About PSPINC and Japan

Lots of pictures.

Oct

31

I went abroad from the 19th to 31st. During that 12 days, I took almost 900 pictures. I have to organize them.

#Travel

Seasonal USB Memory

Oct

31

Aren't they cute???

I am back in Washington now.

#Computer #Internet

Last day of October

Oct

31

Happy halloween to everyone. I am right now in Incheon Airport in Korea. I have about an hour before my next flight to Seattle. See you in Seattle in about 10 hours.

#Travel

Between two buildings in Japan.

Oct

30

There are many buildings that are built so close to each other, there is not enough space for anyone to get in. How do you maintaing the wiring and pipes.

#Life #Politics #Society

NEET

Oct

30

NEET = "not in education, employment, or training"

He was cleaning after the costume parade this afternoon. He is in a costume as well. It was very NEAT, not NEET.

#Life #Politics #Society

This is why we created Bloguru

Oct

29

I looked for a blogging platform before we started Bloguru service to talk about myself and my business. But all blogging platform came with some advertisements. As the blogging platform get smarter, it started to recognize what I am blogging about and start placing related advertisements. So, when I talk about data center, it started to place other hosting companies advertisements.

As a company owner, I have no interest in advertising other companies. So, I started Bloguru with no advertisement (no cost either to anyone). Free does not mean you have to be covered with advertisements.

#Blog

COSTCO JAPAN

Oct

29

One of the most successful COSTCO overseas operations is COSTCO JAPAN. This is one of several COSTCO stores in Japan. This is their Makuhari Store. I believe this was their No.2 store.

Because of the strong Japanese currency, selling products to Japan can be very profitable.

#Business #Marketing

Japanese Coffee Shop

Oct

28

There is a coffee stand (store) called DOUTOR COFFEE in Japan. They were there before Starbucks and are very popular. This is what I had for breakfast at DOUTOR.

http://www.doutor.co.jp/en_index.html

#Life #Politics #Society

Japanese Back Street

Oct

27

There are many streets like this in Japan full of signs for restaurants and bars. In those places you will find some of the best foods in Japan.

#Life #Politics #Society

Sushi for Lunch

Oct

27

This is what I had for late lunch in Tokyo. I already ate two pieces of Tekka Maki and one piece Tamago. All this and miso soup for 1,260yen ($16.50). Even with this crazy exchange rate, this is good deal.

#Gourmet

Japan IT Week Expos.

Oct

27

I was at Japan IT Week expo today at Makuhari. It takes about an hour from my hotel to get to Makuhari Messe by train. I left hotel about 9:40am and got there about 10:30am. I had a quick lunch and walked around for about two hours and got on the train to get back to Tokyo. I was standing up almost all the time. I am little tired but I found some interesting products and ideas.

People attending this show were wearing ties ... IT looked very formal.

#Business #Marketing

Tokyo is much brighter at night!

Oct

26

I arrived in Tokyo last night. The first thing that I noticed was how bright the city is compared to last few times I were here after the earthquake. Although the nuclear power plants are still out, they manage to generate enough power. Or may be the power requirements are low this time of the year. Plus, people seem not care too much about the problem.

#Life #Politics #Society

Arrived in Tokyo

Oct

26

I have arrived in Tokyo. I usually take the bullet train, but this tome I took discount airline called Skymark Airlines. Other than the fact there is no business class nor in-flight drink service, the plain is brand new 737-800 and the seats are all RECARO. It was only one hour flight and the cost was 11,800 yen that is about the same price as or little cheaper than a bullet train.

I enjoyed the flight and I think I will start use this unless I need to stop somewhere on the way. I took this picture when I arrived at Haneda / Tokyo International Airport.

#Travel

K9 Teeth Scaling Anesthesia Free

Oct

25

We took Cookie (Shih Tzu) to an Anesthesia Free K9 Teeth Scaling place in Japan. I take my dog to a same kind of treatment in Redmond which costs $150. Today, the doctor did this treatment for 2,100yen ... about $26. The price difference is huge.

#Animals #Pets

Cool Night in Japan

Oct

25

The wind has picked up tonight in Ashiya, Japan. The sunset was beautiful but I see large cloud over the mountains. I am traveling to Tokyo tomorrow.

