fjef

The 47 web cams were still in could when I looked - its all Hakuba anyway...

This is happening often now as ISPs are blocking port 25 and taking stricter anti-spam measures (how ever futile they may be). The easiest work-around is to use web based email when you are outside your own network. Most ISPs have web mail now so it should be easy to resolve...

Well the web cams help:

he's doing great -but he won't wait for me to set up a shot so I can get him in action...

Kaz - on skis this time - not on his snowboard - in the pow on Tuesday. Those are all our tracks (almost) early Tuesday morning...

Hi Slow - Kaz and I just got back from Hakuba - skiing was great on top and more snow is expected for the weekend! The problem with the bus system seems to be that only a select bunch of places can make the tickets available so if you are staying somewhere else and/or decide to go out to a restaurant or bar without a ticket or understanding the system, it will be very disappointing when you are not allowed to get on the bus! They need to rethink this I think!

As I learned yesterday in Hakuba, tickets will only be available at a few places - this is truly nuts - if you need to use the bus, you have to go where the tickets are sold to be able to ride it - they will not be available for sale in most hotels and restaurants that will make the service useful - like when you decide you want to go out. They will not sell tickets on the bus so if you see the bus and want to jump on, you're out of luck... ...can anyone post the list where tickets are going to be sold?

I just spent an hour watching youtube ski/snowboard vids from hakuba with Kaz - he is stoked - I have created a monster - but a good one...

Many of the ski racing families of Kitzbuhel, Austria still live in farm houses on the mountains - the Hinterseers, Sailers, etc grew up as kids needing to ski to school and live - it was great to visit their homes and see the trophies and pictures in their living rooms when I lived there. It was those kids who made the sport happen so many years ago and most of them still rock...

oops - I should have mentioned that the van is a 7 seater - 2 are taken by us - so there is lots of room (even if you want to sleep in it - I don't!)

Its short notice but Kaz and I are heading to Hakuba tomorrow, stopping in Tokyo (Akihabara and Ebisu areas) and plan to arrive by early evening. If anyone wants a ride out, let me know - I accept donations for fuel/tolls. We plan to ski/board Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and head back Wednesday morning.

I had a look for Hakuba ski rental prices a few weeks ago for friends coming in January. There is a price list which includes snowboard gear I found useful here: http://hakubapow.com/page13/page13.html It would be a good idea to check which rental shops are recommended and if you will get better gear by reserving ahead- they are not all created equal!

Used snow tires are fantastic value in Japan - you can find them on the net and your local mechanic will probably know of a source. I got 2 studdless tires for my Delica with rims for 4,000 yen (for all 4) The tires are in almost new condition and all I paid for was an extra wheel balance and installation. Not a bad deal at all! You can also rent snow tires cheaply if you can't justify or store an extra set.

find someone to keep you warm?

dead easy - 5 mins and it was done...

I just got a new passport and went to immigration and transferred my new visa and re-enrty permit to the new passport...I'm all-in-one again.

HDMI is digital video and sound together in one cable. New video players have it but the video decks are quite pricey. I use a DVI to HDMI cable to connect my PowerBook to the TV screen - you can watch any video that will play on the computer on the TV screen and use the computer too...

http://www.speedtest.net/index.php This one is also cool and selects a server close to you.

Quote: Originally posted by Ocean11: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ That speed test is in the US - here is one in Japan... http://homepage2.nifty.com/oso/speedtest/

Quote: Originally posted by bobby12: What km/l do you get on your Prius? 24kms/l is what I am averaging now - but this has gradually increased as I have learned to watch the computer to maximize mileage...its a sport I have enjoyed learning.

If you have a look at the major Prius forums (priuschat.com and others), you'll see that people very quickly adapt to the small rear window (properly adjusted mirrors will take care of it) and very few people have any problems with rear vision while driving. I helped my mom (she's 70) buy one last year in Canada and although it was a comment she made at the dealership, it has never been mentioned since. She loves the car but now hates my father because he steals it from her every chance he gets. The strangest thing about owning a Prius is when you are in a 'normal' car and think 'WTF?' w

Quote: Originally posted by Ocean11: fjef, the old version don't come with a plug do they? When you're actually selling your old Prius, I'd be grateful if you'd give me a shout, because I might be interested. I prefer the old ones to the new ones. No plug - no Prius' come with plugs although a lot of people wish they did as the battery would always be at full charge after plugging in rather than relying on the gas engine to provide the charge... You can get conversion kits from the US which do allow you to plug in and increase your mileage dramatically over short distance trips.

Why would you think a Prius is horrible? Its the best vehicle I have ever had. I average 24kms/litre with the older version - the new ones like Mr. Wiggles has are even better. They are almost maintenance free and are good in snow. Waiting lists are so long in Japan that they are probably not available to lease - so you are right about that part being horrible!

You need to go into your router and open the ports so that the remote software (VNC?) can connect. NTT router interfaces are very messy and make normally simple tasks very complicated. Best not to muck around unless you really know what you are doing or you might disappear from the SJ forums for a while...

I can get great deals on the Toyota Prius from an auction dealer friend- otherwise they are very hard to find/expensive. They are heavy in the front because of the extra engine and are good in snow. I am about to order a new one and will have my 2002 model (in excellent shape) for sale...