Previous Home Page Archive

This is where I will store previous 'home pages'. (The page you see when you first come to thecamshaft.net) Why am a doing this? In case you wish to see the history of the site or document my insanity.

I will start putting up the past pages as soon as I have figured out an organized way to do it. (Probably with Java Script, but in the end I may just put it all into one long honk'n page!

Behold the Honk'n page!!!

The date listed is the last date that the page was viewable as the homepage.

Amazingly, I have been back in Japan for a month now. Time just flies by!

A few weeks ago, we visited Yokohama with some friends. Yokohama is famous for Chinatown and quite a deal of shopping.. It is located on Tokyo Bay, not too far from Odaiba. It has a pretty skyline, especially at night. This is a picture of one the old buildings that was previously a factory of some nature. It is now a shopping center. Clearly, I don't know too much about it, but I like the picture. Below is a picture of the city. My camera wobbled a bit in the wind when I took the shot, so it's a bit fuzzy, but you get an idea what it looks like.

There gonna be some changes 'round here

Actually, there have already been some. I am trying new styles in the Hall of Other portion of the site. I really like the style that is developing. I am considering adopting this style for the whole of the site as a sort of transition to an all new PHP version of the site. Now, don't get too excited! The PHP is only an idea now. My current provider, Tripod, does not allow PHP or MySQL databases. So, I will have to switch providers before that can happen. I will also have to have a Linux machine again to do the development and testing. But, that is a rant for another time.

In any case, take a look at the style and let me know what you think. Here, Microsoft Internet Explorer messes up the CSS and it ends up all in Bold. Though, I think it is just this computer (see below). Mozilla seems to get it right. If anything looks really bad or strange, send me an email from the link at the bottom of every page.

Not good, sir.

This is the answer to the question, "How is your computer?" Perhaps some of you remember the ill fate of my previous machine, the Dell Latitude. Following that, I moved over to my girlfriend's Gateway Laptop. It's an older Celeron and all Windows. I wanted to load up Linux, but it was not to be for a variety of reasons.

So what's up? Well, the system registry is bloated beyond belief and the computer is slow an unreliable. Check out my Amazing Blog to see it's regression. Or, go straight to an example of it's trip to the land of Windows 3.1 (dead like the dinosaurs). Basically, it is whispering to me in the night, "Jesse, I am ancient. Let me die. You really want a G5. ...or anything with the label 'GHz'". I am indulging on these thoughts and researching the market. It is amazing how fast the computer technology world moves and changes! I am considering building a system, as buying a Mac is out of my price range. I want to make sure I know what parts are good. But, the problem with research is that it results in a craving for top of the line! Looks like AMD has just come out with a 64-bit processor that could come to the home market with time. Maybe this is the PC response to the Mac G5? With this sort of architecture change happening, I am thinking it best to avoid buying anything new for now. My guess is that there will be some big changes in the next half year.

Go Outside!

Go outside this week with whatever viewing lenses you have, even if they are only your eyes. Mars is closer to Earth now that it will ever be again in our lifetime. It's readily visible low on the horizon. I am seriously considering buying cheap telescope. In Japanese, Mars is called "kase" (pronounced kah-seh), which means "fire planet".

Correction: Mars in Japanese is KASEI (kah-say)

I am back from America! My short trip of 16 days was very busy! In that 16 days, I drove more than 2000 miles (4,200 kilometers) and visited 4 sizable cities: Richmond (my home city), Virginia Beach, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. I only drove through Baltimore, so I guess I won't count it, but given the time, I would have gone there too.

This was the first time I had been home in a year. I had to catch up with many a friend and see many family members. One of the reasons I went home was my sister's wedding. (A lovely wedding by the way, but very long!) This was helpful because it gathered much of the family, so it made it easier for me to say hello! I also got to meet new family members. I think sibling's in-laws are your family too, aren't they? In any case, the wedding made catching up a little easier. Of course, I visited other friends that weren't part of the wedding, but I needed more time to see them I think.

