Tokyo 1999 - 2001
Been sorting through many years of photos recently and have been having nostalgic trips down memory lane which I thought I'd share with you.
This photo of our first apartment was taken in the Summer of 1999 - the year when we finally purchased a one way ticket to Japan. The top left corner was our place.
Settled for a small place far out in West Tokyo for the both of us. The further out you go from central Tokyo, the cheaper rent becomes. Commute was 2 hours per day to and from Ichigaya.
Photo taken on the same day near the station. My first job in Tokyo was with the scientific journal called Nature and you can read how I got the job in the Japan Work Benefits article.
The first camera we got when we arrived was this Fujifilm - had a load of noise which put me off from buying any of their later models.
Currently choose the Canon IXY and have been through 3 different models so far. Quality is good but need a steady hand as the stabilizer is rubbish. Which brand do you swear by when it comes to compact digital cameras?
Our first phone. Came with a removable scanner which we never used. We got most of our household electronics (refrigerator, TV, rice cooker etc) from Akihabara. I think it was from Sato Musen. If you buy a load of stuff in one go, you get a discount - and when the shop attendant says "OK, I can do this price for you", they never say the price verbally and show you the calculator instead.
This is when you are prompted to say "Mou Chotto!" and put your hands together like you are saying a prayer. You should get a further discount. If you have no shame then you can keep doing this until the attendant gets pee'd off at you.
We arrived during a time when cassette tapes were still in use ^^;
This was a wireless Walkman with remote.
My first office space in Japan. Small n cramped in an open space office with no partitions.
Was great as I could hear all the office Japanese that I was not taught in university.
The Japanese hardly ever great each other with "Konichiha" or "Sayonara."
The typical greeting is "Otsukare sama desu" [お疲れさまです] literally meaning "you've done a good job/you've been hard at work."
When cutting the phone one normally just says "ha-i" or "hai ha-i."
I first started out in the typical Salaryman cosplay. My work was to sell as many subscriptions of Nature through the Internet and conventional means.
When I first started out at Nature, all I had were Microsoft Frontpage skills ^^;
I started to learn how to use Dreamweaver which I ended up using for many years until I switched from using tables for layout to CSS.
I then started to teach myself PHP and MYSQL - mainly outside of work time. These skills were used to make forms, landing pages and manually coded content pages.
The "conventional means" which I mentioned above referred to direct mail and magazine subscription postcards which I used to design. Learned how to use Illustrator and worked closely with the printing company so gained much experience in print buying.
I also looked after subscriptions in Korea so processed those orders and answered customer queries too.
My wife keeps my Korean in shape by watching K Drama ^^;
The girls at Nature were really cute and carried guns.
That mac was a horrible experience and made me wonder how mac users got anything done. Was a 100% Windows fanboi at the time.
Back then, trips to Akibahara saw me coming home with a load of PC parts instead of eroge mags and figures.
For a while I didn't have a case as it took up too much space in our small apartment ^^;
Gotta love those thick IDE cables.
Remember carrying that case from Akiba - was darn heavy ^^;
It was the incompatibility between devices, clashes of resources, driver hell etc etc and the amount of time needed just to maintain a desktop that made me decide never to get one ever again in 2005.
How often do you open up your PC to exchange parts? Are you a desktop or laptop fanboi?
Shinjuku 1999. Having just arrived in Japan after living all my life in London, I would constantly have dreams of me walking about in London - the occurring dream was of me walking across a zebra crossing - can anybody tell me what it meant? ^^;
Have always wanted to live and work in Japan and didn't miss London so don't think the dreams meant that I wanted to be back there.
Its the year 2000 March the 4th and the PS2 goes on sale - completely sold out everywhere. I remember going around to Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Akihabara looking for one.
What was you doing in the year 2000?
Xmas 2000 in Shinjuku - not much change in this area.
This is the only screenshot that I have of my first domain at studiodanny.com ( which I don't own anymore ). Cringe when I think about the domain name that I chose ^^;
Was built manually from HTML in Dreamweaver and was a place where I could start to experiment with web technologies.
Am wondering how many of you out there can code.
Unlike central Tokyo, we got quite a bit of snow ever year where we lived - one of the good things about being in the sticks.
And when it snows we always have snow ball battles ^^;
Due to the lack of space, we used a cupboard as an office ^^;
I constantly see Danny Choo bashing on the Internets but after the CNN broadcast I saw more than the usual load which included "He's just a spoilt rich kid living off his dads name" and "he would have got nowhere without his dad" yada yada.
If I did have a load of cash from dad then I probably wouldn't have chosen to live an hours away from work in a small apartment with a cupboard as an office. Er yes, my dad makes shoes but he has a load of connections in the scientific field, Amazon and Microsoft and helped me get where I am now. Right.
Was a hardcore Sony fanboi at the time but didn't mind the zillions of compatibility issues that came with the hardware.
How are Sony laptops these days? I'm guessing the same.
By this time I started to do stuff on the side - mainly design work. The money was not bad at 60,000 yen per A4 design using Illustrator - the skill that I learned for work ended up helping out a lot outside of work and it started to pay for the computer hardware that I invested in to study and learn more.
Furniture in Japan costed a bomb before Ikea came along. We got much of our stuff from discount stores or made furniture ourselves. Here I've just done shopping at Tokyu Hands for material to make a DIY stand for our TV.
Until 2001, we didn't have a mobile phone but decided to get one because of an interview I had at JobDragon - an internet recruitment agency.
I got the phone to make a mobile version of their site to demonstrate my skills. Ended up working for them for a few months.
More evidence of my Sony fanboi past - the Sony PDA Clie which ran on the Palm software. Looked cool at the time but had too many software restrictions.
The Nature offices moved around the corner and I was doing the milk rounds looking for another job. After speaking to many recruiters, I realized what my market value was given my experience and skill set.
Its always important to understand what your skill set is and how much they are valued at. Keep your options open all the time and speak to folks in the industry who can advise you on job opportunities and your market value.
2001 was the year that I saw Pearl Harbor and AI on the same day - had a headache after for being in the dark staring at a large screen for so long ^^;
Many thought that AI was terrible but I thought it was good.
I also loved the action in Pearl Harbor. Given the nature of the film, you may think that Pearl harbor would not have done so well in Japan - which is why they marketed it as a love story and didn't focus on Japan bombing the Americans (and being bombed back). Pearl Harbor Trailer below.
After Nature, I joined Job Dragon as a contents producer - design and some ASP which I just didn't get ^^;
After working at Job Dragon for only a few months, the boss called a few of us to a meeting and told us that he had to let us go as the company wasn't doing so well at the time.
T'was a huge shock to be layed off. But all things happen for a good reason. Job Dragon is a recruitment/head hunting company. They helped us look for new positions. They introduced me to Ebay Japan, Amazon and a few other IT companies. Got job offers from a few and chose Amazon.
