Portable Alien Site Launched
The Alien Times has launched a new website that can be accessed from your mobile phone. The site is called "The Portable Alien" and it is designed to let you find out information about Tsukuba while you are on-the-go. The address is http://k.alientimes.org. (The "k" stands for "keitai", which means "portable" in Japanese and is often used to refer to mobile phones.)
The site is divided into a number of directories. The top level directories are:
- Accommodations Directory
- City Hall Directory
- Education Directory
- Emergency Directory
- Food Directory
- Health Directory
- Media Directory
- Miscellaneous Directory
- Recreation Directory
- Research Directory
- Transportation Directory
- Travel Directory
Inside these directories, you will find links to information about various organizations and companies that may be difficult to find when you are not at your computer. For example, in the recreation directory, you can find information about sports facilities and tourist attractions in Tsukuba. In the health directory, you can find lists of clinics divided into their specializations (skin, pediatrics, eyes, etc.). The transportation section currently includes schedules for the Tsukuba-Narita and Tsukuba-Tokyo buses. We eventually hope to include other schedules such as Tsukuba Express, Joban Line, and TsukuBus.
The site is not yet complete, but we decided to make it public so people in the Tsukuba community can test it out and let us know what they think. If there is any information that you would like to see on the site, please let us know. Also, if there is any information that is outdated or needs to be improved, please contact us so we can keep the site up-to-date.
There are two ways to access the site with your cellphone.
1. Open your web browsing software in your mobile phone and enter the address "k.alientimes.org" directly.
2. Use your barcode reader in your cellphone (usually in with the camera settings) to read the following code.
After you have accessed the site once, put it in your list of favourites so you can get to it quickly when you need it in the future.
You can also access the site with your computer. The mobile site is directly accessible by computer, or you can use the interface that has been integrated into the Alien Times website. (The interface was integrated so that searches that are performed on the Alien Times site will now include results from the Portable Alien directories.)
We hope you find this new site useful and we are looking forward to getting your feedback on our efforts!
Print This Post
Read TsukuBlog Posts on Your Cellphone
By popular demand (okay, only two or three people demanded it, but it was a popular demand amongst those people!), TsukuBlog is now available to be read by cellular phone.
You can use the same address to read the blog on your computer or your cellphone: blog.alientimes.org.
If you don't want to enter the address manually, you can point your cellphone's bar code reader at the following QR code:
The first page is quite large, so you may run into a memory error. If that happens, just click "ok" and continue. You should still be able to see links to a large number of articles.
Print This Post
Receive Area Crime Reports on Your Computer or Cellphone
Did you know that there has been a series of crimes in Tsukuba that made national headlines lately? A 32-year-old man was arrested last week for aggravated assault. This man went to a 20-year-old Tsukuba woman’s residence at night, and begged her to make him her slave. He then tried to grab her through a gap in the chained door when she refused. This man said that he had fallen in love with a 20-year-old woman at first sight about a month prior to this bizarre case.
...OK, guys. Hang in there. Japan’s infamous muggy weather is too much to handle, even for a Japanese guy obviously, but it’s going to get worse. If you are new to Ibaraki or Japan, you might want to note that the season after the rainy season is actually the 暴走族 (bou sou zoku) or motorcycle gang season. Several days ago, some people, possibly high school kids were setting off bottle rockets... at two in the morning! These kinds of troublemakers come out when the weather gets nicer, and they've definitely become the unwelcome seasonal tradition of Japan.
On a more serious note, there was also a murder in Tsukuba last week. The owner of a pachinko parlor in Takamihara, which is the area adjacent to Ushiku City, was murdered last Tuesday night. The killer is still on the loose.
What may affect many of TsukuBlog readers is a series of motorcycle thefts in the area. As Shaney wrote in her post “Increase in Bike and Motorcycle Theft in Tsukuba,” bike and motorcycle thefts are on the rise at an alarming rate. Three Namiki residents found their beloved motorcycles stolen last Tuesday morning. Four other motorcycles were stolen in Tsukuba between June 15 and 16. All were large-size motorcycles such as Harley-Davidsons (very popular targets!), and all were safeguarded against theft. The police suspect that a professional motorcycle theft ring(s) is behind these cases. This website, “バイク盗難 情報局 (motorcycle theft information),” is also cautioning all motorcycle owners in Japan about the recent motorcycle theft cases. The website is specifically warning those motorcycle owners who live along/near the following Routes: Route 17, Route 16, Route 14, Route 246, Route 408, Route 125, Route 4, and Route 354. As you know, Routes 408, 125 and 354 go through Tsukuba.
