN and Wireless LAN. I move around the house carrying my subnote.

 8) Please tell me a little bit about where you work and what your
 responsibilities are?

 I encountered IT at a summer Fortran course offered by a university and
 worked as a Cobol programmer at a company. However, I did not work
directly
 on the computer; the work was only logic constructing, all done on my
desk.
 That took me away from the computer and I found work translating
documents
 in computer-related fields at home, watching the development of
computers
 through translations for many years.I also translated some books in
other
 fields, such as "Vital Dust" and "The Natural Capitalism", which are
 guiding principles for the 21st century.

 9) Do you have any favourite software programs? If so, why?

 I love to use new software, and recently found language-learning
 software in French so useful and amusing, especially the software
 that corrects my dictation mistakes in an instant!

 10) What is your favourite computer-related activity (for
 example, games, email, surfing the net, etc.) ? Do you have any
 other hobbies?

 I like chatting, and now learning French.
 I love studying languages, and reading books in their original
 languages, so I also surf the Net a lot looking for unknown words
 and proper names. When I get tired, I listen to music, go out for a
walk
 taking pictures and shopping, water the garden and plant flowers.

 11) What is your favorite website and why?

 Too many to choose, but No.1 is Google.
 Other sites I adore are for finding free books:

http://un2sg4.unige.ch/athena/html/athome.html
http://www.gutenberg.org/

 12) Name three things you will always find near your computer.

 English-Japanese and French-Japanese electronic dictionary,
 headset, Webcam.


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 SUBMISSIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER

 Have an announcement to make?
 An article to submit for consideration?
 (We can't pay you, but we'll give you a byline.) Please send your
 submissions in plain text format to newsletter@digitalevejapan.org

 The Digital Digest is brought to you by the Newsletter Team: Debra
 B. Foster, Lynn Fujino, Noriko Hasegawa, Koko Iwata, Misao Kajiro,
 Louise Mackay, Sugiko Obata and Ailsa Wylie.

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