Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Half of Americans facing diabetes by 2020: report (Reuters)
Wake Up! Hello?!?! Is anybody home?!?!?!?
If we don't do something about this yesterday we are in HUGE trouble!
Only 10 years to go if this prediction is true.
And it likely IS true the way the trend is going.
"Half of Americans facing diabetes by 2020: report"
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AM0NH20101123?rpc=21
NEW YORK (Reuters) Nov 23 - More than half of Americans will have diabetes or be
prediabetic by 2020 at a cost to the U.S. health care system of $3.35 trillion if current
trends go on unabated, according to analysis of a new report released on Tuesday by health
insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc.
Cam's Comment: Following the "advice" of government, nutritionists, and doctors got us
into this mess. What society has been told to be "good for us" has produced the opposite
results! How long are we going to keep believing?!? Get educated and take your health into
your own hands. It's the only way.
"In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did
not also limit his stupidity."
- Konrad Adenauer, first Chancellor of Federal Republic of West Germany
I love you!
Cam
Lipids & Proteins & ... &... Oh Hell!
http://www.theheart.org/article/1155979.do
Nov 23, 2010 11:45 EST
"Canadian primary-care physicians are not accurately assessing cardiovascular risk in
middle-aged adults, a particular concern for high-risk patients classified as low risk.
The implications of the study are that a sizable proportion of these patients might not be
prescribed lipid-lowering therapy, say researchers."
Here is the Medscape link (login required):
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/733136?sssdmh=dm1.651082&src=nldne&uac=143390MN
Cam's Comment: THANK GOD FOR CANADA! The doctors are NOT misclassifying! They are
correctly saying that people do NOT need "lipid-lowering therapy" (i.e. cholesterol
lowering drugs). I hope that this stupid stupid news article gets either buried, or the
Canadian doctors get praised for not succumbing to Big Pharma and researchers who are
getting paid through the nose to promote the Pharma agendas. The author, Michael O'Riordan
is a complete FOOL. For starters, the JUPITER study he uses for reference basically proves
the absolute FAILURE of cholesterol-lowering drugs, not their "success" as everyone is
parrotting (thanks to Big Pharma twisting the statistics to meet their needs). Wake up
people! Cholesterol drugs will KILL YOU! If you want to read about this, find it on Brian
Peskin's website where he shows beyond the shadow of a doubt how JUPITER FAILED.
***************
Higher-Protein/Low-GI Diet Best for Maintaining Weight Loss Heartwire (login required)
http://mp.medscape.com/cgi-bin1/DM/t/eDAzW0XLW6e0F6A0uVf0GF&uac=143390MN
"November 26, 2010 (Copenhagen, Denmark) - A new study looking at ways of maintaining
weight loss in subjects who've successfully shed pounds through a restricted-calorie diet
has found that a higher-protein, lower glycemic index (GI) diet was significantly better
than other diets either lower in protein, or with a higher glycemic index, or both."
I post a link to the original Journal of New England Medicine for easier access:
Diets with High or Low Protein Content and Glycemic Index for Weight-Loss Maintenance
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1007137
"Studies of weight-control diets that are high in protein or low in glycemic index have
reached varied conclusions, probably owing to the fact that the studies had insufficient
power. In this large European study, a modest increase in protein content and a modest
reduction in the glycemic index led to an improvement in study completion and maintenance
of weight loss."
Cam's Comment: This is good to see, however the study is too short. It covers only six
months. Many studies have found that after one year, most of those who lost or maintained
lower weights on higher protein/lower carb diets returned to their original weights after
a year.
Does that sound like I am contradicting my own evangelism? Well, actually, I've known this
for some time, and thanks to Brian Peskin have been able to predict it for some time now.
This happened to a good portion of the "Atkins Diet" people, and it led to some
discreditation of that "high protein" diet, and was fodder for all of the Weight Watchers
people and "calorie restrictors". The problem with the above study is that the proteins
and foods we get now are DEFICIENT in the PARENT ESSENTIAL OILS (ALA, and LA, or Parent
Omega 3 and Parent Omega 6). DHA and EPA are present in fish, and they are "omega 3" but
they are DERIVATIVES. Our bodies do not need the derivatives, because we can make our own
derivatives from the parents. What we need are the parent essential omega-6 and the parent
omega-3s (LA, and ALA respectively) and we need them in the proper combination and ratio.
What does this mean in layman terms? It means that this study will also get defeated by
another study that goes longer and shows that the people who maintained for six months,
regained or mostly regained in about a year, thus once again, damaging the reality that
lower carbohydrates and higher amounts of proteins are what our bodies really require.