#Nature

Cloud Computing Expo in Japan

Oct

24

Starting tomorrow until this Friday, there is a Cloud Computing Expo going on in Makuhari. I will have time to visit it on Thursday. In addition to this Cloud Computing Expo, there are three other exhibitions going on. Those are

* Smartphone and Mobile Expo
* Information Security Expo
* Web & Mobile Marketing Expo

They all sound interesting.

#Business #Marketing

COSTCO AMAGASAKI

Oct

24

I went to one of COSTCO stores in Japan at Amagasaki. Even though it was Monday, the store was so full. When COSTCO came to Japan, people thought nobody will pay membership fee to buy so much volume. But now people are buying them like people in the US.

I think Japan is very unique in the sense that people here adopt to new cultures a lot faster than any other cultures in the world. But it is also true the businesses in Japan are very slow to react to world changes. Japan is a very interesting country.

#Life #Politics #Society

Kyoto Jidai Festival Parade

Oct

23

I was in Kyoto today to take care of some business. But there were lots of people both side of the street. I was told that there will be a parade this afternoon. I decided to stay to watch it.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3960.html

It was called Jidai Festival. It was interesting.

#Life #Politics #Society

Public Transportation in Japan

Oct

22

This is the Hankyu Rail system. One of many public rail system interconnecting cities in Japan. All of those public rail system in Japan is privately (may be publicly traded) owned and is regulated by the government for its safety.

I really think this model of privately owned public transportation will make sense in the US as well. When the project of this nature is funded by tax money, there is no incentive for the people running it to make it self efficient.

#Life #Politics #Society

Hand Made Soba Noodle (手打ちそば)

Oct

21

I had hand made Soba Noodle yesterday in Kobe. It was made by professor Rikuso of Hyogo University. This is one tasty noodle. We are now talking about bringing this healthy hand made Soba noodle to Seattle next summer.

#Gourmet

Lunch in Japan

Oct

20

All this for 1300 yen ... Because of the exchange it is like $17 ... but it was really good.

#Gourmet

Arrived in Japan

Oct

20

It took 20 hours door to door to travel from PSPINC to my parents house in Japan. Because of the strong head wind, it took 11 hand half hours to fly from Seattle to Incheon (Korea). It usually takes less than 11 hours.

Then I had only 40 minuets to transit to another international flight from Incheon to Kansai International Airport. This is a long trip. I did not like the food this time. It is almost midnight here in Japan. That means, it is 8:00am in Seattle. I am very tired but I am waking up.

#Travel

Free Stock Photos

Oct

19

Free tiny images are 100% royalty free stock photos (while it is in Beta). They are free to download and use in all of your commercial and personal projects.

http://www.freetinyimages.com

This is another service of Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

#Computer #Internet

At SEATAC airport

Oct

19

It is a beggining of my trip to Japan. I am at the airport killing time.

#Email

What makes PSPINC different?

Oct

18

We have been in business for 24 years. It is a very long time for a software development company. Why are we able to stay in business for so long? What makes us different from other companies?

Here are some of the things that I think makes us different.

(1) We are business software development company. All services that we provide over the Internet are developed by PSPINC. We do not just go out and buy some software and put them together and sell it.

(2) We have built the company from zero to current status without outside intervention or funding. We are ignorant enough to build the software and services other companies may not even try.

(3) We listen to customers. But we also say "No" to our customers if we are not capable or not willing or will not benefit customers.

(4) We have a pride in our service and ability to do things that other companies may not be able to perform.

(5) We earned our customers trust by constantly providing better service.

(6) We try to communicate with customer by listening. We do not sell things that customers cannot use or do not need.

(7) We are focused on products and services for business community, not consumer products.

#Business #Marketing

Mobile Web Application

Oct

18

We are designing and developing a mobile web application for Seattle Executives Association. This was a picture from our first demonstration session at Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

#Computer #Internet

THEO CHOCOLATE

Oct

17

There is a chocolate factory right in the middle of Fremont called Theo Chocolate. I bought some chocolates for my business trip to Japan. It is a very popular place. There were lots of people came in while I was there.

http://www.theochocolate.com/
http://www.facebook.com/theochocolate

#Gourmet

Thank you NW Asian Weekly

Oct

16

Posted on Northwest Asian Weekly.
http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2011/10/kenichi-uchikura-a-software-publishing-visionary/

#Blog

No advertisement on Bloguru

Oct

16

Your company need easy way to update your home page ... possibly every week or even every day. The way to do that is to create a company blog.

