Staying in Touch

The girls have gone to have their hair done this morning and be pampered a bit. So while we await their return I am going to answer a few questions I have gotten over the last two weeks.

A number of you have asked to be added to the email list.  I no longer send out the email notices of new posts myself.  I have a service, called FeedBurner, that does that for me. If you would like to get email notices of each new post, you just need to go up to the upper right hand corner of the page where you see this:

Enter the email address you would like the update sent to and then hit the subscribe button.  This will lead you to a page that looks something like this:

Enter the funky code and hit enter.  Within 24 hours you should receive an email asking you to verify that it was in fact you who sent that email address.  Once you reply to that email, you will be officially added to the list that only I have access to, assuming I can remember my password or take the time to go there and look.  I do see that I have 14 regular readers now instead of 5.  Guess I will have to rethink my audience and what I write.  (I can’t believe posts about Hello Kitty Toilet Paper and fixing squid aren’t setting the web on fire.)

Of course you can always go the home page at any time (http://talesfromjapan.com) and see what’s new.

You may notice, from time to time that certain words or phrases in a post are printed in red.  The red type indicates that those words/phrases have a link to another page or site embedded in them.  By clicking on those you can go to that site/page.

Another question I get quite frequently is do I really call my daughter Sachan?  Yes and no.  Sachan is one of many names I call my daughter, although names like “stinker,”  “daughter of Pam,” and “you who makes my hair turn white” don’t have the same idealistic sweetness that “Sachan” (short for Sachiko which means “one who is happy”) does.  In real life I only use Sachan when I am speaking to her in Japanese or when I actually want her to pay attention to me…not that Sachan or any name successfully garners her attention.

And the last question is, What is this Skype thing you are always talking about?  Skype is a free program that lets you use your computer as a phone to call other people that have Skype on their computer.  It can be downloaded by following this link and clicking on the big Download button.  In case you are interested, Skype has recently revamped its format and with these changes, your computer does need to meet some minimum requirements:

• PC running Windows 2000, XP or Vista.  Mac is supported as well.
• Internet connection – broadband is best

Your computer also needs to have a set of speakers (ideally connected and turned on) and a microphone (ideally connected and turned on…although stealing play microphones from your children’s toys has been proven to work.)  Speaking (OK, yelling) at your computer without a microphone attached and turned on is akin to pouring gas on top of your car and hoping it seeps in at the right place.  It’s amusing to watch, but futile.

So, assuming your computer is up to speed and you have a mic, speakers and the free program loaded on your computer, you can then make free phone calls to anyone else who has these things.  For a small price, you can also get Skype Credit, a prepay account, which lets you use your Skype program to call landlines and cell phones.

Skype also offers the option of video calls (but only between two computers whereas with voice calls you can conference call with up to 20 computers).  You will need to invest in a web cam.  Skype will automatically recognize your webcam after you plug it into your computer and  install it.  The new Skype interface makes using a webcam for video calls much easier.

So, if you aren’t signed up for the email notices of new posts, please give that a try.  If your computer is up for it, check out the Skype.  Oh, and keep stopping by to see what’s new on this end of the world!