Maximum of 20 people, so please RSVP as soon as you can! Please note that the workshop is open to members and non-members, but this time is only for women!

Where: The Wesley Center 2F
10 mins from Omotesando Station Ext B1

Map included in the URL (http://lh-arch.com/files/TELLforweb.pdf)

Language: English and Japanese

It is sometimes very nice to spend time thinking about your life, not the life for your boyfriend, for your husband, for your family, or for your friends. Your life. Come and think how you became you, and how are you going to live your dream life. Hold on, what was your dream again???

We are going to have Ann Sado as our speaker. She spans various industries and people have asked her how she does it, but it reflects her inner integrity based on the difficult choices she had to make. She is going to talk to us about how she became who she is… Let’s listen to her life story and after her speech, we will give you some time for you to think about your life. We know you’re busy, but let’s spare two hours of your busy life for yourself. Two hours. We hope to see you there

Ann Sado

Ann Sado is a third generation Japanese-American with permanent residence in Japan who has lived in Tokyo over 30 years, serving both the foreign and Japanese markets/communities.

She has experience working for multi-national brands and companies in the cosmetics and sports apparel industry, as well as management consulting and division start up businesses.
http://www.atoz-sado.com/profile.html
http://tinyurl.com/2g87e8l

MTD (Meet The DEvas)
Topics: iPhone apps, iPad, cheap travel agency sites, Twitter, 3D movies, online news, etc…
Date: June 2nd (Wed)
Time: @7 pm – 9pm
Place: Catalan Spanish “Bikini TAPA” in Shibuya Mark City
Price: small glass of beer 380 yen, glass of wine 480 yen,
etc…

We will have a DEJ namecard on the table and that is how you can find us! You do not need to register, just come stop by and have some drinks with DEvas! Let’s have a good time together!

Ailsa Wylie, English Editor
newsletter@…

Spring is in the air! After the coldest February I can recall since coming to Japan almost 11 years ago, temperatures are finally getting into double-digits during the daytime.

Did you watch the Olympics? I confess that I didn’t watch anything but the opening ceremony, but I did download an iPhone app from CTV (the Canadian TV network with the broadcast rights to these Olympics) which I could check for updates. I also used the New York Times and BBC apps for Olympic and other news.

Every time iPhone users are together, we just can’t resist comparing apps. I just counted 84 on my phone! I confess that some of them are not well-used (yet?), such as the three different money-management apps! But I have found some TangoTown apps for studying kanji for the various levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. (I failed level 1 again, if anyone’s keeping track.) And there are a few others which are aimed at native speakers but useful for students of the language at the intermediate level and up. If you’re hungry, Gurunabi and Cookpad are two useful Japanese sites with equally useful apps for finding a restaurant and planning a meal respectively. And I’ve just downloaded the Nike Training Club app, aimed at women who want a training program to help them get in shape – you can connect with your friends and share your journey!

As Cathy mentions below, DEJ is now on Facebook and Twitter. A Twitter app can help you follow us on your phone too!

Misao Kajiro, Rota Leader for March
leader@…

First of all, DigitalEve Japan celebrated its 9th Anniversary in February. I would like to thank all members who have supported DEJ over the years, especially to the volunteers who have contributed their time and skills to the group. DEJ was and is not anything without their efforts.

Next year, the Steering Committee is planning a digital art competition to celebrate our 10th Anniversary. It seems to be an opportune time to encourage and cultivate up-and-coming DEJ members. We made a new team for the big event and need some staff who can lead this event. If you are working in graphic design or video editing, or are familiar with digital art creation, please give us your thoughts. The theme, judges, prizes and sponsors will be discussed at the mailing list soon.

Just when we thought we had started the New Year, spring is almost upon us. The cherry blossom is a symbol of spring’s arrival in Japan and “Hanami” is a seasonal event of DEJ. The next Meet the DEvas will be held at “Shitamachi” (downtown near Sumida river) viewing Sakura and enjoying local foods. Details will be coming soon to the mailing list.

Misao Kajiro, Membership Coordinator
membership@…

Total membership was 351 as of the 26th of February.

As I see it, digital trends such as Twitter, YouTube, Ustream or Spider, which may be changing the way we watch TV, will be making a big impact upon our future style of communication. I am strongly interested in the possibilities of these new forms of communication, though it is hard to keep track of today’s rapidly transforming technologies.

Waki Kawamoto, Event Coordinator
events@…

First of all, sorry everyone for cancelling the event on the 24th. One of my client’s executives passed away and I had to go to his funeral that night. In Japan, March is the month to say goodbye; it is the end of the fiscal year and school year. Although this is not the reason, I am leaving my company myself and starting a new job in April. Since this is my first job hop for me, I have no idea how to prepare… So, if you have any advice, please let me know

The MTD will be held as a Hanami though we should follow the weather reports, so please look for an announcement to the list. We will let you know the dates shortly!

