Digital Digest July 2006

/:/:/:/:/ 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

:/:/:/:/ 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 July 2006

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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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IN THIS ISSUE
-> From the Editor
-> Rota Leader Report
-> Media Team News
-> Membership Team News
-> Web Content Team News
-> Tech Team News
-> Upcoming Events
-> Interview With A DEva


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FROM THE EDITOR
Ailsa Wylie, English Newsletter Editor
<newsletter@digitalevejapan.org>

The rainy season is drawing to a close and summer is heating
up. Since the Japanese soccer team's elimination from the
2006 World Cup competition, many people (including myself)
have lost the motivation to try to watch soccer games
scheduled at impossible hours on the other side of the
world. But I discovered a couple of widgets to keep me
updated on scores and schedules. I even found a website that
would forward a schedule, adjusted for my time zone, to my
computer's calendar.

Widgets are fun. I have one for weather, one for time zones,
one for translation, one to tell me which friends are
online, and one to let me know that I've got mail. And there
is a currency exchange widget which informs me that the
Canadian dollar is now worth ¥103, so I know my upcoming
visit to my family is going to be expensive. The only
problem is, with all these widgets I now need a bigger
screen to see them all clearly.

On a different subject, nine DEvas enjoyed the season's
first patio party last Saturday, as Misa writes below in her
Membership Report. I would like to thank Misa for a lovely
summer evening. Have a great summer, everyone!


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NOTES FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE

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ROTA LEADER

Leader's Report

Are you doing well in this rainy season? It should end in a
couple of weeks, and then the summer kicks off, while in
Germany, it is time for the final World Cup football
(soccer) matches. You must be keeping an eye on your
favorite team.

DigitalEve Japan is planning to have another workshop in
July and a beer party in August. Please join us in making
our events successful. Your participation is very important
to keep our organization active and meaningful to all of us.
So get a kick out of it!

Chiharu Kawai
Rota Leader for July


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MEDIA TEAM NEWS

Chiharu Kawai, Media Coordinator
<media-j@digitalevejapan.or>

We are having more useful articles contributed to DEJ by
writers. I will post them when they become available.

The T-shirt season is here! DEJ T-shirts are available in
black and white in sizes S, M and L. They are sold at events
and by mail (+ 250 yen for shipping). For more information,
please access http://www.digitalevejapan.org/merchandise/index_html?
set_language=en.


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MEMBERSHIP TEAM NEWS

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

Total membership is 699 as of June 28th, 2006.

Nine members (unfortunately one cancelled and one didn't show
up) gathered at the Meet the DEvas event on June 24th, and
all enjoyed the food and drinks brought by the participants,
including one professional chef! I would like to thank all
of those who attended and helped to organize this event. The
weather was just fine so we could enjoy the party viewing
the green at the terrace.

Including this newsletter, DEJ activities cannot continue
without members volunteering to contribute to our group.
More than 50 volunteers have helped since DEJ started but
most their efforts are behind the scenes. I wanted to take
the opportunity at the Meet the DEvas event to thank all old
and new volunteers. Of course we'd also like to thank all
those who couldn't attend or have left Japan. I believe we
can maintain our friendships through the net and hope we can
meet again in the future.

Personally I will have guests from US this summer. They are
the family members (husband and daughter) of a former member
of DEJ.


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WEB CONTENT TEAM NEWS
Ladawan Lhuang-on, Web Content Coordinator
<web@digitalevejapan.org>

It’s July already!!! This is really a start of the second
half of the year. For those who worked hard and achieved so
many goals…congratulations on a job well done! For those who
are getting closer to their goals or setting up new goals
for the rest of the year…gambatte-kudasai and go for it!

Well, it is about time to really update resource links on
our website. If you have websites that you think would be
useful, please let us know. It could be organizations in
Japan, career resources, freelancing, education, online
tutorials/references, women and technology links, or other
member-recommended sites. Thank you and enjoy the rest of
the year.


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TECH TEAM NEWS
Smita Deshpande, Technical Coordinator
<tech@digitalevejapan.org>

Tech Coordinator Smita Deshpande has moved to India but she
will help us from there as usual. Thanks to Smita for her
continuing contribution to DEJ.