Bloguru is one of the few blog system that has no outside advertisement. Companies who want to promote their service cannot afford to use the blog that could advertise other companies.

#Blog

Presented by Asian Weekly

Oct

15

I was one of the honorees of Asian Americsm Pioneer in Social Entrepreneurship.

#Life #Politics #Society

Beautiful Saturday

Oct

15

It turned out to be a beautiful autumn day in Seattle. I played golf today at my club, but it was cloudy and somewhat cold. I saw this blue sky when I came back to Bellevue.

#Nature

Web Site, SNS, Email are tools.

Oct

14

Web Site, Social Networking and Email are very important tools that you can use to promote your business. But remember, they are tools not your business. You are not building Internet (.com) company. You are what you are. And you now can use Web Site, Social Networking and Email to promote your business.

You cannot sell things on the internet you can not sell regularly. Internet is not a special world that you can sell anything. Internet is not a magic wand. It is a very useful tool but that is what it is. You must use them and use them well to stay ahead, but you are not transferring your business to cyber space.

#Business #Marketing

iCloud is available for Mac OSX Lion

Oct

13

iCloud is now available on one of my Mac which I upgraded to LION. My laptop, however, is still SNOW LEOPARD and is not compatible with iCloud. Not cool. I would like to upgrade to LION but I know one of my application will not run on LION. What should I do?

And another thing. If I setup iCloud to sync my address book ... I will loose Google Sync. That is not cool.

#Computer #Internet

VISA BLACK CARD

Oct

13

I received the invitation to VISA BLACK CARD ... Cool!
I read the contract. It cost $495 annually ... No cool!

For $495, I get concierge service ... no cash back, no points ...
Other than the status of owning carbon fiber black card, you get nothing much.
They say only 1% of people qualify ... I say only 1 out of 100 is crazy enough to pay $495. And I am not one of them.

I wish a BLACK CARD is free and only presented to 0.001% of people instead of 1%. If I qualify, that means BLACK CARD is not that much of a status. Besides, PSPINC provide Domain Name, Web and Email hosting for small companies for $250 a year. That is about the half of this credit card costs. You got to be kidding.

#Business #Marketing

$84,000 and $108,000 for every hour

Oct

12

Cloud migration is cheap compared to IT downtime.

Hello Kenichi (Ken),

“On average, businesses lose between $84,000 and $108,000 (US) for every hour or IT system downtime.”
Assessing the Financial Impact of Downtime, IT Director, April 26, 2010

When you consider that 59% of Fortune 500 companies experience a minimum of 1.6 hours of downtime per week, the costs associated with the above figures can be staggering.

Investing in cloud services is the biggest step you can take toward mitigating those costs, maintaining business continuity and managing change in an evolving business environment. Experts agree that an investment in cloud services is a bargain compared to the alternative:

“Spending on IT will have to happen even if the economy is weak. Otherwise, many companies won’t be able to stay in business because of failing data centers.”
IDC: Boom In Global IT Spending Forecast Despite Short-Term Economic Concerns, Silicon Valley Watcher, August 3, 2010.

What is wrong with this quote that I got from the local telephone, Internet company?
"businesses lose between $84,000 and $108,000 for every hour ..."

We don't and most companies do not even make $84,000 and $108,000 for every hour. If you think fortune 500 companies are the average companies ... this company need to learn about the reality.

99% of companies that we work with has less than 10 email accounts. Ad they make a lot less than $84,000 and $108,000 an hour. They pay average of about $22 per month and they uptime is better 99.9%. If your company is making less than $84,000 and $108,000 an hour but still like to get >99.9% availability, call us.

#Business #Marketing

Just came back from Oregon

Oct

11

it is atop be fore 4:pm but I have traveled more than 300miles today. Some of it was under the heavy rain.

#Travel

Don't have your own domain.

Oct

11

If you run your business email using one of those free email like Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo mail. Or you run you business email with the email provided by your Internet Provide like Comcast and AOL, it is like you are running business without registering to the State. You do not sound very trustworthy.

Many of you already have your domain name and operate your web site using your domain. So why don't you operate your email using your domain? This is something you really should think about. If your answer is that your FREE email has better user interface, or you have your address book with FREE email, you need to rethink if you are working with the right company for your domain name.

#Computer #Internet

Did you know Applebee serves breakfast?

