The most wonderful news is that Prue is finished with the Muse’s Success logo and I plan to debut it during the beta of the coming updates (late July/early August) and push it with the rest of the updates once tested. Big thanks to Prue!

My WordPress plug-ins won’t be updated until Muse’s Success’ updates are successfully beta tested and found to be bug free. If you checkout the GitHub version of the eBook export plug-in, it does continue to create a lovely ePub ebook suitable for iTunes and other ePub book stores.

I seem to have left Facebook without many (2 people noticed) people noticing but I have had to go back a few times due to no one being available via anything else. Does anyone remember email? I don’t really want to delete my account fully – i have such a nice vanity URL but at the same time I want to fully delete it. I saw the trailer for the movie, looks interesting but not enough to see it – especially since the trailer spoils it.

I should be getting a new TV and my glasses two weeks from now, so I am very excited about those too. It’s been ages since I have worn glasses, but I technically need them. I won’t be straining my eyes as much to see, my right eye deserves the reduced workload since my left doesn’t do any of the work.

My big excited Japanese post a few months ago didn’t turn out so well – as soon as I finished the exercise book I was using to practice kanji, I stopped and have not done any since. I had reached around the 280 mark. I finally the other day bought several new blank exercise books, so I am getting back to it after the current assignments are in.

The new anime season started a few weeks ago. The shows that immediately have sparked my interest are Shukufuku no Campanella, Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi, Amagami SS and Nurarihyon no Mago. You should check them out.

Edit: Added Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi to interesting anime.

Interview with Elliot Schrage, Vice-president of Privacy at Facebook:

“Everything is opt-in on Facebook. Participating in the service is a choice. We want people to continue to choose Facebook every day. Adding information — uploading photos or posting status updates or “like” a Page — are also all opt-in. Please don’t share if you’re not comfortable. That said, we certainly will continue to work to improve the ease and access of controls to make more people more comfortable. Your assumption about our assumption is simply incorrect. We don’t believe that. We’re happy to make the record on that clear.”

The deactivate account page at Facebook:

Are you sure you want to deactivate your account?
Your 81 friends will no longer be able to keep in touch with you.

What This Means for My Facebook Friends:

• I will no longer be seen around Facebook, primarily on your wall but also anywhere else that I would otherwise interact with you.
• You can no longer post on my wall.
• I will no longer respond to your pokes or other requests.
• You can continue to use the events function to invite me to events however I am unlikely to respond in the comments area to anything regarding the event. I will make an effort to get in contact via email however.
• You can also continue to send messages to me via Facebook. Again, however I will respond via email. If I don’t have your email, the contents of my message that I respond with will be a request for your email address. I would prefer you use the contact form on this blog instead.
• Web Fiction Authors: I have de-fanned your pages. I continue to be a fan of your work, but it was necessary for me to truly leave Facebook to the extent which I can.

Having finally completed Katakana, I am also required to begin Kanji, specifically the J?y? kanji – essentially learning kana 10 more times. It certainly is scary however I’m sure I can accomplish it. I’m planning to use the Remembering the Kanji method since I don’t have confidence that the more traditional method which I used to learn the kana will translate to 2000 more characters, many of which are increasingly detailed and similar.

The Remembering the Kanji method will teach a single English word for each Kanji. The actual Japanese readings can be taught later in context. At that stage, I’m planning to use the All Japanese All the Time method of 10,000 unique sentences which I will enter into Anki, which is spaced repetition software. My review method for these will be much like my Katakana, write the sentence, read the sentence, and then proceed to check my answer. In the case that I’m wrong, I will repeat the writing and reading a few more times before moving on to the next.

I’m planning to supplement the 10,000 sentences method with JapanesePod101 podcasts, Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese Grammar and Smart.fm‘s Vocabulary lists. The first and last of these will also serve as a great source of sentences for use in Anki with a reasonable likelihood that the translations provided will be correct. Eventually I’m also planning to use my anime and jdorama as a source of sentences.

I’ve gone over the planned method of action but I haven’t put forth my reasons for learning Japanese.

