Archive for the ‘Community building’ Category
When?
On February 07, 2008 in Community building, On the J-web
Chris B Said,When lord…will a site be made that is teacher friendly?
All the forums are littered with flamers and snobs. The Soc is great but not for English teachers.If you didn’t know it you would think none of these people teach? Do they?What is it like to get paid to do a job and NOT want to be the best? I must be extremely competitive because I can’t even imagine not wanting to be #1??
Where are the sites showcasing ESL classes? Why no websites competing over which teacher can get the most students with high scores on the Eiken? Where have all the teachers gone?
Japan Meme Fun!
On January 30, 2008 in Community building
<–One of Deas’ Japanese LOL cats 
To warm everyone’s laughing muscles up for our upcoming interview (with some very funny people) I am attempting humour by passing on this meme I found on Erizabesu’s blog, Basic Black. I think the idea is to answer the questions on your own blog, but I’m not sure and I figured I better not bother Erizabesu about it because she knows ninjutsu!
Anyway, here goes:
1. What’s your favorite Japanese food?
shabu shabu or yakitori (which also seems to be my unofficial nickname. Tori -> yakitori)
2. What sound in the urban environment do you like best?
Irashaimase!
3. What is your favorite TV show? *added*
Doraemon. It was one of the first Japanese TV shows I ever watched and is still my favourite (there, I admitted it)
4. Who is your favorite celebrity?
Bobby. I have some mates from university who were in Tsuri Baka Nishi 16 with him (they were extras, but it still counts
5. Do you speak Japanese?
Only if coerced.
6. Can you read Japanese?
Yep. I haven’t taken the JLPT yet but I am pretty sure I am in between 2kyu and 1kyu. I finished Advanced Japanese 1 at Sophia U.
7. When did you first come to Japan?
2002. Of all days, I had to fly on September 11, 2002.
8. Do you like karaoke?
I had a few all night karaoke stints in my Sophia days.
10. What are your favorite books by Japanese authors?
Does Cooking Papa count?
11. What’s the best holiday you’ve had in Japan?
It is a toss up between my trip to Nagoya and hiking (lost) 80+ kilos in the countryside with my crazy Indonesian friend.
12. Have you ever been in the media in Japan?
No. Hey, where are my 15 minutes of gaijin fame?
13. What do you think about Japanese Macaque monkeys?
They’re hilarious. One stole my friend’s hat.
14. What is the best way to experience Japan? *added*
Student exchange. Best year of my life in Japan. Naive and care-free.
15. What aspect of Japanese culture has made an indellible impression on you?
“Hard Gay.” He reminds me that there are some things Japanese I will never understand.
Erizabesu is calling on you:
“Fellow Japanese residents, foreign and Japanese alike, please steal this list! Add your own questions, too.” (link to the original list)
Upcoming interview with a wikia veteran (and a sneak peek)- a good mentor for the Japanopedia project
On January 27, 2008 in Announcements, Community building
Ok. I will have to make this post quick because unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time today.
Some background in case you are new:Japanopedia is a project on wikia.com (from the creators of wikipedia). Here is a previous post about it, more explanation to come. |
A few days ago Shun, organiser of the Japanese arm of Wikia, commented about Japanopedia. So I contacted him and asked him some questions.
One of those questions was:
What advice would you give for the Japanopedia wiki project going forward? How can we build a successful wiki?
He mentioned 4 important areas (see below). I am not going to post all of what he said just yet. But I just wanted to announce that I talked to him and he is trying to help however he can.
That’s all.
Have a great day!
DailyJ
4 areas:
* seeding
* promotion
* navigation
* communication
Connections On The J-web
On January 21, 2008 in Community building, DailyJ Mission, On the J-web
The last time I did a “connections” post was December 5th, so this is much over due.
It’s time to talk a look at what some of the past DailyJ interviewees have been up to and see if we can find connections. I just mentioned on The Japan-related Web series how connections may become opportunities for webmasters to collaborate. I don’t know if these connections will lead to that, but at least I hope they are fun.
Here we go:
#1
Jamaipanese has vowed that he will “tame the beast that is the Japanese language”
RisingSunOfNihon might be of some help with his new Japanese language posts
Thomas from NihonHacks.com recommends AllJapaneseAllTheTime, and I agree.
#2
Meme-tagging between JapanNewbie and RockingInHakata
#3
KeepingPaceInJpan and Waikiki2Yanai talk dentists
KeepingPaceInJapan’s post mentions a service called Access Dental Counseling which would be a perfect tip for NihonHacks to cover!By the way, Turner from KeepingPaceInJapan is going in for surgery so why not take a moment to give him an encouraging comment?
Japanopedia explained - post #1: background on the project
On January 20, 2008 in Announcements, Community building, Future of the J-web, Japanopedia, Suggestions Please
I have been wanting for some time to talk about this project here with you on DailyJ.
This is a project that is very dear to my heart. I consider it a gift to the Japan-related web.