Oct

10

I went to Applebee for breakfast. Yes, Applebee. Did you know they serve breakfast on weekends (Saturday and Sunday). There were hardly anyone there. This might be a best kept secret.

For large chain of restaurant, they are not doing a good job marketing it.

#Business #Marketing

Web Mail Development

Oct

9

PSPINC ... We are software development company. We build application software and tools to provide services to our clients. We build our own POP3 server, IMAP server and now we have released web mail that we build. We are now working on mobile version of web mail.

WebMail enables you to read, write and respond to email anywhere you have a web access. You don't even have to have your own PC to access your email And with IMAP, every email that you read, replied and delete using webmail is reflected on your desktop PC, laptop, tablet and smartphone.

In addition to those, we have built email broadcasting system, file transfer system, video streaming service, photo album, web statistic software, web content management software (CMS) and so on. If you need a software built, not just a web site, we can help.

#Computer #Internet

Web Hosting for Your Company

Oct

8

We are working very hard to provide the best web and email hosting service for your company.

http://www.pspinc.com/eng/page/hosting-web

#Business #Marketing

We are going even GREENer!!!

Oct

7

Thanks to Northwest Fleet Lease, we are trading in an economical/ecological Smart car for a brand new Nissan LEAF. We will have new LEAF by the end of this month.

#Bikes #Cars

Business Card Scanning

Oct

7

I am scanning all my business cards into a computer using Fujitsu SnapScan. The scan itself takes less than a second but making sure every card is scanned correctly takes time. But you have to do it soon or later.

#Business #Marketing

Which type are you?

Oct

7

1. The Creator - Builds innovative products
Examples: Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Richard Branson

2. The Star - Builds an influential brand
Examples: Oprah, Paul Newman, Bill Clinton

3. The Supporter - Builds high performance teams
Examples: Steve Ballmer, Jack Welch

4. The Deal Maker - Brings deals together
Examples: Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch

5. The Trader - Buying and selling commodities
Examples: George Soros

6. The Accumulator - Buying and holding assets
Examples: Warren Buffet, Paul Allen

7. The Lord - Controlling cashflow producing assets
Examples: Lakshmi Mital, Ingavar Kamprad

8. The Mechanic - Creating a duplicatable system
Examples: Michael Dell, Ray Krock

Not which type you want to be ...

#Blog

New PSPINC Web Site

Oct

6

We have just renewed our http://www.pspinc.com home page. Also we have registered http://www.pacificsoftwarepublishing.com (our full name domain) which redirects to http://www.pspinc.com.

Please let me know what you think about our new home page. Also, if you are in the market to renew, upgrade, simplify your web page, please call us and let us work on it.

#Computer #Internet

Building A/C Maintenance

Oct

6

One of the largest investment items at our HQ buildings are air conditioning equipments. Our AC systems are installed and maintained by PSR. They also build our very efficient cooling system at our HQ data center using very little energy to cool all servers.

Our goal is to maintain our very green data center at the tip top shape and PSR is helping us do that.

http://www.psrmechanical.com/

I wish they move out their domain from GoDaddy and move to PSPINC. I need to ask them about that.

#Business #Marketing

If you have not seen this, you should.

Oct

5

#Life #Politics #Society

RIP Steve Jobs

Oct

5

Apple founder Steve Jobs passed away today. We lost one of the last visionaries in the IT industry today. RIP.

http://www.apple.com

#Life #Politics #Society

How do you come up with a password?

Oct

5

"password" should not be a password. "mariners", "Sounders", "seahawks" are team names and should not be used as a pass word. Your birthday, phone numbers are not good password. Your pet name should not be a password.

Password should be at least 6 character long and should include Upper Case, Lower Case and Number. A password should be very difficult to guess but easy to remember for you. Here is one way that you can come up with a password.

Think about phrase or quote that you like. "I take Delta 12345 to San Antonio." take the first letter of every word "ItD12345tSA" ... it is a good password.

many times security breach happens because of weak password. The password is the only things that is standing between the hackers and your email and web. Don't make it easy for them.

#Computer #Internet

Battle of Email Servers POP3 or IMAP

Oct

4

Here are the difference.

POP3 : You download your email from the server to your email client software
IMAP : You use your email client software to peek your email on the server

POP3 : You can work on your email offline
IMAP : You cannot see your email offline

POP3 : Multiple device access is not recommended
IMAP : If you have multiple devices, you need IMAP

Which is better?