Richmond itself hasn't changed very much from a year ago. I felt as if I had never left and that my time here in Japan was somehow removed from the rest of my life, like a dream. It faded to the back of my mind, only coming up in conversation, like you would talk about a summer vacation's trip. Though, there obviously were some changes for some people, but still it felt like home. That is funny to say, because when I returned home to Japan, it also felt like home! I have two homes, it seems.

Well, in America, I took many pictures. I am endeavoring to put them onto the site with some kind of order. I will have pictures and pages for places I went and things I did. Notable topics will include Virginia Beach, The Byrd Theater in Richmond, the cars of my trip (including a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP), hobbies, and Washington DC. I am most pleased with the DC photographs. I will offer some in wallpaper size later. I have about 200 photos to resize and retouch!

Until I get all these pictures and stuff up, check out the rest of the site or my Amazing Blog. It also has an amazing lag between entries.

Well, I have decided to make an update because, well, I haven’t done so in a long time! I am looking to change jobs. Ironically, I am also planning vacations. I will go to see Mount Fuji at the end of this month. In the beginning of next month, I will visit my hometown in the United States! This has a positive benefit for the website: as I am going home, I have been compelled to finally buy a digital camera. So, I can put up some pictures that exceed the size of your average postage stamp.

In other site news, I have made some pages available in Japanese. Please click the "In Japanese" link here or to your left (unless your monitor is upside down, in which case it is on the right...) to see the Japanese pages. You will need a Japanese enabled browser to view them correctly.

Digital Camera

In getting ready for my trips, I bought a digital camera. This is my second digital camera, if you include the one in my cell phone. Unlike my phone, this one breaks the mega pixel barrier. Its is a 5 mega pixel machine: an Olympus Camedia X-2. It comes with a 32Meg card. (Though, I did buy an upgrade to this.) Well, I am still learning to use the machine, but the test pictures I have taken have been promising. Click here to see an example picture. Note that this is a LARGE file. It is a High Quality setting photo. I haven’t edited it yet for color. There are higher resolution modes.

Once I learn to use this thing well, I might have some decent photos for the site. Well, that’s the theory anyway.

Small Cars In Japan

As should be quite obvious by the topics on this site, I am a gear head: I love cars. But, sadly, in Japan, a car is not practical for me right now. So, in order to fulfill this car need, I recently built a model of one. I think this is the second model car I have ever built. The first was a classic Thunderbird that I build in grade school. I lost the directions and it came out a bit odd. This one is a much better built Nissan: a 1999 Silvia S15. Why is it better built? Well, I didn’t loose the directions and I wasn’t in a mad rush to finish.

I had a good time making this model. There are a few faults: I did my body spray-painting all at once. That once was while battling mosquitoes and darkness, so the paint is a bit thick in places. Also, the kit itself required some slimming of mounts for the tires to spin freely. Nice rubber model tires though! (Aggressive tread.) Finally, I used a kind of instant glue that was new to me. Man, it was fast! About 10 seconds contact for a good hard bond. But, as I found out, it does tend to crystallize on clear parts. So, the headlights that I spent a long time on (3 kinds of paint with lots of touch up) are now barely visible. Also, some glue got on my finger, and then on the body paint making two ugly spots. I hand painted over them, but you can still see them a bit.

I built the model mostly according to the directions but I took a few liberties. The kit cam with some extra parts: so I used some. I added driving lights and metal tips on the exhaust. Also, the brake calipers were intended to be black. I thought red would look better, so I went with it. Overall, I am very pleased with the result. I am debating about adding the "Spec R" decals to the sides. I would have to paint clear paint over the decals to seal them, and I am not sure I want that extra stoke of paint on the gloss body. I may leave a trim look.

RIP: Dell Laptop

I am sad to report a death in the family: my Dell Latitude. The connection between the motherboard and the hard-drive failed. The computer will boot now only on occasion and usually after a large amount of 'coercion'. Those of you who may have had this old model may be familiar with this problem, as it is an unfortunate trait of the latitude. So, for the time being, I am without a personal computer. In this modern world it seems almost inhumane! Well, at least to a website owner. I will have to go without Linux for the time being. I have looked at new laptops (a desktop would be inconvenient at present) but have not been satisfied with what I have found. If I do find a machine that seems good, it is either way out of my price range or the store staff are too incompetent to answer questions. The dialog goes like this:

Me: "Can this computer run Linux?"

