Archive for the ‘Suggestions Please’ Category

Tired

On September 04, 2008 in DailyJ Mission, Suggestions Please

I am worn out today.

So this post might be less than inspired.

I have been thinking a lot about DailyJ and Nipponster and the other sites on the J-web.

I feel like I am losing focus. Or maybe the need that DailyJ was originally created to fill, is no longer important.

I don’t know.

When I created my first Japan-related website (now defunct) back in 2003 I wanted to create a website that would help people interested in studying at universities in Japan (foreign students).

It was supposed to be a site where current students could submit stories about their experiences. Then interested students could learn about student life in Japan from them.

It failed, the site I built after it failed, and the social networking site I built after that failed (but gave birth to Nipponster).

I learnt a lot from each of those failures, so maybe I am becoming more savvy.

On the other hand many I am not really adequately solving problems/ meeting needs.

hmmm…

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Working on a new face for Nipponster. Any ideas?

On August 30, 2008 in Suggestions Please

I am working on a new design for the Nipponster homepage and the old promotional page badges (they really need work!)

Here is the link to the current Nipponster promo badges (they are uggggggly).

Any ideas/advice on a new design?

I might post some samples of possible new badges in the future.

I am using inkscape and gimp (both free), on a pc running puppy linux, to do the new designs. Go Linux!

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Building lists with the help of the community

On August 11, 2008 in Suggestions Please

I want to build two lists, but I need your help.

One of Japan-related forums

and the other for Japan-related job sites.

They will be for an upcoming Nipponster forum search and job search engine. (you can beta test them here:  job search , forum search - at your own risk )

I have small lists that I’ve created on my own but I want to make lists that the Japan-related web community can add to, comment on, and rate.

So I created searches for them on Nipponster.

Here they are! You can add to the list, comment, and rate. I will use them to make the new search engines

What are the best Japan-related forums on the web?

What are the best Japan-related job sites on the web?

Let me know what you think.

And have a good day,
DailyJ

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Japan Blog Search Engine

On August 10, 2008 in Suggestions Please

I am testing out a new search engine on Nipponster and would love any feedback you could give me.

The Nipponster Japan Blog Search Engine

Right now it is at the early, egg-sucking stage.

It will need lots of tweaking.

But I just want to launch it already and get some feedback.

So, what do you think?

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Mission & Passion

On August 07, 2008 in Suggestions Please

I started DailyJ as an offshoot of Nipponster. With Nipponster I helped create a Japan-related website with the goal of helping other “Japan-enthusiasts” (people with some interest or vested-interest in Japan).

Starting it made me interested in connecting with other people who had started Japan-related websites and blogs. I wanted to hear about what they were doing and why they loved doing it. I wanted to hear their stories and know that I wasn’t alone.

I think, quite accidentally, I found something that was really needed: A community for Japan-related webmasters and bloggers; a place where they could tell their story and connect with others. (And I met some very cool people in the process) 

I never ran out of people to interview who wanted to be interviewed. I just ran out of time and energy.

I wasn’t prepared to keep things going.

Daily blog posting is a little crazy.

But I like being a little crazy.

Let’s call it passion

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Chit-chat, Japan-related projects, and begging for feedback

On March 05, 2008 in Blog Improvements, Community building, Suggestions Please

Reminder: If you missed it I’ve been asking everyone for feedback about an upcoming discussion I hope to have here on DailyJ (and possibly elsewhere as well).

Chit Chat 

Okay. Now that the reminder is out of the way, I just want to update you guys about some of the things I’ve been doing on the Japanopedia wiki.

But before that, Let me say to any newbie people that are reading: I’ll be mentioning names of people that you might not know (here on DailyJ we are kind of close knit)  but you can always jump in and join the conversation and we’ll welcome you to the group.

There have been some good comments lately from some new people like Neil and Mike so it’s good to have them drop by and leave their 2 yen and hopefully they’ll stick around as readers.

