Tilt Shift Gifu City

Sometimes I think I may be living under a rock. I am always finding cool things that have been around forever, that I have never seen before. Regardless, here are some nice tilt shift photos of Gifu City, by Pinboke. Please check out their other tilt shift photos here.

Tilt Shift Time Lapse of Japan

Who doesn't like the effect of tilt shift? This is the first time I have seen it in time lapse. Great find by The Awesomer.

WD TV HD Media Player Firmware Update

Western Digital realeases firmware update 1.02.07! 

This player is still my choice for watching all those GB's of Anime and J-Drama's. Just attach your portable HD and go. Unless you have a dedicated Media PC, this is the way to watch your downloaded TV and Movies. Although I have been having some trouble with some subtitle files on occasion, I still like this player, it handles just about anything I throw at it.

From the WD Website:

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Version 1.02.07 Now Available!

We've received tremendous feedback on WD TV and some great suggestions to improve the product even more. In response to your requests, we're pleased to offer release product enhancements to make your viewing experience better than ever. Updating your media player is simple. Just follow the instructions below, grab your remote and enjoy the show!

What's New?

Release 1.02.07 (4/27/2009) 
(includes all previously released updates)

• Enhanced cover art, album art, and thumbnail support for media files and folders
• Additional subtitle languages and decoding support
• Improved media playback and navigation
• More audio formats for MKV container
• Fixed bugs reported by the WD TV user community

Japanese Food

One of the more popular questions when I cam back was, "How was the food?". Overall it was very good. I can think of other places in the world where they eat scarier things. I had some amazing things that I cannot get here, and some things that I don't need to try again.

My goal was try as many different things as possible. My host family did their best to help me meet my goal. Just ask what it is AFTER you eat it, and you will be ok.

Swine Flu Quarantine Inspection

Upon arrival at Chubu International in Nagoya, we had to pass quarantine inspection. Took about an hour. Fortunately the air blowing out of the vents was very cool, I turned mine up high and hoped for the best. Not that I had a fever, but I didn't want to take any chances. So I passed, and so did everyone around me. I have heard other stories and if someone close to you has symptoms it could mean 1 week isolated in a hotel, not fun.

I took this video with my Nikon D90 DSLR and a 10-20mm super wide Sigma lens.

Two amazing weeks in Gifu City.

Finally after 2 years of talking about it, I got a change to visit. After reading about Japan and scouring blogs for information and details about this country, it was my turn to see for myself what it is was all about. I can say for me, that it was more than I had expected. It is truly an amazing place in so many ways.

The picture above is just one example of my 2 incredible weeks in Japan. I can't even put into words the experience that I just had. I can not thank my host family enough for everything they did for me during my stay. Finding a family that would allow me to stay and live with them allowed me to experience the country in ways that would not be possible otherwise.