Archive for the ‘Japanese Toolbar’ Category
May Toolbar Improvements
On May 27, 2009 in Japanese Toolbar
I have been rather inactive on the J-web lately but it is always on my mind.
Instead I have been digging deeper into the soul searching I started at the end of last year. And I have been tapping into what my passions truly are which I think will ultimately do me and any project I choose to work on more good than just doing something for the sake of [fill in the blank].
But I have been actively working on small constant improvements to the j-web community toolbar.
Here is the latest addition:
1) Furigana Generator!
Working on a document and want to add furigana on top of all or some of the kanji?
Furigana Generator can help. I’ve put a link to it on the toolbar under the “tools” menu.
http://mosquito.dyndns.tv/~spock/furi/
I also added a link under “japan links” to http://tokyo-vr.com/
Tokyo VR is website with neat virtual reality style panoramic shots of places in Tokyo. They are interactive so you can pan around and zoom in. The Tokyo Undergroad shots are rather interesting.
Diddlefinger.com - I was think of adding this but I don’t know if it will be useful. It is a google maps mashup where you can search google maps japan in English.
I’d really like to make this toolbar more useful. I am definitely not satisfied yet…
Take JapanSoc on the go! J-web Community toolbar upgrade
On April 17, 2009 in Announcements, Japanese Toolbar
Hi all,
As part of my commitment to make the community japanese language toolbar a force for enhancing collaboration on the Japan-related web I’ve just added a cool new feature:
Floating JapanSoc Widgets! (see screenshot below)
JapanSoc floating widget
“Why should I care?” you say?
Well, if you are a Jsoc’er you can use this handy tool to keep up with the latest Top and Upcoming stories on JapanSoc, without being on JapanSoc.
So let’s say you are “busy” watching Youtube videos but you also want to see if there is anything new on JapanSoc - now you can!
“Give me the widget already!”
First you have to have the japanese language toolbar. Once you have that, on the toolbar go to “japan links” and find the new “JapanSoc” section. In that section click on either “top stories popup” or “upcoming stories popup”
The popup can be resized using the resize thingy (what do you call those?) on the bottom right.
I hope it will be of use to you.
As always, let me know what you think! I’m all ears.
Have a great day,
DailyJ
Power to the people - the Japanese Toolbar belongs to you
On March 25, 2009 in Community building, Japanese Toolbar
I’ve just finished a wiki page for the Japanese Toolbar on JapanSoc.org.
The purpose of this page is to put the creative direction of the toolbar into the hands of the users. It is now more than ever your toolbar!
The goal of this project is also to encourage a “open-source” style of collaboration on Japan-related web projects. (Thanks Nick)
As always I’d looove to hear your feedback!
Have a great day,
DailyJ
Nipponster Toolbar gets a makeover
On February 26, 2009 in Japanese Toolbar, Uncategorized
It’s been awhile.
Being away from the action is never fun and I am glad to have found some inspiration and time to make some updates and post them.
I am always lurking and seeing things here and there though.
So much is going on lately on the J-web and I am anxious to talk about it and find out about it from the people involved.
But to start I thought I’d better make good on my word and finish working out some suggestions Nick (whom I cannot thank enough) sent me for the Nipponster Toolbar.
So here they are (thank Nick):
The radio&tv section has been cleaned up a bit
I put a link to BillWest’s JapanBlogger.net for the “Blogs, Podcasts and Videos” section of the “Japan Links”
And I added to the “Japan Links -> Forums and Communities” section also, including a link to the JapanSoc community blog
Now you can also have the largest RSS feed of Japan blogs on the planet right on your browser with the Japan Blog Big RSS feed
And, best of all, I’ve included Tofugu’s “Top 10 Japanese Language Resources” to the Japan Links section. It is a great list for learning Japanese and now each of the 10 a available right from your browser.
I am excited about the new toolbar updates and I am hoping to roll out more soon. Especially ones that will make the Tofugu resources even easier to use.
So, if you haven’t taken it for a spin yet be sure to try out the Nipponster toolbar today.
Well, that’s all from me, what is happening on your side of the J-web?
upgrades and improvements
On January 08, 2009 in Announcements, Blog Improvements, Japanese Toolbar
Upgrading the blog to wordpress 2.7. Holding breathe that it all works…
Improving the Nipponster Toolbar (based on suggestions. Thanks Nick!). More on that later.
Gone to the mountain (see you in December)
On November 05, 2008 in Announcements, Japanese Toolbar
Life is keeping me from blogging…
In part that is a good thing because actually, despite how much I hype it, the J-web isn’t everything (did I just admit that? 
). We humans need balance and that is what this post is about.
I have a life outside of blogging that is also very fulfilling and I am happy about that.
And then there is also work… Work is fulfilling in its own way too. I work at a small company where I’m fortunate to work often directly with the founder. I’ve learnt much on the job and it has helped me gain useful experience I will need on the path to what I ultimately would like to do (it also pays the bills). That said it really takes up my time.