In the end, this debate will never clarify, and will continue to be murky, like "colloidal
minerals" (which are another farce re. mineral supplementation). Both sides will continue
to "post", and "counterpost" ad infinitum. Why? Because they are ALL missing the crucial
key point: we NEED the right amount of PARENT ESSENTIAL OILS and that is extremely
difficult to do with food.
Have a great day.
I love you!
Cam
Sunday, November 28, 2010
I just called the post office for an update on the postal restrictions: over 1lb to USA is still banned (unless you pay through the nose with a courier), but anything to Canada is "business as usual". However, I'm going to wait a bit until North America calms down just a tad before sending my presents to the family.
Friday, November 26, 2010
A Virtual Jailbreak - Almost!
My thoughts of jailbreaking my kindle were almost moot in point tonight. Let me tell you why.
On the train home from Kobuchizawa tonight I ate my dinner and finished reading a free novel that I had downloaded to my kindle. When the train arrived at Shinjuku, I packed up, and left. I walked up the stairs, and over to my train line which is deep down under ground. The train was delayed as there had been some trouble further down the line in the opposite direction. I decided that I would pull out my kindle and read it on the way home as I had a 40 minute ride back.
But it wasn't in my bag!
I had left my black kindle on the black train seat!!!
I dashed all the way back to the other train platform which is hard to do in Shinjuku station due to the sheer volume of people passing through (one million per day) as anyone who has ever been here will understand, went to the lost and found and found my kindle! The stationmasters were just entering it into the computer.
I filled out a form, kissed my kindle hello, and walked back to my station, relieved not to have lost my kindle. The funny thing is that I wasn't thinking terrible panicky thoughts; I was thinking, "what a great opportunity to buy a different device!" But I did worry about the possibility of people buying books as it is linked to my credit card. That thought did cross my mind briefly, but it wasn't a big worry. I also realized that I am not really "attached" to the thing as the potential loss didn't make me break out into a panic sweat at all, and I was quite lucid and calm in my mind as I dashed back.
I made it home on the extremely packed train, feeling sorry for all the shorter women who were getting their faces mashed into the backs, arms and chests of sweaty, stinky businessmen while I had the entire upper section of the compartment free for my own use. I held my kindle against the ceiling of the train and read it all the way home ("Einstein's Theory of Relativity" <-- which made me fall asleep on the other train while sitting down and reading).
I haven't been in a train that jam packed since our last major typhoon that shut down some connecting lines and filled up my line with commuters this past winter.
Kindle almost broke free!
Have a great weekend.
I love you!
Cam
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Is there anyone out there with children who suffer from epilepsy? Do you know of the "keto" diet? Read this article if this topic is of interest to you. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/magazine/21Epilepsy-t.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general I wonder how we can get this author to contact Brian Peskin and learn about his work? What to write that is compelling enough to have an author/editor jump?
Sunday, November 21, 2010
"Hiri hiri" Onsen
Koyo season is over so the leaves have all changed and most have fallen, though it is still very beautiful. The mountans are turning dormant-brown for the winter and we can see a splash of white dust on the highest peaks.
Shintamagawa Onsen is a 70minute bus ride way up into the mountains. The road is closed in winter so it is secluded. We arrived Saturday afternoon, checked into our tatami room, relaxed a bit and then headed for dinner. It was a Japanese viking with a lot of different Japanese foods. Then we went to the onsen area and enjoyed a 40minute private bath.
The mineral water is so strong here that they cut it in half with regular water for most of the baths. Even so, we were warned of the effect on the skin and told to be sure to rinse and soap off after to neutralize the low pH of the water. Boy did it prickle (hiri hiri) the sensitive and shaved spots! We could sit in the water for about five minutes before getting out, rinsing, washing with alkali soap and getting back in again. It felt great as it was so hot and relaxing...
The heat and the minerals wiped us out so we had enough energy for one game of cribbage before falling asleep on the futon and awaking the next morning early for breakfast.
The breakfast was very Japanese. It was good. There were a lot of foods that I normally wouldn't have access to back home so I enjoyed the tastes. After breakfast we went to the big onsen and spent an hour or so in there enjoying 14 or more different baths. The 100% onsen water was so high in mineral content that within 30 seconds my nipples and other "soft/shaved spots" were on fire! I soaped down, then headed back into the other ones to repeat. The hottest bath was about 46C which is hotter than most westerners can stand unless they have experience with HOT onsen. It felt gooooood (but hot). I came out looking rather lobsterish and then steamed myself in a steam box which is 65C steam. That reminded me of Fukui summers!
Back to the room to fall asleep for an hour and a half, then out for a three hour walk (round trip) including taking video, relaxing at an open sauna on a volcano that was spewing hundreds of hot steam and sulfer gas spouts from vents. The water coming out of a hole in the ground is the origin for the onsen water in the area. It spewed 8,400L/minute of 98C pH1.2 water and is the biggest amount of hotspring effluent in Japan.
