Hello! from Rick Cogley

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 05:43:53 +0900

With the release of Apple iOS 17.3 comes “stolen device protection” (盗難デバイスの保護), in Settings, Face/TouchID & Passcode. Tap “Turn on Protection” to require biometrics with no passcode fallback, if your iPhone is outside familiar locations. Slick! 🙅‍♂️😈

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 09:23:30 +0900

Kindergarten teachers and their charges at a street crossing. Must be stressful! 📷🎌

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 10:11:24 +0900

FIDO2 security keys for M365 MFA have been working at my firm eSolia for over a year. Enabling an Entra conditional access policy to require “phishing resistant MFA” for admins (aka FIDO2 keys!), caused an endless loop of pain.

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 06:48:05 +0900

Jan 5 or 6 is 小寒 (shokan “a little cold”) which marks when the sun is at 285 degrees. Now is a good time to start bundling up. ❄️

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 05:25:00 +0900

If you’re living in or visiting Japan, here are some useful resources we compiled regarding disaster readiness. Stay safe and help those around you if you can. 🎌🚒

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 21:48:27 +0900

Happy New Year greetings to one and all, but our thoughts are with those impacted by the large & terrifying Ishikawa quake.

📷🇯🇵

Wed, 27 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0900

“Kiji” pheasants have a grating call that I always said sounds like a rusty gate, but I found a more apt comparison: the scraping sound of sliding plastic hangers along a pole. 😬

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 04:50:37 +0900

It’s not a thing where I’m from, but Boxing Day each Dec 26, has an interesting origin of being a day for the more fortunate to give to the less so. There’s also Cricket and big sales. 🎁⛪️

Mon, 25 Dec 2023 08:37:31 +0900

Merry Christmas from Maru the Shiba and his humans. 🎄📷

Sun, 24 Dec 2023 07:33:28 +0900

NYT Connections is a cool game where you pick groups of four words with some connection from easy to hard.

Puzzle #196
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟪🟪🟪🟪

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 04:16:29 +0900

On 12/23 in 1982 Japan NTT designated this day “telephone card day”. My first real job was at a design co that licensed idol and actor photos, selling “tereca” printed with them and some English text, to dept stores. 🎌☎️

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 04:22:34 +0900

Per GEDA, 12/22 1997 (H9) marks when generic medicines were first allowed by MHLW, giving Japan consumers access to cheaper alternatives. Med patents expire in ~20 yrs, after which generics can be made. 🇯🇵💊

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 04:10:53 +0900

Today 21 Dec is the anniversary of the first “word-cross” puzzle, published in the New York World in 1913 (T2) by its editor Arthur Wynn. 📰

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 03:58:47 +0900

Walkers have precedence on the highways and byways of Sumida… 📷🇯🇵

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0900

Optimists waiting in the cold to buy their 年末ジャンボー “year end jumbo” lottery ticket. 📷🇯🇵

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 05:00:00 +0900

Red down left 📷

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 03:43:28 +0900

Baron Yoshitoshi Tokugawa (relative of the last Shogun) piloted Japan’s first powered flight 19 Dec 1910 where Yoyogi Park is today. 🇯🇵🪽

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0900

Robert Patrick, who played the T-1000 in one of the Terminator films has a good line in the new Reacher season on Amazon Prime. Someone asks about an alias: “Who’s Sarah Conner?” and his character quips, “I don’t give a shit, just keep an eye on that hotel.” 😆

Sun, 17 Dec 2023 03:54:01 +0900

Dec 17 1903, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was the first 4 manned flights by the Wright Brothers over a short distance. Today you can hang glide it! 🛫📷

Sun, 17 Dec 2023 03:36:27 +0900

Dec 16, 1890 (M23) marks the start of phone service between Tokyo and Yokohama with 155 and 44 phones respectively. The 7 female operators (with 2 males on night shift) could connect you for 240K JPY in today’s money. 🇯🇵📞

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 01:00:00 +0900

Destruction of the ancestral “jikka” home under tarps, 2019. 📷🇯🇵

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 04:14:53 +0900

A program in place since 1906 in Japan, Dec 15-25 marks the period during which you can post a 年賀状 “nengajo” postcard for Jan 1 arrival. 🇯🇵🏣📷

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 02:54:35 +0900

Empty Tokyo restaurant. 📷⏳

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 06:16:31 +0900

Maru the Shiba came back from day care and the staff who drove him said he and other Shibas hadn’t pooped. A border collie friend kept running up like “hey! Whatcha doing!? Any good smells there?” causing poopus interruptus. 😂🐕

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 06:06:06 +0900

Dec 13 marks the formal start in Japan of 正月事始め（shougatsu-goto-hajime） when the Big Tidy activities start and it’s off to the mountains to get 門松 (kadomatsu) materials. 🎍🇯🇵