Cathy Cox, Web Content Coordinator
web@…

The new DEJ website is now live!! Many thanks to Clare for her expertise, and a special thanks to Angelica for setting up the Wordpress template and taking the final, scary steps to bring the new site out from hiding!! Please check it out!!

Also this month, we set up a DEJ profile on Facebook (as “DigitalEve Japan”) and Twitter (@digitalevejapan). Although we haven’t had much activity in these areas yet, we hope to realize their full potential in the coming months. Even if you don’t have a Twitter account, you can follow the DEJ Twitter Feed on our website, where our most recent tweets are automatically posted.

As always, if you have any content (graphics, text, etc.) that you’d like to contribute to the website, please let us know!!

MEDIA TEAM NEWS
Chiharu Kawai, Media Coordinator

International Women’s Day event – March 8th
===========================================
Spring is around the corner. I hope this finds you well. As I briefly mentioned last month, there is a music/talent event organized by a local Australian singer/song writer, Sorcha, at the Pink Cow in Shibuya on Monday, March 8, 2010 to celebrate International Women’s Day. As media coordinator I have participated in such events in the past handing out DEJ postcards and flyers. This year I am singing and playing a few blues songs and also will be promoting DEJ there. For details about the event, please see the following link: http://www.sorchamusic.com/ I will also send out a separate announcement.

This is a charity event for Polaris Project Japan

If you have time, please come join the event!

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@…

***SEEK***
Editors (E to J) who can help in publishing this newsletter.
Please send an email to:newsletter@…

This event will provide a networking opportunity over a delicious brunch in the relaxed and enjoyable surroundings of the old-downtown area, Shitamachi. Please join us — friends and family are also welcome!!

Date: Saturday, 3 April 2010
Time: 11:30 am
Meeting place: Front of EXCELSIOR Cafe (near Exit A4 / Ningyocho Station, on the Hibiya Line)

Lunch: Umeda (Unagi/eels or Chicken bowl) 1000 yen ~

After walking along the Amazake-yokocho we will go to Hamacho Park, where we can walk along the Sumida River flanked by cherry blossoms and enjoy the spectacular scenery.

We can have a tea/coffee if Morinoen is not too crowded.

Reservations are required for brunch, so please RSVP.
Confirmation mail will be sent on 2 April.

On March 28th 2010, over 100 women will gather to participate in FEW Japan’s biennial Career Strategies Seminar (CSS), a full-day professional development event, held at Temple University Azabu Campus from 8:45-18:00. The seminar, organized and led by experienced, successful female business leaders and mentors, consists of a series of hands-on workshops and skill-building sessions, to equip participants with the tools necessary to enhance their lives and careers in Japan. The format and content of this year’s workshops differs to that of previous years, and focuses on how women can navigate the current job landscape, while maximising their own, unique potential. Some of the workshops topics for the day include Managing your Online Indentity, Ways to Rock your Resume, Succeeding in the Japanese Workplace and Creating Your Best Life. FEW encourages and welcomes new and past participants to attend this year’s all-new event, which places great emphasis on achieving both a healthy mind and body.

The CSS pre-registration fee is ¥12,000; pre-registration for FEW members and students is ¥10,000; registration on the day is ¥15,000. Morning refreshments, lunch and a wine reception are included in the ticket price. For more information, please visit: http://www.fewjapan.com

Chiharu Kawai, Media Coordinator
media-j@…

Angelica Lim, English Editor
newsletter@…

It’s February, and as a Canadian with Chinese roots, I’d like to wish you an early Happy Chinese New Year! The Year of the Tiger starts on February 14th this year, coinciding with Valentine’s Day.

This past month I finally jumped on the Twitter (www.twitter.com) bandwagon. You’ve probably heard of it: it’s a way to update the world (or a limited set of followers) about what you’re doing at the moment. In 140 characters, you can “tweet” your thoughts and daily activities, such as “I can’t believe they named it iPad!” or “Eating delicious goat cheese and raspberry salad”. These might seem insignificant, but I find it’s a nice way for my family overseas to hear about the little things happening in my life, to make me feel more connected.

On a more practical level, I also get to “follow” my co-workers who use Twitter in Japanese. I may have limited Japanese oral communication skills, but with my handy web dictionary I can still read their Twitter updates, understand them, and reply to them in a way similar to texting. Pretty neat, I think! When I’m not at the computer, I use an e-mail service called TwitterMail to update my status through my cell phone e-mail. If you haven’t used Twitter yet, I highly recommend signing up for this fun networking tool!

