[TODAY'S TOP STORIES] from [The Japan Times]
[EDUCATION AND BILINGUAL]
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010
BILINGUAL
Spouse hunting, politics had us all abuzz in '09
By MARK SCHREIBER
By Special to The Japan Times
The 2010 edition of the "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words" was recently put on sale by publisher?Jiyukokuminsha. The bulky paperback's English title doesn't really do justice to the Japanese name, which is "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki." Broken down by its individual components, it becomes 現代 (gendai, present era or current); 用語 (yōgo, words or terms in use), 基礎 (kiso, basic); and 知識 (chishiki, knowledge). A more idiomatically translated title would be "Fundamental Knowledge of Terms in Current Use."
This annual compendium, now in its 61st year, contains a whopping 1,734 pages of topics on just about everything under the sun, making it well worth the outlay of ,000.
While the book incorporates the latest terms in business, science, technology, entertainment, sports and other fields — plus foreign-word adoptions and new acronyms — the part I always head for first is the section devoted to the latest teen slang.
This year's selections included such neologisms as メガる (megaru), created by taking the Greek root "mega" for large and adding ru, the infinitive form of many Japanese verbs, to create a word that means "to get fat." Another new hybrid takes high and low levels of the English word "tension," as in tenshon takai (テンション高い, something feels good), as opposed to tenshon hikui (テンション低い, doesn't do anything for me).
A popular term was 婚活 (konkatsu, hunting for a spouse), formed by combining 婚 (kon) from kekkon (結婚, marriage) and 活 (katsu) from katsudo￣ (活動, activity).
Language scholars also pointed out the tendency of more young people to use 若干 (jakkan, a slight amount) instead of 少し (sukoshi, a little bit).
While 全然 (zenzen) is perfectly good Japanese for "utterly" or "completely," some youngsters now use multiple repetition for added emphasis, saying, "zen-zen-zen-zen-zen." (absolutely no way!), or to stress something negative, "nai-nai-nai-nai-nai."
Another trend linguists spotted is the habit of asking a question in the negative to elicit agreement, as in "~shinai? (shall we do ~?)" For example: "Makudo de tabetakunai? (Shall we eat at McDonald's?)"
On Dec. 1, as it has for 25 years, Jiyukokuminsha and its corporate sponsor U-Can, a publisher of educational materials, announced the results of its annual Ryukogo Taisho (流行語大賞, grand prix of popular expressions) poll, which names the 10 most popular terms of the year. In the latest batch are plenty of references to politics and the economy, which dominated the news during most of 2009.
Top prize went to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama for 政権交代 (seiken kōtai, changeover in political power). In a landslide election victory on Aug. 30, Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan swept the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition members from power.
Second place went to 8-year-old child actor Seishiro Kato, who played kodomo tenchō (こども店長, child store manager) in a series of popular commercials for Toyota Motor Corp.
Rounding out the top five spots were: 事業仕分け (jigyō shiwake, sorting out operations) [a euphemism for government budget trimming]; 新型インフルエンザ (shingata infuruenza, H1N1 influenza, aka swine flu); and 草食男子 (sōshoku danshi, herbivorous men).
Credited to writer Maki Fukasawa in a 2006 magazine article about marketing, the last term caught on as a reference to the growing number of passive males who defy typical notions of masculinity.
Another word continuing to appear in the media is 派遣切り (haken-giri, temp-worker cutbacks). From the end of the 2008 fiscal year (March 31, 2009), many workers from 人材派遣会社 (jinzai haken gaisha, human resource dispatch firms) were laid off due to budget-cutting measures. Several hundred of these unfortunates congregated in Hibiya Park in the center of Tokyo, forming a "hobo camp" that the media named 派遣村 (haken-mura, temp-workers village).
Meanwhile, on Dec. 12, the annual poll conducted since 1995 by Nihon Kanji Noryoku Kentei Kyokai (日本漢字能力検定協会, the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society) chose 新 (shin or atarashii, new), as its Kanji of the Year for 2009 — following on from 変 (hen, change) for 2008.