Around the volcano was a ganbanyoku or area that people come to, lie out on the rocks, cover themselves with blankets and soak up the natural heat and energy that the volcano emits. It was very interesting to see this as most of the people were quite on in age (like 95 and going strong). We hiked a trail for a little bit but a warning sign said that the sulfer gas gets fairly strong and can be deadly so we turned around and went back down.
Then it was back to the onsen hotel for dinner and another bath followed by another game of cribbage before drifting quickly off to sleep.
This morning we awoke about 7am, went for breakfast, then another nipple-prickling hiri-hiri bath and back to the room to check out by 10am. We had a two-hour waoit for the bus so we walked back to the volcano and took some photos of the ganbanyoku (not on this keitai so cant post with this blog), had coffee at the restaurant attached to the onsen (not the one we were staying at), and walked the 30minute walk back to our hotel. We caught the noon bus and enjoyed the hour ride back down the mountain to Tazawako Lake where we stopped for lunch and I uploaded the previuous blog with a lake shot.
The 14:10 bus took us back to Tazawako Stn and we waited 30minutes to get on the shinkansen back to Tokyo. We will arrive at Tokyo Stn in about three hours.
This onsen was very unique and a great experience. I even got to eat my first snow of the year which has been a tradition for me for about 35 years now. So I am very glad to have gotten away from Tokyo for a few days. It is a great way to spend a hard-earned income and provides fantastic regenerative value.
Come and enjoy the beauty of Japan if you can because the hustle and bustle of the cities only touches the surface of the country. Did you know that 80% of this country is mountains, forests, and rural landscape with very few inhabitants? Stunning!
I love you!
Cam
Tazawako Lake
The deepest lake in Japan at 453m. It's a crater lake.
We decided to get off the bus here and spend an hour around the lake. The buses comevery infrequently so we need to make sure we get on anothe bus at 14:10 to get back to the shinkansen station in time to catch our 15:05 train back to Tokyo.
Eating lunch now...
The onsen was fantastic. More on that later.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
It is amazing out here at this onsen! We just walked to the next onsen where they have a totally natural outdoor ... place that people come with blankets, sleeping bags and lie on the hot ground absorbing the energy emitted by this volcano. Superb! The vents spout sulfur plumes, gas and more. Mother Nature's power is amazing (and stinky)!!!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Blows (Up) My Mind
The reason why I write this is because I was talking to Kyoko (the woman with whom I work) about Christmas presents to and from Canada. She then told me that I can't send any Christmas presents to my parents at this time because ALL parcels from Japan to North America are banned from flight!
That is HUGE news! The freight companies will take a MAJOR hit from this, even if the ban lasts only one week.
There is no update as to when this ban will be lifted, but for now, we in Japan, and likely others around the world will not be sending any packages to Canada or the USA until further notice.
HUGE.
Blow my mind.
Here's something from Prez Obama and the Homeland Security Boyz 'n Girlz:
http://tinyurl.com/CaughtBySurprise
Stay safe.
Love,
Cam
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Poets of Yore Yuse FedEx!
It is quite poetic, if I do say so myself...
Fish Oil Omega Oils Flunk the Tests Again & Again & Again
some information on the failing of the Prescription fish oil capsules (Lovaza)
that I talked about earlier:
access this and read it without a subscription.
The title is: "Prescription fish oil capsules
(Lovaza) don't help atrial fibrillation, study says"
it PERFECTLY:
prescription-strength capsules have no effect, experts said, it is unlikely that
over-the-counter supplements will provide any benefit."
different to what I have been talking about over the past 10 years re. Brian
Peskin's research. He always states the necessity of the proper blend of Omega 6
to Omega 3 (2.5:1 to 1:1) of PARENT Essential Oils and NOT Derivatives. All of
the EFA supplements on the market except for one brand (YES Supplements) are
incorrectly derived from derivative Omega 3s from a variety of sources.
this vital information as I find it because I believe you NEED to know this
stuff. I hope some of you out there in the ether intend to keep on reading and
learning as I do every day.
you!
Long Live Star Trek!
have to read this and follow all the links. It is probably the best Pharma News
I have read to date!
Four
Star Trek medical technologies we use today
Nobody ever planned on a short-lived TV series having such a lasting impact
on society, but it has. And this is true whether you like Star Trek or
not. It doesn't matter that the show's medical devices looked like scavenged
pieces of plastic the Desilu studio prop department glued together on a low
budget. Star Trek is part of our collective mythology. And in the
endless loop of life imitating art, many of the futuristic technologies
introduced on the show are now a reality. That's why we decided to compare some
of today's medical breakthroughs with those envisioned by science fiction TV
writers, producers and actors more than 40 years ago.