When my college at Job Dragon said "I'm going to introduce you to Amazon. You will be given a large production team and run their website as Website Manager" I thought to myself "Errr, OK (^^;)"
Going from managing websites made in Dreamweaver that were updated using FTP to managing an e-commerce site used by millions of users per day seemed like a huge change for me - and it was.
After many phone interviews, my boss flew in from Seattle to interview me - I got the job and before I knew it was on a plane to Seattle and the UK for training.
It was my first time in the US. I remember not being able to beleive my eyes when I was in the hotel watching TV - September 11th 2001.
Akihabara in 2001. No moe, no maids, hardly any eroge or figures.
This corner at Akiba is completely different today.
Some of my first team members at Amazon. Going to managing a couple of members to a team which grew to about 30 was a huge challenge for me. Learning how to deal with different types of personalities and needs was invaluable experience.
The way content is pushed to the live (known as Production) site was completely different to what I've known up until then.
Each developer checks in their code to a central repository using CVS (Concurrent Version System - later switched to Perforce). Data is pushed to a development server where the QA team then check the site and run test scripts.
When QA has finished, data is pushed to the next development server which is connected to the live database. After that is done, a member of my team called the Builder builds the data and pushes the new code to the hundreds of servers. He also is in charge of the catalog build too.
I've overly simplified the description but I felt like I was on a different planet when I joined.
Apart from my dev team, I worked with personalization (p13n), search and browse, internaitonalization (i18n) and other dev teams globally.
I was also on the management team at Amazon where we ran the company together with the country Manager Jasper Cheung - a Chinese Canadian fellow.
I was also working with what Amazon called "business owners" - the folks who wanted stuff from my team - Marketing, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Human Resources, Product Managers, PR, Marketing etc. Learning how to prioritize the requests from all these groups was also a great experience gained at Amazon.
Think I've spoken to much about Amazon for now - was saving it for the "Working in a Corporate IT company: Amazon and Microsoft" article coming soon.
The views from my office at Amazon we great - would spend much time gazing outside. I remember watching Roppongi Hills being built from scratch from here.
And the glow of lights you see is central Shibuya.
Will write up Tokyo 2002 - 2005 soon ^^
If you are interested in reading about life in Japan, seeing photos taken daily around Tokyo, like Japanese subculture (anime, manga, figures, Dollfies) then you may want to start delving into the Japan or Figure categories for a start or have a gander at all photo articles.
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Game Development Student.
Learning it @ school at the moment.
It sure if fun :D !
Multimedia Technology Student
http://thehappyninjadrawn.wordpress.com
Same here. Last year we covered HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, C#. Some of that stuff I've forgotten since I don't have to do it all the time, but I think its time to brush up on my skills ^^. I really can't wait till I go to Japan after I finish my course next year.
student
http://sector6slumjunkshop.blogspot.com/
i did C during my first semester in uni- absolutely hated it ^^; started learning HTML by myself when i started my blog:)
C is good for understanding some computer basics
Game Development Student.
Stuff like PHP,MySQL,C++,Visual Basics etc.
Those photos make me wanna go to Japan even more :D!
Thx for post danny :) u rule !
Neet
http://moewing.wordpress.com/
wow you have came along way danny
Student
http://bk201.wordpress.com/
September 11 was a sad day, not that I realised its significance at the age of 11! Our substitute teacher was crying because of it. Ironically someone in my class had their b'day on that day. I know another 2people who share that same b'day. Scary isn't it.
And yes, Sony is awesome :D
Wanderer of the Mist
http://hangmen13.16ops.com/
Turned 13 in 2000. Didn't get the PS2 until two years later. Ironically (almost clairvoyantly), on the morning of September 11th 2001, I woke up sweating from a nightmare where I watched a very tall building burn before it collapses. You can imagine how surprised I am when I turned on the television to watch the news. Whoah, deja vu!
System Design Engineering (UWaterloo)
http://robostrike.wordpress.com
HTML, PHP, XML, C++, MySQL. Work history is impressive Danny. Can't believe Akihabara in the olden days were mostly for electronics and hardly any service like maid cafes. Reminds me of a University course in waterloo, ECON 101, when the prof talked about developing countries and developed countries. Developing countries rely heavily on physical objects for wealth, but developed countries look more into the services. Great prof, he inspires me. For those in waterloo, it's Larry Smith.
IT Manager
http://thumbnail-of-life.blogspot.com/
Nice photos ! This kind of posts is always an inspiration for me.
Dance Trooper: DCX-001 O.D.E. (Order of the Dancing Empire)
http://dannychoo.com.my
Chronicle of Tokyo & Danny Choo, what a great pair ^_^
Now, folk who'd affronted/insulted the honorable Danny Choo should now see clearly with their own bare eye, the truth are obvious!
Is that an Idol wallpaper inside your Mac desktop in photo#22220?
Can't wait for the upcoming articles about "Working in a Corporate IT company: Amazon and Microsoft" & "Tokyo 2002 - 2005"
Keep up the great work, Danny!
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
Wallpaper is wifey ^^
Dance Trooper: DCX-001 O.D.E. (Order of the Dancing Empire)
http://dannychoo.com.my
Ahh~~~ how sweet & lovely you are (^o^)
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
Sorry forgot to reply to mail - the meat is ok through customs ^^;
Mechanical Engineering student
http://sabekujikaneda.multiply.com/
I am always amaze with your achievements Mr Danny! I hope that someday I too will be as successful as you.
I couldn't even remember what I did in those years and here you are talking about it like it happened yesterday! Darn my short-term memory loss -_-
Right now I have a course where we are taught how to use C++. I don't know why I, a mechanical engineering student, should know about this! Maybe it is what you said Mr Danny, about my market value. Maybe my university is increasing the skills I am able to do to increase my market value O_o
LOL I thought I was watching a movie when I saw the live footage of 911! I thought to myself "Hey! This is a cool movie. I wonder what the title is!"... and then I saw the news logo on the corner of the screen XD
NEET
http://austrianotaku.com/
Me and coding? lol not really, I'm more the guy for hardware stuff.
Maybe that's why I'm a Desktop fanboy, Latops are convenient if you are on the move, but beeing not able or allowed to change some parts is something I can't stand^^
I'm not opening it up to exchange parts that often but to clean it sometimes, cause my PC's suck up all the dust in my room (or at least it seems so), maybe thats why my figures aren't that dusty ^_^
Which camera brand? I always had Olympus until now but the next one will not be one, too much noise orz
Nice pics, I wonder how you manage to look always so happy.
the wholesale business of flower
http://nakagawaichiro.com
ダニーさん、あなたの過去の記事はとても興味深い。
アマゾンとマイクロソフトの記事を楽しみにしています。
英語が難しいので、自動翻訳で読んでいます＾＾；
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
ありがとうございます！
以前は日本語バリバリ書いていましたが、今は時間が。。。
Videogame Magazine Editor
http://www.gamerslitterbox.com
Used to learn Java in Computer Science, and I learned a bit of HTML by myself when I was in high school. After I got tired of seeing computer codes on the screen, I switched to pure arts. Haven't looked back since, though I'd like to learn more about the intricacies of game development since I'm working closely with the local game industry.