POP3 is simple and bullet proof. IMAP is newer and is very useful if you are using your PC and SmartPhone to work on your email. It is important for you to be able to choose whichever the protocol you want. You need to choose a provider who can support both.

http://www.DreamersI.com

Yes, our email servers are compatible with both POP3 and IMAP.

#Computer #Internet

Domain Name Idea

Oct

3

When you think of domain name for your product, the product name is not always the best domain name. So think about what the product do. Here is the one domain name that might inspire you.

http://www.cometothelake.com

"Come to The Lake" is a phrase instead of the name. But it is easy to remember and spell. You might want to think a simple phrase and turn it into a domain name.

When you find the domain name, contact us. We will be happy to register the domain.

#Computer #Internet

Email for Your Business

Oct

3

Do you feel your company's email system is appropriate?
Does it go down often?
Does it filter out SPAM and viruses?
Can you access from multiple devices like smartphone and tablet?
Do you have a web mail?
Can you add user by yourself?
Are you calling technical support often?

If you answer yes to any question above but you already spent too much to abandon what you have. You feel like there is no place you can go. It is not too late to outsource your email You don't need to move your web site. Just email. It is easy and will save you money as soon as you move to PSPINC.

Call us 1-800-232-3989
We have been hosting Email since 1996 and there are already 38,000 companies rely on PSPINC's email solutions.

#Computer #Internet

Opening in California

Oct

3

We have completed corporate registration in California. Unlike WA State, company registration took nearly four months but it is finally done. We have registered with city of Torrance for the office. We have opened a bank account for the company and picking up a key to our new office.

Mayumi Nakamura is heading to Long Beach for one week visit. While she is in California, she will be visiting a few customers and prospects and conducting the seminar on Thursday.

We will be providing our proven WEB & EMAIL hosting services to the companies in California with the level of service that made us successful in Japan and Pacific Northwest.

#Business #Marketing

Grow as you grow!

Oct

2

PSPINC provides variety of Internet services to satisfy your needs. Here is some of the things we can provide.

- Domain Name Registration
- DNS Service
- Web Hosting Service
- IMAP/POP Email Hosting Service
- Hosted Microsoft Exchange Server
- Online Backup
- Online Storage
- Virtual Private Server Hosting
- Private Server Hosting
- Email Broad Casting
- Blog
- Images Storage / Photo Album
- Video Streaming Server

PSPINC is a true software development company. If you need more than just web development, call us. We can design, develop and upgrade your application program.

#Business #Marketing

Domain Name Tip

Oct

2

When you are thinking of getting a domain, remember it is :

(1) Easy to spell.
(2) Easy to remember.

Also if you are getting a domain for your business, you should make sure you can get .COM domain. This is because when people think about domain name, they almost always thing it is .COM not .NET, .CO, .US and so on. Try many different domains. It is true that many domain names are already taken, but there still are many good names if you you your imagination.

Once you find a good domain, get it. You can get it from many site. The biggest domain registrant in the world is GoDaddy. You can get it from them if you want. When you are ready to develop a web site, call us. You can also check domain availability at http://www.dreamersi.com, PSPINC domain registration service.

#Computer #Internet

Stop Using Free Email

Oct

1

Do you have your domain?
If you do, why are you still using free mail and internet provider provided email for your business?

Every time you send email using free mail, you are discarding your web site. You are telling your customer, you do not care about your company name. Stop using free email and ISOP provided email address.

If you don't have your domain and do not have web page, please do get one. It is never too late. If you need to know more, contact me. I will be happy to work with you to get your domain registered, create a web page and establish your email using your own domain.

#Computer #Internet

What is my job description?

Oct

1

What do I do at PSPINC?

I don't write checks. I don't manage particular project. I don't do many things that corporate management do. But I make lots of mistakes. Yes, my job is to make mistakes ... not intentionally but many things that I do come out that way.

WHY?

Because what you see as products of PSPINC ware designed years ago. I don't deal with them much. My job is to come up with something we will be doing years from now. By doing so, many of the things that I create come out ... well, rather bad.

Here is the one of the quotes that I like. "You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."

I can not say I am that innovative. I do not have unlimited resource to
everything I want to do. But I do my best. That what I think I do everyday.

#Life #Politics #Society

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