Category Archives: design

iBook iSurgery

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gutting fish 1

Over a year ago, T’s iBook gasped its last breaths. The hard disc drive had died. I guess it happens every few years to every computer. It had never happened to either of us. But it was all good since she just went out and bought a beautiful Macbook. The dead iBook had served us well, functioning as our DVD player, stereo system, as well as the usual computer functions, during our time in England. We had worked it pretty hard for three years.

Last week I dug it out of its grave and gave it a brain transplant. A much bigger brain than it had before. I was surprised at how big and cheap memory has become. It had 40 gigabytes of memory before. Now it’s got 120 gigs, twice as much as my own iBook. Even 120 gigs is now modest. New computers now come in tetrabyes. But I don’t think it will get much bigger. The trend seems to be to have all of your music, photos and documents, as well as the applications to use them, in cyberspace. For instance, you can have all your photos on flickr, and then edit them online. Apple’s newest laptop, the Macbook Air, doesn’t even have a dvd drive, anticipating this trend. Soon computers will just get you online, and all your files and applications will be accessible from any terminal.

So I’ve never done iSurgery before. I hunted down some good instructions on the internet, lured my inner-geek out of hiding, and bought the hard disc drive and some tools that seemed to be designed for dismantling bombs. I got all the supplies from Akihabara, which is the area of Tokyo packed with tech stores. It’s probably the only area of Tokyo that is completely devoid of beautiful stylish women. In fact, I only saw three women there that afternoon. If you’re more comfortable around wires, switches and motherboards than you are around women, Akihabara is where you want to go.

I love tools and electronics. But like Las Vegas it’s good up to a point and then it’s too much; you have to go back to reality. And it’s only like Vegas, except that there’s no gambling, alcohol, and the aforementioned women.

So my science project resulted in:

  • 3 kinds of screwdrivers
  • 1 egg carton
  • 1 iBook
  • 1 hard disc drive
  • 3.5 hours
  • 45 screws
  • temporary loss of sight

Most of it was pretty easy, if you’re ultra careful and organized, except for two steps. Removing the outer case was like prying a glass of cognac from Kim Jong Il’s hand. And unplugging the audio thingy from the motherboard socket was like doing a spleen transplant on a hummingbird.

But it’s done and I saved one computer from the landfill and made one friend very happy to be upgrading from her 10 year old Windows NT, converting one more person to the beautiful happy world of Macs.

Unpacking Marie Antoinette’s Luggage

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If you live in Tokyo or if you plan to visit, this is what you have to do: Buy a Grutt Pass. For 2,000yen (or about $18) you can buy a booklet that gives you a discount or free entrance to 56 museums, zoos and aquariums. You’ve got two months to use it. If, like me, you love museums, then it’d be easy to get more than your money’s worth.

I used the Grutt Pass for the first time yesterday at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, and attended the latest exhibit, titled “Louvre”. Continue reading →

Angkorian Architectural Elements: Khmer Notes no.5

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In this post I’ll describe some Khmer architectural elements with accompanying photos of mostly Angkor Wat. By no means is this an exhaustive list of the complex, religio-structural elements of Angkorian design. These are just some aspects that I found especially compelling.

The Temple Mountain
The most common type of Angkorian temple is the temple mountain. Angkor Wat is the archetype of this style. The basic form of the whole complex is designed to represent Mt. Meru, the mythical mountain where the Hindu gods reside. It’s like the Greek Mt. Olympus, except no one really knows if a Mt. Meru really exists. The temples are usually oriented to the east, and are stunning at daybreak. Each temple has three layers of enclosures, with the inner one the tallest, jutting dramatically upwards.

angkor wat plan

Continue reading →

The Joys of Imperial Plunder

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I rag on England quite a bit, it’s true. It’s cliche to criticize their food and weather. In truth, the weather is no worse than the US Pacific Northwest. In fact, during my first year living in England there was a great heat wave that killed hundreds in continental Europe, but made the British Isles warm and sunny. The food is deplorably greasy and tasteless. But I found that a combination of Indian food (it’s everywhere like Mexican food in the US), potlucks with fellow international students, and Sunday roasts and English breakfasts at good pubs, made it bearable. Continue reading →

The Floating World in Ueno Park

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Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketThis past week I taught near Ueno Park, Tokyo’s most important park. There are several museums there, smaller galleries, a zoo, theaters, lakes and ponds, temples and shrines, and even a sizeable homeless camp. It’s one of my favorite places in Tokyo. After work I had meant to check out the visiting exhibition from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of the finest collections of impressionists in the world. But by the time I finished a late lunch and then enjoyed the autumn air it was getting late and near closing time, so I opted for another day for a fuller viewing.

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Nevertheless, art is everywhere, and on this day I chanced upon a string of lanterns that lined the park’s main thoroughfare. They were a series of woodblock prints, called ukiyo-e (translated as ‘the floating world’), which were a popular form of affordable art during the Edo Period.

Most seemed to commemorate some sort of formal diplomatic exchange between Westerners and Japanese. I suspect it was a treaty signing or trade agreement. In any case, the lanterns will be there until October 31, and are lit from 6-9pm.