Software Engineer
http://animealmanac.com
Danny Choo bashing? Really?!? What's their problem?
They're just jealous because you're so awesome. ;-)
illustrator/web designer in training
http://naughtyneko.wordpress.com
Always wanted a vaio but they're always too expensive. Home computer ran windows and my first laptop was a Toshiba (loved it, heavy as a ton of bricks though), which was a gift. When I started part time work, got a Macbook. Now that I have a (temporary) full time job, I got an iMac.
My goal is to one day get a Macbook Pro/Mac Pro. Far in the future though when the ones I have now are obsolete. Macbook's turning two and she's still running very well ^_^
Otaku / Student in Networking
http://hayasaki-kun.blogspot.com/
I learned how to use Java, JavaScript, HTML, .aspx(forgot what they call it xD)
Full-time student へへ
http://www.kenleewrites.com
9 years in japan. you sure have some nice memories here. i had a clie too. don't remember where it is now. ^^. i was in japan during the olympics in sydney. call me weird but i decided to skip the crowd and spend a month in japan. was living with a friend in osaka back then.
thanks for sharing. you got me reminiscing too.
Software Developer / Space Marine
wow, that is an awesome article. always wonder about what its like for people living in another time/space from my own. i do code, got hired as a junior developer the day i left school ^_^.
they were really, really desperate, so even though i knew nothing about programming, got hired, and had to teach myself from scratch. makes my head buzz when i think about it. and it was only about 18 months ago!
Myself-finder
ahaha didn't know so many pple did coding, or is the post too new?
そしても日本人もダニーさんのブログをよみます、びっくりしちゃった。 私の日本語はまだ全部習うだから下手です、お失礼します。
Myself-finder
by the time i finished typing this post 4 other replies had already been up >_< and the percentage already changed O-O
Otari Vader, Sith Lord for Hire, will fillet Makoto Itou for free
http://coffeebugg.blogspot.com/
Amazing article. Must be very nostalgic when you were writing this down. My skill sets though are too diverse. One might say I'm more of a jack of all trades and I'm pretty sure I'm not excelling in any of those. But I do know just enough to get the job done. Illustrator, photoshop, recently corel painter. Also got to brush up on my C++ and VB coding. Been using HTML and flash more recently because of the job I'm holding.
I'm looking forward to my Culinary arts certification though. That is something I do plan to excel on. :)
Otari Vader, Sith Lord for Hire, will fillet Makoto Itou for free
http://coffeebugg.blogspot.com/
Oh, and as far as Sony laptops are nowadays, I guess you can say they've improved but not by much. They are more of lifestyle laptops. I've gone through toshibas and HP's. And I can say HP's are durable from my experience with it at least.
Student
As I am currently studying for my MSc(Information Technology), I know some forms of coding:P (mostly Java, C#(win and asp.net apps), a little php, perl; should take some time to learn python, seems to be a rising trend)
Anyway, very interesting article, can't wait for the Tokyo 2002 - 2005 part!
Nekophilia
Would love to learn coding, but have no idea where to start from T^T
Otari Vader, Sith Lord for Hire, will fillet Makoto Itou for free
http://coffeebugg.blogspot.com/
for software development, Start with C#. For Web Applications, always start with HTML :) from there, you just pick from the variety and what is often the norm that you'd want to progress from.
Nekophilia
hee thanks. I might just pick up HTML after my exams ^^
CG Artist wannabe / Figure Collector / Deadman
http://uselessthoughts.net/journal/
Learned HTML at school followed by using Dreamweaver.. they're subjects that are required in my course, which is Computer Studies major in multimedia and the internet. Right now, still using DW8 on my current website cuz I get to see the result(s) when updating the site, etc.
I still have to learn Php and Sql. There's no Php subject in my school when I was still studying and SQL was way too extreme for me that time so as the present. I also have a background on programming like C, Java, etc but wasn't able to use them after I graduated 2 years ago.
This post is good for motivating me to work hard and go to japan and work someday...
Navy Recruit
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=519499924&ref=profile
Wow great story Danny I wish my memory was good like yours. i can't wait to here from 2002-2005
I want to learn how to code.
how much snow does tokyo get during winter?
I am starting to switch from desktop to laptop. only because I am leaving for the military and will be moving around alot.
only time I open my PC is to clean it cause I get alot of dust in there really sucks.
Photography Student
http://hugodeathy.deviantart.com/
I was 17 in 2000 and only got my PS2 by 2003. And by them I still didn't knew what I wanted to do, I remember I wanted to work with something related to gaming and started looking for Japanese classes but with no success. Funny how much we change in 8 years.
Jalop-er
Danny having occurring dreams of walking across a Zebra Crossing? You must referring to Abbey Road. One the Beatles album holds that name with the entire (young) band walking across a zebra crossing on the cover too. And the album art is iconic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Road_(album)
tagger/cashier/delivery
wow, i think it's really cool that you're writing about this. gives me insight on how things were back then (also, nice! DOA2 for PS2!). hah i used to think the same about macs back then, now i finally own a Black Macbook. as for Sony Laptops currently, they're actually alright. My friend has a Vaio laptop, and it works well. but yeah, i'll be looking forward to the 02-05!
Great article!
I'm coding in Fortran, PV-WAVE and C# in university. In school I learned basic HTML and JavaScript.
NEET
I know a little bit of HTML, VRML, C++, ActionScript... Have to start mastering them if I have the time.
Shinra First Class
danny the girl with the gun is your wifey?
java developer here. ^_^
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
nope - she was one of the part timers.
Graphic Designer / Multi-class-worker-character
haha, i notice a stormtrooper figure in one of those pics x'd
that's is something common to me, mi father was a professional photographer and my mather do that now, so I have TONS of photos, and from time to time I see them, and the nostalgie comes ='( x'DDD
kidding, BTW, I'm the only who thinks, that, in the era of digital cameras, so many tools to have digital portraits, and kinda variety of resources; the real paper photos, and the smell they have in the old album, are UNIQUE?
I mean, it's kinda great the techanology make the things easier, BUT, i think that some of the "magic" of the paper photo are going lost in the process, making all, cold...o something.
Engineer-wannabe
http://sora-k.deviantart.com/
wah,dunno too much bout coding,only ableto use frontpage^^;
u seem to hv a very smooth life there,n tokyo sure is a nice place to live,really miss it
mouu.. sarainen,zettai tokyo ni modoru!!^^
SUPER OTAKU, manga-ka, Illustrator, Domon Kasshu fanboy, Konata's male half, Megas XLR fanboy
This is a nice post
dannychoo.com の読者
hmm zebra crossing dream...normally i use dreammoods.com to analyze my dream but cant find yours.
nostalgic article you have..make me envy you that you have the courage and determination to try out something that you were not really ready for (referring to the many job changes especially the website manager)
as for coding, i have it as my major in college
so i know (but not particularly expert in) C++, VB, HTML, Java, Javascript, VB.NET, Oracle PL/SQL, MS SQL, Flash (actionscript), a bit of photoshop.
however, now i am working as a s/w support and my job rarely requires coding - thus my coding skills are rotting away. been telling my boss i wan to find a job with more use of my coding skills...