Also, I just want to say sorry to a couple of people for slow replies. I’ve been talking to a lot of different people by email. I have some interviews that are really backed up, especially one great interview with certain podcasters. I interviewed them a while back and they got all the answers to me really quickly  and I’ve been so slow. But I’m getting to it,  and I am working on better organisation. 

Japan-related Projects 

The main thing that I want to do in this post is just talk about some of the upcoming projects on Japanopedia.

I am making a new project page for JapanSoc. It’s a page that lists video tutorials made so far for the project. There are 2 video tutorials currently: One that I’ve made which isn’t very good quality, the sound didn’t work. And another one that Nick made which is quite good.

Hopefully, with this page, somebody else might join in and make a tutorial too, to help out the project. The next project after the JapanSoc is NihonHacks. I have been talking to Thomas about a project to help brainstorm new NihonHacks and problems we want NihonHacks for.

So I’m putting both of these projects on the wiki. They are not done yet but hopefully they will be good once they are upI will let you all know when these pages are ready. 

Begging for feedback

* Changing the name of the Japanopeda. Shall we change it to “Japan Labs?”

* Many emails between bloggers. Would some of this dailog be better in the open. This is the old mailing list idea.

 Just some ideas I had.

Have a great day!

DailyJ

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“The Japan-related Web” Revisited

On February 28, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Suggestions Please

“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.” — Samuel Adams

I’ve always loved a good quote. Maybe it is time we set brush fires in some minds!

If you have been a DailyJ reader for a litttle while now you probably know that last month I guest-blogged a series of posts about “the Japan-related web” on RisingSunOfNihon.com. If you missed that discussion you could read/skim through the series or just stay tuned for the discussions to come.

The series wasn’t perfect but hopefully it laid the foundation for a larger discussion about our community, the community of Japan-related sites, forums and blogs.

My hope is that the idea of a community (and by necessity communication) will be “stolen” and talked about by others on their websites. (”stolen” because I don’t need any credit. It is our idea not mine anyway.)

To review the series, I want to go back through your comments and the best parts of the posts and bring them forward again for real discussion.

So the goal is for us to have a more in depth discussion about them, but first I want to hear from you guys about how we should do this. What can we do to make the conversation livelier than it was the last time?

(It seems like it started off lively and then technical problems killed it)

Also, what kind of topics do you want to discuss (that were not covered) or re-discuss?

One thing I definitely want to do with this review is have Japan-site makeovers. So, if you have a Japan related website and want the community to give you feedback and assistance with improving your site, we have an opportunity for you to do that with Japan site make over. I’ll be giving more details about this later, but if you want in early on the list you can contact me at eaglelandgrace [atto] gmail [dotto] com.

Have a great day

DailyJ

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Japanopedia better explained (hopefully)

On February 20, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Japanopedia, Suggestions Please

Some background in case you are new: Japanopedia is a project on wikia.com (from the creators of wikipedia). Here are some previous posts about it, more explanation to come.

I think I have confused some people with the Japanopedia project. Thankfully Shane has pointed that out:

I applaud you for starting this project and maybe I missed something - what is the goal? Who is it geared toward? Is it meant to be a ‘click-through’ resource pointing to more detailed information or the source of the information itself?

I am having a hard time figuring out how little ‘ol me can support the project?

First, Shane is complete right about me not explaining the project very well. Thanks Shane! I forget that you cannot read my mind to find out.

Here is what I’d like Japanopedia to be, in a nutshell:

A tool for people to use to collaborate on projects to enhance Japan-related information online.

Ok. That is a pretty short, general explanation and I am bound to be pounced on in the comments for it. If you like short explanations you can skip down to the bullet points below and get a good overview of what Japanopedia is/isn’t. For those who like detail, to redeem myself, I am going to answer each of Shane’s questions now:

#1 What is the goal?

The goal is to give the Japan-related web community a central place where they can collaborate on whatever projects they’d like.