"New" is formed from the phonetic component 斤(kin, ono, a hatchet) and a mnemonic composed of 立 (tatsu, to stand) and 木 (ki, tree). So to prepare a field for "new" cultivation, one uses a "hatchet" to fell the "trees" that "stand."
Of course, 新 is also a part of the compound 新年 (shinnen, new year). And on that note, I hereby belatedly wish everybody a happy and meaningful 2010.
[COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY NEWS]
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010
IGADGET
Toshiba Blu-ray recorders, mCube90 make life more compact
By PETER CROOKES
Blu-ray recording: If you can't beat them, don't join them — just copy their ideas and improve them. Toshiba is endeavoring to do just that having abandoned its HD-DVD format and instead opted to craft versions of Sony's brainchild, Blu-ray. Nobody can accuse Toshiba of not doing a wholehearted about face, what with three new Vardia- branded Blu-ray recorders to hit the market next month. The best of the bunch is the D-B1005K, which sports a prodigious 1-terabyte hard disk for recording up to 500 hours of high- definition TV footage. The smaller D-B305K comes with a still spacious 320-gigabyte hard disk, while the bulky D-BW1005K is in essence a D-B1005K with a VHS video recorder mixed in for good measure. All three of them are intended to make it easy to record from DVDs to Blu-ray discs, using the hard disk as temporary storage while the footage is moved from one type of disc to the other. They also come with the AVCREC format for recording high-definition content on regular DVDs. No doubt this is useful, but if the device already has Blu-ray why use such a compression format to keep using an inferior recording method? Unless it is to save cash on the pricey Blu-ray discs?
Interestingly, the new Vardias come with a remarkable seven TV tuners (a pair of terrestrial digital tuners, a pair of BS tuners, a pair of CS tuners and one analog TV tuner). The trio of paired tuners allow users to record one program in that format while watching a second. The three recorders also each have an HDMI interface, a USB port, LAN connectivity and an SD memory-card slot for playing video off a memory card. All three cope with the full variety of DVD and Blu-ray discs. The two straight Blu-ray recorders measure 430 × 61 × 318 mm, with the VHS credentials pushing the lines out to 435 × 100 × 399 mm. The D-B305K is the lightweight of the bunch, in more than just capacity, as it weighs 4.3 kg, with the D-B1005K coming in at 4.5 kg. Again, the D-BW1005K bulks up, to 7.2 kg. Despite their different sizes, all three have the same dark look, which shows that digital-recorder makers put as much thought into appearances as most PC makers do.
Toshiba's products are heavy on the features, a fact reflected in their price tags. The D-B305K quite naturally is cheapest at ¥99,800, with its big brother costing ¥129,800. The D-BW1005K carries the highest price tag of ¥139,800. If you want devices with less credential there are plenty of cheaper choices, although Toshiba has certainly not lost out by being late to the market. The D-BW1005K is good for those of us who are still clinging to our VHS collections. www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2010_01/pr_j1401.htm
Go anywhere: Air passengers could find relief from having to lug around all those rechargers for their electronic devices, something that will be welcomed at airport luggage scales.
Innovative electronics-maker Innergie has teamed up with tech firm Green Plug to develop the new mCube90, a stylish gadget that fits in your palm and serves as both a universal power adapter (for laptops and USB-powered devices) and surge protector. The mCube90 is connected to mains power, or by using the included adapter and cables it becomes a power source in a car or aircraft. The device to be recharged is then connected via USB allowing it to be recharged on the go.