VB.NET remains my favorite (used it to code a couple of web applications mainly in data management.
Otaku
http://www.shin-otaku.com
Coding is my hobby (do not really want to turn it into a career) that I didn't bother about Wordpress or Blogspot and code my own blog, yeah still stuck with Dreamweaver 4.0, my first WYSIWYG software :p. You mentioned "Akihabara in 2001. No moe, no maids, hardly any eroge or figures." What?! Got J-AVs DVD/VHS then? Shocker desu! Hope to see some of these PICS in your upcoming Tokyo revolution report ^^
pervert
i started learning html/css then moved to processing and now i'm learning c++
i'm also learning how to clone myself without making babies
IT-Architect, SysAdmin, WebDesign and Coding, Virtualization (VMware + NetApp)
http://www.milkdrop.de/
Another interesting article of you, uh! ^^
It's really impressive how you managed things, when i look back on my past i feel that i missed a lot of great chances just because back then i wasn't able to see them.
As for coding, started as System Administratoress (is that even a word? lol) and had to learn SQL very suddenly since we switched one of our tools from a BDE database to MySQL.
Then i went on with Mediadesign, focused on webdesign and with the knowledge of SQL in my back i started to learn PHP. CSS and stuff is no coding, but was known by me before SQL and up to now i always did enjoy the changes which came with new versions of CSS, so much design potential in it... i love it.
Those last two pictures at night made my heart race... i love Tokyo at night. ><
Development Test Engineer
An interesting topic, Danny. Can't wait for the next version. :)
Student
http://www.desangel.blogspot.com
^.^ Danny has good memories....I can't even remember alot of stuff that has happened in just 1 year =.= .
Art/Media
http://sgallen.wordpress.com/
I only know of HTML & CSS. I got stuck at Java, PHP and MYSQL. I've learnt some PHP and MYSQL before at UNI but they didn't really teached it properly, in the end it was all self research.
But, I think I should extend my web building skills, last year, I started to try web building without any use of Tables, using DIVS which is hard at first.
Reading your article, memory lane is sure memory lane, I remember some of the things you've mentioned, like the cub board for a PC desk lol
browsing the nets
http://otakuposts.blogspot.com/
being a graphics designer, i need to know coding. know html, css, actionscript. tried php and mysql but didn't couldn't learn them due to time constraints. gave up on learning asp.net c# due to the same.
Software Developer
http://www.otakutimes.com
Great article, you have a very interesting story.
As for coding, the languages I am most familiar with are: Ruby, Java, C, C++, PHP, and Haskell. Have also had a play with some others such as Prolog, Erlang, ABAP, and Perl, but can't see myself using them much in future - besides Erlang perhaps. Currently trying to learn some of the more advanced functionality offered by Javascript.
http://www.marvinryan.com
wow Danny, a trip down memory lane and seeing how much your life has changed. hats off to you.
I'm not sure if you were able to read it, but I was actually surprised when someone started to call you names on my blog after I posted an entry about your CNN broadcast. however I hope all those Danny bashing in the internets won't get to you. remember they wouldn't try to bash you unless you've achieve something they envy. call it tall poppy syndrome or crab mentality. point is if let it get to you then you're let them cut you down.
regarding the question, back in 2000 I was still in programing, did some work on dreamweaver as well. but most of my coding experience focused more on mainframe computers and making them talk to PCs via C++ on a unix mainframe server and porting it into Visual Basic on client PCs. remember the y2k bug? did a lot of coding work combating that as well. ^^;
http://www.marvinryan.com
ah forgot about the sony laptop, camera and the dream, I use a sony TZ laptop no compatibility problems for me, am probably still a sony fanboi now.
I use a similar camera as yours a 850is and a EOS450D love canon cameras always thoughr the quality of the pictures they take looked great.
about your dream, a road usually symbolizes a journey, not sure though since you are crossing it diagonally. is it a single zebra crossing or a corner similar to the one on Shibuya? if there's more than one crossing it might be interpreted as a crossroad, which would mean at that point of your life you are at odds with choosing between two paths probably to stay and be an heir to the shoe empire or forge your own path? thinking about it it, this might have the same meaning as with the single crossing, where the wide road is the easy path and crossing is the more narrow path that gets you to the other side of the world and to find your own way. I hope I'm making some sense, and not just typing useless banter and blabberings.
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
its just a few seconds of me crossing to the other side - same dream ^^;
Its a single crossing.
http://www.marvinryan.com
I guess the second meaning then. lol btw you still have these dreams? if not I guess you've already completely resolved and satisfied with the path you are in.
Polytechnic Junior, Bronze Lifesaving Trainee, Mech Designer In-training.
http://thehangerbay.wordpress.com/
Currently learning Java and moving on to C++, but that's about it. Need to preactise more though. XD
Man, everything sure has come a long way since.
The Sword of Magus
http://daichouginga.blogspot.com/
The basics of C, HTML, and currently learning SQL.
It's really nice to read this kind of articles, about looking back from where you came from. ^^
Network Admin
I can write code for Python, C, Java, HTML,PHP, Cobalt, Perl, Pascal, and some .net stuff too. I just despise writing code so I won't do it anymore. Though it might be more related to getting carpal tunnel from all the code writing I used to do.
Great blog again, Danny. It's amazing it's only just been a few years ago this decade that Akiba became a haven for all things moe.
And never mind those pricks that accuse you of living off your dad's name. They're nothing but jealous. It's not like Danny's gone around and brag how he's here because of the Jimmy Choo. I seriously don't understand how these jerks can read so much into it and then think they're morally superior to Danny.
Lurker
Great article!
To me building desktop PCs from scratch and then upgrading it with stuff that I've bought with hard earned cash is > figures and moe. It is like a RPG game - play , get better gear , level up etc. Feels great. :]
Creative Director
Use to do Apple/Apple, IBM Basic, Fortran, Cobol back in school. That was 600 years ago... but in the recent past, xhtml, php, mysql, and php&flash actionscript and some lingo.
These days with my current job I don't do anything but design and direct. Would like to get back into working with markup and scripting though even for my own projects.
Computer Science Student, C++/Java Programmer
I have almost acheived enlightened expert status in C++. I also code in Java and Python because C is mendokuse.
Student and full-time otaku
Nice pics Danny! I'm surprised that moe wasn't really seen in Akiba as recently as 2001!
Don't do any coding myself...mainly because I feel I have no real use for it, and as such make no time to learn
IT, Programmer, Otaku, ...
http://blog.jpopdb.org/
Yes, I've been coding since I was 8 years old ^^ haven't stopped ever since, and I knew it was going to be my future job 15 years later. Learned Basic, Visual Basic, C, some C++, HTML and PHP on my own. In school I learned Cobol, Java, SQL. And after school, I learned C# on my own and some other stuffs too. At my work, I do application development in WinDev (VB like language with many built-in tools) and web development in PHP.