So, for our list of four ways real life medicine is catching up with Star
Trek, here are the ground rules for all the hardcore Trekkers out there. We
are sticking to The Original Series, where the gadgets, the technology, the
basic assumptions of how the future might look are in their most primordial
state. Each medical device or medicine was more of an idea, a basic concept of
what things should do rather than anything that got too bogged down in actual
science. As the later spinoffs got rolling, real science often got in the way of
simply telling the story. Ultimately, the in-depth scientific explanations of
the later series will likely turn out to be wrong, while The Original Series
will forever retain a colored-plastic purity.
But enough of all that. Here's our Top 4 list.
1. Hypospray - The hypospray was a
needle-free device that could subcutaneously inject drugs via forced air.
2. Medical Tricorder - There are many
types of tricorders, but the one used by medical personnel can diagnose diseases
and collect other vital information about a patient. And it can do all this
noninvasively, from a distance from the patient.
3. Sickbay Vital Signs Monitor - There
is a screen hanging above each bed in sickbay displaying various vital
signs, and McCoy will not let you leave sickbay until those needles fall within
acceptable parameters.
4. Venus drug - The illegal Venus Drug
makes plain-looking women beautiful.
Abe Lincoln Used FedEx!
Here's a great spam I got at the office with a zip file that is sure to have a virus attached. I can see how some people who have parked their brains for a moment, might open this email attachment, thinking (or rather with lack of thinking) that they have a parcel waiting for them to claim. Normally I just delete; but this time, I scrolled down a bit to read the "disclaimer" that seems to be typical of business email these days. And I laughed. This disclaimer comes highly recommended. Take a look and let me know what you think!
Have a great day.
Cam
P.S. Maybe the title should have been "FedEx Used Abe!"
-----Original Message-----
From: FedEx Delivery Service [fake email address]
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 10:35 AM
To: [me @ work]
Subject: FedEx Delivery Problem NR.S.1106576
Good afternoon.
The company could not deliver your package to your address.
The package was returned to FedEx office.
Information about your package is attached to the letter.
Look through the information about your package thoroughly.
Thank you.
FedEx Express
Services.
**************** disclaimer starts here ****************
Whether this letter was ever replied to is uncertain, though improbable.No doubt it led to conferences during the meeting of the Legislature, early in the year 1855, when the senatorial question came on for decision. It has been suggested that Lincoln made dishonorable concessions of principle to get the votes of Lovejoy and his friends. The statement is too absurd to merit serious contradiction. The real fact is that Mr. Giddings, then in Congress, wrote to Lovejoy and others to support Lincoln. Various causes delayed the event, but finally, on February 8, 1855, the Legislature went into joint ballot. A number of candidates were put in nomination, but the contest narrowed itself down to three. Abraham Lincoln was supported by the Whigs and Free-soilers; James Shields by the Douglas-Democrats.
VITAL Knowledge
morning!
my medical news. And in the news today, yet another trial using Omega 3 PUFA
(EFAs) failed to reduce CVD (Cardiovascular Disease). This of course is the
opposite of what everyone (except Brian Peskin) expects so the industry is once
again "surprised".
Deficiency Linked to Fatal Stroke in Whites But Not Blacks"
log in with a free membership to read this article [I'll try to attach a PDF for
you])
is testing Vitamin D as well as Omega 3 so it's kind of a strange trial in
itself; how can researchers determine if the Vitamin D or the Omega 3 are
effective if they have two variables like this? (I imagine they have some
statistical way to play with the numbers).
trial is focusing also on Vitamin D and the reduction of (fatal) heart attacks
and stroke in blacks. If you have been following this stuff, for the past year
the medical industry has been scaring all of the African Americans by telling
them that they don't get enough vitamin D, and that will lead to a doubling of
heart attack rate, and so on. So, lots of people now are taking Vitamin D
supplements. Probably the white people were smirking... Well the laugh is on
"pale face" because this trial kind of blows that all out of the water as the
results show that both Vitamin D and Omega 3 (fish oil) are worthless in
reducing the risks of heart attack and stroke. AND, it shows that the "white
man" has an even higher risk of fatal heart attack and stroke with vitamin D
deficiency than black people.
of confusing to tell the truth, but black people, white people, purple people
aside, the real "take home" is that supplementing with Vitamin D, or Omega 3
fatty acids (fish oil, i.e. DHA, EPA) is WORTHLESS.
back to my soapbox statement: Brian Peskin has been telling us the truth for 25
years now but still very few people are listening. In fact, his research is
showing quite conclusively that Omega 3 fatty acids ONLY (as the industry is now
pushing on us hapless consumers) is even MORE damaging than taking nothing at
all!
website at www.brianpeskin.com, or
connect to him on Facebook (he has a fan page there that is great), or find him
on Twitter, etc. and keep up to date on the stuff he posts because it really
could just save your life.
day.
you!
method adds double or triple spaces between paragraphs so I'm testing without
doing a double carriage return. If this is difficult to read, I'll fix it later
when I'm at home.