For example: Let’s say you want to start a page to compile a list of all the best beginner Japanese lessons from Youtube. You could start the page and then tell other interested people about it. With several hands doing the compiling it should make for a bigger list.

#2 Who is it geared toward?

The site is a little more geared towards webmasters and bloggers (especially at this point) than to general readers. It is not really meant to be [only] an encyclopedia, so maybe the name should be changed. At some point it would be nice if it had articles on everything under the sun but that’s not the only goal.

#3 Is it meant to be a ‘click-through’ resource pointing to more detailed information or the source of the information itself?

I’m glad you asked this question, and I was planning on mentioning it. Mainly it will be click-thru. That’s because Japanopedia is supposed to be a support to all of the projects and sites out there and not a copy or competition.

That said, it has the potential to offer some of the most complete guides available on a topic. Wikipedia only includes encyclopedia-worthy information. So although we would not copy the wikipedia article (just link to it) , we could add information that wikipedia does not (extra related links and video, for example) .

#4 I am having a hard time figuring out how little ‘ol me can support the project?

There are two things that I recommend we all do: stay curious, and let your imagination run wild.

Stay curious because more and more will be going on with Japanopedia as it progresses. New projects are going to come up and you might find some that interest you.

But don’t just wait hoping for interesting projects to come up, suggest them. Let your imagination run wild! I know Shane likes kotowaza and mentioned maybe having a page to compile them on Japanopedia. I can start a project for that (and I am working on a page to make it easier for people to start projects on their own). If you want to start something and you want my help just ask!

Some extra tips on Japanopedia

• don’t think of it as a launched site (a finished project). More as a work in progress
• don’t consider it an information destination in itself, just a guide
• consider it a behind the scenes project that fuels collaboration
• consider it a project to highlight and help other Japan-related projects

Let’s hear from you (a.k.a I’m talking too much)

The comment section below is just screaming for you to write your thoughts!

Do you have any questions?

If you have any questions about the project please ask them and I will post them along with an answer in subsequent “Q and A” posts (if you don’t want me to post them write “don’t post”).

Do you have a project you would like me to help you start?

Fire up the imagination factory, come up with an idea, and then let me know about it in the comments. I will post it and everyone can contribute feedback to get the project started.

That’s all the typing I can take for now.

As always let me know what you think

And have a great day!

DailyJ

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23 - 25 of “The Japan-related Web” series. An apology. And please give your feedback

On January 30, 2008 in #The Japan-related Web Debate, Suggestions Please

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 are snippets from the most recent posts.

Hi. All. posts 23, 24, and 25 are up on RisingSun.

23 talks about what every webmaster wants and five ways to get it
24 talks about an easy way to draw attention to your site.
25 talks about why you have to take the initiative by giving first, and then you get.

I know from feedback from many of you that the series has been hard to follow. Although some things were beyond my control, I definitely will admit that I could have done a better job with this series and I apologise that it was not at the level that we were all hoping for.

But I think it is undeniable that this topic is one that we are all very interested in. I feel that way because of all the feedback and interest that this series has had despite my poor execution of it. Hopefully, we will not end the discussion here but continue with it on different blogs and with different voices guiding the way (of course I am always willing to blog about it more too). So I suppose the question is:

Where do we go from here?

I have some thoughts on this question too, but I want to open the floor to your ideas. What do you think?

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Where all the action is

On January 26, 2008 in Announcements, Suggestions Please

There are many posts, updates, and interviews in the works but I am going to skip them for today. That is partly because I need a little break, but also that is because all of the action is in the comment section of this post.

In case you are new, we are discussing:

1. JapanSoc - a digg.com for Japan-related news
2. Japanopedia - a wikipedia-like project
3. The Japan-related web (what it is, what it could be, and why it matters) series.

These are all connected to the idea of a Japan-blogger community. Is it an idea that’s time has come?

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