Anyway, It's very nice to see old pictures of Tokyo and Akihabara, would love to see more of that. I was 18 in 1999.
I'm still at my first job when I got out of school. We had an internship during our last year, which was at that company, and they asked me back afterwards, so that was easy ;p.
But my end goal is also Japan, but I've giving me about 5 years to accomplish that (4 to go), and up to now, I've got JLPT level 4 and now studying for level 3, which is my next milestone. Haven't really set up a big plan after that yet, I might go for the new inbetween level N3 which comes when the 4-level system becomes a 5-level system. But I need more verbal experience... Anyway, been talking too much ;p
Web Developer
Java, Javascript, Html, Css, PHP and so on :)
You can't believe how much I envy you Danny! One day I'll be there in Japan too!! :P
software manager
http://wawawawasuremono.com
One of these days after reading one of these articles something's gonna snap and I'm gonna find myself working in Japan... ^_^;
Hospital supply manager and Gundam pilot in training
Wow! Amazing article. Can't wait for part 2!! Hmm, On march 4th 2000 I was celebrating my 16th birthday and didn't get any PS2... lol. I did some C++ and Visual Basic back in the school days and ended up making a Final Fantasy like RPG game that lasted like 30 mins or so... no accomplishment there but I was kinda proud of it non-the-less. Like Hottoko-san up there, and many others too I'm sure, I love to buy PC parts and build myself a nice rig. In the past month I ended up building 2 laptops and 4 PCs. (btw, only 1 of the PCs is mine...I'm not rich...) I can't wait to go live and work in Japan. Keep up the good work Danny!! Nippon Banzai!!!
Graphic designer
Haha you always have the most brightest smile I've ever seen in every picture! it really stand out between those non smiling coworkers.
Keep smiling!^^
University's Slave
Just now dabbling with coding for a website for class. I'm using Dreamweaver's interface more than direct code at the moment (because I'm still a bit of a noob), but I'm trying to learn to hand-code CSS because it seems to give more flexibility and control when it comes to external sheets.
I LOVE Illustrator. My only gripe with it is the absolutely useless brush tool. The moment Adobe puts a Photoshop-esque airbrush in Illustrator (it could happen!), I'm going to do all my coloring in Illustrator and never going back.
Man, now I feel really young--I was in the 6th grade in 2000. ^^; I remember the whole Y2K nonsense, and thinking even then how stupid it all was. And I remember September 11 too--heard about the Pentagon before anything else on NPR, and in my 13 year old imagination I was actually assuming something far worse than the real attacks. ^^; Seriously, until my math teacher in second hour clarified it all, I thought it was some kind of all-out war or something.
Working Otaku mom
http://riianadoon.blogspot.com
Wow! That definitely looks nostalgic!:D Very nice photos.:D
Web Developer, Designer, ALT
http://8bitplus.blogspot.com/
I code in Action Script 2.0 and 3.0, XHTML, CSS, and starting to implement XML because its awesome. I'm interested in looking into Javascript, php, and maybe, just maybe ASP. I want to get better at web programing.
Student~
school is nice but u gotta hate those quiz profs give. It makes no sense!! >.>
know 3 language atm:
Java, Visual Basic, Turing
now learning:
C++ (for U)
~Undine~
http://bluebluewave.wordpress.com
In 2000 I hit the job market and started to work. First at EDS as a hardware engineer/asset manager for one of their customer contracts. After a few short interims I joined Atos-Origin as a helpdesk engineer, but that was a dead end so I quit last year and joined Data Flow Consultancy that currently has me assigned to a customer where it's going ok, I'll see what prospects it holds. What's good is that this past year I learned exponentially more than at my previous employer and also discovered my capacities are better than I'd thought.
I dabble a bit with html and css, but I'm no guru, I did make http://www.jediaayla.com & http://www.jediquinlan.com. I need to redo the second one to xhtml and css2 sometime soon, it still has frames... alas I spend little time on them since those Star Wars characters were killed off a while ago and Wikipedia kind of muscled out a lot of character/people devoted sites.
Student & Authorized Chicken Slapper
http://www.otakuinternational.com
I think this is a great idea Danny, seeing the change of Tokyo from those years. I am surprised you still have so much pictures from that time, I tend to delete pictures every so often or lose them.
Dropping computers, starting all over again at Journalism
http://xspblog.com
Great post Danny, I'll be reading more "in deph" when I have time.
And keep them coming! Because those are the types of posts I want to be writting in my own future.
About those objectives in life... I guess this is one of them. XD
part time illustrationist, doll clothing seamstress
http://puppy52art.com/
I wonder what people get from bashing others :P what a waste of time lol! And from what was written they don't even know what you went thru to get to where you are lol
Thanks for sharing with us, definitely a trip down memory lane O_O; I don't dare to say I know coding, they tend to spill outta my ear when I read em ^^;;;
Pirate
Danny, I don't know if anyone has ever told you this before, but you must have balls of steel. The things you have accomplished takes courage, at least much more courage than I have. It is hard to leave a life of security and familiarity to chase a dream and for that I envy you.
You have taken on some huge (calculated) risks and it has obviously paid off. Maybe in a future blog entry you can expand to us on your personal views for risk taking.
At any point on your journey to your ultimate goal, did the doubt ever cross your mind that things might not work out?
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
As long as one keeps trying then everything works out ^^
Student
http://mrshawn16.blogspot.com
What degrees does danny have. Anyone know?
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
Japanese and Korean BA.
...student
Very nice article! Finally made me register after months of following you ;)
I know xhtml, css, java, python, bash scripting (if thats considered a language) and a tiny bit of php and js. I'm also quite good in photoshop as well, but am unable to do anything in illustrator. If i need something vectored, I just use the pen tool in ps. Never been able to decided whether i like desktops or laptops better because generally I don't need a powerful machine and like portability, but customizing desktops is just too much fun. Also it's sort of difficult to have a 24" screen with a laptop.
:)
Ecchi Otaku
http://aniverse.info/
Very nice post Danny. Its interesting how things change over the years, specially technology.
I used to know Visual Basic but its been a long time since i've used that. Now i mainly use HTML, PHP, and a little of SQL.
Student
http://yellowguy89.blogspot.com/
danny,once again you give us the motivation to work harder at whatever we are trying to accomplish, and that our goals are always possible and that its in reach of our hands. I just wanted to say thank you for showing such inspiration, focus, and the desire to follow your passions. Bound to no limits, and following your goals and passions, thats what I call living.
lol anyway, great pictures.
Student
http://anime.tedfox.com/
woah and there i was coming online, tired after a day of hitting the books and this comes along!
this is some interesting read. stuff like this just reminds me of the long road i have ahead, which i will half-heartedly embrace i suppose hurhur
oh while i won't proclaim to be a adept programmer, i do have a knack for IT stuff, albeit briefly... although all that IT jargon is making kinda confounding to say the least...
http://dragonic.wordpress.com/
Loved that article Danny, Looking forward to the 2002-2005 one whenever it's done.