Cathy Cox, Rota Leader for February
leader@…

It’s February and that means Valentine’s Day is just around the corner – that means fancy chocolate displays in my local grocery store. Whether or not you need to buy some for a special someone or simply co-workers, don’t forget to treat yourself as well! We’ll be marking Valentine’s Day weekend with our first Meet The DEvas get-together of 2010 on Saturday, February 13. So if you have time that afternoon, please drop by the Voleur de Fleur cafe in Shimokitazawa and say hi, have a coffee, and maybe treat yourself to some cake! Details below in the EVENTS section.

Of course, the big tech news that everyone was buzzing about at the end of January was Apple’s new iPad. If you don’t know about it yet, check this link: http://www.apple.com/ipad/. While many people were disappointed that the iPad is basically just a large iPod-Touch, perhaps the more interesting content of Steve Jobs’ keynote address is how he presented Apple as a maker of mobile devices, thus reconfiguring its main competition to be not Microsoft, but Nokia, Samsung, and Sony! Does this mean no more PC vs Mac wars? For a thoughtful critique of the new iPad from the perspective of someone working in creative computing, check out this recent article from one of my favorite blogs, CreateDigitalMusic.com.

Misao Kajiro, Membership Coordinator
membership@…

Total membership was 353 as of the 31st of January.

Welcome Takara Swoopes to DEJ! Please send your introduction to the main list.

We sent a reactivation request to bouncing email addresses. Members can always verify their addresses from the My Email Preferences section of My Groups. One problem is that members who need to reactivate their subscriptions are not receiving emails such as this newsletter, so they don’t know about their bouncing…!

My family had an unusual experience in this new year. We three began to eat melon at teatime, but it was so bitter. Two of us gave up eating it, but my husband tried to find the sweet parts and ate most of his melon. After three hours he developed food-poisoning symptoms. I searched the internet and found that melon sometimes contains mold that can make us sick. We asked the store where we bought the melon, a big supermarket, to check the cause, so they took back the rest of the melon.

Ten days later, they reported that the cause of the bitter taste was unknown, but it turned out that the melon had been kept in their warehouse for more than two weeks which might have caused the mold. They gave us our money back, but my husband spent a miserable new year.

Health Canada writes another possibility: “melons are grown close to the ground, their outer skin or rind can become contaminated in the field by soil, contaminated water, wild and domestic animals or improperly composted manure. Bacteria may also be transferred during and after harvest from handling, storing and transporting.”

If there was no internet search engines, we couldn’t find out that melons cause food poisoning. I searched it in Japanese and English, and learned that there were very many blogs and sites about it.

Waki Kawamoto, Event Coordinator
events@…

I have been using an iPhone for about 5 months now and like every other iPhone user, the iPhone has become my must-have item. I want to introduce some of my favorite and funny applications here!

My Favorite Apps

* CookingPad: This is an application where everyone posts their cooking recipes.The recipe is usually very easy to follow and I use this application A LOT.
* 今日の星占い: This is a horoscope application. I know it sounds ridiculous but I feel like this horoscope is very accurate…? I do not trust it every time but it’s fun

Funny Apps

* Bijin-Tokei: One of my clients introduced me to this application. I do not use this application – men can come up with such silly ideas sometimes…funny.
* iType2Go: Our newsletter team member Ailsa introduced me to this app. Will I actually use this app…? In any case, I think this is such a clever application.

We had a DEJ committee brunch with the Newsletter team and we could not stop talking about iPhone applications! I am thinking about planning an iPhone event in the future. What does everyone think? If you have some ideas, please let me know!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Cathy Cox, Web Content Coordinator
web@…

The new DEJ website is scheduled to go public this month. If anyone has any content they would like to contribute photos, weblinks, etc. – please send it our way!

We will also be creating a DEJ group profile in Facebook as another way for members to network with each other. We’ll be sending an invitation to the list, so any DEvas who are on Facebook can feel free to join – but if you’re not on Facebook, please do not feel any pressure to join.

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@…

***SEEK***
Editors (E to J) who can help in publishing this newsletter.
Please send an email to:newsletter@…

Event: February MTD
Date: 13 February (Saturday)
Time: 3:00pm until around 5:00pm
Place: TBA

Ailsa Wylie, English Editor
newsletter@…

Happy New Year, DEvas!

The weather is not cooperating with my technology! My dialup modem can’t get a signal during a Hakodate snowstorm and my boyfriend’s mother doesn’t have a computer, so I can’t work on the newsletter from here. Isn’t it funny how quickly we’ve come to take these things for granted? At least my iPhone, officially displaying a line of underbars, is scraping a little signal out of somewhere.