Some of you may already have signed up for this, but the Ibaraki Prefectural Police launched a service last month that informs Ibaraki residents of crimes and crime prevention information by e-mail. The service is called ひばりくん防犯メール(Hibari-kun bouhan mail), or Skylark Crime Prevention Mail. Skylark is the prefectural bird of Ibaraki, by the way. My son’s school handed out letters about this new service a couple of weeks ago, but I was too lazy to sign up. However, the recent motorcycle thefts in Tsukuba got me to sign up for this service because just the thought of a professional theft ring roaming around in my neighborhood made me sick and made me very worried about neighborhood safety.
The registration process is VERY simple. Just send a blank e-mail to add[AT]mail1.police.pref.ibaraki.jp and click on the URL in the message sent back to you. It won’t ask you to enter your residential address. All you need to do is to click and choose the city, then choose which information you'd like to receive. I picked Tsukuba, and selected both "crime prevention information" and "traffic accident information" to be sent to my e-mail account. The only message I've received so far since I signed up for this service last week was about a suspicious man in his 50s in Mito who's been approaching kids. Subscribers will receive traffic accident information, break-in/purse snatcher/bicycle theft reports and announcements from the Ibaraki Prefectural Police. Watch your bikes and motorcycles... and kids!
Print This Post
Recycling Telephone Books
If you have an NTT telephone line, updated phone books and yellow pages will be delivered to your door. If you are able to answer the door when the books are delivered, you can hand the delivery person your old books for recycling. If you are not at home when they are delivered, you will receive a notice like the one below.
The date written in red tells you when the books will be collected. (In this case, it will be on November 23 from 2pm.) The red circle in the middle of the paper indicates that you are to put the telephone books outside your front door. (If the second option is circled, it means that you should put the books outside the door of your dormitory. If the third option is circled, you should put the books at the first floor postal area of your building. It is also possible that there will be a different designated place written in the final brackets.)
The books will be collected even if it is raining, so please put them outside on the designated date no matter what the weather.
Print This Post
Same Number, Different Phone
Have you heard of "Mobile Number Portability" (MNP)? This system came into effect one month ago today (on October 24, 2006) and it means that you can keep your phone number even if you change from using DoCoMo to au or SoftBank as your provider. (MNP does not apply to PHS phones, but it can apply to prepaid phones.)
However, it is not as easy as it sounds. You have to cancel your current contract, subscribe to a new contract (both of which may involve fees), and then buy a new phone. Also, while your number won't change, your email address will.
Here is the procedure for changing your provider without changing your current phone number.
First of all, you have to contact your current provider. From your cellphone, call one of the following numbers depending on who your current provider is.
au: 0077-75470
DoCoMo: 151
SoftBank: *5533
TU-KA: 0077-75471
Your current provider will give you a "reservation number". Take that reservation number to your new provider. As soon as your new carrier can confirm your reservation number with your current carrier, your current contract will be terminated. You may be charged a "termination fee". (For example, au charges 2100 yen to terminate a contract.)
Once your contract is terminated, you will have to sign up for a new contract with your new provider and buy a new mobile phone. When you sign up for the new contract, you will be asked for ID, so please bring your driver's license and your seal (hanko) along with your reservation number. You may have to pay a "subscription fee". (For example, au charges 2835 yen to new subscribers.)
This will allow you to keep your current phone number, but as I mentioned above, you will not be able to keep your current email address. However, depending on the provider and your old and new phones, you may be able to get your address book information transfered to your new phone. If this is possible, then you can send an announcement to everyone in your address book to say that your address will be changed.
Source: au KDDI site
See also: Softbank Mobile: Really a Good Deal? on Mr. Jeremy's Blog.
Print This Post