Monday, November 15, 2010
More Proof of the Uselessness of Omega-3 Derivatives on Health
proof to show everyone that everything Brian Peskin is saying is true about the
idiocy of the nutrition, and medical community going crazy with suggesting high
doses of omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil, and other) being beneficial. It isn't!
High dose omega 3 alone is NOT
beneficial because the body does not work that way. We NEED the proper balance
of PARENT Omega Fatty Acids Omega 6 and Omega 3, not Omega-3 alone as everyone
is trying to make us swallow.
15th. It's about as NEW as you are going to get:
with high-dose prescription omega-3 fatty acids did not reduce the recurrence of
symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) among patients with symptomatic paroxysmal
AF or persistent AF who have no evidence of substantial structural heart
disease. The study was presented today at the American Heart Association’s
Scientific Sessions and also published online in The Journal of the American
Medical Association.
case it doesn't show up above:
the final line in the news shows us that this is a press release by GSK, one of
the Big Pharma companies who claim they are trying to "improve" our lives.
Right. Improve their bottom line is more like it.
this got posted. Omega-3 by itself is NOT the way to go, and fish oil is Omega-3
derivatives, which is even worse!!
the right stuff, contact Yes Supplements and get the proper blend of PARENT
Essential Fatty Acids in the right Omega 6 to Omega 3 Ratio (2.5:1 to
1:1).
bringing us the truth, Brian! Keep bringing us the truth.
CellPhone Wallets Come to America
You can access it here at http://tinyurl.com/KeitaiWallets or read it at the end of my introduction.
A sticker sticks to the back of the cellphones and then it becomes an e-wallet. If you swipe the phone across a reader you can make payments instead of pulling out credit/debit cards and making payments that way.
This does have massive potential considering the fact that everyone seems to always have their hands on their "handheld" these days. They are either holding them, reading them, listening to them, or watching them. They stand in line fondling them. They play with them continuously at Starbucks, and other places. Everyone's got their hands on their things these days.
So, being able to whip their thing out and make a payment is, well, rather ... handy.
The problem with the system below, as I see, is that North American retailers, etc. are going to get a LOT of consumer info that consumers may not want to give up. Here in Japan, privacy (gone wild) is the watchword of the day and nobody wants to give away anything that they perceive belongs to them. And that includes their personal information.
The other thing is that... well... this new technology means that you need to stick a lovely sticker on the back of your gorgeous, shiny (or matte)-finished iPhone, or Android and that, to me, isn't so cool. To give the entrepreneur his fair due, perhaps this sticker goes on the underside of the battery cover of the phone where it would be invisible. That would be better.
So for North Americans who are used to paying with credit/debit cards and not cash, this new kind of easy payment, could be a great new technology.
It just strikes me as funny that entrepreneurs are wanting to add this function to the current cell phones now, because the Japanese phones have had this extremely convenient system BUILT INTO THE PHONES for about 10 years now. The world tends to ridicule the Japanese cell phones (keitai) as being "too full of gimmicky functions" that people don't need. Well, here's another "gimmick" we've had for the past 10 years that North America may finally find value in incorporating into their phones.
Here are a few examples of how handy this function really is:
We can go through security at airports with it, and our plane tickets are right inside the phone; we just touch our phone to a pad, and it reads the e-tickets inside (boarding pass included). We can use it to go through the turnstiles in the train stations and have our monthly train passes right inside the phone. We can touch our way on and off buses, dine in restaurants, purchase from drugstores, retail shops, and just about anywhere. It really is an extremely convenient function in a world where e-Money is trading like wildfire.
In Japan you can charge your phone with as much money as you want. When it runs out, just charge it up at any station, convenience store or myriad of other location and there you go. Touch it to a reader, add cash to a machine and you are good to go. Or if you really want to stay away from cash you can have it linked to your credit card (or your bank account) and set an automatic charge so you never have to feel embarrassed when you touch the reader and it says, "insufficient funds", if that is your desire.
The thing I like about the J-system is that it is anonymous; we don't give our shopping habits away to the vendors.
For those of you who love technology, you may just find this "new" add on third party function to be very very convenient. After all, people rarely leave home without their cell phone these days; it has become a lifeline necessity for everyone around the world.
