One more break…
On October 09, 2008 in Announcements
urgggg.
I am behind on the upcoming interview post and trying to fight some web “fires” so I am taking a little break. Hopefully I’ll have the interview posted before the weekend.
Hope your day is better 
One small step for JapanSoc…
On October 08, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Community building, Future of the J-web, On the J-web
One small step for JapanSoc, one giant leap for the J-web!
From its start DailyJ has been a huge fan and support of the site because of its ability to bring the Japan-related web into a tight-knit community. I have said before (guest blogging on RisingSunOfNihon) that I think JapanSoc will be very significant in the future of the Japan-related web, and I think this latest feature was a step in that direction.
And perhaps, although it was just a small step (as far as difficulty) for JapanSoc, it will have a giant effect on the Japan-related web.
It seems that the way we interact, and perhaps help others, on the J-web is changing; becoming more sophisticated. And it seems that the idea of community is spreading.
I hope so! Ganbarou Jsoc!
The DailyJ Interview Recipe: 1 part Japan-enthusiasm, 2 parts love
On October 07, 2008 in Community building, DailyJ Mission, Suggestions Please
Â
Recently I had a quick exchange with Tony from TheSoulOfJapan:
- Tony Said,Would like to have my site added to your blogroll
thank you- The Chemist Said,Hi Tony,
Thanks for the comment. You have a good looking J-blog. I like sites that have a niche (in your case, onsen and sake).I actually don’t have a blogroll…
I have an interviewee roll. So as you can imagine the only way on there is through an interview. Luck for you, I would be more than happy to interview you
What do you say?- Tony Said,Sounds good. I am ready for your interview anytime.
I love receiving requests for interviews! (Btw, thanks Tony for stopping by and commenting and sharing your site with me). I love going out and contacting J-sites for interviews too. But I hate not having the time to do more interviews and to do them better.
I give every interview my all, but with limited time it is hard to interact with the interviewee (sending emails back in forth) in a timely manner and give them the attention they deserve.
I want to interview everyone, the problem is time. (If anyone has a possible solution, or even a silly one for laughs , I’m all ears)
The idea for this post (a post explaining what goes into a DailyJ interview) came to me a little over a week ago. I must have been think about DailyJ and my other projects that day because I woke up in the middle of the night with a dozen ideas in my head. So I grabbed my trusty notebook and wrote down this post.Â
My reasons for writing it are twofold: 1) to try to justify my often horrible reply speed with the excuse that I put in a lot of work :) and 2) to show how I feel about everyone I interview and doing interviews in general (i.e. my slowness is not out of disinterest or disrespect).
 Â
The Secret Sauce: the DailyJ interview process
- Make The Shopping List
- Go out and find interesting Japan-related sites; Sites are recommended by readers
- Research the sites; see what they are doing and why it is cool, unique, etc.
- Formulate specific questions related to their site (to send along with general questions)
- Contact with questions, excitement, and interest!
- Wait/hope for a reply
- Yay! They replied!
- (maybe)Â Ask some additional questions/questions about their answers, if they have time for it.
- Digest the answers; Try to get a feel for who they are and (if applicable) what their message is.
- Return to the site and find any extra content that compliments the answers; Go deep; Love the site; what makes it unique from all others? Why cool/interesting?
- Group the answers to create the best possible flow.
- Try to make the mission or uniqueness of the site clear through attention grabbing titles and short but informative introductions.
- Never edit out what interviewees say (except maybe to “bleep” over a few “sentence enhancers” :), hey DailyJ is PG 13 at most)
- Always ask (sometimes force <– in jest) readers to take specific actions related to the interviewee site. For example: “go read this; check this out; subscribe to this or I’ll break your arm; etc.”
- Review/ proofread/ make it pretty : add more pics, edit things here and there.
- Post! (maybe in parts, to the chagrin of some
) - Promote (maybe the most important part). Promoting the interviewee, not necessarily the interview
- Find ways to help them get the word out. Nowdays this is easier because of JapanSoc, our nifty community watercooler.
- Also if I see a connection between two interviewees (or just an interviewee and a site I know of) I might mention it to them. Connections are key (<–see posts that start with “Connections”).
- Maintaining the relationship (I have much room for improvement
):Â Keeping up with past interviewees blog posts; commenting;Â seeing if there are any new developments. This is the hardest part because of the time invovled, but it is one of the most important.
Shop
Examine Ingredients
Chop, Mix, Bake
 
voilà . bon appétit!
残り物
So that’s the DailyJ interview process!
It is actually a lot of work. I suppose I must be crazy to put in the effort. But I love doing it. It is one of those things that I would glad do forever for free (since none of you cheapskates will pay me  j/k).
I really enjoy learning about other people’s sites and projects. And communicating with other Japan-bloggers keeps me from being a lonely J-blogger. Plus I desperately want people to be interested in Nipponster and my pet projects so I want to show that kind of interest first.