I also have my own business. I incorporated a little over 3 years ago (I was still in uni at the time - I always bite off more than I can chew) and have been playing around with different business ideas ever since. Business is one of my passions.
My ideal business would be one that:
- is completely remote (I want to be able to work from anywhere with an internet connection)
- combines web technology with business ingenuity
- leverages application service providers (ASPs, also called Saas) and outsourcing so I only focus of the area where I add the most value
- engages my three passions: Japan, business, and web technology
When I started I was working on a few web ventures and I am still working on one of them (an ecommerce store). As I was working on these a friend asked me to develop a website for his small business (and do some online marketing), he referred his contacts and they’ve referred people and I’ve been focusing on that ever since. Maybe I’ll be able to quit my other job someday and just do this (although admittedly my web design skills need work).
Of course, if money was not an issue I would just create useful Japan-related websites and tools to help people all day… Who knows, maybe that is a possibility too.
I have a lot of thinking to do. So I am going up to the proverbial mountain top (I plan to post again starting Dec. 1) .
After this little sojourn of meditation I will hopefully have [rested and] asked myself some very deep life questions.
I like doing this type of internal reflection. And I’ve decided from now on to do reflecting of this level at least once a year. This year I will be making my first personal mission statement an idea I took from Stephen Covey’s very good book First Things First.
Two other good books that will be reviewing on the mountaintop are Good To Great by Jim Collins and Go It Alone by Bruce Judson. I highly recommend both of them (for anyone who enjoys business books).
See you in December,
The Chemist
p.s. Nick, thanks again for the toolbar suggestions! I will be working on them during the hiatus.
Rikai Widgets on the Nipponster Japan Toolbar
On October 23, 2008 in Announcements, Japanese Toolbar, On the J-web, Resources, Suggestions Please
Working on too many things…
Thankfully I made time for things that matter too.
I have caught up with my email (inbox zero!) and replied to all comments (hopefully).
I also added some goodies to the Nipponster Japan Toolbar for you.
They are from Rikai’s “syndicate me” page.
By putting them on the Japan Toolbar users like you can access them right from your browser! (good for extra laziness)
Here is what it looks like:
Of course you have to download/install the Japan Toolbar if you haven’t already (it’s easy).
Here are the rikai widgets in action (of course with the toolbar you don’t have to come here to use them):
Kanji of the day -
Kanji recall quiz -
Japanese phrase of the day -
Japan photo of the day -
I have the sneaky suspicion that I have set these up on the toolbar wrong (they may not update daily), I will check them later to see if they update. If you notice any problems let me know, yeah?
And if you have any suggestions for the Japan Toolbar just let me know. I’m at your service.
Have a great day
DailyJ
Japan-related Google gadgets and upcoming posts!
On February 18, 2008 in Announcements, Japanese Toolbar, Resources
I’m working on a few big upcoming posts. One of them will hopefully better explain the Japanopedia project. The others should spark a lot discussion and, even better, collaboration.
In the meantime I thought I’d post a little blurb about Japan-related Google Gadgets.
There are some really nice gadgets available that you can add to your site or your iGoogle page (and other places too, I think). You can search or browse through them from the main Google Gadget page. I like to search through these for ideas and possible add-ons for the Nipponster Japan toolbar and I thought you might like them too.
Here are the gadgets for the search term “Japan.”
There are a couple of interesting ones: kanji of the day gadget, flickr pictures of Japan, and Duck Hunt (ok. maybe that last one is a bad example 
)
Also there are the gadgets I’ve included below (and look! I stumbled on a Japan-Hopper one):
Thank yous and lots of Japan-related web activity!
On February 17, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Community building, Japanese Toolbar, On the J-web
It’s time for me to thank some generous fellow Japan-bloggers who’ve made some nice things for me. I’m really grateful for the great crowd here at DailyJ. You’re alway so supportive. You guys are the best!
There has been a lot of love going around on the Japan-related web lately. Starting with KenYN’s contribution to the JapanSoc project, other bloggers have come along and contributed to several projects. Deas from RockingInHakata created some great OSX widgets for the Mac lovers out there (one day I hope to be cool enough for a Mac ). He made one for JapanSoc and another for Nipponster.com. Thanks for the widget, Deas!
The JapanSoc project has been getting better and better, which is really exciting. Nick recently posted a “JapanSoc Toolbox” on his blog LongCountDown. The toolbox is a list of all the great gadgets for JapanSoc, like gadgets to help you submit your posts to JapanSoc and boost traffic to your blog.
But as busy as he has been with JapanSoc he made time to contribute some great new logos to the community-owned wiki, Japanopedia. Thanks Nick! They look good to me (you can see them below). Now the wiki won’t look so ugly
These are just a few of the thank yous that deserve a mention. And which so much activity I’m sure there will be many more thank yous to come.
“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.