It is a wikipedia-like site that is not owned by any one person or site, but owned by everyone.
When the idea of a wikipedia-like site was first suggested to me I went out and started a wiki on wikia.com called The Nipponster Japan Project and I wrote this post about it: Stone soup and the Nipponster Japan Project.
I think that post is still a great analogy for the project, but since I cannot and do not want to take credit for this project I asked the wikia staff to change the name to Japanopedia.
For ease of use, you can access it at Japanopedia.org, which redirects to the wikia.com URL jproject.wikia.com.
So,
Now it is your wiki. You can use this site for any Japan-related project. You want to work together with others to compile a list of XYZ? Go right ahead.
I will be involved in Japanopedia (and if you want my help with any project I am happy to help). But I don’t control Japanopedia, the community does.
I’ll post more explaining this project, how it works, how it is community owned, what types of projects would work well on it, etc.
As always I would love to hear your feedback, so let me know what you think!
“JapanSoc It” Button on the Nipponster Japan Toolbar
On January 19, 2008 in Announcements, Community building, DailyJ Mission, Future of the J-web, Japanese Toolbar
After a little delay here it is!
I have created a little button so users can submit an article to JapanSoc just by clicking “JapanSoc It” on the toolbar. I am going to give more details here, but first let’s take a look at JapanSoc itself:
JapanSoc.com, in case you haven’t heard, is a social bookmarking site (think Digg.com) for Japan-related news. Why is this site so important? To explain with an analogy, it could be the “watercooler” of the Japan-related blogosphere; a hub around which J-bloggers (and others besides) can gather and share news.
After announcing that we would release a “JapanSoc It” button Nick informed me that there is already a bookmarklet available. You can read about it here.
I still wanted to give our current toolbar users a “JapanSoc It” button, so I continued with the project. Hopefully the button will attract those users to the JapanSoc project.
For anyone who is not yet a toolbar user and interested in what it has to offer:
The Nipponster Japan Toolbar is a browser toolbar with various features and resources (including Japanese language tools and internet broadcast Japanese tv). We are continually adding to the toolbar and tweaking the functions already available. You can download the Japan toolbar here.
Post #5 of “The Japan-related Web†guest-blogging-series on Rising Sun of Nihon
On January 10, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Announcements, Community building
| If you are just joining us, this month Bill from Rising Sun Of Nihon has invited me to use his blog as a platform where we can all come together and discuss the Japan-related web! Here is today’s snippet. |
Today we are talking about news on the Japan-related web. Here’s a little taste:
“Who is looking for what kind of news? Why? Why online? And how are they looking for it?”
Here is the full article. Feel free to join the conversation!
Post #4 of “The Japan-related Web†guest-blogging-series on Rising Sun of Nihon
On January 09, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Announcements, Community building
| If you are just joining us, this month Bill from Rising Sun Of Nihon has invited me to use his blog as a platform where we can all come together and discuss the Japan-related web! Here is today’s snippet. |
In today’s post there are 9 questions I ask about sites on the J-web,
“If you are a blogger or webmaster these might be good questions for you to ask yourself…”
But, uh oh. You’ll have to go over to RisingSunOfNihon to see them 
Be sure to leave your thoughts.
And they’re off! - the conversation is warming up over at The Japan-related Web “debate”
On January 09, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Announcements, Community building
(It’s not really a debate, but I just thought that made for a flashier title)
There are some great comments already over at The Japan-related Web series. I thought I would highlight a few here.
#1 Neil said:
An interesting discussion, i’m keen to participate and see where it goes but i’m not sure what exactly is expected of me?
I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant but I said this.
#2 Nick from JapanSoc said:
Let me twist that into “What is expected of Japan bloggers?”
What should we be blogging about? What do people want to read? It’s always a good rule of thumb to put yourself in the reader’s position…How about expectations within the Japan bloggers’ community? Perhaps we should be expected to introduce our readers to other bloggers around us…
(This is an excerpt, to read the full click here)
Thanks Nick for the great comment. I have added my thoughts too.
#3 Chris from Waikiki2Yanai said on the first post:
As an owner of a small English School in Japan, I have been very surprised to see how few in the same position have a blog?
I think that’s an interesting point. There are bloggers who talk about their experiences with Eikaiwa companies but I don’t see many bloggers talking about their classes, students and all of the fun things they are doing like Chris does on Waikiki2Yanai.
Be sure to join the fun and leave your thoughts too! This is your discussion and it will be going on all month long. And hopefully it will foster a greater sense of community on the J-web. All it needs is you!
Post #3 of “The Japan-related Web†guest-blogging-series on Rising Sun of Nihon
On January 08, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Announcements, Community building, DailyJ Mission, Future of the J-web
Post #3 is up. I wanted to divide (dissect) the Japan-related content available into parts so that we can study it closely. I ended up with seven categories. And that is what is post is all about.
First of all, we need to know, what kinds of sites are there? I propose that, whether big or small, most sites offer one or a combination of the following:
Be sure to give your comments on the article!
