I gave up hope that I'll be updating the blog before the end of summer and/or before I move to Luxembourg. I'm posting interesting links every once in a while on twitter, so if you want you can follow me there.

For those addicted to visiting the site, here's my twitter feed.

I've uploaded some pictures of Columbus (Ohio). Now you can see for yourself how interesting the place is.

After lunch I was wandering aimlessly around the hotel, and I happened to meet a random stranger. He started talking and I started chatting with him. He was complaining that he's going to have the most boring 7 hours, packing candy for tomorrows hockey match. I pricked my ears, "what hockey match?", I asked. He told me that the blue jackets were playing, so I asked if tickets would still be available today, just 1 day before the match. He made a quick phone call to check for me, and confirmed that tickets were still available. While he was walking with me to show me where the ticket office was, I asked who they were playing. They were playing the NY Rangers! How cool is that!

The only other time I came to the States (also for a conference), I had got a ticket to see the NY rangers, even before getting to NY. That time I had a major screw-up with flights and missed the match. This time with the greatest serendipity possible, I got a ticket for tomorrows match between the Blue Jackets and the NY Rangers. Woooooohooo!!!

Yes, him! He sneaked out of a seedy ally while I was walking to the hotel yesterday night after the banquet. He crept slowly from behind, jabbed me in the ribs and screamed, "LADDDDYYYYYY". Did you guess now? I met Seamus!

I had to come all the way to this godforsaken state in the US to meet him again. I think the last time I saw him was after I hooked up with the chick. There was that little story with him and bob the ghost, the one who used to live in Rathmines. Been quite a while since then. He was still 13.

Well I must say the kid is alive and well. Ok, maybe not so well, living like a parasite in the side streets of Columbus, but hey, he got here and we met. What else do you want. He found out that I was coming over and decided to make an effort to meet.

The other great thing was that Thomas Brown's lately adopted pet wasn't there. Apparently the 3 legged dog was held at customs when the two stooges tried to sneak him in the US. Now you tell me, who tries to sneak a rabbis infested, 3 legged dog in the US. I mean you can try to sneak in a bottle or two of explosive liquid, but the dog. Come on. Btw, Thomas Brown was detained too.

After all the effort Seamus went through to meet up, I couldn't even be pissed off at him. Not even after what he did. It was like the good old times. Maybe even better. He could get a Dr. Pepper here, instead of Pepsi.

We spent the night chatting away, browsing through the channels looking for an episode of family guy. At night he slept in the shower, and by morning he had already vanished again.

Yes the inevitable had to happen. I'm back from Japan. It was a wonderful holiday, everything went according to plan, and we got to see as much of Japan as possible in two weeks. We started out with a couple of days in Tokyo, then went on to climb up Mt. Fuji. Luckily the weather was cooperative on the mountain, after the torrential rain we previously had in Tokyo.

After Fuji we went to the cultural capital, Kyoto, with a side trip to Nara. From there to Hiroshima and the island of Miyajima. Finally in the end we visited Beppu in the South Island (Kyushu) and Yudanaka near Nagano to see the snow monkeys.

Hopefully I'll have some time to write a bit for meaningful comments about Japan, instead of a list of place. At the moment though I'm having a sever attack of post holiday blues.

Just before leaving to Japan, here's a presentation I made for the Misses about Japan. It's a fun sort of presentation, with facts and curiosities about this weird and wonderful country.

Japan from A to Z

For credits for the pictures in the presentations click on the pictures

Google have added a feature to Google maps that lets you take virtual walks in a city. You can literally follow street paths on a map and have a 360' view of all your surroundings. This feature is called Street View. Click on the images for a quick preview.

From some superficial searches on the subject, the images were taken with video camera mounted on a car, going around the streets. Not all countries have this feature enabled but on August 4th it was introduced for Japan.

This is really amazing stuff! It gives a whole new dimension to travel planning. Images and news about Google Street View found via Japan Probe.

Some sites with interesting street view collections:-
Top 15 Google Street View sightings (Mashable.com)
Google Street View gallery