Digital Digest March 2008

1 March 2008

IN THIS ISSUE
-> From the Editor
-> Rota Leader's Comment
-> Membership Team News
-> Upcoming Event
-> Interview with a DEva
/...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../.....

FROM THE EDITOR
newsletter@digitaleve.org

Hello everyone,

Spring is finally in the air. Is it just me, or was this
winter longer and colder (at least in Tokyo) than usual?

Due to upheavals in my personal life, I've been absent from
this team since last May. I'd like to thank the other
members of the team for their work in producing this
newsletter every month. But as I return, Jennifer has left.
(Good luck, Jennifer!) I hope we'll have some new volunteers
on our team for both the English and the Japanese. It's good
experience and a good way to make new friends as well. I
hope you'll consider joining our team!

I recently learned about some new software that makes this
work a little easier. We have to cut and paste text from
different sources to make this newsletter, and they all have
different line lengths. At the same time, we have to deal
with the standard width of Yahoo!'s emails so that it will
look the same to everyone. TextWrangler (by Bare Bones
http://www.barebones.com/, for Mac) makes it easy to get rid
of line breaks in the wrong places and then put them in the
right ones, making each line the right length. No more
line-by-line fiddling around!

If anyone knows of any similar software for PC, I'm sure
there are other NL team members and other DeEvas in general
who'd like to hear about it.
Ailsa Wylie

/...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../.....
Leader's Comment

From this month's rota leader: Chiharu Kawai

While it is gradually getting warmer toward the cherry
blossoms season, it is the worst time for those who are
allergic to pollens and yellow sand. Although some foreign
tourists may think it is quite weird or even funny to see
so many people wearing white masks. Some are super-sterical
and others are protective against superfine particles.
It seems that the mask technology in Japan is extremely well
developed and is progressing all the time.It could be something
we can be proud of!?

Last month, we had a small going-away party for Jennifer Pack
at a cozy Italian restaurant in Kichijoji on the 16th.
Her husband, Denny, and their cute little Japanese-born son,
Dylan, were present too. It was nice to have all of you who
joined us. Thank you! The Packs left Japan for Ohio on
February 23rd. For some of us long-term members including
a couple of SC members, the party also played a role of
meeting new members. We hope all the participants had
a good time!

We are planning workshops and other events for this year.
So stay tuned! As always, your contribution is most welcome!!

Chiharu (March & April)

/...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../.....

MEMBERSHIP TEAM NEWS

Misao Kajiro, Membership Coordinator
membership@digitalevejapan.org

Total membership was 631 as of February 25th, 2008.
Welcome Shantell Martin to Digitaleve Japan.

DE headquarters is in the process of updating the
international DE website. DEJ will be linked as the Japan
Chapter.

I am sending this report from a hotel in snowy NY. I'm going
to meet with a former member who started to work as a
freelance web designer in NY and now has a full-time
position as Vice President of a subsidiary company of the
Economist. I would like to hear about her success story and
efforts in a foreign country.
/...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../.....

INTERVIEW WITH A DEVA

This month Koko Iwata interviewed longtime DEJ member
Andrew Shuttleworth.

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

I’m originally from England and now live in Yokohama,
although I spend most of my working hours in Tokyo. In the
80’s it became a long term goal of mine to move to Japan. I
first came in ’95 and ’97 and have been living here since
1999. I studied Marketing and Japanese at University and I
originally got transferred by a company I was working for in
the UK as they knew I wanted to move here.

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

It’s hard to remember exactly, but I guess since around 2000
or 2001 when the two Kristens were running it. (Was the
group called something else then?). I was President of the
Tokyo PC Users Group around that time and occasionally we
collaborated on events. I also gave a presentation for DEJ
on ‘bilingual web surfing strategies’ in July 2002.

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

Can’t recall how I found out about the group. I joined as
the leaders were putting together a great program of events
and doing a great job helping people learn about and make
better use of technology.

4) If you are a volunteer, please tell us of your activities
and why you decided to help DEJ.

Not a volunteer, but am a past presenter and I try to answer
questions on the mailing list whenever I can.

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

I know how hard to it is to run a volunteer group. There are
almost an endless amount of needs and never enough
resources. I would encourage groups like Digital Eve and the
Tokyo PC Users Group to occasionally combine forces on
events and activities to create greater benefits for a wider
group of people.

6) What are your interests in digital technology?

My main focus is how we can use technology to do more with
our lives. This covers how we manage information and how we
communicate with people. I’m also a big fan of mobile
technology i.e. anything that lets people be more productive
while on the move.

7) What kind of computer do you use?

Maybe surprisingly, nothing special. It’s a Sharp laptop
that I bought in 2005 as it was one of the cheapest laptops
available when I needed to buy one urgently. I did add some
memory. I’ve been running Vista since the betas but I can’t
make use of the better display features and turn off others
to keep the system running smoothly. I spend quite a bit
money on software, internet services and mobile hardware and
software, so my main PC takes a back seat. It’s about time
for an upgrade though. I’d love a Tablet PC again but there
are not that many out there.

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

Last year I co-founded Tokyo2Point0 (www.tokyo2point0.net).
We hold monthly seminar and networking events for internet
professionals. It was simply a matter of filling a need as
there are so many people working in the field and there are
so many interesting things happening. It’s become popular
and we are getting 50-60 people at the meetings every month.

I’m also on the board of the International Computer
Association (www.icajapan.jp), a group focused on the use of
IT in business. We have a presentation and networking event
once a month and a joint networking event with the ACCJ
(www.accj.or.jp) Information, Technology and Communications
Committee once a year.

I’m still a member of the Tokyo PC Users Group
(www.tokyopc.org) but only get to the meetings 2-3 times a
year

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

I started working for myself in 2006 under the business name
Customers, Vendors, People (www.cvp.jp). The major focus of
my business is helping businesses and people connect with
each other and I engage in a wide range of projects but
keeping this as the focus. At the moment one of the most
exciting projects I’m working on is helping www.iknow.co.jp,
an online learning platform, spread the word about their
service. They have a lot of experience in the field of
learning, technology patents and a strong development team.
Take a look at the site and you’ll see why I’m excited to be
working with them.

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

Wow. That’s a difficult question. I’m moving most of my
‘software’ online, so by far my favorite piece of software
has to be my web browser, Firefox. I’ve been using the betas
of Firefox 3 for a few months. The performance is great, but
the best feature is the new fuzzy search in the address bar.
Just start typing and Firefox will search all your bookmarks
and web history and provide a list of matching sites. A
simple but amazing innovation and has led to big
productivity increases for me. Try it out and there’ll be no
going back. Most of the other software I use is in the form
of online services. I could write a whole book about this so
best to check my site at http://hq.andrewshuttleworth.com to
see all my links and what I am blogging about.

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

Surfing the net has to be my favorite as there is virtually
no limit as to what you can do on the net these days. Other
hobbies? I still make lots of time to get out and meet
people and you’ll often see me out at networking events
around Tokyo in the evenings. On weekends I spend time
relaxing with my wife (when I’m not on my PC that is :)

12) What is your favorite website and why?

I guess it has to be Google, especially if you consider the
huge range of services they have in addition to their
amazing search engine which has basically made it much
easier to access the information you need on the internet.
Check http://www.google.com/options/ to see all the other
services Google offers or http://labs.google.com/ for those
they are testing. You are sure to find something you didn’t
know about.

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

Me, the power supply. I can’t think of a third. Sorry.

/...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../...../.....

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