So, what would happen if...

...the USA government decided to ban Internet gambling? Turns out you could get Window Vista for cheap!

This article explains it in detail, but basically, the USA has been brought to task by ANTIGUA for not playing fair by the WTO. The USA has basically ignored the WTO ruling that banning internationally-based Internet gambling companies while allowing US based companies to operate is a violation of WTO rules. Antigua now has the legal right to retaliate and one of the options open to it is to ignore all US copyright and patents. Hello cheap software, Hollywood DVDs, equipment, you name it!

USA suddenly complying with WTO when the multi-nationals find out in 5... 4... 3...

Ah yes. The Pink Blog. Long may it reign in our hearts... until next year!

Zippadee doo-dah

It is truly a wonderful day outside - hardly a cloud and it's been perfect for riding around.

I stumbled across a huge ceramics fair in the park near Himeji Castle. There were stall showcasing various handcrafted pottery from all over Japan. I didn't buy anything but it was a nice little stroll around the stalls and seeing the people enjoying the sunshine.

The funny thing was just outside the main area where they had a stall up giving cash rebates for anything bought at the fair. The amount refunded was determined by weight: 100 yen per kilogram bought! Never seen that before, so naturally I had to take a picture! Enjoy!

It's been my first post for a while as work's been pretty hectic and I've needed to do a bit of overtime to cover one of our teachers who had to go home suddenly.

Another one of our teachers is leaving - transferring to another school in Fukushima Prefecture (which is REALLY the countryside of Japan!) but we're getting a new one as well. That is happening at the beginning of December. Our Japanese manager has also been transferred so one of our staff has been promoted to manager in her place. She's very nervous, naturally, but I'm sure she'll do well. Starting at a smaller school like ours would be better anyway and she knows all of us as well as the students, so that's a foot in the door for her.

My Thailand trip is slowly coming together. I've just finished booking the accomodation over the Net. I used sawasdee.com which has been a very easy site to use - if you're ever needing accomodation in Thailand. Looking forward to going back home to Adelaide too. That leg of the trip is also coming together nicely. Looking forward to catching up with a lot of old friends.

My mum's in Marrakech in Morocco at the moment, so I'm a little jealous, but at the same time hoping everything's going well. I got a funny e-mail from her today. My mum is an excellent typist - she used to be a receptionist after all! The keyboard she had to use had an Arabic layout, so the results weren't quite so lucid!

and I quote:
"am using qn arabic keyboqrd

Weather is warm and sunny people on tour very pleqsqnt
and guides excellent: we qre seeing so ,uch and
loving it:"

Must've been pressed for time eh.... Love ya Mum!

It's also time to switch the site back to its basic blue after going pink for October. I'll post a screenshot for memory's sake, but I might do the same thing next year. Don't forget, you can make a difference to help others, even if it's in a small way. If we all did a small thing to help (not just for breast cancer research, but for so many other things), just imagine what we could achieve. Click here for a start.