Just about any device that can be recharged via USB can be used with the mCube90. The adapter works on 100-240 volts, measures 128.8 × 70 × 23.6 mm and weighs 263 grams without the cables. It also has four types of surge protection built into it. The mCube90 costs $99.99 (¥9,000) from the Innergie Web site. If you travel with a lot of devices then the mCube90 makes sense. But first check out the Innergie Web site as to whether your gadgets will work with the mCube90. www.myinnergie.com/Mcube/default.aspx
[EDUCATION AND BILINGUAL]
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010
BILINGUAL
Spouse hunting, politics had us all abuzz in '09
By MARK SCHREIBER
By Special to The Japan Times
The 2010 edition of the "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words" was recently put on sale by publisher?Jiyukokuminsha. The bulky paperback's English title doesn't really do justice to the Japanese name, which is "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki." Broken down by its individual components, it becomes 現代 (gendai, present era or current); 用語 (yōgo, words or terms in use), 基礎 (kiso, basic); and 知識 (chishiki, knowledge). A more idiomatically translated title would be "Fundamental Knowledge of Terms in Current Use."
This annual compendium, now in its 61st year, contains a whopping 1,734 pages of topics on just about everything under the sun, making it well worth the outlay of ,000.
While the book incorporates the latest terms in business, science, technology, entertainment, sports and other fields — plus foreign-word adoptions and new acronyms — the part I always head for first is the section devoted to the latest teen slang.
This year's selections included such neologisms as メガる (megaru), created by taking the Greek root "mega" for large and adding ru, the infinitive form of many Japanese verbs, to create a word that means "to get fat." Another new hybrid takes high and low levels of the English word "tension," as in tenshon takai (テンション高い, something feels good), as opposed to tenshon hikui (テンション低い, doesn't do anything for me).
A popular term was 婚活 (konkatsu, hunting for a spouse), formed by combining 婚 (kon) from kekkon (結婚, marriage) and 活 (katsu) from katsudo￣ (活動, activity).
Language scholars also pointed out the tendency of more young people to use 若干 (jakkan, a slight amount) instead of 少し (sukoshi, a little bit).
While 全然 (zenzen) is perfectly good Japanese for "utterly" or "completely," some youngsters now use multiple repetition for added emphasis, saying, "zen-zen-zen-zen-zen." (absolutely no way!), or to stress something negative, "nai-nai-nai-nai-nai."
Another trend linguists spotted is the habit of asking a question in the negative to elicit agreement, as in "~shinai? (shall we do ~?)" For example: "Makudo de tabetakunai? (Shall we eat at McDonald's?)"
On Dec. 1, as it has for 25 years, Jiyukokuminsha and its corporate sponsor U-Can, a publisher of educational materials, announced the results of its annual Ryukogo Taisho (流行語大賞, grand prix of popular expressions) poll, which names the 10 most popular terms of the year. In the latest batch are plenty of references to politics and the economy, which dominated the news during most of 2009.
Top prize went to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama for 政権交代 (seiken kōtai, changeover in political power). In a landslide election victory on Aug. 30, Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan swept the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition members from power.
Second place went to 8-year-old child actor Seishiro Kato, who played kodomo tenchō (こども店長, child store manager) in a series of popular commercials for Toyota Motor Corp.
Rounding out the top five spots were: 事業仕分け (jigyō shiwake, sorting out operations) [a euphemism for government budget trimming]; 新型インフルエンザ (shingata infuruenza, H1N1 influenza, aka swine flu); and 草食男子 (sōshoku danshi, herbivorous men).
Credited to writer Maki Fukasawa in a 2006 magazine article about marketing, the last term caught on as a reference to the growing number of passive males who defy typical notions of masculinity.
Another word continuing to appear in the media is 派遣切り (haken-giri, temp-worker cutbacks). From the end of the 2008 fiscal year (March 31, 2009), many workers from 人材派遣会社 (jinzai haken gaisha, human resource dispatch firms) were laid off due to budget-cutting measures. Several hundred of these unfortunates congregated in Hibiya Park in the center of Tokyo, forming a "hobo camp" that the media named 派遣村 (haken-mura, temp-workers village).
Meanwhile, on Dec. 12, the annual poll conducted since 1995 by Nihon Kanji Noryoku Kentei Kyokai (日本漢字能力検定協会, the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society) chose 新 (shin or atarashii, new), as its Kanji of the Year for 2009 — following on from 変 (hen, change) for 2008.