(Reading Dreamwaver in this article brought back my memories of college (Only a year or so ago TBH, and how inept I was at using Dreamweaver succesfully XD)
Aerospace-Engineering Student
I woul've almost sticked to Canon again for a compact camera but decided to get me a Panasonic Lumix, it might be a bit noisier but the wide angle lens makes up for it (or so I hope - will see when it arrives tomorrow^^)
Ive been introduced to a bunch of different coding languages (shell script, C, html) altough I got a bit rusty on them nowadays since I'm not working with anything code releated in my studies at the moment(when I last really worked with html, frames were still good stuff). But reading up a bit more on Html php and js has been on my "to do when free time list" for quite a while now.
IT-オタク
http://picasaweb.google.com/ait.meijin
Rare pictures ^_~ and another great and inspiring article. Thank you, Danny! ^_^b
freelance photographer
http://www.jorgehinojosa.spaces.live.com
Which brand do you swear by when it comes to compact digital cameras?
Sony
How often do you open up your PC to exchange parts? Are you a desktop or laptop fanboi?
mostly when needed, I stll love my desktop G4 but I will buy the next macbookpro, it's about time.
What was you doing in the year 2000?
living and studying in Guanajuato, preparing an individual photo exhibit. and two collective exhibits a photographic one and the other woog engraving.
Hikikomori in the making
http://supermariabros.deviantart.com/
No maids or eroge in 1999-2001?! Impossible!
Nice article Danny, shows us that people and places do change... I can't wait for the 2002-2005 article!
Student, Software Engineer in the Making!!!
http://miettechan.wordpress.com/
Of course I can code, I am a computer scientist/software engineer or will be at least when I graduate next year. Let's see know how to code in C, C#, Java, and a couple assembly languages and next semester I will get to learn scripting and web based languages. Now I wonder, which company in my field can take me to japan?
Student
Not too much of a code monkey... Want to be a network engineer when I get out of high school in another year. I guess that means a bit of coding language being thrown my way in time, but. Who knows. I'm always open for learning.
Online Shop
http://wildarms.egloos.com
Woo, young looking Danny, good stuff :)
I don't understand why some people still bash you and more after the CNN broadcast. I hate it when people can't accept others as who they are. It is not hard and yet some people just can't do that and it's sad. Don't let it get you down though, keep up the good work!
PHP guy
http://blog.orly.ch/
Learned a bit HTML, PHP and SQL by myself when I was in junior highschool, then Delphi, SQL (along with those relational theory stuff) during my education as software developer. I've been doing web development since I started working, mostly in PHP.
I'm getting into JavaScript (mostly with Prototype, sometimes wit YUI) lately. JavaScript is very cool. Unless you have to beat the Microsoft's crap of a browser into submission...
Student of all things
Old school :D great info as usual, was a very interesting read. I'm really looking forward to the article about working at Amazon/Microsoft you mentioned!
Network Technician
http://www.myyaruki.com
I really do love these sort of articles love to see how you worked your way up and got to were you are today, gives me some real motivation to keep heading for what I want in life, really looking forward to similar articles in the future :D
Sadly don't know much coding except some XHTML and CSS was getting pretty good at them until my mind wandered onto other things, now mostly concentrating on my Japanese but hopefully will get time in the future to learn some more computer based language.
がんばつて
Student Otaku (ITM Student) and ACG NA Staff
http://koiaichaku.com/
Learn Japanese currently...hard...
Wow!!!!!
You had quite the life Danny!!!!!!
I want to work in Japan but hearing what the economy is there, I'm thinking about it...
My MySQL sucks but my PHP, my other coding is okay...
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
This is still the beginning ^^;
Pokemon master
http://thecococafe.wordpress.com/
People still bash you after the CNN broadcast!? They must have not even watched the report if they thought you got everything from your father.
Back in 2000 I was still in elementary school learning how to multiply and divide. xD
teacher
Ha! in 2000-2001 I graduate high school... seems so long ago.
interesting look at how Tokyo has changed
Student, Otaku, She-Geek(Sheek lol)
http://meimi132.wordpress.com/
Oh my... such retroness. And that Fuji camera looks alot like one we still have lol.
College Student, Fansubber, Freelance Web Forum Admin
http://myanimelist.net/profile/Piroko
Nice article, Danny!
It must of been nice to go back to your 1999 pictures and see how you ended up now. :)
university film student | ecchikid | the Archivist
http://www.vimeo.com/longhim
"If you have no shame then you can keep doing this until the attendant gets pee'd off at you." ^^; I laughed so very hard at that. I for one am a horrible haggler - simply feel too bad for whoever I'm buying it from.
I used to be a desktop guy, if only 'cause it cost so much less, but every since getting a MacBook Pro for university a year ago I've switched from Desktop to Laptop and Windows to Mac all at once. Can't stand the thought of living without a laptop now.
I have a Panasonic Lumix - wonderful little camera with crazy optical zoom. The only problem is that I screwed it up once and now the battery life is short. Used to swear by Sony but I've pretty much completely weaned off them - prefer MacBook to Vaios, iRiver to Walkmans, Panasonic Lumix to Sony Cybershots and the PS3 was a disappointment.
university film student | ecchikid | the Archivist
http://www.vimeo.com/longhim
Such a long and interesting article that I couldn't remember all I wanted to say. ^^; I find your caseless desktop rig amusing to no end. And - is the weather difference that great across Tokyo, that it'd snow in one end and not the other? Didn't think it'd be that large a city.
流浪人
Learned C++, but haven't used it in over ten years... ^^;
"What was you doing in the year 2000?"
Being trained on nuclear weapons... ^^
Student
http://yny-u.com
I started out working up like you did, building websites and trying to automate boring tasks on my own time.. Learning C at the moment.
Your local Otaku Cashier.
Currently learning C++ for procedural coding rather than object programming. I'll be learning the object based programming starting around January.
大がくせい
I'm currently studying in Software Engeneering and got something similar to a computer science diploma. So, hrm, I guess I know how to code in a few language.
IT Expert / System, Network, Security Administrator
http://www.digitalanime.com.br
Well, I'm into computer since 1983, the best thing I did was to learn Assembly is a lovely language. ;-) Hey Danny, at start your english was just japanese but written in english, pretty odd and funny (heh). Keep in mind is "fanboy", not "fanboi". Btw, I hope to get a job soon (still unemployed here, 3rd world SUCKS!).
Programmer
http://www.philanime.com
me.can.code.sort.of
Hotel - Night Audit
I only know HTML, and even then only basics.
gundamaustralia.com launch imminent!
http://www.gundamaustralia.com
I think the Zebra crossing symbolizes transition towards your destination. Maybe it was impregnated in your subconscious that you felt you had the right to make this transition, but there was an underlying doubt or fear that it was not going to work out, and your new surroundings were a bit daunting and unfamiliar on a subconscious level so your mind snapped back to a setting in which you felt safe and comfortable? Just a stab in the dark but I think it was your mind's way of helping you cope with the subtleties of the change that you were not aware were affecting you. Getting out of your comfort zone is often scary but it facilitates change and opportunity, which I'm sure you are well aware but some of the younger readers may be able to learn that opportunities don't always fall in your lap and some of the best experiences in life come from trying something that one normally would not.