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UPCOMING EVENTS

Photoshop for Intermediates

In this workshop, you will learn many different ways to use
Photoshop. From creating layered designs and basic web pages
to colour-correcting your photographs and designing for
print, you will take home many skills to be used in your
business. Some of the features of Photoshop we will be
learning about are layers, the vanishing point tool, image
correction tools, image warp, smart objects, type tools, and
many more.

Tutor: Jennifer Shermer Pack

Date: 29th July (Saturday)
Time: 18:00 - 21:00
Venue: Tokyo Women's Plaza / Meeting room no.2-B
5-53-67, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
5 minutes from B2 EXIT of Omotesando station
MAP: http://www.tokyo-womens-plaza.metro.tokyo.jp/contents/map.html
Fee: 3000 yen (including beverage)

Please bring your laptop with Photoshop, if possible.

Signup: Email to workshops@digitalevejapan.org
Deadline: Noon on 27th July

***SEEK***
Interpreters (E to J) who can assist at the workshop.
Please send an email to workshops@digitalevejapan.org if you
can help.


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INTERVIEW WITH A DEVA

This month's interview is with Emma Boyes of recent
DigitalEve mailing list fame. It was the research for Emma's
article on women in the Japanese workplace that motivated
DEvas to post a wide variety of opinions about gender and
nationality at work throughout June, making for a most
interesting couple of weeks' reading. You can still read
Emma's article here: http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/638/
feature.asp

1) If you are not from Tokyo, where are you from originally
and when and why did you relocate to Tokyo?

Originally from the UK. Relocated to Tokyo two years ago.
I'd always wanted to visit Tokyo as an avid gamer, and huge
"Bladerunner" and William Gibson fan.

2) How long have you been a member of DigitalEve Japan?

Just under 2 years.

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

I had just moved to Tokyo and wanted to join some clubs to
meet some Tokyoites. I did a search for groups in Tokyo and
joined any that sounded like they fit my interests.
DigitalEve has the greatest group name, by the way.

4) What DE-J activities/resources have you participated in?
Of these, which do you find the most advantageous and why?

I attended a couple of Meet the DEvas events. They were a
great way to meet some new people. I really want to come to
one of the bigger parties, but they always seem to be when
I'm out of the country... perhaps the next one!

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

I'd just like to see the group be generally a bit more
active. There are so many members, after all!

6) What are your interests in digital technology?

I am just generally fascinated by technology and the way it
has changed our world, our personal lives, the way we do
business and the ways we interact with each other. I am keen
to learn more about designing websites, as I'd really like
to have my own homepage, and just because it is a generally
useful skill to know.

7) What kind of computer do you use?

A Toshiba Qosmio. It's a bulky and kind of ugly looking
laptop, weighs about 60 tons and has a battery life of about
30 minutes, but the graphics and hardware specs are
unbeatable. It's what's inside that counts, right?

8) Are you a member of any other technology-related groups
and if so, which ones?

No. Easy one :)
I'd be very interested in joining an English speaking gaming
club and/or a D&D club, but I haven't found any as yet. If
anyone is a member of one/knows of one, please, let me know!

9) Please tell me a little bit about where you work and what
your responsibilities are.

Well, I work on a freelance or part-time basis for lots of
different people, rather than having one particular office
or job. I do a lot of freelance writing for various
publications within and outside of Japan. I also do stuff
like video game testing, sub-editing and editing.

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

Daemon Tools is an amazing utility that lets you read from a
file image on your hard drive without having to burn it to
CD or DVD. Recently I've started getting to know Adobe
Distiller to create PDF files, which is great. For some
reason, PDF files seem to exude more of an air of
professionalism than a plain old Word doc. Ad Aware from
Lavasoft is a great little free program for getting rid of
malware and adware. AVG is a great free virus protection
program which auto-updates itself every day.

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

Probably gaming, though pointless web surfing comes a very
close second. I'm planning to buy a digital camera soon and
am really interested in starting photography as a hobby.
There are so many interesting things to photograph in Tokyo!

12) What is your favourite website and why?

I have so many, but this one is tons of fun http://uk.news.yahoo.com/
hot/office-attachments/. It's
updated every Friday, and is full of fun viral videos,
documents and webpages.

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

My secondary 180gb back-up drive (I'm so sensible, I know,
I know), my USB gamepad and (sadly) me!


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