"New" is formed from the phonetic component 斤(kin, ono, a hatchet) and a mnemonic composed of 立 (tatsu, to stand) and 木 (ki, tree). So to prepare a field for "new" cultivation, one uses a "hatchet" to fell the "trees" that "stand."
Of course, 新 is also a part of the compound 新年 (shinnen, new year). And on that note, I hereby belatedly wish everybody a happy and meaningful 2010.
[COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY NEWS]
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010
IGADGET
Toshiba Blu-ray recorders, mCube90 make life more compact
By PETER CROOKES
Blu-ray recording: If you can't beat them, don't join them — just copy their ideas and improve them. Toshiba is endeavoring to do just that having abandoned its HD-DVD format and instead opted to craft versions of Sony's brainchild, Blu-ray. Nobody can accuse Toshiba of not doing a wholehearted about face, what with three new Vardia- branded Blu-ray recorders to hit the market next month. The best of the bunch is the D-B1005K, which sports a prodigious 1-terabyte hard disk for recording up to 500 hours of high- definition TV footage. The smaller D-B305K comes with a still spacious 320-gigabyte hard disk, while the bulky D-BW1005K is in essence a D-B1005K with a VHS video recorder mixed in for good measure. All three of them are intended to make it easy to record from DVDs to Blu-ray discs, using the hard disk as temporary storage while the footage is moved from one type of disc to the other. They also come with the AVCREC format for recording high-definition content on regular DVDs. No doubt this is useful, but if the device already has Blu-ray why use such a compression format to keep using an inferior recording method? Unless it is to save cash on the pricey Blu-ray discs?
Interestingly, the new Vardias come with a remarkable seven TV tuners (a pair of terrestrial digital tuners, a pair of BS tuners, a pair of CS tuners and one analog TV tuner). The trio of paired tuners allow users to record one program in that format while watching a second. The three recorders also each have an HDMI interface, a USB port, LAN connectivity and an SD memory-card slot for playing video off a memory card. All three cope with the full variety of DVD and Blu-ray discs. The two straight Blu-ray recorders measure 430 × 61 × 318 mm, with the VHS credentials pushing the lines out to 435 × 100 × 399 mm. The D-B305K is the lightweight of the bunch, in more than just capacity, as it weighs 4.3 kg, with the D-B1005K coming in at 4.5 kg. Again, the D-BW1005K bulks up, to 7.2 kg. Despite their different sizes, all three have the same dark look, which shows that digital-recorder makers put as much thought into appearances as most PC makers do.
Toshiba's products are heavy on the features, a fact reflected in their price tags. The D-B305K quite naturally is cheapest at ¥99,800, with its big brother costing ¥129,800. The D-BW1005K carries the highest price tag of ¥139,800. If you want devices with less credential there are plenty of cheaper choices, although Toshiba has certainly not lost out by being late to the market. The D-BW1005K is good for those of us who are still clinging to our VHS collections. www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2010_01/pr_j1401.htm
Go anywhere: Air passengers could find relief from having to lug around all those rechargers for their electronic devices, something that will be welcomed at airport luggage scales.
Innovative electronics-maker Innergie has teamed up with tech firm Green Plug to develop the new mCube90, a stylish gadget that fits in your palm and serves as both a universal power adapter (for laptops and USB-powered devices) and surge protector. The mCube90 is connected to mains power, or by using the included adapter and cables it becomes a power source in a car or aircraft. The device to be recharged is then connected via USB allowing it to be recharged on the go.
Just about any device that can be recharged via USB can be used with the mCube90. The adapter works on 100-240 volts, measures 128.8 × 70 × 23.6 mm and weighs 263 grams without the cables. It also has four types of surge protection built into it. The mCube90 costs $99.99 (¥9,000) from the Innergie Web site. If you travel with a lot of devices then the mCube90 makes sense. But first check out the Innergie Web site as to whether your gadgets will work with the mCube90. www.myinnergie.com/Mcube/default.aspx
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