I have a Panasonic Lumix (8 or 10mp?) and it's pretty fantastic. I wanted to buy a digital SLR but the mrs wanted portability over outstanding photos. Turned out to be a good choice.
Student
http://www.xfire.com/profile/power1x1/
lol I have 4 PCs that I change parts every 2 years (excluding this one I'm using) --_-- I think I waste more than you used to Danny (^_^;)
Programmer,
http://www.gamespot.com/users/hector_belmont/
Hmmm code...C#, VB, SQL, PHP(bit), ASP .NET, JS, Java, C++, Groovy, Grails, AS
Current Flex ^^;
???Confused???
Did some C++ once...got lost after they introduced the whole void thing...did ok for the class though...I'd try to pick it up again after a while...
Congratulations on all the progress you've made Danny!
.NET/Web Developer
http://scrumptious.animeblogger.net
I suck at graphics design >_< it's one of my frustrations in life. lol. But what I lack in graphics design I make up for in coding and analysis. I love to code mainly because I like to fiddle around with the inner workings of a programming language and try what it can and it can't do. hahah
Didn't know you were married before you moved to Japan. how old were you when you got married? :D
JR. College Student
http://npc.talkingincircles.net/
Great article, very interesting.
For home use I prefer Desktops mainly because I can tinker them at will and I can use a nice big keyboard and monitor. On the road I can imagine it would be nice to have something to take with you and whatnot but if I had to choose I would rather have a nice comfy desktop.
Ph.D student
I have take a look at a lot of articles that you have cause I am interested in your "quite inspiring" personal story. I totally agree with you that everybody should go for what they want. Although I am exposed to a totally different world with you, I have quite a similar experience. From my childhood, I have also read manga like Fist of the North Star, Chinmi "Kungfu Boy", Astro Boy, Patlabor. These things are side hobby for me. Your figure articles made me bought a lot them recently. I prefer Hobby Link Japan as their service is good and most stuffs shown in your articles (except the old one) is available there. The owner seems to be an American :)
Been to Japan recently (Tokyo and Kyoto). Japan is surely an interesting place even though most people don't speak English, especially all professor and researchers. The facility in there seems to be very advanced though as their research funding is huge. Anyway, all the best for your life in there.
大学生
http://justaskeikaku.net23.net
I prefer desktops as well mainly because of customisability and a big screen, though I do feel like getting a laptop for when I'm out and about. Often feel like I can't do much sometimes when I go out and don't have a comp with me or I have to use crappy public computers. I've done a bit of VB at school and I have to say coding is not my thing. I get the job done but it sucks up all my time and I feel grumpy afterwards.
lol @ people online bashing Danny in the past. If that happened now I would riot!
Dancing Monkey
http://caitlinomara.com
Thanks for the backstory...it really gives me motivation. Up until this year when decided to focus on Japanese, I was working on Photoshop, PHP, and MySQL. It's just been a hobby (I have a BA too) but I'm still thinking more and more about it.
http://yuuwaku.wordpress.com
i just use basic forms of html that wordpress allows to update my blog, which is not much, so I chose no lol. I went through C, C++, and Java programming before, but I've long forgotten everything.
So you didn't learn any coding at all until you started to self study on the side? That's amazing the content you were able to learn considering where/what you're doing now and also having read of where you've been! I'm not one to really get what's going on until somebody explains it to me or shows it to me visually (I find myself to be mostly a visual learner lol), but maybe I should try self studying stuff myself sometime. Who knows maybe I'll actually absorb and learn a few things lol.
Graphic Design student | Receptionist | Otaku
http://sukidesho.blogspot.com/
Another inspiring and interesting post!
It's always nice to read about your achievements as it gives the rest of us hope and knowing that you're a success only makes us happier. I can't see why people choose to mock your hard work, they're probably just jealous.
I'm able to code in HTML and CSS but, it’s mostly self-taught.. I wish to learn more but, not sure where to head from here (wouldn't mind making a custom engine/programme). In 2000, I was in Primary School, gaming was my main interest at the time (still is).
I like Korean movies; they're so different from the others...
Web Developer (i.e. Otaku)
http://www.brettb.com/TravelLog.Tokyo.asp
Wow great photos!
In 2000 I was coding ASP in London at the height of the dotcom boom. I was earning more than my age in UK pounds. Our secretary was trying to stop sneaky recruitment consultants trying to get our phone numbers so they could offer us all jobs. Our CEO took the whole company to Vienna for a weekend. Life was good!
One year later I and my friends were all out of work, and the World Trade Center was attacked.
Life is full of unexpected events. Enjoy the good times while they last!
illustrator/web designer in training
http://naughtyneko.wordpress.com
Programming Languages, etc:
Java, Python, PHP, HTML + CSS, C, C++, SQL/mySQL
...but don't ask me to do anything in C. Haha!
illustrator/web designer in training
http://naughtyneko.wordpress.com
Oh, and *tried* the Ruby on Rails framework. Failed miserably. Couldn't install it in the Comp Sci's server properly so didn't even have a chance to test it out XD
Designer / Visual Editor
http://www.youtube.com/user/ImperialPimp
Really great & interesting article Danny ! Love those 1999 / 2000 japan pics, its changed a lil bit on the street.
Back in 1999 I was in Kyoto teaching English to small groups of 6 year olds, my first experience of Japan!
Tokyo is amazing too , lived there 2004 - 05, again in 2006 (Aug - Dec). Tokyo is so large and varied there could be a "Dannychoo" site for many of the fan-scene (music , clothes etc).
Danny, you havr the best site cover figures & anime on line . Congrats.
Your article is interesting to read. It clearly shows how you've changed over the years. =)
Just recently begun attending a course in Applied Computer science, and so far, i'm learning programming in Java, introduction to computers & web-design, while at the same time, finishing a degree in Pedagogy. After that, its back on the school bench with Japanese 101. X'D
I have a lot freedom to choose what subjects to add in my bachelors degree, so thats why i'm finishing one and adding another, because i feel that computer science & pedagogy complement eachother.
Will have to think about pursuing a masters degree soon.
Btw, coding is interesting. problem is, what computer language is great master ? I have a lot of things that i want to code, and i want to do it with less lines, but with great stability, security & ease of maintenance..
Question to Mr.Choo: i wonder if your blog is written with Ruby on Rails (or some other web -programming language such as XHTML) ? I've just been in an IT company seminar discussing Web 2.0 development, and it discussed use of Open source development, Ruby on Rails & other stuff... I want to ask because im curious & it might help me figure out what to develop (main interest is browser games, coz i'm a PC gaming addict ^^; ).
great master* = great to learn, or master.