Store person: -blank stare-

Me: "well, it probably can... is this a good machine?"

Store person: -looks at price tag- "yes, but a more expensive one is better, because it is more expensive"

Me: "Uh, yeah.... I am trying to stay around 200,000 yen (about $1600 US)"

Store person: "well, you could get another job."

Me: "kill yourself. If the store doesn't have to pay useless workers the prices will drop and I can get a dual G4 Mac."

Store person: -begins to stutter- "uh. that that thats a bit evil... um. Would you like to speak to my manager? He is equally or less qualified to answer your questions."

Me: "Thanks, but you have been quite useless enough. Do you at least have a brochure?"

Store person: -looks around for another customer to try to escape- "We have a few featuring generalized sales material and information about Windows XP. There is a phone number for questions on the back. My brother works there, so call him for answers. He taught me everything."

Me: "Wonderful. Please thank your parents for breeding. A good way would be with a brochure on contraception and a family trip to China to see the new SARS quarantine area. Try some deep breathing exercises."

Store Person: "Would you be interested in out extended warranty program?"

News of News

Well, we just got back from Mount Tsukuba, in Ibaraki. It was a day trip. We took train and bus to get to Tsukuba and the a cable car to the top of Tsukuba. Tsukuba is a pair of mountains, considered to be male and female. As local legend goes, since the mountains are separated, the mountains will try to separate a couple if they go to the mountain. A bit dangerous as I went with my girlfriend!

Tsukuba itself is very beautiful. When we went there was a bit of haze (you will see it in the pictures I will post later), but the weather was nice on the whole. There are azaleas growing everywhere on the mountain top (Japanese: tsutsuji) Some were blooming but most were getting ready to. There are a number of rock formations of interest. The most notable that we saw was one that looks like a large turtle (there were children throwing rocking into it's "mouth") and another that looked very much like a statue of Buddha (daibutsuishi). We took the long walk down and it was quite a hike! At the top we were aided by chains attached to the rock face in key places. It wasn't the most dificult hike in the world by far, but it did tell me I should get out more! There were several groups of parents and kids that we encountered on the way. Most were going up.

We really had a good time. I will put up pictures later. Again, this depends on my success in the mystical quest for a scanner.

Thanks, etc.

Thanks to our troops for work they did and are doing in Iraq.

Congrats to my sister who will have her wedding in July.

Best wishes to those working on the SARS virus and to those affected by it.

OK, I am finally calling the site version 1.00. This means I am satisfied with the layout and style of the site. Also, there is now a guestbook. I decided not to code it myself, so this it is run through Lycos. Including the Guestbook as a single page, the total number of available pages is now 19. Please enjoy! (At the time of this posting, the previous homepage is only a day old, so I am going to leave it up.)

It's nice to have a weekend. The weather is finally turning nice and the cherry trees are in bloom. Ueno park is beautiful and busy. Though people tend to drink a bit there. On one of my trips I saw a young gentleman chugging Shyochu from a 3 liter bottle and another who found his pants too constrictive, so the logical choice was to remove them and scream about it. (That makes sense, right?) OK, so its a bit crazy at night... People here go to see the blossoms at all times of day. At the time of this writing, the petels are beginning to fall. It is like a snow of pink. Unfortunately, this leaves petels all over them place, often in large piles.

In other news, I have ADSL! I can access the internet at any time. (Insert laugh of your choice here. Giddy, evil, maniacal, or belly laugh?) Previously I have theorized that having internet at home would make me more productive in terms of updates. Seemingly, it has had the opposite effect: I spend all my time browsing. As of now, my Linux machine cannot connect to the internet. (This is because the "linux compatible" network device I purchased requires an impossible to find module file and a rebuild of the kernel (like rebuilding windows for you non-linux types) Its a pain in the behind. Especially since all the documentation is in Japanese.) So, as this page is written on the Linux machine, progress has been slow due to my internet addiction.

What's New?

Well, I am updating the Bio page and a few others. I want to update the picture part of the site to include, well, more stuff. I still haven't bought a scanner yet. Look for a new article by Pontification (his first!) on the testify page for the Pontiac side of the site.