When it finally comes available in locations near you, if you can get over the fact that you are giving away your personal shopping habits, I highly recommend you give this "new" technology a try. You may just find you can't take your hands off your thing!
I love you!
Cam
*************************************
Companies Get Their Bling On
Nov 12, 2010
Consumers who don’t want the hassle of pulling out their wallets to pay for goods and services can increasingly use their mobile phones for the transactions. And one company is aiming to make the experience interactive—and more valuable to merchant and customer.
Bling Nation, based in Palo Alto, California, and run by serial international entrepreneur Wenceslao Casares, goes beyond other early adapters of mobile payment platforms to leverage the personal relationships small to large vendors have with their clients.
Bling Nation allows businesses to connect with their social media network at the point of sale, awarding loyalty rewards, discounts, and personalized offers to consumers via the company’s BlingTag. The tag, a microchip sticker that adheres to any phone, smart or otherwise, supports real-time mobile payments with a tap.
It's a partner of PayPal and backed by nearly $30 million from private equity firms Lightspeed Venture Partners, based in Silicon Valley; Balderton Capital based in London, CampVentures in Los Altos, California, and MECK, Ltd., in Santiago, Chile.
How is that different than other mobile payment platforms? “Merchants who created online presence on social media networks had access to their fans, but couldn’t recognize them when those people walked into the store,” says Casares. “With the BlingTag, they see who the customer is, the person’s preferences, and likes, all gathered with the information they freely provided on their Facebook profiles.”
Casares says he knew his company had to offer value beside the ease of transaction. “When you think of swiping or tapping a credit card, that’s a seamless and pleasant transaction. But for many people, taking out their phones is even easier than reaching for their wallets.”
Merchants get real-time stats including the customer’s average purchase, frequency of visits, and even preferred days of visits, tools they can use to create targeted and specialized offers for their customers. Consumers benefit too. At the point of sale they get a text confirming the purchase, their PayPal account balance, and relevant coupons without the hassle of having to download, print, and physically bring them to the store.
Bling Nation charges vendors a flat 1.5 percent transaction fee along with a monthly membership of $40 to $70 depending on services provided. The fees involved amount to approximately half of what Visa and MasterCard charge merchants, and about one-quarter of what American Express takes. The point-of-sale machines are provided free to businesses as part of the package.
But what happens to a consumer’s account if he or she loses the phone? “Studies show that people who lose their phone report it within two hours, versus 48 hours for a stolen wallet,” Casares says. As soon as the device is reported lost or stolen, the Bling Nation tag is deactivated and the funds are frozen. Merchants also require a PIN at the time of transaction as an added layer of security.
The service rolled out in the Bay area two weeks ago and Casares plans a nationwide expansion in early 2011, fueled by partnerships with yet unnamed bix-box retailers. Missing the lucrative holiday season is not something that Bling Nation is happy about, but Casares wants to take the time to learn from the Bay area launch to bring a more comprehensive system to the entire U.S. Doing so by the holidays wasn’t feasible.
Casares isn’t aiming to eliminate cash payments.
“We didn’t get rid of cash when checks came out and we didn’t eliminate cash when credit cards came out. With innovation in the payment space we’ve given consumers more options to choose from, and the ease of mobile transactions is likely to push that platform to preferred method sooner rather than later,” he says.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Dining With An International Accent
In one ad the father asked his kids where they wanted to go for dinner. The older daughter who sounded like a junior or high school student reminded her dad of a place at which the had recently dined while the younger daughter, probably a pre-schooler or maybe a first grader mentioned the name of the restaurant.
Now this would be entirely unremarkable to me had it not been for one thing: accents. The father had a strong Indian accent while the youngest daughter also sported a hybrid blend of Indian music in her speech. The elder sister spoke in perfectly accent-less English and could probably be taken for a teeneger from the USA her English was so smooth and "accent-free".
It made perfect sense to me that both daughters English would be most heavily influenced by their primary surroundings. That's the way it works. So while the older daughter was being influenced by her peers, the teachers and the school system, the younger sister would still carry the accents of her parents as they would be the people she most directly interacted with at that stage in her life.
And I thought: how international! How brilliant!
When I met Mayu she spoke with an American English accent. After dating for afew years her accent started to emulated mine and her English became more Canadian in sound. Even her homestay family commented on how it had changed just a few years after being with me.
Language can be so difficult to teach to adults, but I think that if we can find a way to employ the methods that children use for learning, the chances of success should increase. It is that method of English learning that has me focusing on a new way to teach my coworkers English. And it's actually providing very quick results to the point that I am duly imprssed!
Live, Love, Learn.
Our greatest goals in life!
I love you!