Well, I hope that I’ve interested you in a DailyJ interview (if you haven’t had one already). Or maybe I’ve just made you hungry. I know I am (stupid pictures!). On that note, I’m off to find some sushi.
Have a great day!
DailyJ
Short hiatus
On October 04, 2008 in Announcements
I am going on hiatus for a couple of days (until Tuesday).
I need the time for some things I want to bring you readers:
- I’m working on an interview (one that I should have posted long ago)
- Also, I’ve had a number of requests for interviews (and interviews I am initiating) so I need some time to make questions and send them.
- I am writing a post about my interview process, to give you a behind the scenes look at how things work here at DailyJ
See you after the hiatus!
Have a great day
DailyJ
Late night web tinkering…
On October 03, 2008 in Announcements, JapanLabs, Nerd Rant
(nerd post)
I wrote this after staying up way too late (something I very rarely do), so it’s not Shakespeare.
I exported the files from the old Official Nipponster Blog (blogger) to a new wordpress I am working on.
The new wordpress installation is for a new Nipponster Laboratory. This one will give me a place to showcase new experiments and will link to the Nipponster group on JapanLabs.org (more info) to allow users to discuss the experiments.
//
Exporting the blog from blogger.com to wordpress was not easy but I managed. But then I noticed that some of the videos and other media didn’t export… 
//
The labs site’s theme is very minimalist. That was on purpose. I like simple (like Craigslist). I might customise it a bit later. But I need to create a better logo for Nipponster first.
Youtube videos! In honor of the technically-challenged and the tireless techies who support them
On October 03, 2008 in Nerd Rant
This may be my first completely non-Japan-related post ever. It was prompted by a youtube video that was just like an experience I had once at work.
I’ve worked with many less technically inclined people over the years and have had to help them with their websites, computers, and equipment. If you’ve ever done something similar the following might be familiar.
Pattern 1:
It never fails that something goes wrong due to something stupid they have done (and they will never admit any guilt) and yet they get upset with you about it.
You are mesmerised by their amazing level of ignorance and simultaneously furious about the stupid thing they’ve just done. Then you step in and save the day.
Pattern 2 (the Dilbert Effect):
Your boss/client, who can figure out how to turn on his computer on a good day, comes to you with some sort of suggestion that is completely stupid. Maybe even beyond stupid. It goes contrary to anything that could possibly be useful, efficient, or effective. That’s right, it would take a massive amount of time, energy, and resources to complete and be totally useless once completed. But that is the boss’s suggestion.
I’m no managerial genius but it seems to me that asking the person, who understands how the technical things work, whether or not something is a good idea might be a good idea!!
So then, you as the techie, have two choices. One, explain to the boss (who probably won’t understand unless you draw it in crayon) that he is an idiot and his suggestion is the stupidest thing you have ever heard. Or two, do the stupid idea, watch it fail miserably, watch the boss deny responsibility and shift it to you, then go and fix it the way it should have been done (or just quit).
Anyway, enough rant. Here are the videos!.
(sadly, I had to teach someone to do the same thing just last week. j/k)
(the part where he talks to Beth is hilarious)
Busy, busy, busy
On October 02, 2008 in On the J-web
I’ve been off catching up with conversations here and there, on other blogs and JapanSoc. So just a quick post today.
As some already know, JapanBlogger.net had technical problems and is down
I hope Billy will be able to rebuild it soon
JLPT not worth it? Rather likely. And All Japanese All The Time
On October 01, 2008 in Interviews we'd like to do, On the J-web, Resources
As a hater of standardised testing this post on AllJapaneseAllTheTime about the JLPT makes a lot sense.
Khatzu is another amazing writer (like yesterday’s firefly). I’ve always liked Khatzu’s blog but haven’t spent as much time on it as I probably should (I wish I had 48hrs in a day. Of course, I’d only give you 24 ), so I thought I’d make up for that with a little post.
My favourite part of the post is that is a really cool rant (which I’m also known for. ok, maybe mine aren’t as cool) and at the same time very informative.
Khatzu, if you are reading, keep up the great work!
Firefly - the novel
On September 30, 2008 in On the J-web, fun
One of my favourite Japan stories is Firefly at your-japan.com’s “sagaâ€
A post over at the JapanSoc blog reminded me of it so I went again to his site and noticed that he has released a prequel to his Japan novel (Firefly wants to publish a book).
It’s available for free download: Firefly Short Novel - The Prequel
Let’s hope Firefly realises his dream of being published. He can tell a good story!
But don’t take my word for it, read his “The worst language mistake in history”
And have a great day
DailyJ
Supporting JapanSoc
On September 29, 2008 in Announcements, Blog Improvements, Community building, DailyJ Mission, Future of the J-web, Helping Japan Bloggers
Just a quick but important post today.
I (finally) put up a JapanSoc widget on DailyJ to help spread the idea of JapanSoc and a J-blogger community.
on the bottom of it you can click “get widget” and get one for your site. Go for it!
and check out the Jsoc toolbox
Let’s support our community-driven Japan-related news source.