What? No off topic rant?

None this week! Check out the Archive for previous rants. Rants rhymes with pants. Just thought you'd like to know.

It has been a while since my last update! Work has been busy and I haven't been able to spend any significant time at the internet cafe. In theory, I will have an ADSL connection in my home soon, but yahoo BB seems to be taking their time about it. Their definition of a week must not coincide with mine. (7 days is right, isn't it?) But, I won't use this space or your time to rant on about this.

Here in Japan, spring is coming quickly. The weather is quite typical of March: one day fine, the next rainy, the next cold, etc. The plum trees are in full bloom and the cherry trees will soon follow. I took a day trip to Kairakuen, a large park outside Mito City, to see the plum trees. There are hundreds of trees in that park as well as hundreds of people on the day I went. But, it was not overly crowded. I have pictures and as soon as I can get a scanner, I will put them up on the site. I hope to go to Ueno to see the cherry blossoms later if my work schedule allows.

As for site news, there are a few updates. The Pontiac portion of the site has gotten a few more graphics and a bit more info. A HTML list generator has been added in case you want to make a list for your homepage and are too lazy to type the code. Also, I have decided to simply put all of the old pages into one page. They are organized by date and contain all the original errors and ramblings. See the archive for more thrilling information.

What is this... JavaScript???

It helps to read that in a bad French accent, because it sounds funny. Though I am not sure how you read in an accent. OK, so I have talked a lot about JavaScript but have not really mentioned what it is. So, here is the answer: JavaScript (often written without the space) is a programming language used most often on web pages. It is the smaller cousin of Java (from Sun Microsystems). It is easy to write and is takes up little space. Most browsers read it in a similar fashion so different computers usually do the same thing with the same script. Regretably, there are some differences on older browsers, but we are slowly beginning to agree on how script should be read and written. Older Netscape was notorious for compatibility problems. (Try and use my prototype Pontiac Quiz on Explorer 5.0 or less. Question window won't resize and you can't read anything. Annoying.) Almost all modern browsers agree on what to do.

JavaScript can be used to program almost anything that a HTML document does on a user's computer. It can be used to program simple games, image roll-overs (i.e.: an image change if you put your mouse pointer over a button), and manipulate text. On this site, JavaScript is used to write the buttons at the left and choose the icon at the top of the page. JavaScript is mostly geared for text and HTML element manipulation.

While JavaScript is great for programs that work solely on the a user's computer, it is not very good about communicating with a server. To communicate with a server different languages and protocols are generally used such as CGI. (Common Gateway Interface. Usually uses Perl.) Why do you need to communicate with the host server? Well, to send messages, or to order products, or to make an entry to a database. Basically, if you need to send any kind of data to a different computer, JavaScript is not your tool of choice. Though, JavaScript can be used to send information (variables) to other HTML documents or to store small amounts of data on the user's computer. These stored bits of data are called cookies. Thats good if you want to remember a user's name or favorite color and don't want to ask him for a password (remote database access).

Learning to write JavaScript in not hard as the language uses words and terms that are relatively easy for humans to understand. If you know how HTML works behind a web page, then you can start learning and using JavaScript today. To learn more about JavaScript, checkout the webmonkey.

More pages added to the site! The dream of content is being slowly realized. I am thinking about adding a page for previous home pages (this page). New pages include a page for strange English found here in Japan. There are some really odd things to be found written on signs and products here! The collection is small now, but it will grow. More pictures (just a few) have been added to the picture page. I also made updates some of the older pages, such as the links page. There is no changelog entry for any of this update because I am only adding pages and updating a few old ones. I only make a changelog entry if I add something really big or change the Java Script. If I were to add a page to the changelog everytime I changed a sentence or added a page, it would become ridiculously long and more useless than it probably is now! Have you actually read it? If you stare at it long enough you will go blind...

I want to increase the number of pictures on the site, I aim to purchase a scanner or a digital camera. I am not sure which I will get yet... A scanner is considerably cheaper. I have a few old picture, especially some Pontiac ones, that I would like to put on the site. However, a scanner doesn't have have the cool factor of a digital camera. Additionally, a digital camera would aid me in future development. Doh!