• To prove to myself that I can
• Watching Anime and Japanese Dramas without subtitles
• Reading Manga and Light Novels
• I’m interested in living in Japan in the future, thus its essential that I can communicate effectively
• To better under the Japanese culture and traditions – fascinating!

Anyway, use at your own risk.
Download Plugin

Git repository.

• Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu – 3 stars
• Dance in the Vampire Bund – 4 stars
• Durarara!! – 5 stars
• Omamori Himari – 3 stars
• Ookami Kakushi – 4 stars
• Seikon no Qwaser – 2 stars
• Sora no Woto – 5 stars

Usage:

class Test extends Controller {
 
	function main()
	{
 
		// load the library
		$this->load->library('simple_cache');
 
		// key is the name you have given to the cached data
		// will check if the item is cached
		if (!$this->simple_cache->is_cached('key'))
		{
			// not cached, do our things that need caching
			$data = array('print' => 'Hello World');
 
			// store in cache
			$this->simple_cache->cache_item('key', $data);
 
		} else {
			$data = $this->simple_cache->get_item('key');
		}
 
		$this->load->view('hello', $data);
	}
 
}

I don’t think I need to explain anymore? Maybe I will update with a better description later.

I’m releasing it under the GPLv3. Enjoy.

Download simple-cache.7z

The current governing political party of Australia, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) is seeking to introduce mandatory ISP level filtering, dubbed “Clean Feed” or the “Great Firewall of Australia” with the stated intent of blocking access to content that has been refused classification, specifically singling out child pornography and abuse material as its target although refused classification content covers far more than this. There would be no opt-out although it had been mentioned early on that there would be.

This filter has a of number issues that make such an attempt to filter en masse the internet use of Australian’s unpractical. These include that it could be easily bypassed using proxies and VPN, and a possible performance penalty that varies with the implementation. The filter would only target web-related content doing nothing to target content that goes over other protocols such as newsgroups and BitTorrent. The blacklist is tiny in comparison to the number of sites that would need to blocked in order to meet the Governments stated target. Perhaps worse, it could possibly create a false sense of security for parents who believe that the filter will protect their children from what has been deemed harmful but due to issues with internet filtering systems, manages to let undesired content through and into the eyes of their children.

With a mandatory filtering scheme, Australia would be following in the footsteps of other countries such as the People’s Republic of China, and Iran. The United Kingdom and select other European countries have also introduced filtering however these are different in the fact that the stated intention is only to block child pornography. This mandatory ISP level filtering would be the first of its kind in a western country. There is fear that this could set a dangerous precedent that could be used to promote internet censorship in other western countries.

The Electronic Frontiers Australia organisation has started the nocleanfeed.com campaign website that seeks to educate Australians and spread the word of the proposed mandatory filtering scheme. Activist organisation GetUP Australia has provided a way for Australians to contact the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.  Additionally, there is a planned day of protest happening in March that will hopefully send the message that Australian’s don’t want nor need their internet access to be filtered.

Anna is the author of Above Ground, you should check it out if you have enough time to be reading this!

• Asura Cryin’ 2
• Kimi ni Todoke (Reaching You)
• Kobato.
• Sangoku Engi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms)
• Sasameki Koto (Whispered Words)
• Seiken no Blacksmith (The Sacred Blacksmith)
• Seitokai no Ichizon (It’s Student Council’s Judgement)
• Shugo Chara!!! Dokki Doki
• Toaru Kagaku no Rail Gun (A Certain Scientific Railgun)
• White Album 2nd Season
• Yumeiro Patissiere (Dream-Colored Pastry Chef)

I’m excited about the continuations of existing series including White Album, Asura Cryin’, and Toaru Majutsu no Index’s spinoff Toaru Kagaku no Rail Gun. I have mixed feelings about Shugo Chara Dokki Doki. I loved the first two seasons, but the show was really concluded in those two seasons. I can’t imagine this third season being anything more then filler, or anime original content, which the first seasons already had their fair share of. My excitement for new shows is in particular extended to Kobato which is from CLAMP, a manga-ka group who I am a big fan of. I’m yet to watch a series by CLAMP which I haven’t enjoyed.

What are you expectations for this season? Do you have any suggestions?