It’s amazing how much time I can waste online sometimes. Reading this thing leads to that one, which leads to something else. Then it led me to an interesting article (http://www.slate.com/id/2224932/) recently, about how the part of our brain that is programmer to “seek” (from an evolutionary point of view) is also the reason we can’t tear ourselves away from our computers or iPhones. We continually crave new information and input.

So my New Year’s resolution is to wrestle with this evolutionary bugaboo and make better use of my time, both on – and offline. I don’t expect to succeed every time, but it would be good for my health to spend more time at the gym and less on Wikipedia.

良いお年を！

Cathy Cox, Rota Leader for January and February 2010
leader@…

Happy New Year to everyone! It’s New Year’s Resolution Time — time to reflect on the failures and successes of the previous year and to make plans for the new year. Five members of the current DEJ Steering Committee were able to get together for a meeting in mid-December and lay out a few plans for 2010.

The first of these is the Rota-leader schedule. A few of you might be wondering what this Rota-leader position is and why a different person seems to be filling the role every few months. Rather than having an appointed leader who presides over the group for a year, leadership responsibilities are rotated among the Steering Committee members every few months.

For this reason, while I regularly fill the role of Web Content Coordinator, I’ll be wearing a second hat as Rota leader for January and February; similarly, our Membership Coordinator, Misa, will be serving as Rota leader in March and April; Events Coordinator Waki will be Rota leader in May and June; Media Coordinator Chiharu will be Rota leader in July and August; Workshop Coordinator Chiyuki will be Rota leader in September and October; then the rotation returns to me for November and December.

Some of you might be wondering, “What exactly does a Rota leader do, besides writing a greeting in the monthly newsletter?” Well, besides writing the newsletter report, it’s the Rota-leader’s responsibility to supervise the DEJ mailing list in case any conflicts or issues arise; to keep tabs on the activities of the various Team Coordinators from the Steering Committee; and to organize Steering Committee (SC) meetings; and to organize the regular “Meet-the-DEvas” (MTD) events.

Last year we tried holding both SC and MTD meetings every month, but this proved to be too taxing on the our personal schedules. So, for 2010, we’ve decided to alternate between SC and MTD meetings every month. This means that we will hold the informal MTD meetings once every two months (bi-monthly), starting in February. We’ll announce details about this meeting in the February Newsletter as well as in a general announcement to the DEJ mailing list — we hope to see many new and old faces at our first meeting of the year!

One more thing (sorry!): At the December SC meeting, we also discussed some ongoing issues we’ve been having with Yahoo!Groups, including some quirks in its handling of lists as well as its seeming lack of support of Japanese characters within the Yahoo!Groups web interface. For this reason, we’re thinking of moving the list to Google Groups and perhaps creating a DEJ groups page in Facebook. If any DEJ members have opinions or advice on this matter, please post to the list!!

Misao Kajiro, Membership Coordinator
membership@…

Total membership was 354 as of the 28th of December.

Welcome Yoko Wolf, Selwa Sweidan (rejoined as she has come back to Tokyo) and Mio Tsujiya to DEJ! Please send your introductions to the main list.

I thank you for your support in 2009, and I look forward to your feedback to make DEJ’s activities better in 2010. Wishing you all a wonderful time in the New Year.

Waki Kawamoto, Event Coordinator
events@…

Thank you all again for coming to the event on the 17th of December.

With your support, we raised 121,150 yen for Beers for Bytes. They will donate the money to support pilot programs for wireless internet access in Nepal and Vietnam:

http://blog.roomtoread.org/room-to-read/2009/10/getting-connected-qualcomm-and-room-to-read-launch-the-school-wireless-computer-lab-pilot-in-nepal-a.html

Happy new year!

Cathy Cox, Web Content Coordinator
web@…

The Web Team’s New Year’s Resolution for 2010 is to go public with the new and improved DEJ website in February. Wish us luck!

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@…

***SEEK***
Editors (E to J) who can help in publishing this newsletter.
Please send an email to:newsletter@…

What: Tokyo’s Biggest Tech Party Ever – Tech Holiday Party ‘09
When: Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Time: 7pm-10pm
Where: Fifty Seven
B1F 4-2-35 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-5775-7857
Cost: Free Entry
Food/Drinks: Cash bar, light food menu

Why: A chance for members of different tech communities to mix, mingle, and celebrate the end of the year.

Charity Benefit: This will be the first ever “Beers for Bytes”, an offshoot of the acclaimed “Beers for Books” charity event. The money will be donated to Room to Read’s wireless computer lab projects in Nepal and Vietnam, as well as other developing nations. For more information please see http://ow.ly/G8vR.

Participating Groups:
Asiajin
DigitalEve Japan
International Computer Association
Tokyo 2.0
Mobile Monday
Tokyo Hacker Space
Tokyo PC Users Group,
Tokyo Solaris User’s Group
Ninjava
Tokyo Linux Users Group