Why are we still at ver 0.9 - Beta?

Maybe this should be in the FAQ section of the site. (Say it with me now: FAQ!) But, I am putting it here. The reason that we are still at 0.9 is that I want to have a form for user feedback and possibly some sort of guestbook before I call the page 1.0. But, its just a number that I have assigned to it, so it is actually quite meaningless.

Lack of Sleep Induced Diatribe

Here is my lack of sleep induced diatribe for this week:

I have been sitting infront of my computer rocking out to Boston. (Expect a review on Boston: Greatest Hits next week.) I realized just how dangerous this is. At work I could not get the songs out of my head! Though thats probably a good thing. My work had a bad tendency to play teenage pop stuff endlessly. (Generally referred to as 'crap'.) Though, I did slip a Black Sabbath CD into the carousel. Yep, I'm a rebel.

This is one thing that is very interesting about Japan. You can go into a store and be greeted by virtually any kind of music: Japanese pop, Western Pop, rap, classical, occasionally 80s and 90s hits. Now, I make little secret of the fact that I like 80's music and good rock from any time. So, I am quite happy when I can listen to "Who can it be now?" (Men at Work) while I eat a doughnut at Mr. D. (Mister Doughnut is a very popular doughnut store here. I think it is from the west coast of the United States. Though it is nice, it does not compare to Krispy Kream of the east coast US! Expect a link for that soon.) Virgin Records seems to have a broadcast (out of London) that is played in a lot of these stores. Small world? I don't know. Just eat your doughnut.

Welcome to my homepage!

At long last I am updating this page again! As mentioned previously, my attempts to add content have been continuously thwarted by a mime. However, I discovered the mime's weakness: 80's rock. Armed with a few CDs and speakers for "The Final Countdown" and "Separate Ways", I was able to write without interruption. But, the bad side was that I didn't stop to sleep! So, in this update there may be some odd segues, such as paragraphs that start with one topic and end with another, such as this one: Where should I use a full colon and how is it different from a semi-colon?

The Java Script behind these pages has been notably updated for this version of the site. You can check out the changes by visiting the change log page.

Speaking of how busy I have been, I just got back from a wonderful 2 day stay in Nikko. Nikko is a small town up in the mountains of Japan. It is famous for three things: baths, the Kegon waterfall, and yuba. Yuba is a tofu-like food. It is yellowish in color and somewhat sheet like, though it often comes in rolls. There are many (perhaps too many) restaurants dedicated to selling this particular Nikko delicacy. Kegon falls are a bit higher up in the mountains and are accessable by bus. The are quite large, more than 100 meters, if I remember correctly. There are also wild monkeys that live in the area. They are somewhat problemsome as they steal things from the various local stores. In fact I witnessed a pair of smaller monkeys do just this and retreat into the woods.
Nikko itself has a number of famous temples (of which I will address in a later version of this site) and baths. I must say it was very nice to be sitting outside in a very warm bath, with small snowflakes falling. (It was an outdoor bath.) I would recommend Nikko to anyone needing to relax for a bit.

I have started a picture page. There are only a few pictures right now, but its a start. I want to put up pictures of Nikko, but I have to get a scanner. Maybe I can go to Akihabara and pick one up before the next version of the site. (I know! I know! You wanna see pictures of the monkeys!)

Would you like internet at home?
That was the question maybe 10 years ago. Now, I live in Japan, one of the most technologically advanced places on earth, and I don't even have a phone line in my house. I do have a cell phone with a color screen and digital camera in my pocket, but no internet access... I am typing this page on my old P2, 266MHz Dell Laptop (running Linux) wishing for even a 14.4K modem. Here, when you get cable or land line phone, you must purchase the hardware. That included the actual wire that runs into your house. For that reason, many Japanese households do not have land phones. Cellular is far to convenient and cheap here. (I would say 95 percent of people here have cell phones, including children.) But, I digress. Usually, this page is updated from an internet cafe. There are two major types of i-cafes here: those that are free but you must pay for drinks and those that are not free, but you get free drinks. The one I use most often is of the later type.