オタク all day long
http://www.nekomagic.com
Oops, I think I pick the wrong one, HTML isn't coding right? =P
HTML is a web-programming language, so you can say you "code" in HTML.
It all depends on your definition of coding.
HTML is language, so you can code
sysop
http://www.wowtuga.org/forum/
learnt HTML on my own a couple of years ago, and i'm making my first PHP steps now at school.
I have to say i have a head start in this area, as i'm familiar with SQL (i used to manage a game server that required a database).
learnt pascal and VBasic at school in the last 3 years, learing C++ now.
I would really like to learn from you, for i have been dreaming of building myself a gameserver-PC =)
I just need to know where to start X'D
sysop
http://www.wowtuga.org/forum/
the game that first got me started in database related stuff was World of warcraft, just look up for tutorials on how to set up a server (project MangOS) and start from there.
thanks a bundle =)
Kendo Kid / 大学生
http://makocat.deviantart.com
I've been looking to learn C++ because it's most used for video games. I love the photos. It makes me regret not seeing Japan yet; it will probably be a vacation too short to truely enjoy.
Trendspotter Busybody Mercenaries
http://spectreoutreach.blogspot.com
a really bolehland dude with no frills back them ^ ^!
Student
learning coding at school... currently a complete nub...
Dropping computers, starting all over again at Journalism
http://xspblog.com
I know some programming languages, but none too deep.
Also, I'm running from them since I'm switching my professional area right now.
Loved the fact that you're always smiling on pics Danny... that pic with co-workers where only you're smiling = priceless. XD
Great career! Pay no attention to jealous people, they are everywhere.
I still don't have sucessful professional stories to tell, but for some of the few stuff I know how to do well, I already received some critics very close to those you quoted.
I usually ignore (or when in a bad mood, give replies on the same level)... consider those like just another obstacle to reach my goals.
Of course we always have to hear constructive criticism... but saying stuff like "you got your work only because of your dad", or "rich spoiled brat that got lucky" and stuff like that... pure jealousy. I kinda pitty people who says stuff like that.
Dropping computers, starting all over again at Journalism
http://xspblog.com
OH, and about Akiba... less than 7 years ago... *o*
Student,Visual Artist,Otaku
I taught myself a couple of different types of coding languages but I learn more every day.
The moments that i'm coding these days are mostly while designing / editing games and working with Dreamweaver at school.
(I don't hate coding,i just like sketching/working out the art more.)
Also nice to see how you have changed over the years,i am looking forward to 2002 - 2005.
IT Developer / Technology Evangelist
http://blog.visualguytystudio.com
is like my life but in japan ^^
greetings for you danny
a fun from far away ...Chile
Saludos loco cuidate ^^
Your (un)usual student
Incredible,I salute to you Danny!!!Ur incredible,for you to be successful in life is a great blessing!!!BDW,if those days u didn't even have a single figure or eroge,when did you started collecting figures and eroges?
トレイニー: アプリケーション開発者
http://www.lukas-kowalski-info.de
I love posts like this Danny. It is really interesting to see how everything went for you over there in Japan.
Lowlife
http://www.mistakesofyouth.com
>>If you buy a load of stuff in one go, you get a discount - and when the shop attendant says "OK, I can do this price for you", they never say the price verbally and show you the calculator instead.
They do this at Hen Da Ne, too.
Lowlife
http://www.mistakesofyouth.com
Also, re: the CNN stuff: I think we can agree it's just jealous people finding an excuse for them being failures and/or lazy. I mean, lots of guys want to be you. That's a fact. They know it requires a lot of work, but they just never do it because they're lazy. Now that they found out this one little thing about you they're like OH, THAT'S HOW HE DID IT. NOW I HAVE AN EXCUSE FOR AMOUNTING TO NOTHING. Those types of people are sad and bitter. I don't have to tell you this, but just ignore those guys. I can respect a man who's done hard work to get good things, and as such I can respect you Danny. Also, it seems your site doesn't enjoy me dropping the f-bomb. Oh well. I've edited my comment accordingly.
Asp.NET is getting very popular. I wonder how PHP will respond
CEO MIrai Inc
http://www.dannychoo.com/profile/eng/
Comment QA.
Student
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmyk88
You have so much black clothing, Danny! And I thought A.I. was good.
Actor, Moviemaker and Blogger.
http://sitedofonseca.blogspot.com
Your story always inspires me, Danny!! Thanks!
Student
yeah i agree too
Student, Musician, PHP
http://www.tojikomori.com.ar
Yes, truly inspiring. I will go to japan to chase my dreams someday. What I'm saying, I'm doing it from now... I'm trying hard to be able to go to japan in order to chase my dream there. I'm not a stalker ^^; but the more I read your personal posts the more I want to know as I get motivated when reading them.
The first time I coded was at the age of 9. It was a commercial language -based in C- for a "make your own videogame" software in DOS. I learned most of my programming skills with that simplistic and weak language, I don't remember even its syntax, but it taught me how to think and how computers works.
At 11 I started with my first HTML pages, with Notepad and Frontpage. At 15 I did some introduction to C and Pascal, and some software specific -again, based in C- languages. I spent 2 years coding scripts for eAthena, an emulator for a MMORPG.
Now I only code PHP and MySQL. I do some freelance works once in a while.
Student, Musician, PHP
http://www.tojikomori.com.ar
uhm, and forgot. I'm choose Python as language at Algorithms and Programming course in college. It's very nice to get into and very powerful.
I'm learning a lot of OOP on it. I choose it to use it as web language. I bet for Python replacing PHP in the future ;)
Ronin
http://roadblogg.blogspot.com
Given up on studying codes. There were too many and my mind just couldn't process all. >.<" Kind of regret never really did worked hard on it. But I guess it's just not my cup of tea isn't it? ^.^;;
Journalist
great photos and story
Freelance Artist/Otaku
http://crazysunshine.rhythmemotion.net/
Wow.. talk about a time trip. It's funny seeing how technology was back then and comparing it to what we have today. I especially remember having to work with those 1999-era Macs as a student aide in middle school and freaking out each it crashed or was lagging. Colorful, yes... not very practical.. -___-. Love your little makeshift office with the cupboard... very inventive.. ^___^
90's F1 Afficionate and Anti-Otaku
http://www.livestream.com/f1action
In Elementary, pues!
Student
http://hana-bix.livejournal.com/
Haha, when I was choosing courses for grade 10 back when I was in grade 9, I chose Computer Science cause I thought you learn HTML... how wrong was I.
However if it wasn't for that I would've never realized how fun Computer Science is and I wouldn't be deciding to pursue Computer science in university xD.
Right now... I learned Visual Basic, Turing (both from school) and really basic HTML and CSS (self taught >_>)
Advocacy Coordinator
Danny,
Marvelous!
What a recap.
Can't wait for 2002-05.
I think I am falling in love with you.
Loves.
Hashmi
Advocacy Coordinator
Danny,
Marvelous!
What a recap.
Can't wait for 2002-05.
I think I am falling in love with you.
Loves.
Hashmi