Cam
Friday, November 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Another Tokyo Girl Look
Here is lovely actress Kana Kurashina playing a "gal character" in an upcoming TV series.
This look is slightly different from the previous Japanese Girl look I showed you the other day.
We see young women in their 20s like this all around Tokyo, so her look is not at all unusual.
I don't hear Matt complaining...
I love you!
Cam
The Futon Has Landed!!!
Well, it took an entire month for Belgian customs to decide to release the futon I sent to Chris over in Europe. It was a nightmare. They got it three days after I shipped it. For those of you know the Japan EMS, it is FAST. And very reliable. The problem is you don't know what happens once it hits the other country's postal system.
And this was one of the nightmare times.
All the documentation was with it, but the customs people wanted extra info, and needed to send Chris a letter, but they never did! It took them three weeks and much calling and yelling for Chris to finally get the letter. Chris and I have been emailing back and forth for weeks, as it both has had us very worried.
Well the futon arrived yesterday, and ... we are both very relieved!
Here is the email from Chris that just arrived:
Hey Cam,
I can happily announce that I finally picked up the futon yesterday evening. I was so excited to finally have it here and I was worried about the condition of it due to the fact that the box looked like it was opened, so I unpacked yesterday evening. Unfortunately I couldn't make any photos nor video of the unpacking because our video camera was gone and it was really late. But I will make a video as promissed and I will show the futon in full glory.
I'm really happy about the kake and shiki buton. I was worried about the thickness of the shikibuton but you where right this sleeps soooooooooooooo good, It's unbelievable. The kakebuton is nice and fluffy and really hot but light weight at the same time. I love it compared to my old bedding.
I'm not sure about the covers, the color and the fact that the cover for the kakebuton hasn't got a funnt hole in it like is showed in my pictures, but they will do for now and I will probably get some white ones with a hole in the kakebuton cover in the future.
But otherwise I'm really really really happy with this set, and I still can't believe that you did this for me and that a month ago I was only walking around with the idea and now I can touch this idea in reality here in my own room.
Thank you and your helpers from the bottom of my heart,
Chris
P.S. I will post a video as soon as I know how that works on YouTube(sorry there are still younger people that aren't computer nerds haha) but you will get that.
I love Globalized Love!
Cam
Today in Japan (2010/11/09)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Travel Thought of the Day: WA
I have never been able to sit cross-legged with a straight back. My entire family is like this. Even after years of stretching exercises my hips just don't "release" so I get pain in them within about 15 seconds. It is very quick.
Stefnee mentioned something about working with very tall boys who grew extremely quickly as did I. She said that she recalled my inflexibility when she saw how inflexible her students were and thinks it might be related to bone development. It's not just a simple matter of more stretching as many believe. It's a different kindof pain . And the inflexibility is not only limited to the hips as I learned over the years. The shoulders, knees and ankles also have limited mobility in the joints.
Today it's busy in my feeding place so I get to sit in the "wa" section, or the Japanese atmosphere (read: on the floor in front of a very low table that I cannot get my legs under.) I have dripped soy sauce on so many zabuton (and pants) over the years simply because I have to bring the food to me and cannot lean over the table to eat it.
But that's my life and I love every aspect of it! Time to eat. Have a great day.
I love you!
Cam
P.S. Wa means "Japanese", but it also means "Harmony"
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
SOD'omize Me!
As I passed by I noticed that it was an entire (large) case of SOD Gel, a lubricant for sexual pleasure.
Have a great weekend.
I love you!
Cam
P.S. SOD isthe brand and that is an abbreviation for "Soft On Demand". What a lovely name for a sexual lubricant!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
This article from Medical News Today shows how fish oil is no different from placebo. What does this mean? It means it has absolutely no benefit whatsoever. Unequivocally, fish oil is worthless. http://mnt.to/f/3LYZ Think of fish oil as the "Sodom & Gomorrah" of modern medicine: walk away and NEVER look back.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
"I make jewellery"
As I passed by other people wrapped up in their late autumn clothing, mumbling at the "cold", or sucking air through their teeth as Japanese are wont to do when it gets - correction - when they get cold, I pondered the difference between Japanese and non-Japanese bodies with respect to temperature. While everyone in my office complains of the cold, I am either too hot, or thinking that it is finally cooling down into a nice autumn. I commute in my work shirt while everyone else has their parkas, their UGG boots, their wool scarfs wrapped around them. The men have their three piece suits on (the ones with the thick wool vests) and are wearing the UniQlo Heat Tech under garments to keep them warm.
At the end of the platform, waiting in the wind were a mother and daughter couple who were quite friendly. We smiled at each other and said good evening. As we were getting on the train, the daughter said to me, in English, "Hi." It wasn't a "Japanese" "hi", it was the "hi" of a bilingual person. It turned out that they were sitting across the aisle and one back from me so we could engage in some nice conversation for a goodly portion of the ride home.
