Today I learned...

[Kraco]

I don't wear a tie that often but somehow I can't forget the Four-In-Hand knot, which is consequently everything I ever use. I always keep my ties unknotted in the closet. Surely keeping them all the time preknotted will ruin them, like Bill said.

[Animeniax]

Its not only youth in japan, some professors in japan's university specialized in teaching kanji and kanji related stuff don't know sequences of strokes.(Info from my Japanese teacher who studied there)

As Japan becomes more and more modernized and the elderly die and their ways die with them, maybe in the next 100 years romaji/hiragana/katakana will be the norm and kanji be less widely used. It will be a shame.

I don't wear a tie that often but somehow I can't forget the Four-In-Hand knot, which is consequently everything I ever use.

Loop twice, under, over, through, done.

[Xelbair]

I don't think that kanji will get extinct - it is very useful for fast reading - you can write logical sentences without having any idea how to read this out loud - you can only know the meaning of the kanji and its connections, not necessary the whole word and be able to read the text.

[Kraco]

Apparently Japan recently introduced closer to 200 new official kanji (and scrapped a few old ones). So, at least the ministries believe in the future of kanji.

[Buffalobiian]

Regarding Kanji being "older", more difficult to write etc, Traditional/Simplified Chinese usage shares much the same usage. I don't see Traditional Chinese fading out in the foreseeable future though, because simplified is just ugly.

You'll see Simplified in writing, but you'll never see it as a store sign etc.

It's not an entirely identical situation as Japanese though, since Simplified is still using characters. No one ever writes with the PinYin (phonetic characters used to aid pronunciation) except incompetent students such as myself

And even then, I'm pretty sure that method of teaching is phasing out in preference for a Romanised pronunciation aid.

[Animeniax]

Apparently Japan recently introduced closer to 200 new official kanji (and scrapped a few old ones). So, at least the ministries believe in the future of kanji.

That's the way of things though isn't it? The old school ministry members want to keep the old ways. It's for the youth of their nation to continue to use and/or celebrate the old ways or they will die (the ways, not the youth).

Today I re-learned that emulating something you see in the movies is not always as much fun in real life. My HP all-in-one printer started having problems the other day so I took it apart to see if I could get it to work again. After messing with it for an hour and making new problems, I took it out to the yard and hit it with a baseball bat a few times. The problem is it has a scanner with a full plate of glass. I had to spend 5-10 minutes in the Texas sun picking up pieces of broken glass so my dog won't get cut on them when he plays in the yard. Not as satisfying as they make it seem in Office Space.

[Buffalobiian]

Fugu contains lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin in the organs, especially the liver area and ovaries, and also the skin. The poison, a sodium channel blocker, paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious, and eventually dies from asphyxiation. Currently, there is no known antidote, and the standard medical approach is to try to support the respiratory and circulatory system until the poison dissipates.

As of 2008, advances in fugu research and farming have allowed some farmers to mass produce non-toxic fugu. Researchers surmised that fugu's tetrodotoxin came from eating other animals that had the tetrodotoxin-laden bacteria, and developed immunity over time. Many farmers now are producing 'poison-free' fugu by keeping the fugu away from tetrodotoxin-laden bacteria. Usuki, a town in Ōita Prefecture, became famous for selling non-poisonous fugu. No one has been poisoned eating it yet.

Despite this, the more thrilling experience of eating authentic Fugu would be around to stay I think.

[The Heretic Azazel]

I'd like my fugu WITH mouth-numbing poison please.

[Kraco]

Despite this, the more thrilling experience of eating authentic Fugu would be around to stay I think.

It wouldn't surprise me if some restaurants purposefully failed to mention they are using non-toxic fugu just so that the customers would be imagining the danger.

[shinta|hikari]

But they would get found out very easily since it would be missing its distinct tingling sensation on the mouth.

[Buffalobiian]

Every piece of meat feels mouth-numbing?

[Kraco]

I had no idea it has such an effect.

[samsonlonghair]

I don't think you guys realize that the point of eating fugu is the poison. Tetrodotoxin has a narcotic effect.

Non-poisonous fugu is comparable to non-alcoholic beer, and I'm sure it's just as popular.

[Kraco]

They could take the non-poisonous fugu and add manually some toxin to it. That way they could always be sure there's just the right tiny amount of it.

[Buffalobiian]

They could take the non-poisonous fugu and add manually some toxin to it. That way they could always be sure there's just the right tiny amount of it.

lol, after reading Kraco's post, I spontaneously had a fantasy-advertisement playing in my head:

-------
"Can't find a Fugu chef? With Fugu Heart Stopper, you can savour the Fugu exoticness right from your kitchen! Just add a few drops to your sushi, pasta or anything of your choice and experience the mouth-numbing sensation of Fugu.

Out now, at all large supermarkets near you!
------

It'll be the new Tabasco or something.

[The Heretic Azazel]

Every piece of meat feels mouth-numbing?

Supposedly if you are at a restaurant with a chef who can skillfully handle a knife, he leaves just enough poison in to numb your lips and mouth, but not enough to kill you.

[Assassin]

so if the chef isn't as skilled, does he get charged with manslaughter?

[The Heretic Azazel]

If I'm not mistaken you have to sign a waiver first.

[Buffalobiian]

so if the chef isn't as skilled, does he get charged with manslaughter?

I read some unofficial source saying that a chef who has caused death due to Fugu poisoning is has his license permanently withdrawn.

I went shopping today and noticed for the first time that while Coke comes in every size available, Pepsi does not cater for the 390mL or the 625mL market.

Is that an Australian thing, or elsewhere too?

One other thing I learned is that Japan's cellphones work on weird frequencies and all that doesn't conform to international standards.

But... 3G works (with limitations) I think?

[Xelbair]

Only some of 3g functions - you wont be able to make a call with jap cellphone anywhere else...