For those households that are connected to the internet, there are several choices. Dial-up connections are available, but not so common in Japan. This is because all calls are billed by the minute, not just long distance calls. So, a dial-up connection can get pretty expensive to do anything much more than check email.
Broadband cable access is available here, but it is no so popular for some reason. Yahoo seems to promote this service heavily. It is very common to see young men and women passing out YahooBB bags to people who pass by. Though, I know very few people that actually use this service.
Most people go with ADSL. I admit to being somewhat fuzzy about what ADSL is, but I believe it to be very similar to ISDN, in that the service is provided via a phone line and is quite fast. (I wish I had actual transfer speed to quote...) This service seems to be reasonably priced (comparable to broadband in the United States).

To summarize: I wish I had internet access at home.

How was this page made?

OK, so its best to have a technical page for this, but this is all I have now so...
This site is hosted by Tripod. It was written on VI, a text editor for Linux. Specifically, I use Mandrake Linux. I prefer writing HTML by hand as opposed to using a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You usually don't Get) editor. But that is simply a preference. The site has been tested primarily on Microsoft Explorer and Mozilla. If you are interested in learning HTML or other internet like things, check out the Web Monkey.

What is a camshaft?

Naturally, it is part of a car engine... The camshaft is responsible for making sure valves open at the right time to let fuel/air into and exhaust out of the combustion chamber. (It also times the valves so that they don't collide with the piston.) Engines don't work terribly well without them. If you want to know more about camshafts, or if you stumbled across this site while looking for camshafts, then please go to Comp Cams.

Welcome to my homepage!

This is the first update to my prototype page. I am pleased to say that it is coming along nicely. I amazed all of the stuff I can do with the document.write command in Java Script. (OK, so I also amazed how much I can do with only lazy programming!) If you want to know more, check out the Change Log. Thanks for visiting!

Confession: I have been focusing too much on developing the background script of this site. Weak Excuse: My content was stolen by a mime. They can be very sneaky. I could continue this obvious lie, but I would rather not. So, instead of continuing to develop the scripts, I think for now I will focus on adding words and pictures. (As much as the sneaky mime will allow...) Right now I am working on the obligatory link page, but as of yet, it is not finished. I am working on the biography page. Yes, just what you asked for: another place for me to talk about me. Rather than talk just about me, this page should have information on other people who have agreed to write for this site. However, I am not sure it will stay on the final version. I may change the name to the far more professional sounding "Staff". All together now: OOOooooo.

Other things coming to the site: A page for my English students. What will it be? Honest answer: I haven't decided yet. Probably some interesting words, facts, or brief explanations. Possibly even useful ones!

Of course I still intend to put up the Pontiac portion of the site. However, I am debating whether to give it a page or its own subdomain or both. To re-cap about the Pontiac goal, I want to put up information about the often neglected 3rd generation Trans Am and the early and mid-90s Grand Prix. Perhaps this is odd because I live in Japan and have never seen a mid-90s Grand Prix here. Pontiacs are rare here on the whole actually. For now, go to High Performance Pontiac.com . Perhaps we will discuss other performance cars as well... (Though I doubt HPP will.)

How was this page made?

OK, so its best to have a technical page for this, but this is all I have now so...
This site is hosted by Tripod. It was written on VI, a text editor for Linux. Specifically, I use Mandrake Linux. I prefer writing HTML by hand as opposed to using a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You usually don't Get) editor. But that is simply a preference. The site has been tested primarily on Microsoft Explorer and Mozilla. If you are interested in learning HTML or other internet like things, check out the Web Monkey.

Is that a greenpepper on the top of the page???

Yes. It is to test the icon function of the Java Script file. Some people may find it familiar, as it is a pattern from Gimp. The Japanese word for green pepper is "piman". You like green peppers, don't you?

What is a camshaft?

Naturally, it is part of a car engine... The camshaft is responsible for making sure valves open at the right time to let fuel/air into and exhaust out of the combustion chamber. (It also times the valves so that they don't collide with the piston.) Engines don't work terribly well without them. If you want to know more about camshafts, or if you stumbled across this site while looking for camshafts, then please go to Comp Cams.