They looked different.. kind of like "island people" if you know what I mean. Or artists. And artists they are!
It all started off with the daughter asking me if I am an English teacher, and if I'm working in Kobuchizawa. That story went on for a while, and you all know the answer to that question, so I won't bother you with repeating it. Instead, let me tell you about these two lovely women I was blessed with the opportunity to talk to on Monday night...
I think that the daughter is roughly my age, maybe a little bit younger, based upon her history... She left Japan at 19, backpacked around the world for two years, then settled down in Columbia for seven years. Next she moved to New York, got married, had a child and lived there for seven years. Now she has been living in Bali for the past seven years. She makes jewellery and sells to Japan and the USA. She travels between Bali, Japan and the USA for work. Her husband lives in the USA and she is still very happily married. She said to me with a twinkle in her eye, that "the key to a long, happy marriage is to NOT live together." I laughed.
Honoka is her name. Honoka was wearing beautiful loooong dangling earrings (chains about a foot long) that seemed so exotic and gorgeous. I didn't compliment her, but I wanted to. I loved that earring. She also had on jeans, black shoes, a black leather jacket. And she was cold.
I asked what they were doing up in Kobuchizawa, and was told that there is a very nice art gallery with a display that was worth seeing. Which piqued my curiosity... Jewellery? No. Urushi.
Nikki, her mother, had the dark tan of an island dweller, with baggy linen pants, a central americana patchwork jacket, long greying hair tied up and a smile to melt the ice around any heart. Nikki has lived for several years with her daughter in Bali as well, and she is also an artist: urushi, or lacquerware. She is "divorced, with a partner", and she too, like Honoka is beautiful. And Nikki was cold.
So they were curious about me, and I about them. As I soon discovered, Honoka knew very little about Japan; after all she left the country at 19 and what 19 year old in any country knows anything about their own history or geography? She left as a child of Japan, and became a "child of the world".
Even though Honoka lived around the equator in Columbia for seven years, and now Bali for seven years, she agrees that Japan (especially Tokyo - and here I had more to say), is extremely hot, even for Asia! She feels that she "cannot breathe in the heat of Tokyo" whenever she comes back her for work. And Bali is hot as well, but, in her opinion not nearly as oppressive as Japan/Tokyo. I don't find Tokyo that hot (except for my office), as I lived in Fukui which has higher humidity making the heat more oppressive there.
The talking continued about my life here for 20 years, her life away for 20 years, how Nikki feels it is difficult for parents when their children live so far away for 20 years, and more lovely conversation.
As we were arriving at Shinjuku Station, I asked Honoka when she would be going back to Bali. She told me that it wouldn't be until January because she had to go to the USA, and then Columbia. I asked her if she was going to visit friends in Columbia... and her reply is what started this entire post!
"No, I'm going to Columbia to dig for emeralds. As I said, I make jewellery, out of emeralds, and then sell them to the USA and Japan."
"What? You are going to physically DIG the emeralds out of the rock?!?"
*BIG SMILE* "Yes, of course."
"With one of those floppy hats, a bandana, and a pick axe?!?"
*LAUGHING* "Yes!"
"Wow...."
And here I thought all along that Honoka "made jewellery" in Bali and "sold" it to Japan and the USA... There are a lot of Japanese who "retire" from Japanese life, go to the islands and live a relaxed life "making jewellery". You can see a lot of them around the world.
Honoka is not one of those jewellery artists, it seems.
Honoka digs emeralds.
With her own bare hands.
And then sculpts them into gems and jewellery.
I had a wonderful two hour ride home with two absolutely wonderful, beautiful, creative, friendly people. I am so glad I met them. It would be nice to one day cross paths with them again, I think.
Good luck digging out a lot of emeralds, Honoka! And my your creativity flow endless!
Now THAT was a great ride home!
I love you!
Cam
P.S. That's some of Honoka's work at the top of this post, and Nikki's halfway down. Gorgeous!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Soft drinks & Diabetes.. An "Overlooked Issue"?!?! WAKE UP!!
I can't believe that the researchers actually believe this is an "overlooked issue"!
OH MY FUCKING GOD!
"Duh, it seems that drinking softdrinks can lead to an increase in diabetes... we never knew this..."
Are these researchers morons, or what?
Hello!?!?!? Is anybody home?
Please read the attached article, and you'll see what I mean. I would link it but you need a (free) subscription to access it.
How stupid can our medical scientists and researchers BE?!?!?!
(Or is it just that we are a lot more educated than they?)
I love you!
Cam